Greece's tax revolution harnesses big data and drones to shake off crisis legacy

Greece's tax system has been reborn through big data and drones, with a repurposed Athens headquarters at the center of the transformation. The building, once a shopping mall and ice rink on a clogged industrial artery, now functions as an ultramodern digital hub that coordinates inspectors chasing tax cheats across the country.

Inside, inspectors monitor millions of transactions in real time, aided by algorithms that flag unusual activity across card payments, payrolls, customs, and bank data. Smartphones carried by field staff stream video and audio back to headquarters, and drones flutter over restaurants, ports, grain silos, and delivery trucks to verify receipts.

These changes have helped Greece reverse a long crisis era. The country was one of six EU members to post a budget surplus in 2024, and revenue collections exceeded targets through August this year. Moody's upgraded Greece's bonds to investment grade in March, praising the digitization push; Morningstar DBRS noted that Greece's long-term borrowing costs now sit just above Spain's.

Giorgos Pitsilis, governor of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, said the reforms came from a systematic, data-driven effort started years ago and that the country moved from a data-poor to a big-data environment, aided by the tax authority's independence since 2017 which allowed room for experimentation and investment in digital tools.

Tax reform has funded 1.6 billion euros in tax cuts announced by the center-right government, and critics say the windfall does not offset austerity-era pain or rising inequality. The national sales tax rate, raised during the crisis to 24%, has not been reduced as other austerity-era cuts remain in place. The Greek Communist Party called the surplus blood-stained, arguing it erodes the purchasing power of wage earners.

On the streets, change is visible. At a stall north of Athens, vendor Makis Panaretos says about 70 percent of his sales are now electronic, with all transactions routed to the tax authority. He noted that customers use cards, phones and watches to pay, and acknowledged it can slow lines at times. By November, all businesses will be required to accept IRIS, a Greek instant payment system designed to cut fees for vendors.

Analysts say Greece's experience shows how crisis-driven reform can endure. Alexandros Kentikelenis, a political economy professor at Bocconi University in Milan, said digitalization and institutional independence translate into real fiscal gains. Moody's noted in its March upgrade that the reform push supports expectations that tax revenue growth will remain robust over the medium term.

Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, a Harvard- and MIT-trained technocrat, says the shift is irreversible and ties tax reform to broader plans to digitize the economy, including support for the digital euro. Officials expect further integration of artificial intelligence into the tax authority's systems through 2026 to accelerate progress and maintain momentum in an economy still adjusting after years of crisis.