Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) is launching an AI-driven monitoring system to track public debtors more closely, as overdue tax debts have risen to €114.5 billion (about $133 billion).
Nearly 4.8 million taxpayers are currently listed as debtors, while only around €5 billion ($5.8 billion) in overdue obligations are under active repayment arrangements. The scale of the problem has pushed the tax administration to adopt more advanced digital tools to assess who can realistically repay their debt and who may face stricter enforcement.
At the center of the new strategy is PARE, an AI-driven model that has been integrated into Eispraxis, Greece’s tax collection system. The platform will continuously score taxpayers by analyzing financial data, banking transactions, assets, and broader tax behavior.
How Greece’s AI-driven tax monitoring system works
PARE is an acronym for Payment Capacity, Attitude, Recency, and Event. In Greek, “pare” also echoes the word for “take” or “get,” giving the name an ironic undertone for a tool designed to help authorities recover unpaid taxes.
The first pillar, Payment Capacity, examines a debtor’s financial profile, including income, bank deposits, property holdings, and overall assets. This allows AADE to estimate whether a taxpayer has the means to meet outstanding obligations.
The second pillar, Attitude, evaluates behavior toward tax responsibilities. It records whether taxpayers file declarations on time, respond to notices, comply with audits, and make payments, or whether they systematically ignore tax authorities.
Recency, the third pillar, focuses on the age of the debts, the frequency of late payments, and any failed repayment arrangements, while the fourth pillar, Event, takes into account financial or personal developments that may have affected a debtor’s ability to pay, such as loss of income, bankruptcy, or legal disputes.
Tax debtors to be directed toward settlement options
Based on the profile generated by the system, AADE will guide debtors toward suitable settlement solutions. These may include standard repayment schemes or Greece’s out-of-court debt settlement mechanism.
For taxpayers who reject or ignore compliance proposals, however, the next stage will involve enforced collection measures, including electronic seizures of bank accounts and other assets. The rollout of PARE marks another step in the wider modernization of Greece’s tax administration after the debt crisis years, when weak tax collection and mounting arrears became a major concern for public finances and international creditors.
Greece’s AI-driven tax monitoring system expands predictive tools
AADE is also investing in business intelligence and data analysis systems to detect debtors who are likely to default before the problem escalates. Predictive models will allow tax officials to intervene earlier and apply more targeted collection strategies.
The framework also includes the expansion of electronic third-party garnishment orders and more stringent cross-checking with foreign tax authorities through international administrative cooperation mechanisms. These tools are designed to provide AADE with a more thorough picture of a taxpayer’s financial position, both within Greece and abroad.
AADE targets billions in tax arrears in 2026
AADE’s operational plan for 2026 sets a target of collecting at least €3.2 billion ($3.7 billion) from old overdue tax debts. Of that amount, €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) is expected to come from VAT liabilities.
The Collection Operations Unit is targeting the recovery of €850 million ($988 million) from large debtors and focused enforcement actions. At the same time, AADE is raising its collection target for newly overdue debts to 35 percent. The plan also includes mass notifications to debtors to help them maintain repayment arrangements, as well as reminders for older debts.
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