Eliminating Stamp Duty on 600 Transactions for Cost Savings and Efficiency

A draft law that abolishes the Stamp Duty on more than 600 transactions and introduces a Digital Transaction Fee for transactions where the related charge remains, explicitly defined in the law, has been put up for public consultation until Thursday, August 22, 2024, at 11:00 PM.

The main changes include the following:

• The Stamp Duty is abolished for a series of significant transactions such as: lending contracts, insurance transactions, establishment and capital increases of non-profit legal entities, bank letters of credit in favor of importers, and contractual loan and credit interest rates.

Additionally, it is abolished in over 100 transactions involving stamp duties on certificates (e.g., marriage licenses, professional licenses, etc.).

It should be noted that the abolishment of the Stamp Duty does not also eliminate the related certificate fees for these transactions. However, it leads to a reduction in the final charge.

• It is also abolished in more than 500 transactions where a Stamp Duty of 2.4% or 3.6% was imposed on fees concerning public law entities or the State (e.g., Stamp Duty on fees for the National Organization for Medicines, the Judicial Buildings Financing Fund, the Independent Public Procurement Authority, etc.). For complete legal certainty, it is explicitly provided that the Digital Transaction Fee is not imposed on contracts, transactions, and acts that fall under the scope of the VAT Code, the Inheritance, Gift, Parental Provision, and Gambling Profits Taxation Code (Law 2961/2001), real estate transfer tax, capital concentration tax, bank transaction tax, and vehicle transfer tax.
• The new Digital Transaction Fee is introduced, applicable to transactions regardless of where they are conducted, as long as at least one party has tax residence or a permanent establishment in Greece, and there is no exemption reason for the parties involved. These transactions are explicitly named in the law and are not subject to other indirect taxes.

The Transaction Fee for private transactions will be declared electronically through a new digital platform to be implemented by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). The declaration and payment of the Fee are due by the end of the month following the transaction.

Exceptions include cases where there is an obligation to withhold income tax (the certification and payment of which is done according to the deadlines for withheld taxes), rents (payment is made through the submission of the Income Tax Declaration), and current account settlements (the declaration and payment are made within the first month of the following tax year). For transactions with the State, the Transaction Fee is paid electronically before the relevant act is drawn up or issued.

The rates of the Digital Transaction Fee for transactions between private individuals are clarified and set as follows:

1. 3.60% on property rents, collection invoices for compensation of legal interest and default interest, and transactions or contracts between individuals not engaged in business activity and those who are, and in cases where one party is the State, a Municipality, or a public law entity. It is clarified that the Digital Transaction Fee does not apply to leases subject to VAT and residential lease contracts. The landlord is responsible for declaring and paying the Digital Transaction Fee. If the landlord is not required to file an income tax return, the tenant becomes responsible for declaring and paying the Fee.
2. 2.40% if all parties involved are engaged in business activity, or at least one has the legal form of a corporation (SA, Ltd., or PC).
3. 1.20% for the payment of fees to individuals or board members and for deposits or withdrawals from the cash reserves of legal entities.
4. 0.30% on checks submitted to credit institutions.

Other provisions of the draft law:

• The exemption from ENFIA (Property Tax) is extended for 2024 for areas in the North Aegean and Thessaly affected by natural disasters.
• The suspension of the provision requiring certification, guarantees, and real securities for inclusion in debt arrangements to the tax administration is extended again until December 31, 2024, to facilitate debt settlement arrangements.

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