Tax

Hotel owners object strongly to a demand by municipalities to hike the occupancy tax to 2% of turnover from the current 0.5%.

They that it would hurt business, especially in smaller hotels.

The tax would help municipalities with infrastructure maintenance.

It had been cut from 2% to 0.5% in 2009 and, currently, the government gets part of it. 

Another method of tax evasion – and an extensive one at that – through abusive use of an e-commerce platform, has been identified by auditors of the Independent Public Revenue Authority.

With targeted audits and extensive cross-checks of myDATA and data from courier companies, auditors from the Independent Public Revenue Authority identified, in the first half of 2024, more than 52 businesses that make sales online but do not declare the revenue from them, as they do not issue the relevant invoices or receipts.

For the first time this year, the average income tax paid by freelancers surpasses that of salaried employees, who (along with retirees) are usually the tax burden bearers.

Salaried employees remain the “wealthiest” Greeks according to the analysis of data from the 2024 tax returns (income earned in 2023).

Freelancers now occupy the second position, mainly due to the change in their taxation method (imputed income) rather than because they declared higher incomes, with retirees slightly trailing behind.

Electronic payment methods and real-time monitoring of expenses and revenue streams have made individuals and corporations more likely to pay their dues in time, data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue show.

A record 128,000 individuals with a net worth exceeding €1 million are expected to change their country of residence this year, exceeding the previous year's record of 120,000, according to UK-based consultants Henley & Partners.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue, known by its Greek acronym AADE, demands that its inspectors bring in revenue amounting to five times the cost of inspections. AADE Governor George Pitsilis notes that, while the collection of fines for tax code violations has improved, still only a small percentage of the attested fines is collected.

After a record tax haul in 2024, the Ministry of Finance is preparing for yet another all-time high, around €65-66 billion or even higher, in 2025.

The draft 2025 budget will predict tax receipts rising by at least €2 billion. And this time the extra haul will come from income taxes, not value-added tax or special consumption taxes.

The government has decided to further lighten the burden of social security contributions on both employers and employees by 1 percentage point of salaries, but has not yet decided exactly how.