Value-added tax

Greece's Independent Authority for Public Revenue, known as AADE, is gearing up to intensify its efforts against tax evasion this summer with the introduction of a new digital tool called "ELEGXOSLive." The aim is to enhance tax compliance in Greek islands and other tourist areas.

The plenary session of the Cyprus Parliament on Thursday almost unanimously passed a law allowing for the value-added tax rate on the first 130 square meters of a primary residence, including both houses and apartments, to be reduced by 5%. The measure was voted on by 42 deputies, with one abstention.

Greece's tax policy has become a field of fierce confrontation between the political parties. Politicians are clamoring for reductions or increases in taxes on parental gifts, dividends and VAT on products. But what they're not saying is that the country urgently needs a bold tax reform that will undo decades of ills and broaden the tax base.

Electronic transactions help increase value-added tax revenues and contain the shadow economy, Finance Ministry data from the first quarter of the year show.

Romania will buy two second-hand British minesweepers and two French submarines as part of the Romanian army's re-equipment programmes, local media reported.

Almost two weeks after the zeroing of the tax rate on seven products (bread, eggs, milk, baby diapers, baby food, feminine hygiene products, and adult diapers) in Cyprus, the island's ministries of Finance and of Commerce are in discussions regarding the next list of products that will have a low or reduced tax rate.

Farmers in several Serbian towns and cities will use their machinery to block roads until their demands for the state to improve their position are met, a representative of the Initiative for the Survival of Serbian Farmers, Djoka Curcic, said.

"The blockades will start this morning and will last several hours a day until our demands are fulfilled," Curcic told Beta news agency.

"At the beginning of the year, the fiscal reserve was BGN 11.9 billion, of which BGN 10.8 billion was in BNB (Bulgarian National Bank) accounts. As of May 10, the fiscal reserve decreased to about BGN 10.3 billion, and in BNB accounts - to 9.6 billion". This was stated by the acting Minister of Finance Rositsa Velkova in the plenary hall.

An online petition in Kosovo calling for the lowering or removal of VAT on menstrual products such as menstrual pads, tampons, cups and underwear, has received over 5,600 signatures in just three days.

The total value of properties sold in Cyprus in the year's first quarter was 1.7 billion euros.

Despite the market facing facing numerous challenges, it has shown resilience, as indicated by the data presented in the quarterly "Real Estate Market Update" by the Real Estate Registration Board and Department of Land and Surveys.