Go beyond 5,000 the taxpayers launched professional activity from April 1stand in accordance with the new regime of filing VATin end of May should submit their first monthly statement.

The newly established businesses and the young professionals who launched work in April and keep simplified books, according to the decision of its Governor Independent Public Revenue Authority George Pitsilisare compulsorily integrated into the new monthly filing system.

As the ERTit is estimated that about 30,000 professionals and small individual businesses will be in this category and submit VAT with the month instead of quarter. Next stop July 1st. From that date, the measure also extends to those who began professional activity between January 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

Contrary tothose who were registered with the tax register until December 31, 2023, do not automatically be included in the new framework, but are given the optional transition to the monthly model from October 1, 2025, if they wish.

The purpose of the changes, to improve the tax compliance, and – above all – to deal with the “missing traders” phenomenon who, with the previous system, started their professional activity, normally received VAT and when it was time to pay the tax resulted in the tax.

“Sports” was mainly practiced by:

  • Businesses – “comets” operating for a few months, received VAT and closed without giving it.
  • Newly established companies operating the quarterly system to delay or avoid payments.
  • Taxpayers – natural persons who intended to leave the country.

The new process, in addition to enhancing transparency, acts as a mechanism of timely detection of suspicious cases.

The gap

The measures gradually taken to reduce tax evasion, coupled with electronic transactions, have led to a significant reduction in the so -called VAT vacuum in Greece in recent years.

According to the Commission data, it is estimated that the country has managed to reduce VAT gap from 29% in 2017 to 13.7% today, and the target is to further reduce to 5% by 2029, a percentage corresponding to the average of EU countries.

The exemptions

The issue has been raised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and for VAT exemptions that are currently applicable to comparable goods and services. The Fund describes them as “ineffective tax spending”, arguing that they should be gradually abolished.

According to budget data, 75 categories of goods and services are excluded from the imposition of VAT with the benefit of consumers, professionals and businesses reaching a total of EUR 968 million. Of these, the biggest “footprint” has exceptions of € 479.6 million in the private education sector.

It is recalled that as of January 1, 2024, the reduced VAT rates were applied during the pandemic in transport, gyms, dance schools, cinemas, as well as public health -related goods, with the budgetary cost of € 305 million per year.