By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

At least 2.8 million households with about 7.5 million members are expected by the finance ministry to benefit from the three-month extension of Market Pass until October.

The only difference compared to what has been in force until now is that the examination of the beneficiaries will be based on this year’s tax returns for the incomes of 2022 and not last year’s for the incomes of 2021 as reasonably SEC considered that the process should be run on the basis of the most recent picture of consumer incomes.

The Deputy Minister of Finance Haris Theocharis has clarified that those who received the market pass in the past will not need to apply again. The system will consider that all of them have already submitted their applications and will evaluate them internally. The application will only be open for a few days around the end of August for those who did not do it the first time to submit their application.

The extension of the market pass will cover the months August, September and October. Ideally the Ministry of Finance would like not to give an extension to the tax returns and to give the allowance in three monthly installments starting from the end of October. But the prevailing scenario says that the first installment will be double in September to cover the scenario of the extension of the tax returns.

The income criteria remain the same:

€16,000 for the single

€24,000 for the married man

+€5,000 for each child

As well as assets:

€250,000 for the unmarried

€400,000 for the married man

There is no change in the amount of the allowance either, which ranges from €22 to €100 (and therefore €66-€300 for the quarter) to cover 10% of a household’s monthly purchases. The allowance is non-disposable and tax-free and is not set off against debts of any origin, nor is it counted against income for the payment of welfare benefits. It scales as follows:

Household members Reinforcement

1 €22
2 €32
3 €42
4 €52
5 €62
6 €72
€7,82
€8 92
9+ €100

Anyone who chooses to get the money on a digital debit card receives the entire allowance and must use it for purchases in supermarkets, grocers, butchers, patisseries, bakeries, dairy shops, street markets and other food shops. The card will remain active until the end of the year.

Also, the money on the card cannot be transferred to a third party (another person can, however, use the same card if the beneficiary gives him his mobile phone) and they cannot be withdrawn either.

Whoever chooses the money in their bank account receives 80% of the bonus and can use it on all kinds of purchases without being limited to food stores

The fiscal cost for the budget amounts to €251 million