The application process for the financial support of the Market Pass for the months of August, September and October 2023 opened today.

As announced, citizens can submit applications either through the digital platform vouchers.gov.gr, or through the K.E.P. from today, Friday, September 15, 2023 until Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

It is underlined that for the beneficiaries who had already received the financial aid in the previous months, it is not necessary to re-submit the application.

Here are 12 helpful questions:

1. Who are the beneficiaries of the Market Pass?

Beneficiaries of the Market Pass are all tax residents of Greece who have submitted a tax return for 2022 on time and whose annual total income does not exceed:

  • sixteen thousand (16,000) euros for an unmarried debtor or a widowed or separated debtor,
  • the twenty-four thousand (24,000) euros for a married debtor or the married or the parties to the cohabitation agreement who submit a separate tax return without children, which is increased by five thousand (5,000) euros for each dependent child, other dependent member and guest member of household,
  • twenty-four thousand (24,000) euros for a single-parent family and is increased by five thousand (5,000) euros for each dependent child, other dependent member and guest member, after the first.

In addition, the total value of the real estate must not exceed the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) euros for the unmarried, widowed or separated debtors and the amount of four hundred thousand (400,000) euros for the married or parties to a covenant cohabitation and single-parent families.

They are not entitled to apply:

a) Natural persons, who are declared in the 2022 Personal Income Tax Declaration as dependent members or as guests

b) Natural persons subject to luxury living tax for tax year 2022.

d) Tax residents abroad

2. What is the amount of the aid?

The aid is 10% of the monthly amount of purchases up to 1,000 euros and its amount starts from 22 euros per month for single-member households and is increased by 10 euros for each additional member of the household. The above purchase limit does not apply to beneficiaries with more than six (6) dependent children.

3. What is the application process and timeline?

The submission of applications takes place from today, Friday, September 15, 2023 until Tuesday, October 31, 2023. Due to the extension of the submission of tax returns that was given in the previous period, for certain categories of citizens the start of the application period may vary slightly. In any case, the final date for submitting an application is Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

Exceptions are the beneficiaries of the previous Market Pass for whom re-submission of the application is not required. The system will identify through an internal ex officio process and credit the amount to the medium they had previously chosen (bank account or digital debit card). However, if, for any reason, one wants to correct the IBAN details of his bank account or change the means to which the aid will be credited (e.g. from a bank account to a digital debit card and vice versa), then he must submit application on the platform strictly between Friday, September 15, 2023 and Monday, September 25, 2023. It is emphasized that, if you do not make any request to change data or change an option within the above deadline, the aid will not be lost and will normally be credited to the options that were valid for previous Market Pass.

4. Is it necessary to repeat the submission of the application every month?

No. The application is submitted only once and then the aid is automatically credited to the immaterial digital card or the beneficiary’s account. For the previous beneficiaries of the Market Pass, as long as they do not wish to change the IBAN details of their bank account or means of payment of the aid (see question 1), no application is needed.

5. At which businesses can the Market Pass digital debit card be used?

The amount of money credited to the debit card is used exclusively by the beneficiary to make the purchase of goods of any kind in shops or street markets active in the food retail trade. It is emphasized that any transfer to a third party or the withdrawal of the amount of money credited to the debit card is not possible.

The use of the digital debit card is carried out through a device that supports contactless transaction technology (Web / Virtual POS) in businesses with the following codes (MCC):

· 5411 – Groceries, Supermarkets

· 5422 – Butchers

· 5441 – Confectionery shops

· 5451 – Dairy stores

· 5462 – Bakeries

· 5499 – Miscellaneous food stores

6. What is foreseen in the event that someone submitted an application but wants to change its details or cancel it?

The modification or cancellation of the application can be done within two (2) distinct intervals and deadlines that depend on the original date of submission of the application. In particular, the procedure provides for modifications / cancellations:

§ Until September 25, 2023, for applications submitted between September 15, 2023 and September 25, 2023

§ Until October 31, 2023, for applications submitted after September 25, 2023 and until October 31, 2023.

Beneficiaries of the previous Market Pass do not need to submit an application, since the condition check is carried out ex officio, unless they wish to change the IBAN of the bank account or credit instrument of the aid (see question 1).

7. When will the August, September and October 2023 financial aid be paid?

§ Beneficiaries of the previous Market Pass will be paid the financial support until September 29, 2023. The only exception are those for whom the tax declaration has not been cleared by the Tax Administration until September 25, 2023. Exclusively for these cases of beneficiaries of the previous Market Pass, the aid will be paid by November 5, 2023.

§ For those who were not beneficiaries of a previous Market Pass, the payment depends on the period within which they proceed to submit the application. More specifically:

· For applications submitted from September 15, 2023 until September 25, 2023, the aid will be paid until September 29, 2023.

· For applications submitted from September 26, 2023 until October 31, 2023, the aid will be paid until November 5, 2023.

· For beneficiaries whose tax declaration has not been cleared by the Tax Administration until September 25, 2023, the aid will be paid until November 5, 2023.

8. In what case may the aid to beneficiaries of the previous cycles not have been credited to the new Market Pass by September 29?

There are two (2) possible reasons the credit has not been made:

§ The new Market Pass is given based on the 2023 tax return data (ie for incomes acquired within 2022). Thus, even if one was eligible based on 2021 income, it is possible that one will not be eligible again if higher incomes are shown on the new tax return.

§ If for any reason his tax return has not been cleared by September 25, 2023, then the credit will be made until November 5, 2023.

9. What is the procedure in case of non-payment of the Market Pass supplement to the account or digital debit card chosen by the beneficiary?

If the process of crediting the aid to the digital debit card or the bank account that he has declared and is a beneficiary has been rejected, then he has the right to reapply after October 31, 2023 and until November 25, 2023. After rechecking the application and the conditions, the financial aid will be paid until November 30, 2023.

10. How will one be informed about the rejection of the crediting procedures of the accounts?

In case of rejection of the process of crediting the aid to the digital debit card or to his bank account, the applicant will be informed by any suitable means and his application will be activated after the deadline for submitting applications so that he can make the necessary corrections and resubmit the application by November 25, 2023.

After the resubmission, the crediting process is repeated to the digital card or bank account, until November 30, 2023.

In the event of rejection of the aid crediting process, it is not allowed to modify the initially chosen method of payment of the aid.

11. Until when can the intangible digital card of Market Pass be used?

The immaterial digital card is valid until December 31, 2023, after which it is deactivated.

12. For the beneficiaries of the previous Market Pass and new beneficiaries whose digital debit card expired on 31.08.2023, is there any new procedure for reissuing or activating it?

No. The validity of existing digital debit cards is automatically extended until the end of the year without any action by the beneficiary.

For any question, interested parties can call the Public Service Telephone 210-2156327, from Monday to Friday 09:00-17:00 or submit their questions via email to [email protected].