Meeting your VAT compliance obligations in Greece is a multi-faceted task. This is especially true when you consider compliance is often comprised of multiple mandates, all of which are liable to continued change. From e-invoicing to myDATA, staying on top of all the moving parts that may affect your organisation is vital.
This serves as your overview of all tax compliance obligations in Greece. Bookmark the page to understand your requirements – now and in the future.
Last working day of the month following the end of the reporting period.
26th day of the month following the end of the reporting period.
26th day of the month following the end of the reporting period.
Standard: 24%
Reduced: 13%, 6%
Exempt: 0%
Arrivals: EUR 150,000
Dispatches: EUR 90,000
Are you aware of the tax obligations in Greece? They include:
The standard Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) rate in Greece is currently 15%, though there is a 20% rate reserved for risks covering fire. IPT returns are due quarterly. Since late 2019, Greece has required reports to be filed annually, broken down by quarters.
The report requires specific details, including:
In Greece, VAT liability applies to the following types of transactions:
Greece’s requirements for invoices largely fall in line with the obligations of the EU VAT Directive.
Invoices must include basic information such as:
Greece requires invoices to be stored for five years from the date the tax declaration supported by the documents was, or should have been, presented to the tax authority.
Greece has a number of penalties in place for non-compliance with myDATA obligations.
Penalties are imposed on businesses in the event of failure to submit, or overdue submission of, the required data, as well as recurrence of the above violation within five years. To date, the penalties only relate to violations of the compliant reporting of income from invoices and other accounting entries (not expenses) and the recently introduced e-transport document. The implementation timeline and other details about the adopted penalties are yet to be published.
Greece has had One Stop Shop (OSS) in place since 1 July 2021. As with other EU Member States, Greece adopted this scheme to simplify VAT obligations for companies that distance sell when adopting this scheme.
The main function of OSS is that suppliers can choose to account for VAT under OSS when supplying goods cross-border within the EU – as well as all cross-border supplies of services made to final consumers in the EU. The benefit of utilising OSS is that companies are required to register for VAT in only one EU Member State, providing that the EUR 10,000 threshold for intra-EU distance sales is exceeded.
When the Member State of identification is Greece, taxpayers are required to register through the online portal. Taxable persons established in Greece can log in to TAXISnet.
If you need additional information, please contact us or learn more from our dedicated guide.
Intrastat applies to certain businesses that trade internationally in the European Union, including Greece. The obligation relates to the movement of goods, both arrivals and dispatches, and involves reporting statistics and submitting declarations.
Qualifying thresholds decide whether a business must register for Intrastat or not, and they must be calculated each year. Each EU Member State has its own annual threshold figure. Greece’s Intrastat threshold for 2024 is EUR 150,000 for arrivals and EUR 90,000 for dispatches – if a business surpasses either of these figures, it must declare its intra-EU trades with the relevant tax authorities.
Find out more with our comprehensive Intrastat guide.
In Greece, EC Sales Lists are filed monthly for goods and services. The filing date is the 26th day of the month following the reporting period, and filing is to be done online. It is not required to submit the return in tax periods where no transactions occurred.
Reporting and transmitting data to the myDATA platform is currently mandatory for taxpayers, but the gradual implementation of myDATA is ongoing, and deadlines and requirements continue to be updated.
E-invoicing is mandated for B2G transactions in Greece, and the Greek government is in discussions with the European Commission to enforce a mandate for B2B transactions.
Once the Greek tax authorities have approved a company’s VAT registration, they will attribute the company a unique VAT number. This is the case throughout Europe.
For cross-border transactions, Greece’s VAT numbers start with “EL” and are followed by nine digits.
VAT returns in Greece are filed either monthly or quarterly. This depends on the business size and type of account books they keep.
That said, non-established businesses operating in Greece should file VAT returns quarterly.
Law 2859/2000 (also known as the Greek VAT Code) regulates the VAT Act in Greece.
The country also follows the EU VAT Directive to make Greece’s system uniform with other Member States.
There is no VAT threshold in Greece, meaning all businesses that carry out taxable transactions in Greece must register for VAT.
The standard VAT rate in Greece is 24%. There are reduced rates of 13%, 6% or 4%, depending on the applicable goods or services.
There is a reduced VAT rate of 13% in Greece for restaurant and cafeteria services, particular foods, hotel accommodations and more. There is also a reduced VAT rate of 6% for particular pharmaceutical products, theatre and concert tickets, books and newspapers, natural gas and more. Finally, there is a reduced VAT rate of 4% for services based on contracts for works intended exclusively for the overcoming or removal of architectural obstacles that limit the mobility of disabled persons, in public or private buildings or buildings that serve the public interest.
Any taxpayer who is not a resident of Greece but is required to register in Greece for VAT purposes must appoint a tax representative. Sovos can provide a fiscal representative for businesses looking to register for VAT in Greece, contact us for more information.
Meeting the varied and evolving tax obligations in Greece can take up an overwhelming amount of resources, especially over time as the rules continue to change. Factor in operations in other countries, and meeting requirements can become unruly. That’s where Sovos can help.
Working with a single vendor with local and global expertise frees up time and energy and ensures you meet the evolving needs of tax authorities wherever you do business. Let compliance be our concern.
