Tax Law

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Update on tax administration and policy in Greece, July 2015

Quite surprisingly, after its election in January, the government did not seek to replace the General Secretary of Public Revenue, Mrs. Aikaterini Savvaidou, a reputable technocrat whose professional career is very distant from its philosophy. However, the fact that she stayed in office may not be a voluntary political decision; it is also due to the commitment of the previous government to establish a rigid political independency for this Secretariat, which for decades in the past had been subject to political intervention. A major (albeit anticipated) change was the appointment of a new deputy minister of finance, Mrs. Nadia Valavani...

26 Jun 2015

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Taxation of benefits in kind under Greek law

Applicable legal provisions A. New Greek Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013, hereinafter the “ITC”)  Article 12 defines the meaning of the gross income received from salaried work and pensions and clarifies the income cases included.  Article 13 defines the meaning of the benefits in kind and their special types and states how their tax value determined.  Article 14 par.1 defines what is excluded when calculating income received from salaried work and pensions.  Article 60 par.1 defines the withholding tax rate which is applicable for the gross income received from salaried work and pensions. B. Circulars  No. 1219/06.10.2014 provides further details about the...

12 Jun 2015

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The main tax developments in Greece between May 2014 – May 2015

From 1 January 2014, in the middle of an austere budgetary approach, the new Income Taxation Code (Law 4172/2013), which had already been published since July 2013, was entered into force. It is a piece of legislation directed towards the simplification and practical treatment of tax issues, which in its entirety comprises provisions of general formulation, which require further clarifications as to their regulatory object and scope. Thus, from May 2014 to May 2015, in addition to some legislative reforms, numerous circulars of the Ministry of Finance were also published. They are briefly listed below: 1. Value Added Tax (VAT) Code In August...

15 Apr 2015

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Taxation of offices established pursuant to Emergency Law 89/1967 (Law 3427/2005)

Article 2 of Emergency Law 89/1967, as amended by Law 3427/2005 and Law 3752/2009, states that the gross income of such companies from the services they provide, which must necessarily be collected via bank transfers, must be computed by adding a mark-up to all manner of expenses and depreciation, other than income tax (the cost-plus method). The mark-up applied by each company is determined based on the criteria contained in the regulatory decision of the Ministry of Economy & Finance following an inspection by a Committee established by the Ministry, whose members are appointed by the Minister himself. That mark-up is...

06 Oct 2014

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Voluntary support from the ship-owners sector is extended to four years

750 million euro contribution to the economy More than 420 million euro will be contributed to the Greek State funds in the next four years by the shipping industry as a voluntary benefit in addressing the economic crisis. With an amendment that was introduced to the Parliament yesterday, a solution was given to the problem that had been caused by the unconstitutional, as was described, compulsory taxation of the shipping industry for three years, raised with the Article 14 of Law 4223/2013 by the former Minister for Finance, Yiannis Stournaras, and was never implemented. With a new amendment that was introduced to the...

29 Aug 2014

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The general anti-avoidance rules in Greek law – Article 38 Law 4144/2013

Under the article 38 of the Tax Procedure Code (KFD), a general provision against the abuse of possibilities and discretions of configuring legal relations provided by legislation to the extent that this aimed to tax avoidance and resulted to, due to non-taxation, to the non-payment of tax either in whole or in part, is introduced for the first time in Greek tax law. In particular, it is provided that while determining the tax amount, the tax authorities have the right to disregard any configuration of legal relations, which is artificially done (artificial manipulation) in order to avoid taxation and due...

05 Jun 2014

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New Tax Procedure Code

In late July 2013 a Tax Procedure Code was adopted by the Greek Parliament, in principle applicable from January 1st, 2014 onwards. The new law aims at incorporating into a single text all the provisions relating to administrative procedures applicable to taxation (e.g. tax returns, tax assessment, collection of taxes, tax audits, surcharges, complaints and appeals etc.). The most significant amendments introduced by the law are the following: General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) A general anti avoidance rule is introduced for the first time into Greek tax law. According to this rule, the tax authority may disregard any artificial arrangement or series of...

05 Jun 2014

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New Real Estate Tax

From 2014 and for each year subsequent thereto, a new tax is levied on real estate property located in Greece, namely the Unified Real Estate Tax (U.R.E.T.), upon introduction whereof the current Real Estate Tax (RET) is abolished. U.R.E.T. is equal to the total sum of a) the main tax on each real estate plus and b) an additional tax on the total value of each taxable person’s rights on real estate property, on which U.R.E.T. is levied, and is mainly levied on the following rights on real estate located in Greece and owned either by individuals or legal persons or...

05 Jun 2014

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New Income Tax Code