Appointment of Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes in Greece
Additional obligations for customs related obligations
Acquisition of a Greek VAT number through the appointment of a Fiscal representative
The concept/requirement of a Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes
The appointment of a Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes is provided by the Greek VAT legislation (Law 2859/2000-Greek VAT Code) and is actually a requirement (obligation) for cases where a company that is not established in Greece carries out activities in Greece that create VAT liabilities in Greece and for which the company must obtain a Greek VAT number in order to fulfil its compliance/reporting VAT obligations and pay the Greek VAT to the State.
Among other cases, the import/customs clearance of goods in Greece from a non-EU country as well as the subsequent sale of these goods in Greece are activities that trigger the imposition of Greek VAT and for which the non-established foreign company must obtain a Greek VAT number through the appointment of a Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes in Greece, in order to be able to fulfil its Greek VAT obligations towards the Greek State.
In specific:
- According to article 10 of the Greek VAT Code, the import (customs clearance for free circulation) of goods into Greece from a non-EU country is subject to VAT in Greece.
- Based on article 35 par. 3 of the Greek VAT Code, the person liable to pay the import VAT is the owner of the imported goods as defined by the applicable Customs legislation.
- Based on article 36 par. 4 case (d) of the Greek VAT Code, the person liable to the VAT, that is not established in Greece or in another EU Member State, is required, prior to the carrying out of any VATable activity in Greece, to appoint a Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes in Greece, in order to obtain a Greek VAT number and fulfill its VAT liabilities that arise in Greece from its intended activities/transactions.
- In accordance with article 38 par. 7 of the Greek VAT Code, the person liable for the import VAT must file an import customs declaration to the customs office competent for the import of the goods in Greece and pay the applicable Greek VAT at the competent customs office upon importation.
The appointment of a Fiscal Representative in Greece is possible only where the activities of the foreign company that will be carried on in Greece do not create a permanent establishment (PE) of the foreign company in Greece for income tax purposes (i.e. where the foreign company does not have in Greece a fixed place of business through which the business of the company is wholly or partly carried on (such as a presence with premises and personnel etc.) or a dependent agent who has and habitually exercises the authority to act on behalf of the foreign company and conclude or negotiate contracts on behalf of the company etc. However, certain activities of preparatory or auxiliary nature (such as the maintenance of a stock of goods belonging to the company solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery etc.) may not create a permanent establishment, depending on the specific facts.
Therefore, if the intended activities of the foreign company in Greece create a permanent establishment in Greece, then the company would be required to either establish a branch or a company in Greece.
Compliance/reporting obligations of the company through the appointed Fiscal Representative
The foreign company would be required to fulfill various VAT related obligations in Greece through its appointed Fiscal Representative, including indicatively:
- Filing of periodic (quarter) VAT returns and payment of VAT to the State
- Filing to the competent customs office of import customs declarations and payment of any import customs duties (where applicable)
- Maintaining (single-entry) accounting books and issuing of tax records, as per the Greek Accounting Standards legislation (L. 4308/2014).
- Maintaining a Special Book for Fiscal Representatives, per each foreign principal company that he represents (if many), where he includes the following information:
- all the transactions for which the appointment of a Fiscal Representative is required (i.e. the import of goods in Greece, any Intra-Community acquisitions in Greece etc.),
- the local sales in Greece to the foreign principal company’s customers,
- any expenses made on the account of the foreign principal company,
- the corresponding VAT on all the above transactions.
- Generally, all the obligations and rights arising from the Greek VAT legislation in relation to the activities of the foreign principal company.
- To the extent the company will carry out activities that are subject to VAT, it will have the right to deduct the VAT charged on its purchases/imports (costs) from the output VAT charged on its sales (setoff). Any excess input VAT may be requested for refund from the Greek tax authorities.
Required documentation and procedure
The required documentation and procedure for acquiring a Greek VAT number through the appointment of a Fiscal Representative in Greece are provided by Ministerial Circular POL 1281/1993. All the required documentation is submitted before the competent tax office in Greece, which is the tax office where the Fiscal Representative is registered with.
Any person (individual or legal entity) can be appointed as a Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes on the condition that they are established in Greece, and they are persons subject to VAT.
The Fiscal Representative is jointly and severally liable with the foreign company (i.e. the principal) for any Greek VAT liabilities that arise for the foreign company in Greece.
Acquisition of an EORI number (Economic Operator Registration and Identification number)
In case of customs related obligations (e.g. for imports of goods in Greece), the company would also need to obtain an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, in order to be able to import non-EU goods into Greece, provided that it does not already have an EORI number that has been issued by any EU Member State.
In specific, the EORI number is a unique identification number in the customs territory of the European Union that is granted by the competent customs authorities of the EU Member States to economic operators who, as part of their business activities, are involved in transactions governed by customs legislation. The EORI number is valid throughout the European Union and when an economic operator receives an EORI number from one EU Member State, it must use this it in all its transactions with the customs authorities of all Member States of the European Union, such as for:
- the reporting of goods before their arrival and before their departure, when such goods respectively enter or leave the customs territory of the EU
- the process of import and release for free circulation, export and transit.
In addition, the EORI number is used by customs authorities when exchanging information on the movement of goods.
Economic Operators, in order to obtain an EORI number, must submit or send by e-mail to the competent Customs Authorities, an Application-Declaration accompanied by the necessary supporting documents, as the case may be. In specific, for the case where the economic operator is a non-EU company, the supporting documents include mainly documents for the identification/legalization of the foreign company and its details, such as recent Articles of Association of the Company and/or a recent Goodstanding Certificate issued by the foreign Commercial Registry or other competent foreign authority etc. Additionally, a Solemn Declaration may be required to declare that the company does not already have an EORI number issued by another EU Member State.
The competent Customs Authorities for the issuance are:
a) for economic operators having their registered office in Greece, the Customs Authority of their place of establishment
b) for economic operators having their registered office in a non-EU country, when performing one of the customs procedures defined in article 5 of Regulation 2446/2015 for the first time in Greece (e.g. an import/export or any other transaction subject to the customs legislation of the EU), the Customs Authority of their first transaction.
Once the EORI number is issued, it is linked with the Greek VAT number that will be issued in Greece through the appointment of the Fiscal Representative and it shall be declared in all the customs declarations required to be made for the company’s transactions governed by the customs legislation.
Appointment of an Indirect Customs Representative
In addition to the above, the non-EU company would also be required to appoint an Indirect Customs Representative in Greece, in order to be able to make imports in Greece.
This requirement derives from the applicable EU customs legislation and namely EU Reg. 952/2013 and implementing EU Reg. 2015/2446, 2015/2447 etc, as well as by Ministerial Circular 1125/2016.
The terms and conditions as well as process for the Indirect Customs Representative (and for Customs Representatives in general) are governed by recent Law 4955/2022, which has modernised the framework and has replaced the older and previously applicable Law 718/1977.
The Indirect Customs Representative may be any person, individual or legal entity, who is appointed by another person in order to fulfil on his behalf the required customs declarations. The appointment is made through a general or special electronic authorization via the electronic services of the Customs Authorities.
The Indirect Customs Representative acts in his own name but on behalf of the person he is representing, and he is jointly and severally liable with the principal for all customs taxes/duties etc. He must be established in the EU, and he does not need to be a licensed customs agent. Moreover, the same person may be appointed as an Indirect Customs Representative and a Fiscal Representative for VAT purposes. However, taking into account that the Indirect Customs Representative would be dealing with the customs procedures/declarations etc., it is common in practice to be a customs agent.
* The information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as at the time of writing. We have no obligation to update it. We accept no responsibility against any third party who is not a client of the firm and has not signed the terms of our engagement.