Greece’s Ministries of Finance and Labor have recently set out tax relief and other measures that will be offered starting in the year 2025. The measures that will be implemented refer to new parents, daycare vouchers, a rise in the minimum wage, pension increases, social contribution reductions etc.
We outline below in brief the new measures that are already or will be incorporated into Draft bills which will be discussed and voted soon by the Greek Parliament. Upon voting, the measures will be in effect as of January 1st, 2025.
Freelancers and Entrepreneurs:
• The annual duty that was reduced from Euro 650 to Euro 325 in the year 2023, will be abolished as of January 1st 2025. The measure will apply for the income tax filing of the year 2024.
• The minimum amount of the presumptive income reported and taxed as of the year 2023, for certain categories of freelances and entrepreneurs becomes lower (conditions linked to the activity performed, the population of the area from where the duties are performed etc. are taken in account for the said reduction).
Income from rentals
• Natural persons who are owners of Greek Real Estate, who decide to rent out with a long-term lease agreement a property that was reported previously as vacant will avail of an income tax exemption of the entire rental received for the next 3 years. The same exemption will apply for properties that were on short term leasing for the last 3 years and are now transferred to long term ones.
• Eligibility to the above requires the fulfillment of certain conditions i.e. size of the property, use as a residence etc.
• Abolishment of stamp duty on a range of transactions i.e. interest on business loans and credits, insurance transactions, establishment and capital increase of non-profit legal entities, various licenses to exercise a profession or start an activity, marriage and divorce deeds and its replacement of an online transaction fee. Currently the stamp duty ranges between 1,2% to 3,6%.
• Greece and Japan signed off a Double Tax Treaty for the Avoidance of Double Taxation which will come into force shortly.
• Nursery school vouchers provided by employers to their employees will not be subject to income tax.
• Monetary financial benefits up to Euro 5.000 provided from employers to their employees who become new parents, are not subject to income. The amount of the benefit should be paid in period of 12 months following the delivery of the baby and can be increased by 5.000 for each dependent child of the family.
• The annual Real Estate Tax (namely ENFIA) discount of 10%, provided last year, for properties that are insured against the 3 natural disasters, is now doubled to 20% for properties which the objective value (this is calculated by the Ministry of Finance based on a specific formula and is usually lower than the market value) up to Euro 500,000.
• The application of Value Added Tax (VAT) on new buildings will be extended until the end of the year 2025.
• As of January 1st, 2025, the social security contribution rate will be reduced at 1%, equally split between the employers and their employees.
• Abolishment of the premium paid to the Insurance company (15%) for Health contracts for under – aged (up to years 18) children. In the case of a family or Group Contract, the levy will be reduced in proportion to the number of the under-aged members it covers.
• The duty charged against the Climate Crisis Resilience to Hotels and other touristic enterprises, will be increased from Euro 0,5 to 5 per room/per day, for the period from April until October.
• For the short-term rentals the same fee is increased from Euro 0,5 to 2 per day, for the period of the winter months and from Euro 1,5 to 8 per day, for the summer period.
• A special fee will be imposed per each passenger disembarking from a cruise ship at each port of the country, during the period from June until September. For the ports at Myconos and Santorini the fee is expected to be Euro 20 whereas for the other ports of the country Euro 5.
Contact us
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Lina Foka
Tax Director
Evangelia Nouskali
Tax Senior Manager
Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com
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