All EU member states have a fixed format for their VAT numbers. In Greece, it includes 9 digits and the prefix EL (e.g., EL123456789).
The standard VAT rate in Greece is 24%, with reduced rates of 13% and 6% on certain goods and services. Some goods and services are exempt from Greek VAT, such as medical, educational, insurance services, exports, and international transport.
Special (reduced by 30%) standard VAT rates, namely 17%, 9%, and 4%, apply to certain Greek islands (i.e., Lesvos, Leros, Kos, Chios, Samos).
All businesses with a Greek VAT number must submit periodic VAT reports and payments.
For all companies that operate in Greece, VAT returns must be submitted monthly or quarterly, depending on the annual revenue of the business entity.
In the case of the late filing of VAT returns and payments, the Greek government prescribed the penalties as follows:
According to Art. 09 of the Greek VAT Act, invoices must contain at least the following information:
In case of violations related to the non-issuance or inaccurate issuance of tax records (invoice or retail receipt), a procedural penalty of EUR 250 or EUR 500 depending on the books kept by the entity applies per violation. In cases of repeated violations (i.e., traced in two or more tax audits), additional penalties may be imposed.
Electronic invoicing in Greece is permitted but still not mandatory at this moment.
The Greek authorities announced their intention to introduce mandatory e-invoicing and e-bookkeeping rules for all B2B transactions.
Electronic invoices and electronic books will be transmitted to the AADE (Greek Independent Authority for Public Revenue) via myDATA portal monthly or quarterly, depending on the filling frequency of the taxpayer. Submitting the data needs to be done before the 20th day after the end of the month in which the relevant invoices were issued.
Live transmission of data will allow AADE to detect possible errors, frauds, and VAT discrepancies on issued invoices. According to some rumors from the financial and tax industries, new e-invoicing and e-bookkeeping rules could be adopted in 2021.
Date updated [May 12, 2021]
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