Greece’s finance ministry is ready to table, possibly in the early morning hours of Wednesday, a draft bill aimed at curbing the long-standing problem of widespread tax evasion and avoidance in the east Mediterranean country, legislation primarily aimed at self-employed professionals, independent business owners and craftsmen.
Among others, self-employed professionals and all businesses will be required to register revenues and expenditures on an online system fielded by the tax bureau (AADE).
Other highlights include the prohibition of cash transactions in real estate purchases, stricter regulation of the short-term lease sector (the so-called AirBnB market), banning wholesale fuel vendors from supplying businesses convicted for fuel smuggling, as well as connecting POS devices with cash registers in all enterprises, and even mandating such devices for retail sectors previously excluded.
Additionally, self-employed professionals will be taxed based on a minimum presumed yearly income, which will be set at 10,900 euros per year. However, a taxpayer will retain the right to prove that annual income for a specific year was less than the aforementioned level.
Conversely, one welcome tax break is the reduction, by half, of the special fee that all freelancers/self-employed pay annually regardless of declared income. The fee, ranging from 500 to 650 euros, will be completely abolished in 2025, the government has promised.
