The European Union’s Council Implementing Decision 2025/502 (the Decision), which grants Greece authorisation to implement a special measure deviating from Articles 218 and 232 of the VAT Directive (2006/112), was published On 13 March 2025.
According to the Decision, Greece is authorised to accept invoices only from taxable persons established in its territory in electronic format by way of derogation from article 218 of the VAT Directive (2006/112). Additionally, Greece is authorised to allow the use of electronic invoices by taxable persons in its territory without requiring acceptance by the recipient, overriding Article 232 of the VAT Directive (2006/112).
This follows a letter registered with the Commission on 2 July 2024, in which Greece requested an authorisation for a special measure to derogate from Articles 218 and 232 of Directive 2006/112/EC to introduce mandatory electronic invoicing for all transactions carried out between taxable persons established in the territory of Greece (the ‘special measure’).
The special measure was requested from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2027.
Greece states that implementing the special measure would enable electronic invoice data to be sent directly to the myDATA platform. This would provide high-quality information in real-time, helping the Greek tax administration quickly detect non-declaration or under-declaration of VAT.
Earlier, on 13 January 2024, the EU Commission published a proposal for a Council Implementing Decision, authorising Greece to introduce a special measure under Directive 2006/112/EC to impose mandatory electronic invoicing for transactions.
