Greece: Draft bill on electronic payments adopted

The draft bill regarding electric payments has been adopted by the parliament on 21^st December 2016 and it was presented to the parliament for approval on 12^th December 2016. On the basis of the adopted text, companies that receive transactions by electronic means must inform their customers accordingly; otherwise, they will get a penalty of EUR 1,000. This obligation starts from 1^st February 2017. Also, taxpayers will be obliged to use part of their income via electronic payments (in Greece or in the EU/EEA) for maintaining the applicable tax reduction. More precisely, 10% minimum expenditure percentage will be applicable for income up to EUR 10,000,; for income from EUR 10,000 to EUR 30,000, the minimum expenditure percentage will be 15%; and for income above EUR 30,000, the minimum expenditure percentage will be 20%, capped at EUR 30,000. Taxpayers who are more than 70 years old or disabled taxpayers or taxpayers under guardianship or taxpayers who are tax resident in the EU/EEA (under the conditions of article 20 of the Income Tax Code) and taxpayers who file a tax return in Greece with respect to their employment income/pension in Greece are exempt from the obligation to use electronic means of payment for their transactions. All the exemptions and above-mentioned percentages can apply from 2017 financial years and the following years. An addition to the draft is that the Evros prefecture is included in the provision regarding the 30% reduction of VAT rates. The bill applies upon publication in the Official Government Gazette.