On 25 June 2021, the Tax Administration issued a Circular E. 2130 /2021, which includes additional guidelines in relation to the application of domestic law and double tax treaty provisions with respect to tax residency and permanent establishment (PE) rules. It also updates the previous Circular E. 2113/2020 and covers the period as of 15 June 2020.

According to the new Circular, the tax residence of natural and legal persons is not changed by the mere fact of being unable to move due to COVID-19. During the above period started from 9 November 2020 until 14 May 2021, the stay in Greece of persons exercising legal entities management is not taken into account when examining the place of exercise of actual management to determine the tax residence of the legal entity, provided that this stay is exclusively due to COVID-19 related restrictions. It should be noted that in the previous circular, the tax authority excluded the period from 18 March to 15 June 2020, as the first period of objective incapacity for movement. In any case, as far as the period from 15 June 2020 to 9 November 2020 is concerned, the issue will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The new VAT rules for cross-border e-commerce activities from business to the final consumer – not subject to tax (B2C) are effective from 1 July 2021. In particular, the existing threshold, established by the respective country (35,000 or 100,000 euros) for intra-Community distance sales is abolished. The new provisions now set a new limit of € 10,000 referring to the entire EU, below which intra-Community distance selling of goods can continue to be subject to VAT in the Member State, where the company is established. If companies exceed this threshold, they will be able to pay the tax due in the other Member States through the one-stop-shop (OSS).