The headquarters of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).
Three out of four enterprises in Greece show losses or profits below the minimum wage in their tax returns. Small and personal companies do not fall under any kind of “minimum taxable income,” so the tax they are required to pay depends on the content of the books and the auditing capabilities of the state mechanism.
The contribution of companies to the tax burden remains much lower compared to other countries, although the tax rate is not higher than the OECD average.
This “Greek reality” increases the need to intensify tax audits and dust off the content of e-books in order to further increase the taxable material. The goal is very specific: to document that in 2025 the corporate income tax will be more profitable, not only due to the increase in economic activity that would bring in more revenue anyway, but also thanks to the reduction of tax evasion, which is also estimated to be widespread in the business sector.
If in the summer of 2025 the European Commission is convinced of the collection performance of the MyDATA system, which will also be used to stop the massive use of “business expenses” even through virtual invoices, the way will be opened to finance new tax breaks that the government wants to introduce for the middle class.
The phenomenon of employers declaring less profits than their employees is not only found in the field of individual businesses, but is also widespread in the world of legal entities. Of the approximately 333,000 legal entities that file a tax return each year, 130,000 declare losses (many of them have been consistently loss-making for several years), while another 115,000 legal entities show either zero results or profits of up to 10,000 euros (the annual income of someone earning the minimum wage is €11,620).
The year is closing with a significant increase in corporate income tax takings. While €6.7 billion was budgeted, estimates raise collections to €7.8 billion. For 2025, however, a much smaller increase is forecast, just €120 million, to nearly €8 billion.