In an interview with powergame.gr, Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance, through Deputy Minister Giorgos Kotsiras, outlined the government’s tax and customs agenda, centred on a customs code overhaul now in public consultation to modernise procedures and strengthen enforcement against tax evasion and smuggling. He also confirmed that the “objective” property values used for taxation will remain unchanged at least until 2027 to avoid adding to sales-price pressures and tax burdens. The draft customs code would digitise and simplify customs controls and connect customs with other public enforcement bodies, introduce stricter penalties for import undervaluation and accelerate the utilisation of seized vehicles. Measures highlighted as affecting day-to-day operations include digitalised handwritten signatures during customs checks, electronic service of penalty decisions, extended customs opening hours and a requirement for retail businesses to accept instant payments via the IRIS system. The bill also includes faster procedures to classify overdue debts as uncollectible to help AADE focus on collectible arrears, alongside provisions on car registration tax relief for families, the tax treatment of employer-paid hospitalisation costs and an exemption for vehicles used by volunteer firefighting organisations. On compliance and revenue, the deputy minister cited more than EUR 2bn in additional 2024 receipts from anti-evasion and undeclared-work measures and pointed to fully operational POS-to-cash-register connectivity as a driver for improved results in 2025. VAT-gap data cited showed a reduction from 29% in 2017 to 13.7% in 2022, with parliamentary budget office estimates putting it below 10%, and AADE targeting the European Union average by 2029; separate legislation before parliament on public accounting was referenced as including a November “one-rent” refund and an extension of the renovation expense tax deduction up to EUR 16,000.

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