hero-header

If you’ve got an AFM, you need to submit a tax declaration every year between April and the end of June — even if you didn’t earn any income. You can use this article to learn about:

  • What to declare and when
  • What happens if you miss the deadline
  • How to declare taxes if you're married
  • Where you can ask for help

If you have any more questions about declaring taxes in Greece, please don’t hesitate to message us on Facebook. We will do our best to get you answers as soon as possible.

Who needs to declare taxes

Everyone who has a local tax registration number (AFM), including refugees and asylum-seekers in Greece, are obliged by Greek law to submit an income tax declaration every year.

For both recognized refugees and asylum-seekers (who eventually receive refugee status), declaring taxes is critical to accessing social benefits provided by the Greek state. To apply for certain benefits, such as rent and child allowance, you will need to prove that you've declared your taxes for the last 5 or 10 years.

How to declare

In the income tax declaration, you need to outline your income from the previous year.

If you don’t submit this on time or don’t submit this declaration at all, you will get fined.

Here is what you need to know:

  • The deadline to submit the declaration is June 30. Every year, this deadline is extended for a few more days, but this is only announced a couple of days before the deadline. For 2020 the deadline has been extended until August 31.
  • You can only do it online, through accessing the online TAXISnet platform.
  • You first need to get a registration key ("kleidarithmos" in Greek) if you don’t already have one, by visiting the tax office where you received your AFM. You will need this key number to access the online TAXISnet platform.

What to declare

You need to declare any source of income you earned in Greece during the previous fiscal year, which is between January 1 and December 31, working either as an employee or as a self-employed entrepreneur.

Filing this tax declaration is obligatory, even if you have zero income to declare.

If you are receiving cash assistance, you can declare it through this procedure. On the income declaration form, there is a specific field where you can enter amounts you received as assistance which are not taxable.

However, in reality, this is difficult to do and here is why.

If you declare your cash assistance, accountants should ask for an official statement showing how much you received during the previous fiscal year. At the time of writing, UNHCR and cash organizations were not yet able to provide such a statement but were working on a solution in order to inform accountants and the Greece Cash Alliance helpline.

In the meantime, if you have been able to note down each payment you received through cash assistance, you can try declaring the total amount yourself on the tax declaration without any official statement. Though some accountants still won’t accept this without an official statement and will advise you not to declare it.

Refugee.Info looked into this issue with the Greek Ministry of Finance, UNHCR and accountants who support refugees and asylum-seekers in the tax declaration process, but they were not yet able not provide an appropriate solution.

Accountants who support refugees and asylum-seekers in Greece told Refugee.Info that in the end, it doesn’t make a significant difference if you aren’t able to declare your cash assistance as the amounts are small. If you have more questions on this, you can always speak to an accountant who can advise you on your specific case.

 

What do I do if I’m married?

If you are married, you have the option to either submit an income declaration jointly with your spouse or to submit a tax declaration separately.

If your spouse has received his/her AFM from a different tax office (DOY), you can still submit the annual tax declaration together with both of your AFMs included.

Then taxes and contributions, if any, will be calculated separately for each one of you.

The tax clearance certificate

After you submit your annual tax declaration, you will automatically get a tax clearance certificate (“ekkatharistiko” in Greek), which you can print at any time through the online TAXISnet platform.

You may need a printed copy of this certificate in order to:

  • Inform your personal details at a bank
  • Rent a house
  • Apply for some social benefits
  • Register for social insurance, etc.

What if I miss the deadline?

If you don't submit the income tax declaration within the given deadlines, you will get fined. Fines are:

  • € 100 for individuals
  • € 250 for self-employed individuals who own a personal company
  • € 500 for those who run a larger company with employees

An interest of 0.73% is added to the above fines, for every month of delay in submitting the tax declaration.

Where I can ask for help?

You can hire a private accountant to prepare and submit the annual tax declaration on your behalf.

The estimated cost is from € 30 to € 50 for a simple, zero income tax declaration. A larger fee is charged depending on how complex your income tax declaration is.

Alternatively, there are some organizations that can support you for free.

If you are in Athens, the following organizations can provide free consultation on how to access the online TAXISnet platform and submit your income tax declaration:

If you are in Thessaloniki, here are some organizations that can help:

If you are at a tax office and you need help with the language, you can try the Tarjimly translation mobile app.

Best of luck and make sure you get your paperwork in before the deadline!