All salaried and self-employed workers with an income less than 12,000 euros annually do not incur a tax burden but are still required to file or will incur a penalty.* The system does not work like other countries to reduce paperwork and bureaucracy, i.e., the USA.
The online tax filing system is a recent innovation and only offered in Greek after the promise of versions in English, French and other languages has gone unfulfilled for several years.
*Starting 2011, the tax-free status is only granted to those who can provide proof of eligible purchases with receipts. See “Income tax and receipts in Greece.”
People who must file a tax return in Greece
* Those whose earned income was more than 3,000 euros, including unemployment income from OAED (6,000 euros for salaried employees if their salary is their sole source of income).
* Those, aside from income, who acquired property by selling another, securing a loan or inheriting it.
* Owners of any car purchased after January 1, 1993 with a depreciated worth equal to or exceeding 50,000 euros.
* Owners of any kind of boat over 10 m long (or smaller if you employed a crew), or aircraft, or truck (including Jeeps). Excludes farmers’ trucks.
* All self-employed professionals or company owners.
* Anyone with an income from rent exceeding 600 euros.
* Anyone who began building a house in the last year or bought property, cars, leisure boats or aircraft.
* Any homeowner (not a renter) living in a house totaling more than 200 square meters.
* Anyone owning a secondary residence (or several), with a total area exceeding 150 sq meters.
* Farmers with an income lower than 3,000 euros but received subsidies in excess of 1,500 euros for plant products or 2,250 euros for animal products.
* Farmers who took loans for professional purposes with an outstanding amount of more than 5,900 euros as of December 31, 2008.
* Farmers cultivating products in greenhouses exceeding 2,000 sq meters (2 stremmas or half an acre).
* Those who sell farm or other products at flea markets or as itinerant sellers.
* Finally, anyone notified by the head of the local tax office in writing to file, aka those suspected of cheating.
Additional notes for dual citizens, couples
EU, non-EU and Greek citizens who are married in any combination file a joint return, with the wife listed as secondary on her husband’s form.
If you are a foreign national living and/or earning income in Greece, you must still file a tax statement back in your home country. And if you are a Greek citizen living abroad earning income in your present country or Greece, you must still report it to both countries.
Nearly all countries have signed agreements to prevent double taxation — meaning if you file and pay in one country, you simply report that to the other country on a designated form and are considered to have fulfilled your legal obligations. Australia and Canada have NOT such signed agreements with Greece, thus you will need to investigate what is required in your respective country if from one of these.
Questions and concerns about taxes
Please note that I am not an employee of the Greek state and cannot give tax advice. For many years, I completed my own forms by translating the forms and tax instructions, but for the past 5 years I have employed a competent accountant who files my forms for a fee. Any questions or concerns should be directed at the eforia (DOY tax office) nearest to your local residence (or expatriates office if you are a Greek citizen abroad) or a competent accountant versed in current laws.
If you need to file a form in the USA, filing is easily done online, and the American Embassy usually announces the availability of a consultant who can assist citizens from March 15 to the deadline of every year.
Plagiarism note
After I published this in March 2007, they Greek Consulate of Sydney, Australia plagiarized this article word for word without my permission in May 2007. After three requests and a copyright infringement claim filed with Google, it was finally removed in 2008.
Related posts
“How to get an AFM tax number in Greece”
“DOY eforia tax offices in Greece”
“Save your receipts for tax purposes“
Athens
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Kat on 
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hameed on 
fanny on 
Melissa on 
Marcela on 
Kat Reply:
April 29th, 2008 at 20:15
The answers are in the last section of this article: 1) those people are called accountants — you find one that suits you, you give them your papers, pay them a fee and they file your taxes; and 2) I do not make recommendations or dispense tax advice. All the best.