Keeping up with compliance | Greece update

In the wake of India’s upcoming mandate, the spike in countries moving to formalise their usage of e-invoicing is still going strong.  

Greece has now shed some light on their long-discussed plans to improve their national VAT gap, with a strong indication they will now move forward with their intention of developing those plans further.  

A Step Forward 

On February 14th, the Greek Ministry of Finance adopted a law that will have a dramatic impact on businesses in the country. The law was published in the Government Gazette on the very same day and was therewith effective immediately.  

In a bid to fight indirect tax evasion, the Greek government is adopting an invoice clearance model that is similar to Mexico’s current setup. Like PAC’s in Mexico, authorised service providers will act as a proxy to the government and will clear and create legal tax invoices on behalf of the suppliers.  

The Devil’s in the Details  

Invoices must be electronic; however, they can be in hard copy if requested. In addition, they must mention specific data, for example, the specific unique reference number (also known as a MARC), and Service Provider information must be digitally signed.  

At the same time, the service provider must report aggregated tax data to the AADE (Greek Tax Authority) in a prescribed schema and format within 5 business days.  

Crucially, the exact dates around the implementation of the Greek mandate are still unknown. Tungsten Network is currently reviewing all articles of law that apply (and there are many) to the mandate and will keep you updated on progress and developments. What the developments in Greece can tell us, despite the current lack of clarity, is that the compliance landscape is particularly fluid at the moment and changes are occurring with increasing regularity.  

In the meantime 

While we monitor all the various mandates and changes occurring globally, you can still learn about some of the more concrete invoicing compliance changes world-wide. I hosted a Compliance Nightmares webinar on March 12th, in which I explored the pitfalls of non-compliance and how to negotiate the changing regulatory landscape.

Listen to the ‘Compliance Nightmares’ replay

Source: The Greek Authorities issued a Ministerial Decision (A. 1017/2020) February 14th, 2020