Significant rise in state revenues from VAT

A report presented by the tax service on Monday showed a significant rise in state revenues from VAT and transparency in transactions over the years 2023-2024.

The report, "Evolution of VAT taxation data and electronic payments by sector, 2024/2023," was presented by Independent Authority for Pubic Revenue (AADE) Governor George Pitsilis. Attending the event were Deputy Premier Kostis Hatzidakis and National Economy & Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, as well as Deputy Minister George Kotsiras.

The report's three main conclusions are as follows:

- VAT data from 2024 shows that the full operation of linking POS machines with cash registers (in sectors where it is mandatory), contributed substantially to expanding the tax base, particularly in the tertiary sector. Of the additional 8.3 billion euros in epayments, 7.5 billion euros relate to tertiary sector transactions.

- The replacement of cash by epayments has led to disclosure of undeclared transactions, directly boosting ascertained VAT revenues (by at least 500 million euros), and at a later stage, expected revenues from future-use income tax. The greatest rise in ascertained VAT taxation was registered in four sectors: food businesses (37.9% increase), taxis (32.9%), accomodation (19.7%) and car repair shops (19.4%).

- An improvement in the ratio of input/output flow, combined with the increase of ascertained VAT and consistent collection rate, both in revenues terms and in terms of tax compliance and transparency.

Speaking at the event, Hatzidakis, former finance minister, noted that the government redoubled its efforts in 2023 to reduce the loss in VAT revenues recorded from 2018 to 2022, and did so through the economy's growth, myDATA platform, and POS machines with cash registers. Despite initial doubts about a successful outcome, he said, "due to these [actions], the government has reduced 72 separate taxes since 2019."
Also commenting on the report were Pierrakakis, who oversaw the digitization of state services for the public, and Pitsilis.

AMNA