{"id":7106,"date":"2026-05-24T08:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T05:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=7106"},"modified":"2026-05-24T08:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T05:59:00","slug":"tax-office-fines-for-late-returns-are-cancelled-refunds-to-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=7106","title":{"rendered":"Tax Office: fines for late returns are cancelled – Refunds to taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

New framework applies from now on for thousands of taxpayers<\/strong> and businesses that have filed or will file late returns with the ADC. <\/p>\n

Specifically, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance has made changes to the Code of Tax Procedures<\/strong>, putting an end to the imposition of high fines in cases where no substantial tax burden results. <\/p>\n

The new regulation mainly applies to returns filed late but that do not result in tax to be paid or the resulting amount is very small. <\/p>\n

An end to high fines for typical violations <\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

Based on Article 37<\/strong> of Law 5301, the tax administration will no longer automatically impose the fines of 100, 250 or 500 euros<\/strong> for each late declaration. <\/p>\n

The penalties are not abolished in their entirety, but are significantly reduced in cases with no financial impact. <\/p>\n

The changes are already effective from 15 May 2026<\/strong>, the date of publication of the law. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, for those who have already paid fines in the previous two years, a refund or set-off procedure is provided. <\/p>\n

Who is exempt from fines <\/h2>\n

Under the new regime, no fines will be imposed in the following cases: <\/p>\n

    \n
  • Late initial income tax returns<\/strong> when a zero or credit statement results, but also when the tax payable does not exceed 100 euros<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • Informative declarations<\/strong> that are submitted late and do not give rise to a tax liability.<\/li>\n
  • Indirect tax returns filed by the due date, fees or contributions<\/strong> – except for VAT<\/strong> and FMA<\/strong> – when the tax due does not exceed EUR 100.<\/li>\n
  • Late tax withholding declarations<\/strong>, except for gambling tax declarations, when the amount to be refunded is up to EUR 100.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    In addition, an exemption is provided for returns filed on behalf of minor children<\/strong>, as well as for liabilities relating to years in which the taxpayer was a minor. <\/p>\n

    The regulation also covers the parent’s return, in the portion relating to income of a minor child. <\/p>\n

    What changes to VAT returns <\/h2>\n

    For late returns VAT<\/strong>, the penalty remains, but is significantly reduced. <\/p>\n

    If there is no tax to pay, the fine is now 100 euros<\/strong>, instead of 250 or 500 euros<\/strong> that used to apply depending on the category of business or professional. <\/p>\n

    At the same time, the 100 euro fine for special VAT schemes is abolished. <\/p>\n

    What applies to amending declarations<\/h2>\n

    Changes are also planned for amending declarations<\/strong> submitted by the deadline in order to correct errors. <\/p>\n

    No penalty will be imposed: <\/p>\n

    a) on a late amended income tax return of an individual or legal entity, where the resulting additional tax difference is up to 100 euros<\/strong>, <\/p>\n

    (b) an overdue amended return of VAT<\/strong> or withholding tax, if the original return was submitted on time. <\/p>\n

    Retroactive refunds for payments from 2024<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

    The new provisions apply retroactively from 19 April 2024<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

    This means that taxpayers who paid fines for such offences can get their money back. <\/p>\n

    The ADC<\/strong> is expected to issue instructions on the process of writing off, refunding or offsetting the amounts. <\/p>\n

    In cases where the fine has not yet been collected, the process will be stopped and the amount will not be sought. <\/p>\n

    Where only a reduction of the fine is foreseen, such as in VAT returns, the enforcement act will be amended, the debt will be recalculated and the additional amounts will be refunded or offset against other liabilities. <\/p>\n

    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \n A new framework applies from now on for thousands of taxpayers and businesses that have submitted or will submit overdue returns to ADDE….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}