Greece: The latest on e-invoicing & e-reporting

Tax evasion has been a particular problem for Greece, significantly falling behind other EU countries in tax collection efforts. According to the European Commission, around 30% of the VAT in Greece goes unpaid.

Raising the tax isn’t the answer in this scenario — the problem lies with a lack of transparency surrounding VAT. Therefore, the government has decided to digitalize tax reporting to address the growing tax gap. 

Despite the decision to change the reporting rules being made in the summer of 2019, coronavirus threw a spanner in the works and delayed the rollout of the new reporting platform. However, as of November 2021, all taxpayers in Greece will be required to submit their books to an online platform called myDATA.

Continue reading to learn more about the myDATA platform and how you can comply with the new live reporting rules. 

MyDATA, which stands for “My Digital Accounting and Tax Application,” is the new electronic platform through which businesses must submit their accounting books to build a transparent record for tax purposes. 

These submissions are different from VAT declarations, the process for which will not change. However, the tax authorities will cross-reference the VAT declaration with the data submitted through myDATA. If the information doesn’t match up, companies will have two months to correct or justify any discrepancies. If they fail to do so, companies will be subject to an audit.

Only businesses established in Greece subject to the Greek Accounting Standards and making supplies to other businesses must report their records through myDATA. In other words, invoice issuers. 

The recipients of invoices don’t need to record the invoice if the issuer has already reported it. 

The following sets of information must be recorded through the platform:

• E-Invoices: Sales VAT invoices (for domestic B2B transactions), plus records of purchase e-invoices that have been received.
• E-Books: Accounting general ledger transactions, payroll, fixed asset transactions (including depreciation). B2C and cross-border transactions not included in e-invoice data will be added to the e-books.

Under the new regulations, it’s important to note that businesses do not need to issue e-invoices. They do, however, need to record their sales invoices through the platform.

The Greek government has established four ways to send information to the myDATA platform:

• Directly through your accounting ERP
• Through an e-invoice service provider
• Manually through the myDATA platform (only for small companies)
• Using certified electronic cash registers for retail sales transactions

The new e-invoicing rules can be difficult to navigate. However, Avalara can take the stress out of the process, letting you focus on higher-value tasks. 

Learn more about how you can future-proof your business with Avalara’s e-invoicing and live reporting solutions.