E-receipts: Which "build" 30% of income - all the secrets

From the tax year 2020 onwards, the costs of acquiring goods and receiving services in the country or in member states of the European Union or the EEA, incurred by taxpayers, must be paid by electronic means of payment of domestic or foreign origin .

Electronic means of payment include cards and means of payment with cards (debit or credit cards, prepaid cards), payment through a payment account of Payment Service Providers (credit transfer, direct debit orders, standing orders, bank or postal checks ), through electronic banking (e-banking), electronic wallet (e-wallet), paypal, etc., as well as the payment of cash at a counter or at an easy-pay machine.
The required amount of expenses with electronic means of payment for each tax year is set at a percentage of 30% of the actual income (not the greater between actual and imputed, as was the case until FY 2019), arising in the country and/or abroad and comes from salaried work and pensions, from business activity and from real estate and up to €20,000.00 of expenses. For the taxpayer whose one or more accounts are seized, except for the non-seized account, the limit of expenses that must be paid using electronic means of payment within the tax year is limited to five thousand 5,000.00 euros. Also in the case that the expenses, which have been incurred within each tax year and concern personal income tax payments and ENFIA, regardless of the time of their certification, personal or professional loan obligations to financial institutions (in Greece or abroad) and for rent , exceed 60% of actual income, then the required spending percentage is limited to 20%.
The following categories of taxpayers are exempt from the obligation to make expenses with electronic means of payment and are not required to provide receipts:

1. Taxpayers who by the end of each tax year have reached the age of 70
2. People with a disability rate of 80% or more.
3. Those who are in legal aid.
4. Foreign tax residents who are required to submit a declaration in Greece.
5. Public officials and civil servants serving abroad, as well as tax residents of Greece who live or work abroad.
6. Minors who are required to submit an income tax return.
7. Those serving their mandatory military service.
8. Taxpayers who live permanently in villages with a population of up to 500 inhabitants and on islands with a population of less than 3,100 inhabitants, unless they are tourist sites.
9. Taxpayers who are in a state of long-term hospitalization (beyond six (6) months).
10. Those who live in nursing homes and mental institutions.
11. The prisoners.

The costs of acquiring goods and receiving services with electronic means of payment that are taken into account for the expenditure limit, as long as they are incurred in the country or in member states of the European Union or the EEA. are included in the following groups of the consumer price index of EL.STAT.:

• Group 1 (Diet and non-alcoholic beverages).
• Group 2 (Alcoholic beverages and tobacco).
• Group 3 (Clothing and footwear).
• Group 4 (Housing), excluding rents.
• Group 5 (Durable goods, household goods and services).
• Group 6 (Health).
• Group 7 (Transport), excluding expenditure on road tax and purchase of vehicles, except bicycles.
• Group 8 (Communications).
• Group 9 (Recreation, cultural activities), excluding the purchase of boats, airplanes and aircraft.
• Group 10 (Education).
• Group 11 (Hotels, cafes, restaurants).
• Group 12 (Other goods and services).

–Since the above expenses are paid in installments, for the calculation of the required amount of expenses, the total amount of the installments settled in the relevant tax year is taken into account.

- Especially, for DEKO accounts, which are in the name of a person other than the one who pays them, the expenses in question are accepted, as long as the person who pays them is also the real user of the property.

– In the case of costs of the common areas, which are paid by the manager of the apartment building/property group with electronic means of payment, these will be taken into account for the tenants or owners according to the amount corresponding to them.

– For those engaged in business activity, those expenses incurred from their professional bank account are also taken into account, as long as they relate to their individual private expenses and not to their business activity.

– Also in the cases of joint bank accounts in financial institutions in Greece or abroad, the beneficial owners, who are determined based on the actual circumstances, can use the accounts in question according to the expenses they make through them. The same applies to credit cards with primary and additional member beneficiaries.

– For the proof of payment by electronic means of payment of said expenses, any suitable means is accepted, such as indicatively, bank statement or copy of bank account statement, detailed image of cards, proof of deposit or payment, print copy of the transaction from the terminal machine (POS) etc. without requiring the collection of evidence.

– The documents (e.g. bank statement) that prove the payment of the expenditure for the acquisition of goods and the receipt of services are kept by the taxpayers until the expiry of the right of the Tax Administration to check the initial declaration (for the financial year 2020 until 31.12.2026).

– The amount of expenses, carried out by electronic means of payment, is declared individually by each spouse or by each party to a cohabitation agreement. In the case of a joint income tax return, where the required amount of expenses is covered by either of the two spouses or parties to a cohabitation agreement, any excess amount may, during the determination of income tax, be transferred to the other spouse or the other party to the cohabitation agreement for any coverage of the required amount of expenses. In the joint declaration, when one of the two spouses or cohabiting partners belongs to the persons of the cases for which it is not required to make expenses with electronic means of payment and if he makes expenses with electronic means of payment, then the declared amount of his expenses may, upon determination of the tax to be transferred to the other spouse or the other party to the cohabitation agreement for any coverage of the minimum required amount of expenses.

– In case the minimum required amount of expenses with electronic means of payment is not covered, then the resulting tax is increased by the amount resulting from the positive difference between the required and the declared amount of expenses with electronic means of payment, multiplied by a factor of 22% .

Until today, there is no variation in the above for 2020, both in terms of a possible variation in the percentage of expenses that must have been collected or the percentage related to the penalty.

Source: https://www.dnews.gr/eidhseis/oikonomia/443171/mouzakis-sto-dnews-perimenoume-ti-diataksi-gia-ti-forologisi-ton-airbnb http://www.enikonomia.gr/my-money/243372,e-apodeixeis-poies-chtizoun-to-30-tou-eisodimatos-ola-ta-mystika-.html