If you are a freelancer or an independent contractor working in Greece, you are liable to register and pay VAT in Greece. The Greek government levies a standard VAT rate of 24%, although specific goods and services fall under the reduced rates of 13% and 6%. The General Tax Code contains all the information regarding the Greek VAT law, while the Greek Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with local tax offices, is responsible for administering VAT.
If you want to hire and manage Greece-based freelancers, we have a dedicated guide just for you. If you are a freelancer looking to navigate the Greek VAT laws, this simplified article will tell you everything you need to know. Let’s get started!
There are four different VAT rates, and freelancers must charge their clients and customers based on the goods and services they sell.
There is no VAT registration threshold for freelancers in Greece; hence, you must register for VAT if you meet any of the following conditions:
If you are an expat freelancer selling your services to consumers over the internet, the VAT registration threshold is €35,000 per year. Therefore, as soon as your annual sales revenue exceeds €35,000, you are liable to register for VAT. You don’t need to set up a local practice or company; however, like any other taxable people in Greece, you are liable to report VAT, complete payments and comply with all the VAT legislation.
Click here to view more scenarios that determine when you might need to apply for VAT.
Related: Legal obligations when working as a freelancer in Greece.
Once you have determined that you are liable to register for VAT in Greece, you can register by submitting an M2 form (‘Statement of Commencement/Change of Operations of a Natural Person’) to the Greek Tax office. If ever you change your practice, you can submit the same form to indicate the change in your operations to the tax office.
You must prepare the following documents to submit for VAT registration:
If you are a permanent resident of Greece or any EU country, you do not need a fiscal representative. However, if you are an expat freelancer providing services to customers in Greece, you need to find a fiscal representative for tax-related purposes.
Alternatively, if you have customers in multiple countries across the EU, you can register using the Mini One-Stop-Shop, which can help you collect and report all of your VAT in a single tax return. This also means you don't need to register for VAT individually in multiple EU countries.
After your VAT registration is complete, be sure to have these following financial obligations in check as a freelancer:
Issuing a VAT invoice is a must as you cannot claim VAT on goods and services already supplied without invoices.
You should submit returns detailing all sales and costs quarterly before the 25th of the month following the reporting period. However, if you exceed €150,000 per year in purchases and €90,000 per year in dispatches, you must submit reports monthly.
If you are registered in the VAT MOSS system, you can maintain your financial records electronically in the VAT MOSS portal. However, you must keep copies of all transaction records for around ten years, as you are accountable if any legal authority asks for them.
You should maintain clear, complete, and precise records of the following documents:
Xolo can help you stay 100% VAT compliant and never miss out on any steps! We automatically generate, send, and store all your invoices digitally, so you won’t have to worry about misplacing them over the next decade.
The VAT registration process can be tricky at times, but we hope this guide has helped clear your doubts! If you’re still confused about the different schemes and numbers, and paperwork, Xolo offers a range of solutions that handle all the hassle while you focus on your core competencies.
With Xolo Go, you can easily freelance and invoice your clients cross border, even without a registered company or LLC. You'll get an automated VAT calculator and an instant invoice generator which helps you stay compliant when invoicing your clients. Signing up takes only 10 minutes, and once you do, legal compliance, and all the tricky VAT calculations are all automatically taken care of in the background!
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Connect with us today, we’ll help you get your one-person business up and handle your freelancer's VAT concerns in no time!