Greece

• Shipping companies of Art. 25, L.27/1975, are exempted from both the insurance premium tax and business tax

The No 1028/2017 interpretative Circular issued by the Department of Indirect Taxation (Faculty
A’ VAT) states, inter alia, that they are exempted from premium tax (as established by Art. 29
para. 1, L.3429/2006, as amended and applicable), “the insurance policies concluded by foreign
or domestic shipping companies covered by L.27/1975, are subjective exemptions granted by
Art. 25 and 26 of this law to specific legal persons (private legal entities) and cannot be removed
by a subsequent general provision of law”.
Additionally, by the No 1031/2017 Interpretative Circular issued by the General Department of
the Faculty of the Application of Direct Taxation (Faculty C’-B’) the No. 324/2016 Opinion of the
First Regular Plenary Session of the Legal Council of State was notified, which decided by
majority that the offices or branches of foreign shipping companies settled in Greece under the
provisions of Art. 25 of L. 27/1975, are not subject to the business tax of Art. 31 of L. 3986/2011,
on the grounds that:
“…the provisions of Art. 25 paragraph 3 subparagraph first of L.27/1975, which provide
exemption from any tax, duty, contribution upon the income and are manifestly specific,
with regards to those established tax exemptions for shipping companies under the
regulatory control of the said law, because they are included in the, of major importance
for the general interest, basic special legislative shipping fiscal institutional framework
of the above law … and therefore supersede any subsequent contrary general tax law
provision, and any subsequent tax uniform in the subject to the income tax falls within,
as is the disputed tax under Art. 31 of L.3986/2011…”.

• Guidelines for the application of corporate restructurings under the Greek Income Tax Code

On April 7, 2017 the Head of the Independent Authority of Public Revenues issued the No
1057/2017 Interpretative Circular, which provides the guidelines with respect to corporate
restructurings described in the Greek Income Tax Code. The main elements of the said Circular
are the following:

No 1057/2017 Circular clarifies the conditions for the implementation and the tax
benefits granted within the context of local restructurings (effected between local
entities) and cross-border restructurings (between local and EU entities), provided in
Art. 52-55 of the Greek Income Tax code, namely:

• contribution of assets;
• exchange of shares;
• mergers and demergers;
• transfer of the registered seat of a Societas Europaea to an EU member country.

b) The Ministerial Circular clarifies that the framework for the restructurings referred to in
Art. 52-55 of the Income Tax Code is equally implemented to companies having the
form of a Private Company,
c) It is officially confirmed that for local corporate restructurings the companies can opt in
between the provisions of Income Tax Code and either L.2166/1993 or legislative
decree 1297/1972, and
d) Moreover, it is expressed that for cross-border corporate restructurings, L.2578/1998
is still in force and apply in parallel with the provisions of the Income Tax Code

• The shareholders of a foreign shipowning, managing and chartering company are exempted from the tax on the distribution of dividends
• Recent developments to the tax legislation and to the case law

Romania

Draft Law on prevention

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Greece

Amendments/introduction of new tax provisions

The recently published (on 21.12.2016) law 4446/2016 includes amendments to current tax
provisions and also includes new ones. The most significant of these provisions are the following:

1. Voluntary Disclosure of Income of previous years

A new Voluntary Disclosure Program is introduced for the Undeclared Income of
previous years providing for special conditions and importantly reduced fines. The said
legislation is entered into force on 21.12.2016 and applies to the following taxpayers
(both individuals and legal persons):

a) who have not submitted any tax returns or have submitted incomplete or
inaccurate tax returns for all taxes, duties or contributions and for whom no tax
audit has been issued, and
b) for whom an audit mandate has been already issued or will be issued up to
31.05.2017.

• The above described persons are subject, under certain conditions and deadlines each
  one of them, to additional tax which is further re-adjusted from 5% up to 25%
  depending on the year in which the deadline for the submission of the initial tax return
  expired.
• The application of the Voluntary Disclosure Program ensures that no other
  administrative and/or criminal penalties would be imposed to the taxpayer regarding
  the tax infringements restored by the implementation of the Programme, whilst any
  safeguard measures that have been imposed are relieved.
• The tax due shall be paid in a lump sum within 30 days from the submission of the tax
  return. It is mentioned that the tax would not be refunded, whereas the tax payer may
  benefit form the available debt settlement programs.

1. Safeguard and monitoring of transactions
2. Use of electronic means of payment
3.  Airbnb taxation

• The tax treatment of a foreign legal person
• Procedures for the change of the
  name/address – deregistration of a foreign
  entity
• Tax treatment of the received insurance
  payment following the expiration of a
  group insurance policy
• Automatic Exchange of Financial Account
  Information

Romania

Law no. 209/2016 on the amendment and completion of the Urgency Enactment no. 193/2002 regarding the introduction of modern payment systems

EU

The European Commission proposes a Corporate Tax Package

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Greece

• Withholding tax on the interest obtained from natural and legal persons that do not have their tax residence in the Greece and do not maintain a permanent establishment in Greece
• The Council of State changes the taxation for foreign tax residents, Separate tax declarations for spouses with different tax residence

On 29 June 2016, the Council of State issued the No 1445/2016 decision and clarified the issue of the meaning of art. 4, para. 1 L. 4172/2013 (Income Tax Code) with respect to tax residence of
a natural person in Greece.

Specifically, in order to determine if an individual has a domicile in Greece, all the relevant factors must be taken into account. Especially the existence of household, the physical presence of
him/her, the members of his/her family (which does not include only the spouse and his/her children),the place of performance of its professional activities, the place where its property
interests reside, the place of administrative links to public authorities and institutions (insurance, professional, social), the place of the development of its political, cultural or other activities.
Additionally, under the general social and moral attitudes of this period and depending on the socio-economic data of the spouses, the separate residence of them is possible. Thus, if a
married individual is not obligated to submit income tax return in Greece, on the ground that it is not Greek tax resident, it is not obliged to submit a joint tax declaration with his or her spouse,
solely because the spouse, according to art. 4 para. 1 of the above law meets the criteria to qualify as a Greek tax resident, irrespective whether the obligation to submit a joint declaration is
or is not consistent with precedent force provisions.

Moreover, the electronic system of the tax declarations’ submission does not accept different declarations from spouses, in case one of them is Greek tax resident. However, the said system
should be adapted to the rules of tax law and serve the needs of their correct application and not the opposite.

In conclusion, if an individual does not qualify as Greek tax resident, a double residence issue is not raised. Therefore, there is no need to settle it (residence issue) and remove the conflict of
taxation powers between Greece and the other State, which results the application of the Double Taxation Convention between them

• Alterations to tax provisions

Poland

• Tax on Retail Sale in front of the Polish Parliament

Romania

• L. 112/2016 on the approval of the Urgency Enactment No. 41/2015 for the amendment of certain normative acts, as well as on the provision of certain budgetary measures

EU

• The EU Commission proposal for an EU anti-tax avoidance directive was welcomed by the EU Parliament
• BREXIT: potential tax implications on multinational companies

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Greece

• Changes to Tax Provisions
• Alterations to Income Tax Code
• New online services by the General Secretary of Public Revenues
• Incorporation of Directive 2014/107/EU regarding the mandatory exchange of information in the field of taxation
• Incorporation of Directive 2014/86/EU and 2015/121/EU regarding the conditions for exemption from taxation on intra-group dividends
• The unjustified increase of property can be taxed, even if it appears before 30.9.2010, when law 3888/2010 came into force. The issue was solved by the No 884/2016 substantial preliminary ruling of the Council of State
• Certificate of incomes by dividends, interests and royalties

On the 30th of December 2015, the General Secretary of Public Revenues issued the No
1274/30.12.2015 Circular for the form and the content of the certificate of incomes deriving by
dividends, interests and royalties. Specifically, the persons that are obliged to withholding
taxation for payments, subject to the said tax, made either to natural or legal persons are entitled
to grant to them a single certificate. This certificate includes the total amount of incomes by
dividends, interests and royalties paid within the fiscal year and the tax withheld. The same
obligation exists and to cases where no withholding taxation arises. Moreover, the persons that
are obliged to withholding taxation must submit the single certificate of incomes from distributed
dividends from non-listed in the Stock Exchange market legal persons, interests (except the
interests on deposits), and the royalties via TAXISnet or via magnetic tool to the Tax Authority
regardless of keeping single or double entry books and the way they update them (by the
computerized system or handwritten). For the fiscal year 2015 the said certificate must be
submitted until 31st of December 2016.

Poland

A General Anti-Avoidance Rule towards big tax optimisations

Romania

Government Decree on the approval of the Methodological norms for the application of the New Romanian Fiscal Code

EU

Proposal for Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive

International

Country-by-Country Reporting Standard

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Greece

• Amendments to the Tax Procedure Code (C.T.P.) regarding:
  A. Transfer Pricing penalties
  B. Penalties for the inaccurate filing / non-filing of a tax return
  C. Penalties on V.A.T. infringements
  D. Penalties on infringements regarding withholding taxes

On 17 October 2015, Law 4337/2015 introduced amendments which seek the decrease of the
penalties imposed by the Tax Procedure Code.

A. Transfer Pricing penalties

The penalties imposed for the delayed filing / non-filing / filing of inaccurate Summary Information
Table and for the delayed submission / non-submission of the Transfer Pricing Documentation
File are decreased under the new legislation. Moreover, the said penalties are not calculated on
the legal person’s gross profits, but on the value of the intra-group transactions. Specifically:

• Amendments and new provisions to the Tax Legislation regarding:
  A. The regulation of 100 instalments (‘doses’)
  B. The V.A.T. imposition on educational services
  C. The non-recovered income from the lease of real estate property

• The tax treatment of the capital gain of immovable property

Poland

• The answer on how the new government is going to deliver on election promises

Romania

• Applicable tax to the distributed dividends starting with 1 January 2016

Serbia

• The Serbian parliament has adopted the amendments of the Value Added Tax Law whereas their provisions will be coming into effect successively by 1 January, 2017 while Serbian Ministry of Finance has issued an Opinion regarding the V.A.T. status of return of the unsold merchandise

EU

• V.A.T. – deduction of input value

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Amendments to the Tax Legislation, Significant Amendment to Goods and Services Tax Bill,  a New Fiscal Procedure Code in Romania

Greece

Amendments to the Tax Legislation regarding:

On July 15th 2015, the Law 4334/2015 introduced significant amendments to tax provisions, the most
important of which are described herein
A. Insurance Premiums

The tax rate on all insurance premiums, except from life and fire insurance premiums, is increased from
10% to 15%. Any provision regarding exemptions from the tax on insurance premiums is abolished, except
from life insurance premiums for life contracts over 10 years duration. Specifically,

• in General Liability branch, the premium tax is increased from 10% to 15%
• in car insurance branch, all risks, excluding fire, are raised from 10% to 15%, the fire coverage
  remains at 20% and the civil liability is increased from 10% to 15%
• in fire branch the premium tax remains at 20%
• in health branch, the premium tax of 10% is increased to 15%
• in accident branch the premium tax from 10% is increased to 15%
• in shipping and aircraft branch the premium tax rises to 15%
• in transportable commodity branch the premium tax is raised to 15% from 10% regarding importation
  to Greece and 0% regarding exportations
• in the other branches the premium tax is increased from 10% to 15%

B. Value Added Tax
C. Luxury Taxation
D. Special Solidarity Contribution

Amendments to the tax Legislation with regards to:
A. Income Tax Code
B. Value Added Tax, and
C. Shipping Taxation
D. Regulation of 100 Installments (doses)
E. Debt Collection
F. Control of Financial Statements

Poland

Significant Amendment to Goods and Services Tax Bill New Challenges for Electronic and Petrol Business

Romania

Romania will have a New Fiscal Procedure Code starting from 1 January 2016

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Greece

• Combating Corporate Tax Avoidance

On 18 March 2015, the European Commission presented a package of tax transparency measures which
includes a number of initiatives to advance the tax transparency agenda in the European Union.
Specifically:

Assessing possible new transparency requirements for multinationals

The Commission will examine the feasibility of new transparency requirements for companies, such as the
public disclosure of certain tax information by multinationals. The objectives, benefits and risks of any such
initiative need to be carefully considered. Therefore, the Commission will assess the impact of possible
additional transparency requirements to help inform a decision at a later stage.

Reviewing the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation

The Code of Conduct on Business Taxation is one of the EU’s main tools for ensuring fair corporate tax
competition. It sets out the criteria that determine whether a tax regime is harmful or not and it requires
Member States to abolish any harmful tax measures that go against the Code. Member States meet
regularly to assess their compliance with the Code. But over the past years, the Code has become less
effective in addressing harmful tax regimes as its criteria do not take into account more sophisticated
corporate tax avoidance schemes. The Commission will therefore work with Member States to review the
Code of Conduct as well as the mandate of the Code of Conduct Group in order to make it more effective
in ensuring fair and transparent tax competition within the EU

Quantifying the scale of tax evasion and avoidance

The Commission, along with Eurostat, will work with Member States to see how a reliable estimate of the
level of tax evasion and avoidance can be reached. There is growing evidence that evasion and avoidance
are pervasive and cause significant revenue losses. However, a precise quantification of the scale and
impact of these problems has not been determined up to now. Reliable statistics of the scale and impact of
these problems would help to better target policy measures against them.

Repealing the Savings Tax Directive

The Commission is proposing to repeal the Savings Tax Directive, as this text has since been overtaken by
more ambitious EU legislation, which requires the widest scope of automatic information exchange on
financial accounts, including savings related income. Repealing the Saving Tax Directive will create a
streamlined framework for the automatic exchange of financial information and will prevent any legal
uncertainty or extra administration for tax authorities and businesses.

• Tax Treatment of Distributed Dividends to Natural and Legal Persons Domestic or Foreign

Poland

• Obligatory Cash Registers for Lawyers, Doctors, Tax Advisers, Mechanics, Hairdressers

Romania

• Drafts New Fiscal Code and New Fiscal Procedure Code

Serbia

• Interest Rates’ Publication
• Tax Return’s Submission

Ukraine

• Transfer Pricing Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine

EU

• Do the Multinational Companies Pay the Attributable Tax?
• The European Commission Refers Greece to the European Court of Justice

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Greece

• European Commission Fact Sheet – November Infringements Package: Main Decisions
• Commission Presents Options for Simpler and more Robust Future VAT Regime
• V.A.T. Imposition on Leased Airplane’s Delivery in Greek Airline Company when the Seller and the Buyer do not Have Their Establishment in Greece
• New Taxation for Mass Media

According to paragraph 12 article 5 Law 3845/2010 it is imposed special tax to the advertisements of the
television. The tax rate is 20% on advertisements net value as calculated by mass media. Moreover, the
tax burdens the advertised company or the advertiser and the invoice is issued on his name. In case the
invoice issued is at the adviser’s name, it is sent a copy of the invoice with the issuer’s stamp and
signature to the advertised until the end of the next month of invoice’s issuance.
The T.V. mass media collect this special tax and attribute it monthly to the competent tax authority by
statements, until the 20th day of each month, for the revenues from the previous month’s television’s
advertisements.
This paragraph’s provisions come into force from 1.1.2015.

Poland

• A New Tax on Fuel from 2015
• Extra Fees for IPhones and Tablets? Artists Raise Objections

Romania

• Urgency Decree on the Amendment of the Law no. 571/2003 Related to the Fiscal Code and of other Normative Acts

Serbia

• Amendments to the Corporate Income Tax Law – New Rulings regarding the Application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Ukraine

• Ukrainian Parliament has Adopted Implementation of the Additional Import Duty

EU

• The Battle against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion

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Rokas Taxation Newsflash for October 2014

Greece

European Commission Memo – September Infringements Package: Main Decisions

In its monthly package of infringement decisions, the European Commission is pursuing legal action
against Member States for failing to comply properly with their obligations under EU law. These decisions
covering many sectors aim to ensure proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and
businesses.

The Commission has taken 147 decisions, including 39 reasoned opinions and 4 referrals to the
European Union’s Court of Justice.

Specifically, Commission has issued 2 reasoned opinions for Greece regarding Tax Law issues.

Commission asks GREECE to amend legislation on duty free service stations on land borders

The European Commission has formally requested Greece to modify its legislation which allows service
stations at its land borders with Kipi (Turkey), Kakkayia (Albania) and Evzoni (FYROM) to sell fuel without
excise duties. The Commission believes that when a vehicle is tanked, the fuel should be considered as
having been sold for consumption, and therefore cannot remain under a duty suspension regime. Excise
duties should therefore be charged on the sale of that fuel, in line with the European Directive on Excise
Duties. The request is in the form of a Reasoned Opinion. In the absence of the necessary measures to
comply within two months, the Commission may refer Greece to the EU’s Court of Justice. (Ref.:
2013/2038)

Commission asks GREECE to stop discriminatory taxation for ships flying foreign flags

The European Commission has officially asked Greece to amend its discriminatory taxation rules for
foreign-flagged ships. Under Greek tax rules, Greek-flagged ships and certain vessels managed from
Greece are exempt from income tax and instead subject to the simplified and lower special tonnage tax
for maritime activities. Foreign-flagged ships, on the other hand, are subject to the less favourable income
tax regime. Additionally, Greek legislation allows an income tax exemption for dividends from entities
using Greek-flagged ships, but not for dividend from companies using foreign-flagged ships.
The Commission considers that such rules are contrary to EU rules on the freedom of establishment, the
freedom to provide services and the free movement of capital. The Commission’s request takes the form
of a reasoned opinion. If Greece fails to comply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter
to the European Court of Justice. (Ref.: 2012/4155)

Tax Treatment of Benefits in Kind Under Article 13 of Law 4172/2013

Poland

New Rules on Income Taxation Generated by the Controlled Foreign Companies

Romania

Law Amending the Fiscal Code

Serbia

Serbian Tax Law: Important Changes on Tax Returns, Tax Payments and Tax Audit Procedures for both Taxpayers and Tax Authority

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Bulgaria

New Rules of VAT Taxation of Financial Leasing

The VAT taxation of financial leasing has been changed as of 1st of January 2014. With the amendment of
Article 6 paragraph 2 item 3 of the Value Added Tax Act, VAT on the total price of goods is chargeable
upon handing over the goods in cases when this transfer of right to ownership is provided as an option and
if the total amount of the lease installments, minus the interest payments, equals the fair value of
the leased goods.
Till 1st of January 2014 the VAT on the total price of goods was chargeable upon handing over the goods
only in cases when the leasing contract provides explicitly the transfer of right to ownership of the
goods. According to §29 of the Transitional and Concluding Provisions to the Act Amending and
Supplementing the Value Added Tax Act the new rules shall apply to deliveries under leasing contracts,
concluded after January 1st 2014.

European Union

VAT: Commission Publishes Guidelines to Help Businesses Prepare for Change of e-services Rules

Greece

The Ministry of Finance Issued the Updated Lists of
Uncooperative Jurisdictions and Jurisdictions with a
Preferential Tax Regime
The Ministry of Finance Issued Circular no.
1076/17.03.2014 Providing further Instructions to the
Application of the Controlled Foreign Corporation Rules

OECD

OECD Delivers New Single Global Standard on Automatic Exchange of Information

Romania

Urgency Edict of the Romanian Government no. 8 from
26th February 2014 – for the Amendment and the
Addendum of certain Normative Acts and other Fiscal –
Budgetary Measures

Ukraine

The Cabinet of Ministers Approved the Mechanism of
Investors’ Support in Arenas Building Projects for
EuroBasket Championship in Ukraine – 2015

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