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Greece bans cash: Tax-allowance possible only through payments via plastic money

Greece is banning the use of cash the soft way. As of 1.1. 2017, taxpayers will be granted tax-allowance and tax deduction only when they have made payments via credit or debit cards. The new guidelines refer to employees, pensioners, farmers but also unemployed.

Accepted expenditure will be:

purchases for food and supermarket products, electronic and electric devices, household equipment, footwear, clothing, fuel, furniture, cigarettes*, drinks

Restaurants, cafeterias,bars and hotels

Services like by hairdressers and beauty parlors, gyms and dance schools, car repair, plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, lawyers and accountants.

For doctors and pharmacy the same practice will be valid as in last year. The tax office will accept the expenditure only if payments are made per credit card or bank transfer.

Expenditure for utility bills, landlines and mobile phones, heating, rent, loan repayments that in fact swallow the largest amount of monthly expenditure for private households will not be accepted. Also not accepted is expenditure for toll and transport tickets.


In its “wisdom” the Greek Finance Ministry has determined the amount the taxpayers will have to pay per e-money in order to be able to get the tax allowance:

10% for annual income up to €10,000
15% for annual income 10,001-30,000
20% for annual income over 30,001

The famous Greek wisdom in times of austerity, bailout agreements and economic crisis remains the same also in 2017 and as neoliberal as possible since 2010: crack the low and medium incomes, let the rich fly free

Find the Surrealism

  • income €7,000: expenditure per plastic money must be €700
  • income 10,000: expenditure per plastic money must be €1,000
  • income 30,000: expenditure per plastic money must be €4,500
  • income  €60,000 expenditure per plastic money must be €12,000

Should a taxpayer will not be able to spend the necessary percentage of the annual income according to the guidelines, the punishment will be a penalty of 22% imposed on the missing difference.

I heard on television that couples will have to spend separately – but better check with your accountant. The average taxpayer in Greece needs an accountant anyway, someone who will follow the revenue-expedience balance month by month for the sake of the tax office.

In the bizarre Greek world we live in, households will be obliged to spend money even if they do not want to. As the large part of monthly need coverage (utilities etc) is not accepted by the tax office, households who do not manage to reach the necessary percentage through supermarket percentages will have to go and spend like crazy in retail, dance schools and gyms and other goods and service providers.

Exempted from the compulsory usage of credit/debit cards are seniors over 70 years old, residents of remote areas and people with disability over 80%. I suppose they will have to continue the collection of paper receipts.

KTG understands that with these new system, taxpayers will not need to collect the stupid receipts from cash register, where the amount had faded away when they were supposed to be brought to the tax office in a huge plastic bag.

The cap for cash transactions falls from 1,500 until 31.12.2016 down to 500 euro. In simple words: any purchase of good and service over 500 euro will need to be done via plastic money.

*I am not sure about cigarettes expenditure as kiosks do not have POS machines.

PS I don’t know what will happen if the tax office finds out that the taxpayer spent more money than determined in the guidelines. My fantasy is galloping with lots of crazy scenarios…

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11 comments

  1. that greek overe there

    So us the self employed who have no aforologito because we work with more than 3 employers, can still use black cash because non the less the state will fuck us up for the same amount??? YEYYY!!!

  2. Who the hell dreams up these idiotic ideas ???

    • keeptalkinggreece

      the usual ‘academics’

      • Not really! It is the Kommandatur. In this way all activity will be recorded and most importantly forced to stay in the banking system – ideal for (planned for latter in 2017-18) a beautiful “bail-in” bank deposits looting.

  3. Giaourti Giaourtaki

    Next step of the “modern” world will be to be forced to own a blood-phone, otherwise they will not hire you – it’s already like this in many pseudo-“self”-employed biz like delivery-heroes, digital-nomads anyway but also for one day-jobs and nothing goes without a Mafia-app… but they’ll choose you only if your gps tells’em you’re two blocks close, it even doesn’t matter any more if you’re like a world-champ faster and smarter than the other idiots and even that you are one of the few who knows every street and every customer is killed by cabbies with the ridiculous name “my.taxi” on the door.

  4. They do this in South korea already. It really helped boost stealing… oops… i mean tax revenues.

  5. What will happen is that a new currency will be brought into play
    AND this “street Currency” will .. COMPETE WITH THE EURO AND THREATEN, AND MAY EVEN CAUSE THE EURO TO CRASH ..
    Every day a new fool & their idiocy take center stage.

  6. WHERE ARE YOU YANNIS VAROUFAKIS TO TELL THE STORY OF THIS GREAT TRAGEDY AND THE COWARDS THERE OF ?
    *
    Happy New Year Everyone
    The forces beyond our control tell us that 2017 will be one hell of a year for all in sundry.
    Bring it on and may the best man win .. hey!

    • Giaourti Giaourtaki

      His new book has some parts about it, but he’s writing now a new one esp about his 5 months in government, but as far as I remember most of this e-cash-bullshit are his ideas – already from the times he was advising Papandreou and his government

  7. Giaourti Giaourtaki

    For 2019 some Northern European governments plan to “boost” public transports by allowing passengers to travel only if they owe a smart-phone, as this is racism and discrimination of poor they’ll have to change constitutions. Digital scum is ruling, best example was Erdogun using internet hours after the putsch just showing that governments don’t need buildings anymore

  8. “Cash is evil,” so sayeth… oh, the Dutch taxmen that’ve come to help and “advise” the Greek bureaucrats on how to best squeeze the taxpayer. The Dutch people are relatively meek to this, so the taxmen can get away with it. In Greece… they’re expecting resistance. So say the penalties.