The much anticipated online platform for submitting ‘Market Pass’ applications to receive a small financial aid for purchases will open on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, the government spokesman announced on Monday.
“Beneficiaries are approximately 85% of Greek households,” he added.
Beneficiaries with Tax number ending in 0 to 4 will be able to submit their applications from tomorrow (Tuesday 21/2), while from Wednesday 22/2 the platform will open for beneficiaries whose tax number ends in 5 to 9.
The Market Pass program running from February to July 2023, grands to single-member household up to 220 euros for this whole period, increasing by 100 euros for each additional member.
What is Market Pass?
The Market Pass is a measure to support households, with the aim of covering part of the increased cost of shopping, especially food items, due to the significant increase in the consumer price index. It covers the period from February to July 2023.
Who is eligible for Market Pass?
Beneficiaries of the aid are natural persons, single, married, cohabiting parties, separated, divorced or widowed.
Which household member can apply for the Market Pass?
a. For married persons or persons who have entered into a civil marriage agreement, the competent person to apply is the person liable to submit the Personal Income Tax Declaration.
b. In case of submission of a separate declaration of spouses / cohabiting parties, one of the two, in which case the other is automatically excluded.
c. They are not entitled to apply:
c1. natural persons who were declared as dependents in the Personal Income Tax Return for tax year 2021 by another person,
c2. natural persons who were declared as guests in the Personal Income Tax Return for the tax year 2021 by another person,
c3. natural persons subject to the Luxury Living Tax for the tax year 2021,
c4. foreign tax residents and
c5. natural persons who have not submitted a Personal Income Tax Return for the tax year 2021 until 31/12/2022.
Income and other financial criteria for the Market Pass
a. Income criteria
Natural persons are entitled to the aid, as long as their annual total family income during the tax year 2021, regardless of its source of origin, real and presumed, amounts to up to
sixteen thousand (16,000) euros for an unmarried person or in a widowed state
twenty-four thousand (24,000) euros for a married person or the married persons or the parties to the cohabitation agreement who submit a separate tax return or the married persons who submit a tax return based on paragraph b of paragraph 4 of article 67 of the Tax Code Income or natural persons who have entered into a cohabitation agreement and have submitted a joint tax return without children.
this income is increased by five thousand (5,000) euros for each dependent child, other dependent member and guest member of the household.
for single-parent family, this income is set at up to twenty-four thousand (24,000) euros and is increased by five thousand (5,000) euros for each dependent child, other dependent member and visiting member after the first.
To determine the family status, the number of dependent children, other dependent members and guest members, as well as the income criteria, the data of the Personal Income Tax Statement of the tax year 2021, as it has been prepared on December 31, 2022, are used.
b. Real estate criteria
The total value of the real estate, as it results from the ENFIA (Unified Property Tax) of the year 2022 must not exceed:
- the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) euros for unmarried, widowed
- the amount of four hundred thousand (400,000) euros for married or cohabiting parties and single-parent families.
How much is the financial support through Market Pass?
The amount of assistance per household amounts to ten percent (10%) of the monthly amount of purchases, which is set at two hundred and twenty (220) euros for a single-member household, increased by one hundred (100) euros for each additional member of the household with maximum purchase limit of one thousand (1,000) euros.
The Market Pass amount will be given either through
- a “digital debit card” similar to the one for Fuel Pass. the beneficiary can only use it for purchases at supermarkets, food stores, open farmer market (laiki), bakeries, butchers, sweet shops etc
- or the money is sent to a bank account but then the aid is only 80% of the foreseen amount. However, in this case, the amount can be used for any kind of purchases.
Note: the use of “digital debit card” ends on August 31. 2023.
Schedule for amount payment
Those submitting for payment via ‘digital debit card’
- until February 28, payment for Feb & March is due until March 3
- from March 1-15 payment is due until March 20.
- for months April, May, June and July payments are due monthly.
Payment to bank accounts -submission until Feb 28-, are due until March 3, for the months Feb, March and April
For submission March 1-15, payment until March 20 for Feb, Mar and April
Payment for May, june and July are due until May 3.
The Market Pass platform is at vouchers.gov.gr Market Pass here.
Do you need a vaccination certificate to be able to benefit from this?
Not for now, but wait and see 🙂
you’ll wait for long time
Indeed: 5,6, maybe 7 years.
By then, they’ll have made people so poor and made them as much as possible dependent of the governments and the big multinationals.
And then, you’ll have to obey whateven they tell you to do (take vaccines, eat insects, don’t travel, …) Or you loose all the potential ‘support’ they’ll offer you, knowing that you need this ‘support’ to survive.
But I can understand that you don’t want to see that and that it’s easier to put your head in the sand.
And I am just a conspiracy idiot that predicted in 2020 that we’ll have to show QR codes to enter a bar
oh dear
People don’t want to hear it, but that’s where we are going. I fully agree with you Marc, but then I am another conspiracy theorist, aren’t I? Does nobody listen to the plans of the WEF?
It is interesting that “c4. foreign tax residents” are not eligible? If they are living in Greece and paying for all their needs in Greece they are subject to the same inflation problems as Greek citizens. If they are tax resident they are declaring their worldwide income in Greece and paying tax on it to the Greek tax authorities like everyone else. Why are they excluded from support?
There are certainly foreign residents who are NOT tax resident and hence paying little or no tax to the Greek tax authorities. I can understand why they would be excluded but previous schemes, like the heating oil allowance, were open to foreign tax residents.
PS I’m not complaining for myself. My income is above the single person cut-off so I would not be eligible anyway, quite rightly, but I know foreign tax residents who are on very low income and are really struggling with the current inflation.
I’m a foreign tax resident (British national) and it approved my application.
Great!