Monthly briefing report: April 2019

Taxation

• Law 4607/2019 under the title “I. Ratification of the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank agreement II. Harmonization of the VAT Code with the Directive (EU) 2016/1065, III. Implementation points 1, 2, 4 and 5 of Article 2 and Articles 4, 6, 7 and 8 of the Directive 1164/2016, IV. Amendment of L. 2971/2001 and other provisions” was published in the Government Gazette.
• The Governor of IAPR issued Decision no 1109/2019 for the determination of costs (non-taxable income) for which the use of electronic means of payment or/and collection of receipts is required.
• The Governor of IAPR issued Decision no 1107/2019, which determines the states that have a preferential tax regime in accordance with article 65, paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Income Tax Code (ITC) for the 2018 tax year.
• IAPR issued a Guide on individuals’ income returns for the 2018 tax year.
• IAPR published Circular 2054/2019 providing guidance on the VAT tax treatment on transactions with the UK in case of a no-deal Brexit.

Labor & Social Security

• Unified Social Insurance Fund (EFKA) published Document no 439031/2019 regarding the abolishment of health booklets.
• EFKA published Circular no 19/2019 amending the procedure for the insurance period recognition until 31/12/2001.
• EFKA published Circular no 21/2019 with regards to the insurance of members or/and administrators of general partnerships (OE), limited partnerships (EE), limited liability companies (LLC) and private companies (PC).

Commercial Law

• A draft bill on “General Commercial Registry” was put under public consultation, which will run until May 10, 2019.
• A bill under the title “Ensurance provisions for the Armed Forces, Military Service, Military Jurisdiction staff and other provisions”, amending articles 99, 119 and 147 of the Law 4548/2018, was voted by the Greek Parliament and is expected to be published in the Government Gazette in due course.
• Circular no 44559 - 22/04/2019 was published by the General Secretariat for Trade and Consumer. The Circular provides clarifications with regards to the commercial publicity of the SA documents and particulars in accordance to art. 9 Law 4548/2018 and to the new provisions regarding the legality and completeness review by the competent public bodies.

Personal Data

• Guidelines on personal data processing regarding political communication were issued by the DPA.
• IAPR posted on its website an update on the processing of personal data by the IAPR, as data controller. The DPO can be contacted through the “Form for submission of the request”, in the section “Communication”, by selecting “Personal Data Protection-GDPR”.

Other Developments

• Law 4605/2019 under the title “Harmonization of Greek legislation with the Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure. Measures to speed up the work of the Ministry of Economy and Development and other provisions” was published in the Government Gazette.
• A draft bill for the “National Program for Development” on the establishment of rules governing the establishment, the coordination, the management, the funding, the control and the implementation of the development policies, which are funded by national sources of the Program of Public Investment (PPI), was put under public consultation.
• Law 4608/2019 under the title “Greek Development Bank and the attraction of strategic investment and other provisions” was published in the Government Gazette.
• Decision 9907/2019 of the Minister of the Immigration Policy, with regards to the issuance of investors’ permanent residence permits to third country citizens, pursuant to the provision of art. 2 par.b Law 4251/2014 was published in the Government Gazette.