Greece Tax Reforms 2025–2026: What Actually Changes for Business Owners
Verified update on Law 5246/2025, the 2026 income-tax scale, the unchanged 22% corporate rate, and the VAT measures businesses should model now.
Greek tax changes for 2025–2026 need to be read in two layers. Through tax year 2025, most businesses still operate under the familiar income-tax rules and the 22% corporate income tax rate. The larger structural changes were enacted later, through Law 5246/2025 (FEK A' 198), and mainly affect tax year 2026 and later filings.
That distinction matters because many summaries on the internet mix old and new rules into one timeline. The result is confusion: some guides describe a broad 2025 overhaul of corporate tax, VAT and startup incentives that is simply not in force. The practical picture is narrower and more useful.
What changes from tax year 2026
The Ministry of National Economy and Finance now presents the following base income-tax scale for tax year 2026:
| Taxable income | Base rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €10,000 | 9% |
| €10,001 - €20,000 | 20% |
| €20,001 - €30,000 | 26% |
| €30,001 - €40,000 | 34% |
| €40,001 - €60,000 | 39% |
| Over €60,000 | 44% |
The reform also adds more favorable treatment for families with dependent children and targeted relief for younger taxpayers. For sole proprietors, the key point is that business profits are also taxed under the revised scale, but the employee tax credit mechanism of article 16 does not automatically apply to business income.
What did not change the way many blog posts claim
- Corporate income tax did not receive a new general cut. The standard corporate rate remains 22%.
- Law 5246/2025 did not create a blanket startup tax holiday or a general 10% corporate rate for innovative companies.
- Enhanced deductions still depend on specific legal bases, such as article 22A for research and development, article 22E for eligible SME spending on the green economy, energy and digitization, and article 71TH for early electronic-invoicing adoption.
VAT and real-estate measures that matter in practice
- The standard VAT structure remains in place, with the familiar 24%, 13% and 6% rates depending on the supply.
- The suspension of VAT on qualifying new buildings continues through 31 December 2026. This is not the same as a general reduction of VAT for all construction activity.
- The suspension of real-estate capital gains tax also continues through 31 December 2026.
- Law 5246/2025 also includes a 30% VAT reduction for specific islands; it is a targeted territorial measure, not a nationwide expansion of the 13% rate.
What business owners should do now
- Model 2025 separately from 2026. Do not use one blended forecast for both years.
- Rebuild cash-flow estimates for sole proprietors under the revised 2026 income-tax scale.
- Validate every claimed incentive against the exact legal article before booking a tax benefit in management reports or budgets.
- Coordinate tax planning with myDATA and e-invoicing readiness, because the 2026 compliance timetable is tightening under separate AADE decisions.
- Run an integrated review if the same owner has business income, payroll, rents or real-estate activity, because the interaction between rules matters more than isolated headline rates.
At Apostolou & Partners, we help business owners separate the rules that are actually in force from the noise around them. Contact us for a tax-planning review built on the current legal framework.