Friday July 16, 2010
This is a reminder that the standard rate of VAT in Romania will be increased to 24% (from 19%) on 1st July 2010. The reduced rates (5% and 9%) will not be increased.
The standard VAT rate in Greece will be increased from 21% to 23% from 1st July 2010. The reduced rates will also be increased. The 10% rate goes up to 11% and the 5% rate goes up to 5.5%.
Tuesday June 1, 2010
The Greek Parliament has passed the austerity plan in response to the IMF and EU aid package. The Finance Minister announced that:
Monday March 8, 2010
Following our previous alert a draft Bill has now been published increasing the VAT rates from 15th March.
The standard rate has been increased from 19% to 21% and the reduced rate from 9% to 10%.
Friday March 5, 2010
This week the Greek Ministry of Finance announced a package of measures as part of a fiscal recovery programme. They include increases in the VAT rate as follows:
The details are not yet known including the date the rate increases will take effect.
Watch this space for more information.
Monday January 11, 2010
Greece has announced that it is not considering implementing a VAT rate increase in the foreseeable future.
A senior finance ministry official confirmed that "there are no thoughts for a VAT increase", although the state of the country’s economy has come under scrutiny from the EU.
An EU inspection team asked Greece to provide a specific three-year plan that details how the country expects to combat rising debt and a growing budget deficit and restore stability to its economy.
The inspection team also called for the country to reduce its double-digit budget gap to below the EU’s three per cent of GDP by 2012.
"They asked us to quantify the results of the measures and to include this in the stability plan," a senior government official told Reuters.
Last month, Greece announced plans to implement a series of sweeping VAT reforms in 2010, with the aim of boosting revenues and improving fiscal health.
Speaking to a news conference, Greece’s finance minister George Papaconstantinou said tax reform will be a key factor in shoring up public finances and convincing the markets that the country is "walking a different path".
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