December’s tax burden is heavy and overwhelming, as obligations exceeding €6.5 billion for income tax, property tax (ENFIA), road taxes and installment payments must be settled by year-end.
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Tax authority: “Heavy” road tax bill
Particularly “heavy” is the road tax bill, which exceeds €1.2 billion and affects 5.5 million owners of passenger cars and motorcycles. Those who fail to pay on time face penalties that escalate depending on the payment timing.
Specifically, the following penalties apply:
- 25% penalty on the road tax amount if payment is made by January 31, 2026.
- 50% penalty if payment is made during February 2026.
- 100% penalty on road taxes if payment is made from March 1, 2026 onwards.
What taxpayers must settle by year-end
Meanwhile, taxpayers with active debt arrangements must regularly pay their installment(s). Regarding regular tax obligations, the 10th installment of ENFIA 2025 and the 6th installment of income tax must be paid.
Before 2025 expires, thousands of taxpayers must settle other pending matters to avoid penalties and additional taxes or risk losing financial benefits like rent subsidies.
Specifically:
- Beneficiaries of rent subsidies who didn’t receive money in their bank account or received less than expected have a second chance to submit amended tax returns without penalties to receive the benefit. Amended returns submitted by December 30 will be paid by January 15, 2026. Additionally, beneficiaries who haven’t declared their IBAN to the tax authority are urged to do so immediately to complete payment.
- Those who acquired assets this year (e.g., real estate) and risk being caught in the presumed income trap can avoid paying extra tax by filing declarations for parental monetary gifts and donations.
- Private sector employees, pensioners and other taxpayer categories who received retroactive payments during 2024, regardless of the period they relate to, must submit amended returns by December 31, 2025. The amended return is filed for each year the retroactive payments concern. The taxpayer logs into their myAADE digital portal account and selects the years to which the 2024 retroactive payments relate. For example, for retroactive payments concerning tax year 2021, they select 2022 as the filing year. Immediately after submitting the amended return, a new tax assessment is issued with the tax amount, which must be paid in full by the end of January 2026.
- Heirs must submit tax returns for taxpayers who died in 2024 by year-end. The process for filing initial income tax returns for deceased taxpayers of fiscal year 2024 by their legal heirs (intestate or by will) is now done electronically through the myAADE digital portal (myaade.gov.gr) under Applications > Popular Applications > Income Tax Return (E1-E2-E3). Digital filing requires that the tax registry has already been updated with the deceased’s date of death and legal heirs’ information (by presenting necessary documents to the competent tax authority service).
- Foreign resident declarations. Those who moved their residence abroad during the previous year must file a tax return by December 31, 2025.
- Vehicle inactivity declaration. Digital license plate surrender is done electronically through the tax authority’s myCar platform until December 31, 2025.
