The major annual tax lottery by the Greek Tax Authority is approaching and is expected to take place just days before Christmas. This is the year’s most significant draw, rewarding taxpayers for their electronic transactions throughout the year with impressive cash prizes.
What are the annual tax lottery prizes
According to the official schedule of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, the tax lottery will produce 12 major winners who will each receive €100,000. The cash amounts offer significant advantages: they are completely tax-free, unseizable, and cannot be offset against any overdue debts to the tax administration. Alongside the main prizes, the draw includes additional cash amounts of €1,000, which come from unused funds from previous monthly draws held throughout the year.
Who is eligible to participate and who is excluded from the tax lottery draw
Participation in the tax lottery is automatic for all adult individuals who have a Tax Registration Number in Greece and have exceeded 18 years of age. A basic requirement is conducting electronic transactions and timely submission of an income tax return, where such obligation exists. However, there is an important limitation: taxpayers who have already won the maximum prize of €50,000 in any of the monthly draws conducted throughout the year are automatically excluded from the major annual tax lottery. It should be noted that separate draws are held each month with 556 total winners and prizes of different sizes.
How lottery tickets are calculated in the tax lottery
The ticket calculation mechanism is simple: for every euro spent through credit or debit cards and other electronic payment methods, the taxpayer receives one participation ticket. The upper limit is set at €10,000 monthly expenses per tax number. The number of tickets can increase significantly when electronic expenses exceed specific percentages of the taxpayer’s monthly income. Specifically, when expenses exceed 30% of income, tickets are doubled. If expenses reach 50%, tickets are tripled, while when they exceed 70%, tickets are quadrupled.
Special provisions for low incomes and families
Favorable provisions apply to taxpayers with limited incomes. Those declaring annual net income below €1,000, as well as those without tax return filing obligations, automatically receive double tickets for every euro of electronic spending, without additional multipliers applying. Additionally, the tax lottery favors families with children. For each dependent child listed in the tax return, a 50% increase in tickets is provided. Conversely, for taxpayers with annual income equal to or above €60,000, tickets are calculated without any increase.
Tax lottery cash prizes are paid directly to the bank account declared by the taxpayer on the myAADE digital platform. If no IBAN has been registered, winners have three months from the draw date to make the relevant declaration and collect their prize.
