A series of significant tax and pension provisions, which the Ministry of National Economy and Finance is promoting for approval in Parliament, were presented to the Cabinet under the Prime Minister by Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Deputy Minister Thanos Petralias. Additionally, special provisions address the issue of public bodies and organizations leaving unpaid debts to Public Utility companies.
Detailed overview of the new pension and tax bill provisions
Specifically, as announced by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the most significant changes provided by the new pension and tax bill are as follows:
A. The proposed pension provisions modify and supplement the provisions of Part B of Law 5045/2023 regarding the adjustment of pensions for military personnel and those legally equated with them, as defined by the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 25 of Presidential Decree 169/2007 (A’ 210), who fall under the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016 (A’ 85), namely those under the jurisdiction of the General Accounting Office of the State and not subject to the Electronic National Social Security Fund (“e-EFKA”), as well as war pensioners under Article 1 of Presidential Decree 168/2007 (A’209), both from January 1, 2017, based on the provisions of Articles 123 to 161 of Law 4472/2017 (A’ 74 and correction of errors A’ 85) and from October 1, 2025, based on the provisions of Part ST’ of Law 5265/2026 and Part C’ of Law 5246/2025.
The relevant recalculation becomes necessary because, based on the pension regime governing the above persons, the pension continues to be linked to the salary of their active colleagues, resulting in the need to reform the pension whenever the aforementioned salary changes (according to the established principle provided by the combined provisions of Articles 9, 9A, 34, 34A of Presidential Decree 169/2007 and 4 paragraph 3 of Law 4387/2016). In this case, the pension reform, based on changes in the corresponding salary provisions, cannot occur automatically without establishing relevant explicit provisions, given the particularity of the provisions of the new salary laws.
Specifically, the pension issues that have arisen since January 1, 2017, following the establishment of the salary provisions of Articles 123 to 161 of Law 4472/2017 for special categories of civil servants and employees of public legal entities, as well as for uniformed personnel (Armed Forces personnel, Greek Police, Fire Service and Coast Guard – Hellenic Coast Guard), were attempted to be resolved by the provisions of Part B’ of Law 5045/2023. However, during the practical application of the aforementioned provisions regarding pension adjustment for the persons they concern (and due to the multiple special categories of persons in subparagraphs a’, b’ and e’ of paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016), combined with the novel character of related regulations in the above provisions of Law 4472/2017 (establishing, for the first time, salary scales within the rank of uniformed personnel), the urgent need for modification and supplementation of the provisions of Part B’ of Law 5045/2023 was identified, to cover cases and gaps that the legislator of Law 5045/2023 could not foresee from the time of enactment of that law.
Additionally, from October 1, 2025, new, readjusted salary scales were established for personnel of both the Armed Forces (Law 5265/2026, A’ 3) and Security Forces (Law 5246/2025, A’ 198), resulting, according to the above, in the need for a new recalculation of the corresponding pensionable earnings from the above date. Also, the beneficiaries of the special pension under subparagraph d’ of paragraph 2 of Article 57 of Law 5039/2023 (special pension for victims of the Tempe accident of February 28, 2023), based on current provisions, do not include the case of divorced or widowed and childless deceased, a problem now being addressed.
Finally, for children of pensioners who, based on paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016, are not subject to e-EFKA, the age limit for pension payment that is provided for corresponding cases subject to e-EFKA does not apply.
B. Furthermore, the proposed provisions address issues that have arisen for certain categories of public personnel, specifically for employees subject to Law 4354/2014 (A’ 176) who, upon their permanent appointment, retained the insurance regime of the former IKA.
C. Additionally, the proposed provisions address tax-related issues, specifically:
-other tax regulations are proposed, specifically:
a) a special regulation for professional sellers of farmers’ markets, which will apply to income acquired from tax year 2025, according to which the minimum amount of net income from their individual business activity will be calculated at a 30% reduction compared to the amount resulting from applying the general provisions of Article 28A of the Income Tax Code,
b) an exemption for payments made by the Holy Community, the Holy Monasteries of Mount Athos and their dependencies, so that for these payments the recipients of the payments are now liable for payment of the owed income tax, exempting the above legal entities from the obligation to withhold and pay the tax,
c) introduction of a new Special Consumption Tax (SCT) agricultural fuel refund system, which will be implemented from November 1, 2026. The new system provides for the refund of SCT and the corresponding VAT directly at the pump and will be implemented through a special application developed by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue. This fulfills a longstanding demand of farmers, who will receive the discount immediately upon payment. At the same time, it is provided that the SCT is refunded to station owners or offset, according to the ministerial decision to be issued.
D. Finally, the proposed bill provisions resolve issues that have arisen during the implementation of legislation to which the proposed provisions relate.
Specifically, practical issues that had arisen during the implementation to date of the procedure for granting and returning advances to electricity suppliers, as well as the procedure for settling bills by General Government Entities, are addressed, while a regulation is introduced for how unpaid electricity bills of Entities not belonging to Central Administration will be settled henceforth by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, following certification of debts to the tax authority, with the aim of reducing overdue debts.
Also, a regulation is introduced for inclusion in the special GAIA tariff for holders of agricultural connections, whose consumption, especially during the summer period, increases significantly. The regulation also covers Land Reclamation Organizations (GOEV-TOEV). Finally, the need to abolish special accounts subject to the exceptions of Article 3 of Law 3697/2008 (A’ 194) is addressed.
What are the pursued objectives?
A. The proposed bill provisions address the issue of recalculating pensionable earnings for all pensions of military personnel and those legally equated with them, as defined by the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 25 of Presidential Decree 169/2007 (A’210), who fall under the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016 (A’ 85), namely those not subject to the Electronic National Social Security Fund, as well as war pensioners under Article 1 of Presidential Decree 168/2007 (A’209).
The proposed provisions, on one hand, modify and supplement the provisions of Part B’ of Law 5045/2023 regarding the adjustment from January 1, 2017 of pensions for persons in subparagraphs a’, b’ and e’ of paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016 based on the provisions of Articles 123 to 161 of Law 4472/2017 (A’ 74), and on the other hand, regulate from October 1, 2025 the recalculation of pensionable earnings based on the provisions of Part ST’ of Law 5265/2026 and Part C’ of Law 5246/2025.
The relevant recalculation becomes necessary because, based on the pension regime governing the above persons, the pension continues to be linked to the salary of their active colleagues, resulting in the need to reform the pension whenever the aforementioned salary changes, according to the established principle provided by the combined provisions of Articles 9, 9A, 34, 34A of Presidential Decree 169/2007 and 4 paragraph 3 of Law 4387/2016. In this case, the pension reform, based on changes in the corresponding salary provisions, cannot occur automatically without establishing relevant explicit provisions, given the particularity of the provisions of the new salary laws. Specifically, the pension issues that have arisen since January 1, 2017, following the establishment of the salary provisions of Articles 123 to 161 of Law 4472/2017 (A’ 74 and correction of errors A’ 75) for special categories of civil servants and employees of public legal entities, as well as for uniformed personnel (Armed Forces personnel, Greek Police, Fire Service and Coast Guard – Hellenic Coast Guard), were attempted to be resolved by the provisions of Part B’ of Law 5045/2023.
However, during the practical application of the aforementioned provisions regarding pension adjustment for the persons they concern and due to the multiple special categories of persons (subparagraphs a’, b’ and e’ of paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016), combined with the novel character of related regulations in the above provisions of Law 4472/2017 (establishing, for the first time, salary scales within the rank of uniformed personnel), the urgent need for modification and supplementation of the provisions of Part B’ of Law 5045/2023 was identified, to cover cases and gaps that the legislator of Law 5045/2023 could not foresee from the time of enactment of that law. Additionally, from October 1, 2025, new, readjusted salary scales were established for personnel of both the Armed Forces (Law 5265/2026, A’ 3) and Security Forces (Law 5246/2025, A’ 198), resulting, according to the above, in the need for a new recalculation of the corresponding pensionable earnings from the above date.
Also, the beneficiaries of the special pension under subparagraph d of paragraph 2 of Article 57 of Law 5039/2023 (special pension for victims of the Tempe accident of February 28, 2023) now include the case of divorced or widowed and childless deceased.
Finally, the age limit for pension payment is increased for children of pensioners who, based on paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016, are not subject to e-EFKA, so that the corresponding provisions for those subject to e-EFKA also apply to these cases.
The main additional annual (fixed) expenditure caused by the pension provisions amounts to approximately €7,780,000 and results from the adjustment brought to the pensions of persons under paragraph 3 of Article 4 of Law 4387/2016 by the salary provisions of Laws 5265/2026 and 5246/2025 established for Armed Forces and Security Forces personnel. This expenditure will burden the State Budget for 2026 and subsequent years. Also, a one-time expenditure (for the period from October 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025) of approximately €1,950,000 will burden the State Budget for 2026.
The total expenditure caused is within the binding limits of the Multi-annual Fiscal Programming (MFP) for 2026-2029 and will be covered by General State Expenditures of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance.
B. Furthermore, Article 64 of Law 5113/2024 (A’ 96) is modified regarding the salary classification of retirees who continue to work during the period from submitting the retirement application until the termination of the employment relationship, and the category of employees who retained the insurance regime of the former IKA upon their permanent appointment is retroactively added from June 24, 2023 to the scope of this article.
C. Additionally, the bill provisions propose a series of necessary modifications to tax regulations.
Specifically:
a) for professional sellers of farmers’ markets, a special regulation is introduced, which will apply to income acquired from tax year 2025, according to which the minimum amount of net income from their individual business activity will be calculated at a 30% reduction compared to the amount resulting from applying the general provisions of Article 28A of the Income Tax Code. This fulfills a longstanding demand of the above professional sector.
b) for the Holy Community, the Holy Monasteries of Mount Athos and their dependencies, an exemption is provided so that for payments they make, the recipients of the payments are now liable for payment of the owed income tax, exempting the above legal entities from the obligation to withhold and pay the tax.
c) the new Special Consumption Tax (SCT) agricultural fuel refund system is introduced, which will be implemented from November 1, 2026. The new system provides for the refund of SCT and the corresponding VAT directly at the pump and will be implemented through a special application developed by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue. This fulfills a longstanding demand of farmers, who will receive the discount immediately upon payment. At the same time, it is provided that the SCT is refunded to station owners or offset, according to the ministerial decision to be issued.
D. Finally, the proposed bill provisions resolve, through the introduction of improvement regulations, practical issues that have arisen during the implementation of legislation to which the proposed provisions relate.
Specifically:
a) the framework for granting and returning advances to electricity suppliers is modified and the terms and procedure for settling bills by General Government Entities are updated, to address practical issues that had arisen during the implementation to date of the procedure, while -for the first time- a prerequisite is set for the settlement by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance of unpaid electricity bills of Entities not belonging to Central Administration: the prior certification of the amount to be settled against that Entity to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, as revenue of the Greek State. This new regulation contributes to prudent management by the above Entities of their related financial obligations.
b) the possibility is provided for holders of agricultural connections, as well as Land Reclamation Organizations (GOEV-TOEV) that have not been included in the special GAIA tariff of electricity suppliers to be included in it from April 1, 2026, to reduce electricity costs, especially during the summer period, when farmers’ consumption increases significantly.
Finally, the Minister of National Economy and Finance is given the possibility to abolish special accounts subject to the exceptions of Article 3 of Law 3697/2008 (A’ 194) for reasons of rationalizing their management, within the framework of accounting reform, with the ultimate goal of more effective monitoring of the Greek State’s available funds.
