Greece’s overdue tax debts owed to the Tax Authority surged by €3.77 billion, reaching €114.57 billion in April. At the same time, participation in debt settlement schemes remains extremely low, with the relevant rate not exceeding 6.83%. Meanwhile, the number of debtors has surpassed 4.2 million individuals and legal entities, an increase of 9,460 compared to the same month last year.
Read also: Tax debts: The 7 major changes for 1.5 million debtors — new 72-installment settlement, loan write-offs of up to 50%, and primary residence protection
This development is attributed to a broad rise in debts across all categories, from very small obligations of up to €50 all the way to very large ones. The biggest increase, however, was recorded in debts exceeding €1.5 million, which grew by €1.88 billion.
Who owes the most to the tax authority — a breakdown of overdue obligations
According to data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), processed by the State Budget Office in the Greek Parliament, the breakdown of overdue tax debts reveals the following:
– Debt distribution: A staggering 96.57% of the total overdue balance stems from debts exceeding €10,000, while debts above €1 million alone account for 75.53% of the total — yet they involve only 0.24% of all debtors. By contrast, 9 in 10 debtors (90.40%) owe up to €10,000, but their share of the total debt amounts to just 3.43%.
– Debts of individuals vs. legal entities: Individuals account for 38% of total debt (€43.53 billion), while legal entities hold the larger share at 62% (€71.04 billion). In the lower debt brackets, individuals dominate: 98.67% of debts below €50 and 88.31% of debts below €10,000 belong to individuals. Conversely, as debt amounts increase, the share attributable to legal entities grows significantly. For debts exceeding €1 million, legal entities are responsible for more than 70.19% of the total, with their overdue balance reaching €60.73 billion by the end of April 2026. The number of legal entities owing more than €1 million stood at 6,500, representing 62.63% of all debtors in that bracket.
Individual debts make up 38% of the total, amounting to €43.53 billion, while debts owed by legal entities stand at €71.04 billion, equivalent to 62% of the overall figure. Analysing the data by debt range reveals that in the lower brackets, nearly all of the overdue balance originates from individuals. Tellingly, 98.67% of debts below €50 and 88.31% of debts below €10,000 come from individuals. The number of individuals owing less than €50 represents 97.16% of all debtors in that category, while for debts below €10,000, the number of individual debtors stood at 3,502,552 by the end of April 2026 — accounting for 91.12% of the total in that range.
– Debt settlement schemes: Only 6.83% of the actual overdue balance — equivalent to €5.39 billion — is currently under a repayment arrangement. The highest share of total settled debts (18.65%) is found in the €10,001–€100,000 range, with the settlement rate within this bracket reaching 19.82% for amounts between €20,001 and €50,000. Settlement rates differ markedly between individuals and legal entities. For individuals, the highest settlement rate is recorded in the €500–€10,000 range (17.05%), peaking at 19.87% for amounts between €2,000 and €3,000. Legal entities, on the other hand, settle debts at a higher rate (27.09%) in the €10,001–€100,000 bracket, with that figure climbing to 29.27% for debts between €10,001 and €20,000. Low settlement rates are observed both for very small debts (particularly below €500) and for very large ones (above €50,000 for individuals and above €300,000 for legal entities).
– Composition of overdue debt: An analysis of the actual overdue balance shows that 66.26% relates to tax obligations (€52.37 billion). Of this, nearly half stems from VAT (47.21%), with debts reaching €24.74 billion, while income tax accounts for a significant 42.17%. Property tax debts represent a comparatively low 5.33%, corresponding to €2.79 billion.
– Uncollectable debt: Of the total €114.57 billion, 31.01% — equivalent to €35.53 billion — is classified as uncollectable, bringing the actual recoverable overdue balance down to €79.04 billion.
– Collections: Approximately 92.40% of total collections comes from just 34.10% of the actual overdue balance. This means that a large portion of outstanding debts is either extremely difficult to recover or has remained inactive for extended periods of time.
