Last year’s decision by the finance ministry to make the acceptance of electronic payments (credit, debit cards and other platforms) mandatory in practically all facets of the Greek economy appears to be paying off handsomely.
According to ministry figures released on Wednesday, e-transactions increased in 2024 by 10.7% compared to 2023. The figure, in absolute terms, reached 67.7 billion euros, up from 61.1 billion euros the previous years.
The deadline for practically all businesses and self-employed professionals to install POS systems – as well as an inter-bank cash transfer app (IRIS) for certain categories – allowing for electronic payment expired in mid-2024, despite often vociferous opposition by trade groups representing everything from cab drivers to kiosk owners, and from state-licensed professionals to craftsmen.
Another measure based on an online digital application, called myDATA, also increased revenues – ostensibly from making tax evasion and avoidance more difficult.
“The 6.6-billion-euro increase in electronic transactions in 2024 is significant proof that the connection of POS machines with cash registers has succeeded in contributing to a decisive reduction in tax evasion. A sense of fairness and a level playing field between businesses is reinforced, and at the same time higher tax revenues can be used to either to support social policy or to further tax reductions,” Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said in responding to the development.
Certain categories of businesses posted eyebrow-raising hikes in income after the mandatory installation of e-payment systems. For instance, carwashes in Greece reported transactions of 80.2 million euros in 2024, up from a paltry 11.2 million in 2023 – the biggest yoy increase, at 614%.
Childcare facilities reported 71.1 million euros, up from 13.6 million euros in 2023 – up by 433%.
Next up are businesses specializing in repairing watches and jewelry: from a mere one million euros in transactions in 2023 to 4.6 million in 2024, an increase of 348%.
One of the more prominent professional “castes” in the country, attorneys, showed 11.3 million euros in transactions in 2023, only to have the figure jump to 45 million euros in 2024 – up by 299%.
Taxi drivers and owners, meanwhile, among the most ardent opponents of installing such payment systems in their vehicles totaled 79 million euros in 2024, up from 26.5 million euros in 2023, an increase of 196%.
Source: tovima.com
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