The 2024 tax declarations revealed a striking increase of €14.4 billion in total declared income, bringing the sum to €106.07 billion. This rise is attributed both to an actual improvement in incomes and to the new deemed income taxation system for freelancers, which radically changed how income is recorded in the market.

This surge in declared income directly impacted the total amount of taxes assessed, which reached €12.27 billion—an increase of €2.22 billion compared to the previous year. This means that salaried workers, pensioners, professionals, farmers, and landlords once again had to dig deep into their pockets.

However, nearly half of Greek taxpayers—specifically 47% of individuals—declared an annual income below €10,000, while 831,053 taxpayers reported zero income, a figure that rose by 50,144 compared to last year. On the other end of the spectrum, 3,371 households declared incomes above €500,000, with 1,499 of them exceeding €900,000, illustrating the continuing distortions in the system and the widening “tax gap.”

Deemed income (tekmiria) posed the biggest burden for 1,288,038 taxpayers, who were taxed on imputed incomes €4.17 billion higher than what they actually declared. In practice, nearly 1 in 5 fell into the trap of deemed income and paid additional taxes, with wage earners, pensioners, and landlords bearing the brunt.

Among freelancers, 56% were taxed based on deemed income, paying an additional €470 million in taxes, while the 44% assessed on actual income showed an average gain of €4,500 per return, totaling €1.13 billion. Thousands of professionals—4,592 in total—filed objections, challenging the imputed amounts through audits.

Electronic receipts also proved critical. Many taxpayers failed to meet the required spending threshold through cards and digital transactions, resulting in an additional tax burden of €87.2 million—up €31.7 million from 2023.