Figures released by Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) provide a revealing picture of the incomes declared by Greek taxpayers. Based on the E1 tax returns submitted in 2025, 2024 proved to be a year of widespread income growth.

Nevertheless, one in six taxpayers was once again caught by the imputed living expenses system. As for self-employed professionals, two in three declared in 2025 that their income for 2024 did not exceed €10,000. They had reported exactly the same level of income in 2022, before the introduction of the myDATA system and the minimum presumed taxable income.

So what has changed since then? The number of business owners and self-employed professionals declaring almost no profit has fallen dramatically. Just 18.63% reported profits of less than €6,000 in 2024, equivalent to less than €500 a month, compared with as many as 50% in 2022.

The key figures

A total of 6,896,253 tax returns were submitted in 2025 for income earned in 2024, representing an increase of 176,216 compared with the 6,720,037 returns submitted in 2023, a rise of 2.62%.

According to these returns:

– Total declared income in Greece increased by €9.85bn, while income taxes paid by taxpayers rose by €1.9bn.

– Average declared income per household, as represented by each tax return, reached €16,808, up from €15,786 the previous year, an increase of 6.47%.

– Average income tax per return rose to €2,010, compared with €1,827 previously, an increase of 10%.

More specifically:

– Total declared income reached €115.93bn, compared with €106.08bn in 2023, an increase of €9.85bn, or 9.29%.

– Total taxable income, including general imputed living expenses, reached €119.89bn, up from €110.25bn, an increase of €9.65bn, or 8.75%. This also means that the additional burden arising from imputed living expenses declined in 2024.

– The total tax assessed on taxpayers for income amounting to approximately €120bn reached €13.87bn, compared with €12.28bn the previous year, an increase of €1.59bn, or 12.92%.

– The effective tax rate, representing the average percentage of tax on taxable income, stood at 11.5%.

What taxpayers declare and who pays

In terms of the overall tax burden, self-employed professionals and salaried employees together accounted for two-thirds of income taxes, paying 67.8% of the total €13.87bn.

Specifically:

– Salaried employees submitted 2,722,126 returns, accounting for 39.5% of the total, and paid 40.9% of income taxes, equivalent to €5.67bn.

– Business owners and self-employed professionals submitted 746,113 returns, representing 10.8% of the total, and paid 27.0% of income taxes, equivalent to €3.74bn.

– Pensioners submitted 2,078,241 returns, accounting for 30.1% of the total, and paid 17.9% of income taxes, equivalent to €2.49bn.

– Individuals earning income from property and investments submitted 1,082,689 returns, representing 15.7% of the total, and paid 11.5% of income taxes, equivalent to €1.60bn.

– Farmers submitted 267,084 returns, accounting for 3.9% of the total, and paid 2.7% of income taxes, equivalent to €370m.

Overall, approximately 9.1 million taxpayers, including salaried employees, pensioners, self-employed professionals, farmers and others with active tax identification numbers, were covered by the 6,896,253 tax returns submitted in 2025. The figures show that:

– 2,701,514 taxpayers declared annual income of up to €5,000.

– 4,769,821 taxpayers declared annual income of up to €10,000.

– 146,046 taxpayers declared income between €50,000 and €100,000.

– 36,078 taxpayers declared income exceeding €100,000 for 2024.

A breakdown by occupational category shows that:

– 2,722,126 salaried employees declared a combined €48.12bn, with average income of €17,676.

– 746,113 self-employed professionals declared €22.65bn, with average income of €30,354.

– 2,078,241 pensioners declared total income of €28.36bn, with average income of €13,641.

– 267,084 farmers declared combined income of €4.06bn, with average income of €15,191.

Caught by imputed living expenses

Approximately 1.21 million taxpayers were caught by Greece’s imputed living expenses rules because their declared incomes were lower than the amounts calculated on the basis of their assets, including movable and immovable property.

Detailed AADE figures show that imputed living expenses added €3.88bn to taxable income. The additional burden was distributed as follows:

– 296,284 individuals earning income from property and investments faced an additional €1.42bn in taxable income, indicating an exceptionally wide gap between declared earnings and presumed income based on assets or luxury expenditure, including boats and swimming pools.

– 350,004 pensioners were taxed on an additional €962m in imputed income.

– 59,292 farmers were taxed on an additional €216m.

– 433,697 salaried employees faced an additional €1.05bn in imputed taxable income.

– 69,814 individuals engaged in business activity faced an additional €243m in imputed taxable income. Business owners and self-employed professionals appear to face the lowest additional burden from imputed living expenses compared with other categories. This is because they are already subject to a minimum presumed taxable income before the living expenses criteria are applied, preventing them from being taxed on the basis of zero profits.

The incomes of self-employed professionals

According to AADE data, of the 746,113 individuals who declared income from business activities, 18.63%, or 138,998 people, reported net profits of up to €6,000.

The detailed breakdown is as follows:

– 40,596 professionals declared income below €1,000.

– 22,885 professionals declared income between €1,000 and €2,000.

– 19,755 professionals declared income between €2,000 and €3,000.

– 21,535 professionals declared income between €3,000 and €4,000.

– 17,106 professionals declared income between €4,000 and €5,000.

– 17,121 professionals declared income between €5,000 and €6,000.

What Greek families declared

The largest group of taxpayers consists of unmarried individuals, numbering 4.31 million, who declared a combined €45.19bn in income. As for married couples and families with children, the figures show the following:

A total of 1.33 million married couples without children declared combined income of €33.87bn.

Among those with one child, 618,122 salaried employees, pensioners and professionals declared total income of €16.60bn.

Taxpayers with two children numbered 512,261 and declared combined income of €16.54bn.

A total of 100,732 taxpayers with three children declared income amounting to €3.21bn.

Large families with four or more children accounted for 20,918 taxpayers, declaring combined income of €511m. Of these, 16,484 had four children and declared total income of €420m.

Despite the growing use of payment cards for transactions, approximately 15,000 taxpayers failed to meet the required electronic spending threshold, resulting in additional taxes totalling €55.5m.