The Scientific Team of Astbooks has published a new book titled “Imports - Exports - Intra-Community,” which serves as a practical tool for every interested accountant-tax technician working either in an accounting office or in the corporate accounting department of an import-export business, as well as for employees at customs offices.

This book consists of three parts as follows:

Part A: IMPORTS – EXPORTS
It presents procedures for the proper execution of imports and exports with templates of forms, providing definitions for the concepts of imports and exports, for the export declaration, procedures for specific cases of exports, customs legislation issues, and the operation of customs offices.

Part B: VAT - SPECIAL REGIMES
It includes all relevant legislation from the VAT Code (Law 2859/2000) related to imports, exports, and intra-community transactions. In particular, the timing of tax liability, the concept of place of service provision, placing goods in free circulation, specific cases of VAT exemption, special customs warehousing regimes, customs saving, triangular transactions, INTRASTAT, recap tables, and form completion.

Part C: ISSUING DOCUMENTS AND ACCOUNTING ENTRIES
It encompasses all the relevant legislation of the Greek Accounting Standards (Law 4308/2014) regarding the manner and time of issuing documents in general cases (transport, invoices, credit notes, retail sales, intra-community transactions, electronic invoicing), as well as in special issues (tourist agencies, online transactions, food exports, etc.).

Finally, it includes numerical examples of accounting entries (accounts classification, intra-community acquisitions-deliveries with or without transportation costs, imports from a Third Country, receipt of services from an EU country, etc.).

The export activity in Greece has seen a remarkable rise in recent years, as evidenced by the study on the “Mapping Export Activity in Greece by Region and Regional Unit” conducted by the Institute of Export Research and Studies (IEES) of SEVE for the period 2013-2017. The results provide a comprehensive picture regarding the outward orientation of Greek regions.

According to the aforementioned study, a record performance was recorded for Greek goods exports in 2017, amounting to €28.5 billion compared to €25.2 billion in 2016, with an increase of 13.3%. However, conversely, there was also a significant increase in imports by €6.0 billion (i.e., 13.8%).

The SEVE study indicates that the increase in the country's exports is due to the significant rise in the outward orientation of most Greek regions. The increase in petroleum products by 30.2% resulted in their retention in the first position among exported Greek products. Food is the second most important sector for Greece, with exports in 2017 amounting to €4.9 billion.

Additionally, significant increases were observed in the sectors of chemicals and plastics (12.3%), metals (22.5%), textiles and clothing (10.7%), and non-metallic minerals (3.6%). Italy remained the most important export destination for Greece in 2017, accounting for 10.7%.

Furthermore, according to data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), for the entirety of 2018, the trade balance deficit was €21,711.9 million (USD 25,326.9 million) compared to €21,473.5 million (USD 23,864.9 million) in 2017, showing an increase of 1.1% in euros.

In any case, the above data indicates that imports-exports to and from Third Countries, as well as intra-community acquisitions and deliveries, occupy a significant volume of business activities and transactions, making its legal and tax framework particularly timely and important.