The VAT is truly one of the largest institutional tax changes that have occurred in our country, due to the innovations it brought about, mainly:

• In the way it operates and is applied. Specifically, it is imposed in stages on the added value of goods and services, that is, on the difference between the value of outputs (delivery of goods – provision of services) and the value of inputs (imports, purchases, receipt of services, etc.). This way, the significant disadvantages of the abolished indirect taxes, especially the cumulative ones (stamp duties, etc.), have been circumvented.

• In the equal tax burden of goods and services. This is achieved on the one hand by establishing the same rates for similar goods and services, and on the other hand by the proportionality of the tax, whereby the tax is directly proportional to the price of goods and services and independent of the number of transactions that occur up until its imposition.

• In the significant advantages of VAT compared to the abolished general indirect taxes. These advantages cover both the tax technical sector and the fiscal and economic sectors in general. In reality, with VAT, the system of indirect taxation was simplified, and tax evasion was largely curbed due to the very nature and operation of the tax, which creates opposing interests between buyer and seller. Furthermore, in the economic sector, exports and the promotion of investments were strengthened since the tax on investment goods is fully deductible or refundable.

For a better understanding of the operation of Value Added Tax, a key issue is to understand the following basic principles on which it is based:

• It is a general indirect tax on consumption that does not directly burden income.

• It is a tax paid in stages at each step of the production process.

• It is a neutral tax that burdens the final consumer and not businesses, through the mechanism of deduction.

• VAT burdens the final consumer as a percentage of the final price of the product or service. This final price is the sum of the values added at each stage of production and distribution.

In the context of organizing and gathering all the most important issues of the VAT Code, we have created this edition to show through examples how the tax is applied. This book serves as a handy guide for managing the fundamental issues related to Value Added Tax as it combines theory with the practical application of the law.

More specifically, our book thematically follows the same structure as the text of the law, including:

• the text of all the articles of the law as they stand today, according to the latest amendment with Law 5043/2023 (Government Gazette A' 91/13.4.2023)

• over 190 answered questions,

• accounting entries in numerous answers

• instructions for filling out all forms (Periodic VAT Return, Intrastat Declaration, Recapitulative Tables),

• a complete alphabetical index.