The Independent Authority for Public Revenue has modernised and digitised the process for exempting services from VAT when they are connected with goods held in a Free Customs Complex, Customs Supervision Area, Free Customs Area or Tax Warehouse, under a decision by its Governor, Giorgos Pitsilis (A.1243/2026).
The new digital process improves services for high-activity sectors – such as refineries, shipyards and tax warehouses holding goods subject to excise duty – and sharply reduces administrative costs for around 150 businesses. Until now, Customs Services had issued more than 1,500 handwritten certificates a year for these businesses.
Under the new digital process:
- Service providers issue invoices without VAT from the outset, eliminating the need for credit notes.
- Businesses are no longer required to submit applications in person to the competent Customs office.
- Customs offices no longer have to issue a separate VAT exemption certificate for each invoice.
- The business receiving the services submits a consolidated statement of the previous month’s invoices digitally, once a month, through the myAADE portal (myAADE.gov.gr), following this path: My Requests > Customs > Duties, VAT and other charges(Duties, VAT and other charges) - Special Procedures & Exemptions > VAT exemption for services under special regimes.
- Applications are processed immediately, while the competent customs services will carry out subsequent checks to ensure the rules are being applied correctly.
For information or clarification, those interested can contact AADE’s Taxpayer Service, my1521:
- By telephone: Call 1521 (free of charge), on working days from 7:00 to 20:00.
- Online: At my1521 (24/7), select: Customs matters > Duties, VAT and Tariff Charges (Duties, VAT and Tariffs) > Exemptions and Special Procedures (Customs Duty Reliefs and Special Procedures) > Information on exemptions and special procedures.