New taxes in Greece

[Chris Robb]

Originally Posted by pmx

OK, I finally found that it is possible to pay in advance via international SWIFT transfer.
(I read in a recent post that you had to pay at a local Greek post office).


Here is the procedure (links are probably already in this thread).



eTEPAI :

https://www.aade.gr/dl_assets/etepai...rmanual_en.pdf


Payment :

https://www.noonsite.com/wp-content/...Chris_Robb.pdf


But what puzzles me is that I can't see how to get the necessary "official proof of payment" after completion of the SWIFT transfer.
I'll have to read all this again...

I guarantee that sailing the French waters is much, much simpler !

Update on the e-TEPAI

1st you dont have to have a euro account, just pay in euros.

after some initial wobbles, and "unexpected error" syndrome, the AADE web site seems to have settled down.

To enter you details is not that difficult - you just have to recheck every time you do a temporary submission, where some data may have changed or have been overwritten.

largely the errors - and I saw in info from plenty of failed applications and payments - were mostly self inflicted.

the most common - and the greeks could not have been more clear on this - the 20 digit number - AND NOTHING ELSE. so there was everything from the 20 digits plus boat name, to cut and pasting the whole faqs para into it! you name it - people did it.

the only real errors by the system were on day 1 - 10th may, when the system lost most of the payments. We believe all of these have been repaid now, though mine took till june 21st.

however some banks were crap, with the biscuit being taken by Santander where their sepa web site, when a user copied and pasted the long numbers, entered the control characters required to copy and paste..... the payment duly failed and came back....... of course you should be able to copy and paste these long numbers - i wouldn't dare enter them manually!

However from the experiences of many in the Cruising association most found that using cash at the greek post office was the easiest way.....

so in general terms, i think the greeks have succeeded in phase 1.

One word of warning though
many will be leaving yachts afloat for july and august. to be EXEMPT from the e-tetai you need to hand in your dekpa/transit log so that you are out of use. However, there are some port police who think this is still only for Greek boats. insist thy call the ministry of shipping if this happens to you.


Next year we hope to see the DEKPA rules changed to agree with the e-tepai rules.(out of use). However with an election and another government - maybe all will disappear into a pile of poo

[Chris Robb]

But what puzzles me is that I can't see how to get the necessary "official proof of payment" after completion of the SWIFT transfer.

A common problem is that of not knowing how to see if your payment has been applied.

you need to print - initially via a pdf file, the application.

scroll right and you will see 3 buttons - edit, print and delete.

press print

look half way down the page and across.

i have attached an example - paid.... if NEO is in the status it is not paid.

[pmx]

Hi Chris,


many thanks for your feedback, you are so helpful !


I also tried (unsuccessfully) to find a way to apply for (and pay) the DEPKA online, you seem to confirm that it is not possible.

[Kenomac]

I’ve been in Greece for two weeks and paid the tax etc upon arrival.

Here’s a warning to all who think they can get away with not paying.... The authorities (police) came to my boat earlier today and checked all my paperwork including VAT status, Depka and cruising tax payment verification.

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I’ve been in Greece for two weeks and paid the tax etc upon arrival.

Here’s a warning to all who think they can get away with not paying.... The authorities (police) came to my boat earlier today and checked all my paperwork including VAT status, Depka and cruising tax payment verification.

Same here yesterday...

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I’ve been in Greece for two weeks and paid the tax etc upon arrival.

Here’s a warning to all who think they can get away with not paying.... The authorities (police) came to my boat earlier today and checked all my paperwork including VAT status, Depka and cruising tax payment verification.

Did they get rid of the transit log then? I think your American so in the past you would have needed that instead of a Depka, which was for EU residents.

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I’ve been in Greece for two weeks and paid the tax etc upon arrival.

Here’s a warning to all who think they can get away with not paying.... The authorities (police) came to my boat earlier today and checked all my paperwork including VAT status, Depka and cruising tax payment verification.

Is it worth a €400 fine plus all the associated stress and hassle for a €99 bill (for my 12.35m yacht)? No it isn't. Pay the damn fee and relax. The authorities will catch you, if not this month then next time and if they can show a habitual non payment the fine will be much much more and possibly involved a stretch behind bars, deportation and confiscation.

Quick question Ken, how did you pay? Was it at the Post Office or did you do it online? Just curious as I've got to do this in September when we go back out.

[Kenomac]

First, don’t follow the directions on noonsite. I did and ended up wasting a half hour at the tax office in Corfu, everything can be done at the harbormaster/immigration police/customs office. So I walked into the customs office with my tax bill/certificate (no way to pay it until Monday because the tax office didn’t accept tax payments), and the officer politely told me I didn’t need that form, but they could take care of everything here at the port including payment.... which they did. The entire process took about an hour, mostly for time spent by the authority making up the travel log book. They only accept cash in euros, so I needed to go to the bancomat located in the terminal, an officer very politely escorted me to the cash machine.

Yes, I have a transit log, but the Harbor police called it a depka earlier today.

I broke from my normal routine which is to always do the entire procedure alone, which usually takes less time and goes smoothly, politely and friendly. I brought along my friend (big mistake), the police and customs people pick up on the impatient body language... which doesn’t help matters. I probably could have been in and out of there in under a half hour without him.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Palarran

Did they get rid of the transit log then? I think your American so in the past you would have needed that instead of a Depka, which was for EU residents.

Transit Log still in force for non-EU boats and DEKPA ( not Depka) for EU boats.
Some people, including Greek officials use the document names interchangeably...
Ok

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by meirriba

Transit Log still in force for non-EU boats and DEKPA ( not Depka) for EU boats.
Some people, including Greek officials use the document names interchangeably...
Ok

Are they still asking for you to get it stamped at every port that has a Port Authority and also to change your crew list every time someone new comes aboard? PITA. I'd pay triple to do away with those two things.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Palarran

Are they still asking for you to get it stamped at every port that has a Port Authority and also to change your crew list every time someone new comes aboard? PITA. I'd pay triple to do away with those two things.

This summer I had our TL stamped "Ionian" as next destination. That allowes us to sail around the Ionian sea with no need for visiting port police offices along the way as long as we were in the designated area (apparently the port police cannot cope with the innumerable yachts sailing the Ionian sea).
Last year, in the Aegean, we visited more or less every third port police on our itinerary. While not legal, it did work. When asked why there is such a gap since our last visit and why the destination written on the TL does not match to actual port visited we have answered that we changed our mind as to where we are sailing while at sea and then spent time on anchor, not in port. Worked every time.