Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a broad program of tax relief, wage increases and social support during his keynote address at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday evening.
Mitsotakis said the government’s objective was to return the benefits of economic growth to society without jeopardizing fiscal stability. The measures focus on middle-income households, families with children, pensioners, farmers, self-employed professionals, workers and small businesses.
Tax Relief for Professionals and Businesses
Among the principal tax measures announced were changes to the presumed minimum-income system for self-employed professionals. Tax-compliant professionals will no longer face increases in their presumed income based on turnover and payroll costs.
The advance income tax paid by self-employed professionals will fall from 55 percent to 50 percent from the 2027 tax year. For legal entities, the advance tax will be reduced by five percentage points annually from 2028, gradually falling from 80 percent to 50 percent.
A 50 percent reduction in presumed taxable income will be extended to professionals operating in communities with populations of up to 2,000 permanent residents. Special provisions will also be introduced for jointly owned taxis, based on each owner’s share.
The business levy will be abolished in regional Greece and Thessaloniki in 2027 and reduced by 50 percent in Attica.
Professional farmers will pay no income tax on annual earnings of up to €20,000. Mitsotakis also announced that refunds of the special consumption tax on agricultural diesel will begin to be made directly at the pump through a new system from November 1, 2026.
The government will retain the intermediate 25 percent tax bracket for rental income introduced for the 2026 tax year. Foundations and charitable endowments will be exempted from income tax.
Survivor’s pensions received by children will no longer count toward the €3,000 income threshold used to determine whether they qualify as dependents.
Businesses investing in modern equipment will be permitted to complete tax depreciation over six years instead of ten. In addition, €1.5 billion from Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Facility resources will be transferred to the Hellenic Development Bank to provide financing to businesses on favorable terms.
Support for Pensioners and People With Disabilities
The annual November bonus payment for pensioners will increase to €400 and be extended to all retirees over the age of 65. The same payment will be made to people with disabilities and uninsured elderly citizens.
The payment will be made on November 30, 2026, and again on November 30, 2027.
Pensions will increase at the end of December according to the statutory formula based on inflation and economic growth. The increases will not be offset against the so-called personal difference.
Disability benefits will also be indexed to inflation from January 1, 2027.
Wage Increases and Lower Social Security Contributions
Public-sector employees will receive a permanent gross Christmas payment of €500 beginning in December 2027. The payment will count toward pensionable earnings.
The minimum wage will increase again on April 1, 2027, triggering a corresponding across-the-board increase for public-sector employees. Mitsotakis said the minimum wage would exceed the government’s previous target of €950 (€1,108, as private sector employees in Greece are being paid 14 wages annually) during 2027 and reach €1,000 (€1,167) in January 2028.
The increase will also affect seniority supplements and benefits tied to the minimum wage. Social security contributions for private-sector employees will be reduced by a further 0.5 percentage points from April 1, 2027.
Measures for Families and Children
Families with three children will pay no income tax on annual earnings of up to €20,000 from January 1, 2027. The measure is expected to benefit approximately 87,000 families.
The childbirth allowance will increase by €1,000 for each additional child, with the change applying retroactively to births from January 2026.
The government will also introduce a long-term investment account for children opened during the first two years of their lives. Under the plan outlined by Mitsotakis, the state will match parental contributions to create what he described as a fund for the new generation.
The prime minister said that if parents saved €100 per month, the account could contain more than €60,000 by the time their child turned 18, including state contributions and investment returns. The program is scheduled to begin in January 2027.
Housing and Property Measures
A new “My Home 3” housing program will begin in January 2027. The initiative is intended to help tens of thousands of young people and couples purchase homes through subsidized financing, with repayments designed to be lower than the rent for comparable properties.
The abolition of the annual property tax (ENFIA) on primary residences will be extended in 2027 to communities with up to 2,000 residents. In Western Macedonia, the population threshold will be 2,200.
At the same time, the property transfer tax imposed when buyers come from countries outside the European Union will increase from 3 percent to 15 percent.
The implementation calendar also provides for a retroactive double rent refund on September 25, 2026, for doctors, nurses and teachers serving away from their permanent homes.
The regular annual rent refund, together with the double refund for those professional groups, will be paid on November 30, 2026, for the 2025 tax year. The payments will be repeated on November 30, 2027, for the 2026 tax year.
Energy and Agricultural Initiatives
In the energy sector, regulated public-service electricity charges for all household connections will be cut by 50 percent from January 1, 2027, falling from €6.90 to €3.45 per megawatt-hour.
The government has also set a target of reducing wholesale electricity prices by 30 percent by 2029.
Mitsotakis promised a comprehensive recovery plan for livestock farming, including permanent safeguards against animal diseases. He pledged that herds destroyed because of disease outbreaks would be reconstituted as quickly as possible.
Postal Vote for Greeks Living Abroad
Eligible Greek citizens living abroad will be able to vote by post from their place of residence in the next national elections.
Law 5285/2026, published in the Government Gazette on March 5, 2026, extended postal voting to parliamentary elections for voters outside Greece. Those wishing to use the system must hold active voting rights, be registered on Greece’s electoral rolls and apply for inclusion in the special postal-voting register.
The reform means diaspora voters will no longer need to travel to Greece or to a designated polling station, which in previous elections could be located hundreds of miles from their homes, to participate in a national election.
Mitsotakis presented the economic and social measures as part of a longer-term government plan extending beyond the next national election and toward 2031.
He acknowledged that high prices remain a central concern for Greek households but said income support and tax relief must remain within European spending limits and preserve the country’s fiscal credibility.
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