Introduction

AthexCSD has been authorised as CSD under CSDR and has introduced a new account type, an omnibus account, into its system.

With the introduction of this account type, new reporting, tax collection and payment obligations will fall on AthexCSD participants, registered intermediaries (for example, entities in whose name the omnibus account is opened, such as Clearstream Banking), as well as other intermediaries in the custody chain, for example, Clearstream Banking clients. These obligations are detailed below. Further details are still awaiting confirmation in the market and will be communicated as soon as available.

Clearstream Banking together with its custodian have migrated the securities to the new omnibus account on 12 April 2021. Clients should note that the opening of the new omnibus account at AthexCSD will not have any impact on settlement instructions of clients or their counterparties. 

The new law, L. 4799/2021, published in the Greek Government Gazette, foresees different scenarios in which the Greek sales tax is applicable. In addition, the reporting obligation falls to different entities according to the scenario.

Impacted transactions and securities

• If AthexCSD is the issuer CSD, all securities are taxable for either Greek or foreign resident sellers;
• If AthexCSD is not the issuer CSD, securities listed in a Greek Market can be subject to the Sales Tax:
  • If settlement occurs in AthexCSD, the securities are taxable for Greek and foreign resident sellers. [art. 9 par. 2 case c’ of L. 2579/1998, as amended by L. 4799/2021];
  • If settlement occurs in the custody chain of an AthexCSD omnibus account, the securities are taxable for Greek and Foreign resident sellers (e.g. this is the case if the assets are held in Clearstream on the link to Greece). [art. 9 par. 2 case d’ of L. 2579/1998, as amended by L. 4799/2021];
  • If settlement occurs outside of the custody chain of an AthexCSD omnibus account, only Greek resident sellers are taxable. [art. 9 par. 2 case e’ of L. 2579/1998, as amended by L. 4799/2021].

Settlement of sales transactions within AthexCSD

The current processing of sales tax at the rate of 0.2% until Settlement Date 31 December 2023 and 0.1% as of Settlement Date 2 January 2024 being charged on sale transactions continues to be applicable. Clients do not need to include these transactions in the new reporting. Indeed, for all securities held in an omnibus account and settled in AthexCSD, Greek sales tax is calculated and reported by AthexCSD.

Settlement of sales transactions outside AthexCSD

Sales transactions (and in some cases FOP deliveries) settling on an AthexCSD omnibus account or on any account belonging to the custody chain of this omnibus account, are reportable to AthexCSD and subject to 0.2% sales tax until Settlement Date 31 December 2023 and 0.1% as of Settlement Date 2 January 2024, payable to the Greek Tax Authorities, on the value of the transaction. In the latter case, the omnibus account holder will be responsible for the Sales Tax calculation and declaration to the Greek Tax Authorities, as well as its payment.

The sales tax is calculated in Euros on the sale value of the shares and borne by the seller. If no price has been recorded, the tax is calculated on the Athex Stock Exchange closing price at the settlement date. 

For sales of non-Greek securities (that is, AthexCSD is not the issuer CSD) listed in the Greek Stock Exchange and settled outside AthexCSD, or not held in the custody chain of an omnibus account at AthexCSD, only Greek tax residents are taxable and will have to calculate the tax and report it to the Tax Authorities.

The Greek law provides some exemptions from sales tax which are outlined at the end of this document.

Reporting

As a registered intermediary in the settlement chain, Clearstream Banking will:

• Prepare tax declaration files on internal delivery versus payment (sales) transactions settled in Clearstream Banking’s books and send them to Citibank Athens, our local custodian, for further reporting to AthexCSD and the Greek Tax Authorities.

Clients will be responsible for reporting to Clearstream Banking:

• Free of payment deliveries (FOPs) settled in Clearstream Banking’s books;
• Free of and against payment deliveries settled within the client's books;
• Any transfers outside client's books of which the client has knowledge. Clients must ensure appropriate arrangements with their underlying clients and throughout the custody chain for the purposes of fulfilling the compliance with this reporting requirement.

Clients can find the format and content of the declaration file as provided by AthexCSD in the Annex below.

Clearstream Banking will send the declaration files received from clients to Citibank Athens for further reporting to AthexCSD and the Greek Tax Authorities.

Payment of sales tax

Clearstream Banking will:

• Calculate the sales tax amount (0.2% until 31 December 2023 and 0.1% as of 2 January 2024) on the internal delivery versus payment (sales) transactions and debit the tax amount from clients’ accounts;
• Debit the tax amount from clients’ accounts as reported by clients in their tax declaration files;
• Pay the sales tax on all transfers identified and/or reported as subject to sales tax to Citibank Athens for further credit to AthexCSD and the Greek Tax Authorities.

Power of attorney (PoA)

Clients that outsource their reporting activities may have their declaration file(s) rejected since the existing FTT PoA agreement with a third party does not include the permission to upload Greek Sales Tax declarations.

Clients who want to enable the upload of Greek Sales Tax declarations via a FTT dedicated PoA should contact their Relationship Manager to obtain the relevant documents. The FTT dedicated PoA must be signed and returned to Clearstream Banking.

Declaration file

In the attachments section at the bottom of this page, clients can find the latest MS Excel template to be filled in and converted into .csv file to submit sales tax file declarations to Clearstream Banking of transfers settled outside AthexCSD.

How to submit declarations

Clients have the possibility to submit their declaration files through Xact Web Portal or Xact File Transfer.

In line with its role of registered intermediary, and upon technical validation completion, Clearstream will transmit the received declaration to Citibank Athens for further reporting to AthexCSD and the Greek Tax Authorities.

In no circumstances Clearstream will process with content or accuracy validation, which instead remain under full responsibility of the taxpayer submitting the declaration.

Deadline for submitting declarations

Clients are required to submit their declaration files to Clearstream Banking by the second business day of the month, following the month in which the reportable transfer was settled.

Late declarations, cancellations and amendments

Submissions of late declaration files or cancellations or replacements of already submitted declaration files are possible. Please note that the cancellation and replacement declaration files must contain same reference as the original declaration file which is meant to be cancelled or replaced.

Fees and penalties

AthexCSD has announced that a fee of €100 will be charged for each late submission of the sales tax declaration file. In addition, AthexCSD will charge correction fees of €100 per OTC order to be corrected, if the request is submitted by the second business day of the following month. If the request is submitted after the second business day of the following month, the fee will be €200 with an increase of €20 for every month of delay with a maximum charge of €500. 

In addition to the above fee applied by AthexCSD, the Greek Tax Authorities have announced that a fee ranging from €100 to €2,500 will be applied in case of missing submission, late submission of declarations, in case of incomplete information provided by the taxpayer and in other cases in accordance with the art. 54 of the Law 4174/2013.

In addition to this fee, if there is a late payment of the due tax amount, the taxpayer is obliged to pay interests on that amount for the period between the expiration date and the settlement date, as foreseen in art. 53 of the Law 4174/2013.

However, if there is a recurrence of the same violation within five years, then the fine can raise up to four times the original tax amount.

If the tax amount declared is less than the amount assessed by the tax administration, the tax person is liable to a fine up to 50% of the amount of the difference (art. 58 of the Law 4174/2013).

Any such charge incurred by Clearstream Banking in the Greek sales tax process will be passed on to the relevant client on an “upon receipt” basis. 

Exemptions from Greek sales tax

Pursuant to the Greek law, several exemptions from the Greek sales tax have been inserted through various legislative texts. These exemptions are provided for information purposes only. It is the responsibility of the client to determine the eligibility for exemption as relevant.

• Tax exemption due to transfer of another non-taxable product (bonds, ETFs, DSS, rights, ELPIS, ADR, warrants);
• Transfer of securities with no change of beneficial ownership;
• Transfers of securities from a usufructuary to the legal owner for the establishment of a usufruct, as this does not constitute a transfer of securities per L. 4569/2018;
• Transfers of securities to or from a Joint Investor Share scheme;
• Transfer of securities by Special Negotiators in the framework of transactions involving Mutual Funds (Decision 1121862/10014/Β0012/18.1.2008);
• Transactions involving transfer of securities to and from the International Finance Corporation (Chapter 9 Art. VI of L.3759/1957 and Individual Administrative Decision 3/2017);
• Transactions involving transfer of securities to and from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (Art. 26 L.4416/2016); 
• Transfer of securities to a foreign exchange market, to the extent that the Greek exchange market has a common settlement mechanism with that foreign exchange market and an equivalent FTT is levied on the foreign jurisdiction (Art. 16 L.3842/2010);
• Exemption from the imposition of FTT based on decision by the Ministry of Finance (cases of transposition or contribution of shares in case of a share capital increase);
• Transfer of shares due to Donation/Parental Benefit or inheritance.

Retention and disclosure of documentary evidence

Documentary evidence of details of all transactions and, where applicable, proof of exemption must be retained by the clients and must be submitted upon request from Clearstream Banking or Greek Tax Authorities. By holding Greek securities in an account with Clearstream Banking, clients will be deemed to appoint Clearstream Banking and Clearstream Banking's depository for Greek securities as their attorneys-in-fact for the purpose of providing the information to the Greek Tax authorities, if requested by the latter.

Role of Clearstream Banking

With regard to reportable transfers for which the clients are responsible, neither the content nor the accuracy of the reports will be assessed by Clearstream Banking and the clients will assume the full responsibility of the accuracy of the return.

This page has been provided for information purposes only and does not aim to give any legal or tax advice. Clearstream Banking strongly recommends that clients assess whether and how their business is impacted.

Clearstream Banking therefore makes no guarantees, representations or warranties and accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever as to the veracity, accuracy or completeness of these documents and under no circumstances will be liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on any opinion, advice, statement made or any information provided in this document.

It is the responsibility of the Clearstream Banking client to fulfil all requirements and obligations that result from the introduction of the Greek Sales Tax and clients acting on behalf of their underlying clients should analyse whether and how to support the processing of the Sales Tax for their clients.

To comply with all the requirements of the new law, clients are requested, before instructing an actual transaction, to secure the advice and guidance of a professional tax advisor who is familiar with the relevant facts.

The client is deemed to indemnify Clearstream Banking for any taxes, penalties, interest thereon and other costs that Clearstream Banking may incur as a result of Clearstream Banking's reliance on the information reported by the client to Clearstream Banking, including the amount of sales tax indicated by the client or the claim to be entitled to exemption from sales tax.

Disclaimer

This page as well as the attached reporting template and the calendar and FAQ pages are provided for information purposes only and do not aim to give any professional (legal, tax or otherwise) advice and should not be relied upon as such.

Clearstream Banking strongly recommends that clients independently assess whether and how their business is impacted by the new Greek Sales Tax before taking any action based on or raising from the information included in this page, and shall in no event be expected to any liability for the consequences arising, whether directly or indirectly, out of such actions. The reporting template shared on this page aims to give only an overview of the information to be filed to the Greek Tax Authorities and is subject to changes which, as the case may occur, will be disclosed by way of an updated version released on this page and notified by Clearstream Banking alert.