Do I need to file a declaration if I transfer money to my child via IRIS? I deposit money into my granddaughter’s bank account every month while she’s at university. Is that considered an informal gift? Do I need to report it to the tax authority? What about joint bank accounts?
These are among the questions Greek citizens are asking when they transfer money to children, grandchildren, or spouses, and not without reason: a significant number of taxpayers have found themselves in the crosshairs of tax enforcement simply because they were unaware of their reporting obligations.
Thousands of cases involving monetary parental gifts and informal donations have reached the Tax Disputes Resolution Directorate, with taxpayers contesting fines and taxes imposed on them. Many of these cases involve cash gifts handed over outside the banking system, repeated gifts to recipients who do not qualify for the tax-free threshold, or transfers made without a declaration being filed on the myPROPERTY platform of the Greek tax authority, AADE.
A telling example: a taxpayer was flagged during a 2025 audit for failing to file a gift tax declaration for monthly amounts her grandfather had deposited into her account back in 2021, when she was a student on the island of Chios. The tax authority determined that the total of 700 euros constituted a monetary gift. The woman filed the declaration retroactively, but it was considered late, and she was fined 100 euros. She appealed, and the appeal was rejected.
This year, 1,080 cases involving monetary parental gifts and donations are under review by tax auditors, with investigators focusing on arrangements that appear designed to circumvent the 800,000-euro tax-free threshold.
Here is what taxpayers need to know:
1. Pocket money via IRIS. AADE has clarified that money sent by parents to their children through instant payment systems such as IRIS, to cover small everyday expenses or general living costs, particularly when the child is a dependent (a minor or a student up to age 25), does not constitute a gift. No declaration needs to be filed on myPROPERTY in these cases.
2. The tax-free threshold. Monetary gifts of up to 800,000 euros to close relatives in the first degree of kinship, meaning parents, children, spouses, grandparents, and grandchildren, are tax-free, provided the transfer is made through the banking system and a declaration is duly filed.
3. Transaction review. Declarations of monetary parental gifts are filed through the myPROPERTY platform, after which AADE cross-checks the transaction against data submitted by credit institutions. If the bank cannot confirm the transaction and the taxpayer fails to provide the required documentation, the tax authority proceeds to impose tax without applying the tax-free threshold. This means tax is levied from the first euro of the gift, at rates of 10%, 20%, or 40%, depending on the degree of kinship.
4. Cash gifts. Monetary gifts made in cash, meaning funds that do not pass through the banking system, are taxed at a flat rate of 10% with no tax-free threshold.
5. Consecutive gifts. In cases where gifts are made in a chain to persons who do not qualify for the 800,000-euro exemption, for instance a child gifting money to a parent who then gifts it to a sibling, the tax authority examines the actual circumstances, the intent behind the transactions, and the time elapsed between them. If it is established that the ultimate beneficiary is a person outside the first-degree category and that the chain of gifts was designed to achieve this result, a 20% tax is imposed with no tax-free threshold. When the gap between consecutive gifts is short, specifically less than six months, the case may be flagged for a full tax audit.
6. Joint bank accounts. When money is transferred to a joint account held by the recipient and a third party, tax authorities will investigate which of the two actually used the funds. If it is determined that the third party benefited from the transfer, a gift tax is applied accordingly.
