Benefit for islanders who are to lose VAT discount
Some eastern Aegean island households will receive an extra 500-2,100-euro handout as part of the "social dividend," aimed at offsetting the blow they will suffer due to the abolition of the 30 percent discount on value-added tax as of January 1.
The ministerial decision published on Wednesday concerns the smaller islands in the prefectures of Evros (such as pictured Samothraki), Lesvos, Chios, Samos and the Dodecanese, but not the larger islands of Lesvos, Leros, Samos, Chios and Kos, which will keep the discount for six more months, as well as Rhodes and Karpathos, which have already lost it.
The handout will be based on social and financial criteria.
