Income tax for young workers in Greece: 0 % up to 25, 9 % to 30
Since 2026, workers in Greece aged 25 or under pay no income tax on their first €20,000 of taxable income, and those aged 26 to 30 pay 9 %.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
Law 5246/2025 introduced age-based rates on the first two bands of the Greek income tax scale, which together cover the first €20,000 of taxable income. Up to age 25 the rate on those bands is 0 %; from 26 to 30 it is 9 %, instead of the normal 9 % and 20 %. Income above €20,000 is taxed on the ordinary scale. For a graduate on €1,400 gross a month, paid fourteen times, this means €1,213 net per payment at 24, €1,152 at 28 and €1,097 for an otherwise identical colleague over 30. Without children, the most a worker up to 25 can save is €2,900 a year, and €1,100 for ages 26 to 30. Social security contributions are unchanged at 13.37 %, and parents of four or more children pay nothing on the two bands at any age. The calculator below shows the saving on your own salary.
What the youth rates save you
Less tax per year
€1,352
| Net with the youth rate | €1,126 |
| Net if over 30 | €1,030 |
| Tax per year | €0 |
Net pay by salary and age group
| Monthly gross | Net up to 25 | Net 26-30 | Net over 30 | Saving/year to 25 | Saving/year 26-30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €920 | €797 | €781 | €772 | €355 | €127 |
| €1,200 | €1,040 | €998 | €962 | €1,085 | €501 |
| €1,400 | €1,213 | €1,152 | €1,097 | €1,618 | €768 |
| €1,600 | €1,386 | €1,306 | €1,232 | €2,152 | €1,035 |
| €1,900 | €1,629 | €1,501 | €1,422 | €2,900 | €1,100 |
| €2,200 | €1,816 | €1,688 | €1,609 | €2,900 | €1,100 |
| €2,700 | €2,112 | €1,984 | €1,905 | €2,900 | €1,100 |
| €3,500 | €2,547 | €2,419 | €2,340 | €2,900 | €1,100 |
Net figures are per payment, with fourteen payments a year and no dependent children. The first row is the minimum wage of €920. The saving keeps rising with the salary until taxable income passes €20,000, which happens at roughly €1,649 gross a month, and then stays flat: from that point the youth rate has been used in full and every extra euro is taxed like anyone else’s.
How the limit works
The relief is attached to the first two bands, not to a salary ceiling. Nobody loses it by earning more. A 23-year-old developer on €2,700 gross a month has more taxable income than the limit; the first €20,000 is still taxed at 0 %, the rest at 26 % and above, and the article 16 employee tax reduction is subtracted from that remainder. The result is €3,172 of tax a year, against €6,072 for a colleague over 30 on the same pay.
Below the limit, the tax reduction has nothing to work on. A worker up to 25 who stays under €20,000 has no scale tax at all, so the €777 reduction is simply not used. It is not paid out and cannot be carried forward. The mechanics are explained in the guide to the employee tax credit.
Turning 26 or 31 during the year
The text of the law refers to taxpayers “up to 25 years old” and “from 26 to 30 years old”. It does not spell out, in the same provision, whether age is counted on your date of birth or by year of birth. If your birthday falls in the middle of the tax year, ask the payroll office which age group it is using and check the result on your annual return. Our calculator lets you compare both groups side by side.
The same salary at three ages
Net up to age 25
€1,386
| Net at 26-30 | €1,306 |
| Net from 31 | €1,232 |
| Annual tax: to 25 / 26-30 / 31+ | €0 / €1,118 / €2,152 |
What a pay rise is worth under 25
Because the marginal rate on the first €20,000 is zero, a young employee keeps more of every raise. From each €100 of extra gross pay, a worker up to 25 under the limit loses only the social security share and keeps €87. A colleague over 30 earning €1,400 would keep roughly €68, after the band rate and the shrinking tax reduction. For someone choosing between two offers early in their career, the gross difference translates almost fully into net pay.
Adding it up to age 30
The saving is worth looking at over several years rather than one. Picture a graduate who starts at 23 on €1,500 gross a month and, to keep the example simple, never gets a raise. For 3 years, up to 25, the youth rate saves €1,885 a year. For the 5 years from 26 to 30 it saves €901 a year. By the 31st birthday the total comes to about €10,162, provided the rules stay in force for the whole period.
Relocation decisions are often made at exactly this age. For someone under 30 weighing a Greek offer against one elsewhere, the youth rates narrow the gap in net pay more than the gross figures suggest, especially on salaries just below the €20,000 limit.
Young parents
The youth rates and the child rates combine in the taxpayer’s favour. A 27-year-old with three children already has a 9 % second band because of the children, the same as the youth rate. With four or more children, the zero rate applies to both bands whatever the age. Children also lower the third band (24 % with one, 22 % with two) and raise the tax reduction, as explained on the page about the tax reduction for children.
Two jobs, or a job plus freelance work
Each employer applies the youth rate to the salary it pays, as if it were your only income. If two part-time jobs together take you over €20,000, the payroll will have withheld too little and the annual return will show tax to pay. Freelance profits are added to your salary to find the band, but they do not benefit from the article 16 reduction. For a precise figure on a single salary, use the main salary calculator with your age group selected.