Economy & Business, Volume 19, 2025

Abstract: This study examines Greek/Hellenic tax sanctioning law through a systematic analysis of Hellenic administrative case law. Based on research conducted in Hellenic legal databases, it is observed that, where tax penalties are imposed, the consistent position of both the Tax Administration and the administrative courts is that they lack the power to measure or individualize the amount of the sanction. This lack of discretion is considered compatible with the constitutional principle of proportionality, on the ground that tax sanctioning provisions themselves incorporate proportionality through graduated statutory percentages that correspond to the gravity of the tax violation. This approach reflects an objective system of tax penalties, under which the existence or degree of the taxpayer’s culpability is not examined. At the same time, older case law and minority opinions within the Hellenic Council of State (CoS) adopt a contrary view, emphasizing that tax violations occur under materially different factual circumstances. According to this line of reasoning, both the existence and the degree of culpability should be taken into account, and the competent authorities should be granted the possibility to measure the tax penalty on an ad hoc basis. The study argues that this minority and earlier jurisprudence is legally more persuasive, because proportionality ensured at the legislative level does not necessarily guarantee proportionality in the individualized application of the sanction to the specific taxpayer. The consideration of culpability is therefore indispensable, given that the legislator cannot abstractly predetermine all factual configurations under which a tax penalty will be imposed.