Greece continues to exempt products sold at duty-free shops on its land borders with Macedonia, Albania, and Turkey, even though this exemption was only allowed until January 2017 under EU law.
Despite legislative amendments between 2016 and 2023, Greece still allows duty-free shops at land borders to supply excise goods to travelers going outside the EU.
The EU directive 2020/262 requires uniform rules on when excise duties are applied and limits exemptions to certain circumstances. Since 2017, such sales from land-border shops should no longer be exempt, meaning excise duties must be paid.
Macedonia, which is not an EU member, has closed its land-border duty-free shops since 1997, adhering to EU rules that permit such shops only at airports and seaports. The continued operation of Greek duty-free shops means Macedonia loses hundreds of millions of euros annually, as its citizens spend money in Greece on products like cigarettes, alcohol, and perfumes while traveling.
