Tax breaks for stricken firms apply as of Thursday

The legislative act concerning the first batch of measures aimed at tackling the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic was to be activated on Thursday, and concerns enterprises that have been forced to shut down on government orders for at least 10 days.

The measures include the suspension of payments of value-added tax and other tax obligations as well as of social security contributions for companies that already have or will shut down following a government decision.

The Finance Ministry is also preparing a second set of measures that will be presented at Monday's Eurogroup, focusing on supporting all enterprises that suffer from the Covid-19 outbreak.

Sources say that the government will announce additional nationwide measures within March that will depend on the consequences of the coronavirus. They will also concern the suspension of tax and...