Income tax

Despite shouldering the lion's share of the tax burden during Greece's protracted financial crisis, middle-class wage-earners are set to continue doing so in the foreseeable future, according to the new tax scale included in the 2020 budget which stipulates that those earning more than 1,000 euros will see reductions of just 1.5-2 percent.

The government will next month introduce a new set of tax brackets for 2020 incomes, but will take a few steps back from its election announcements to avoid undermining fiscal stability.

Salaried workers, pensioners and self-employed professionals will see significant reductions in their tax bills in 2020, according to a draft law that reduces the lowest income tax bracket to 9 percent from 22 percent for incomes up 10,000 euros, maintains the income tax-free ceiling at 8,636 euros per year and offers deductions for families with children.

Monday is the last day for taxpayers in Greece to submit the declarations of their 2018 incomes, with the fine for delays ranging from 100 to 500 euros.

According to official figures, more than 6 million declarations were submitted by Sunday, with around 150,000 still pending even though the Finance Ministry recently ruled out the possibility of a further extension.

The government's pledge to reduce the minimum income tax rate from 22 to 9 percent for the first 10,000 euros declared will have a fiscal cost of at least 800-900 million euros per year.

Greek companies were the most heavily burdened by tax in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the last decade, according to a study by the Washington-based Tax Foundation.

This year's heavy tax obligations for Greek citizens will begin straight after the general election, adding up to more than 14 billion euros in the second half of 2019. Over a quarter of that concerns income tax, as 2.5 million taxpayers will have to pay some 3.5 billion euros, starting from this month.

This year's heavy tax obligations for Greek citizens will begin straight after the general election, adding up to more than 14 billion euros in the second half of 2019. Over a quarter of that concerns income tax, as 2.5 million taxpayers will have to pay some 3.5 billion euros, starting from this month.

Taxable incomes are set to decline again this year, resulting in a further drop in takings for the tax authorities.

In the last four years, according to the tax declarations of the country's 6.3 million households, Greece has failed to see confirmation of the rule that economic growth brings higher incomes and therefore greater income tax revenues for the state.

The government's tax measures have failed to fetch additional revenues, while generating more expired debts and leading to the concealment of incomes and the shrinking of the middle classes, figures show.

Last week, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos himself gave a definition of the middle classes, putting their incomes at between 20,000 and 45,000 euros.