Income tax

Greece on Friday scrapped plans to force people to pay more tax on their incomes from next year, less than a month before a parliamentary election.

Having tabled a bill rescinding a legislated reduction of the tax-free threshold on personal income tax backed that was scheduled to take effect on 1 January, 2020, the government has said it plans to implement a series of counter-austerity measures that the PM had announced in the past.

The Finance Ministry has extended the deadline for the submission of tax declarations and is about to do the same for applications to enter the payment programs for debts to the state and the social security funds, due to the general election next month.

The deadline for submission of income tax declarations has been extended to July 29, Deputy Finance Minister Katerina Papanatsiou said on Monday.

The original deadline for submissions had been June 30.

The announcement followed a delay in taxpayers sending their income statements to the authorities. 

A package of tax measures for 2020, which includes the reduction of the tax-free ceiling and a series of rate reductions, will shift the burden of 2 billion euros from about 500,000 taxpayers with a personal income of 22,000 euros or more per year to about 4 million people with takings between 7,000 and 22,000 euros/year from salaries, pensions or agricultural activity.

It was certainly not a surprise. Nevertheless, aggregated data from Greeks' income tax declarations provide undeniable evidence of the Procrustean policy mix that was implemented in Greece in recent years. 

Existing inequalities deepened, and incomes dropped while tax revenues headed higher. 

For every 10 euros the tax authorities collect, half comes from 5 percent of taxpayers and the other half from the remaining 95 percent, tax data processed by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue show.

The National Revenue Agency (NRA) announced that it is launching inspections of companies whose subject-matter is the sale of cryptocurrency.

The objective is to establish whether companies and their clients comply with tax and social security legislation.

Taxpayers will also investigate the principle of operating the platforms for the purchase and sale of such assets.

Couples wanting to files separate income tax declarations will have to submit an application to the tax authorities within the next 58 days requesting that they be handled individually, as the deadline for the expression of such an interest regarding the incomes of the 2018 financial year expires at the end of February.

The Finance Ministry plans to increase the number of monthly installments for the payment of income tax and the ENFIA property levy.

Speaking to ANT1 TV, Deputy Finance Minister Katerina Papanatsiou said the government wants "some of the taxes to be paid in more installments" in 2019.