All handouts to be tax-exempt
The tax administration on Wednesday announced the full exemption from income tax and the solidarity levy of all means of state support provided in the context of the pandemic, such as the special-purpose compensation, the handouts, the income contributions, the rental cut compensation and all takings from the cheap state loans program.
This adds up to more than 12 billion euros distributed over the last 12 months to hundreds of thousands of enterprises, employees and freelance professionals.
The decision by the head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, Giorgos Pitsilis, means that tax offices will not take into account the cash provided to taxpayers and enterprises in the context of the support measures, even though companies and individuals will see it included in their pre-filled tax declarations (E1 form) concerning 2020 incomes.
The bulk of the tax-exempt cash concerns the takings from the so-called Deposit To Be Returned program, amounting to €6.7 billion, alongside the €2.9 billion of special-purpose compensation to workers on furlough and the extension of unemployment benefits, adding up to €1 billion. In total, 15 categories of extraordinary incomes will be exempt from tax.
