March sees tax debts on the increase

Tax debts posted a remarkable 25% increase in March on an annual basis, as this year there was no tax obligation suspension as was the case a year earlier, with the exception of arranged tranches postponed till after the end of the agreed payment plan.

Data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue showed dues expanded 627 million euros in March, against €503 million a year earlier, to reach €2.16 billion over the first quarter of 2021.

However, there was a particularly interesting element in the figures, as value-added tax (VAT) rebates showed a particularly positive performance for the tax administration: Rebates satisfied as much as 95% of demands within 90 days of submission, amounting to €488 million with the processing of 18,509 applications.

There was also a considerable increase in VAT payments by taxpayers: In March timely payments reached up to 91.75% of the total VAT dues, as €492.02 million was paid out of dues adding up to €536.28 million. In February that rate had amounted to 83.04%.

The overall timely tax payment rate came to 91.31%, up 12 percentage points on February.