Taxpayers set to fork out less this year

Fewer than one in three taxpayers will be called upon to pay additional taxes once their income statements are processed, and those who pay will pay less than during the previous year, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras says.

In an interview with Skai TV yesterday, Staikouras said that 5 million tax returns, representing 6.8 million individuals, have been submitted thus far. Of those, 70% will either pay no additional tax or will get a rebate, he said.

This is a result of the lower 9% tax bracket for low-income independent professionals and the fact that many private sector employees had been furloughed last year as businesses downsized or shut down because of the pandemic and were paid €534 per month, much lower than their usual salary.

Staikouras also said there will be no further extension to the September 10 deadline for filing income tax returns.