Calls for another tax statement extension
More than 700,000 tax declarations have yet to be submitted less than 100 hours before the September 10 deadline. This is definitely too tight a timeframe for accountants and taxpayers to meet for all of them.
The Economic Chamber of Greece (OEE) and accountants’ associations are already asking for yet another extension to late as September 30, while the Finance Ministry is said to be considering a few more days – i.e. until September 15 or 17. That is because, by the end of the month, the ministry will also need to have cleared the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) dues, whose first tranche must be paid by end-September.
Notably, September is one of the toughest months for taxpayers, too, as millions will have to pay their income tax tranche as well as their first ENFIA installment.
In a letter to the ministry, OEE Chairman Konstantinos Kollias notes it is impossible for the uploading of tax statements to be completed by Friday, given that “it is the difficult cases [of declarations]” that have not yet been submitted. In this context, OEE is proposing not only the extension of the deadline to September 30, but also the 3% discount for taxpayers who pay their annual dues in a lump sum by the end of this month. It also calls for an October 31 deadline for citizens living in areas struck by this summer’s wildfires.
Up until Monday the Independent Authority for Public Revenue had received 5,744,215 tax declarations, with 32.31% of taxpayers being asked to pay more tax that what may have already been withheld from their incomes. This has an average amount of 886 euros per taxpayer. Just over half (51.2%) of taxpayers have no dues to pay, and 16.49% of taxpayers are due a tax rebate, averaging at €260 each.
To date the legislation dictates taxpayers must pay the first couple of monthly tranches by September 17 and the third by end-September. In total, eight monthly tranches of income tax are due, the last scheduled by the end of February 2022. ENFIA will also be due by end-February, in six tranches starting from this month.
In total, taxpayers in Greece are expected to be asked to pay some €3 billion in income tax this year, plus another €2.6 in ENFIA. More than €1.5 billion of the two taxes’ dues combined are due this month.
