Taxpayers bracing for added burden
Salary workers, pensioners, farmers, freelancers and corporations are up against additional tax obligations as of 2016, amounting to 2.2 billion euros, while their ability to pay is all but exhausted and debts to tax authorities which have been created since 2009 now add up to 53 billion euros.
The new burdens will be reflected on the new income tax payment slips that will come earlier than ever next year: The submission of 2015 income tax declarations will begin from February 2016.
The General Secretariat for Public Revenues has already started working on the changes to the tax statement form, where certain entries, such as those for receipts and unpaid rent, will be amended.
The tax hikes comprise an increase in the solidarity levy for earners of 30,000 euros or more (applying retroactively for 2015 incomes); an amended set of income brackets for salary workers and pensioners; a retroactive increase in rental revenue tax to 15 percent from 11 percent for revenues up to 12,000 euros and to 35 percent from 33 percent for takings above 12,000 euros; an increase in the tax deposit paid by freelancers and corporations; a rise in corporate tax from 26 to 29 percent; and a hike in farmers’ income tax rates and deposits.
