Income statement submission from February
The submission of this year’s tax declarations – concerning last year’s incomes – will start as early as late next month, according to the new draft law on taxation that the Finance Ministry will table in Parliament next week.
The government wishes to see income tax declarations submitted as early as possible this year so that the state coffers can start receiving tax payments earlier than in previous years.
The bill will also incorporate clauses on the voluntary declaration of hidden incomes, the compulsory use of credit and debit cards in taxpayers’ transactions and the new property rates used for tax purposes – known as objective values – to apply retroactively from May 2015 and up until end-2016.
The new objective values will be reduced by 5 to 25 percent, with the cheapest areas of Athens seeing no change in rates, areas with rates currently ranging from 1,550 to 2,500 euros per square meter experiencing a 10-15 percent drop, while the most expensive neighborhoods will enjoy a decline of 20-25 percent. In case the new rates apply from May 21, as a Council of State verdict has provided for, the tax authorities may have to reimburse those who have purchased or inherited any properties in the meantime.
Sources say that the country’s creditors will issue their response to the government’s plan for the voluntary declaration of undeclared incomes and cashless transactions in the coming days. However, ministry officials say that this is a mere formality, as the creditors’ technical experts have already processed both plans.
