Tax discount only for card and web users

Only taxpayers who make payments by credit and debit card will be entitled to claim a tax-free threshold as of next year, according to a bill the Finance Ministry tabled in Parliament midnight on Monday. However, there will be an exception for pensioners, who will be gradually introduced to the obligatory use of cards for the tax discount.

Clauses on electronic transactions (via cards and the internet), as well as the legalization of undeclared incomes, will be included in the omnibus bill, which, according to Finance Ministry officials, is making the rounds of the competent ministries before it is tabled.

The draft law provides for the 1,900- to 2,100-euro tax discount salary workers, pensioners and farmers are entitled to to be granted only to those who spend: a) 10 percent of their annual revenues through cards if their income is up to 10,000 euros; b) 15 percent for incomes up to 30,000 euros; and c) 20 percent for higher incomes. Failure to reach the necessary quota will also entail a fine totaling 22 percent of the difference between the necessary amount of card expenditure and the amount actually achieved.

Notably, taxpayers who spend more than 80 percent of their annual income using cards or online may be entitled to an additional discount, although this has not yet received the clearance of the country’s creditors.