New deadline eyed for tax declarations

The Finance Ministry is contemplating a further extension of the deadline for the submission of income tax declarations by 10 to 15 days, as more than 2.3 million statements have not yet been submitted and the revised deadline expires in 15 days’ time.

According to data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, so far 4,083,803 declarations of 2019 incomes have been uploaded, which means that for the process to be completed without a new extension more than 150,000 statements will need to be submitted every day until July 29. Tax administration data show that there has only been one day when the statements uploaded topped 100,000, so it appears very unlikely for that to be concluded in time.

Crucially, in case a decision for an extension is made, with submissions continuing into August, taxpayers will get to pay their tax dues in seven instead of eight installments as the law dictates for those who will forward their statements online by end-July. This is because the state’s online system relies on the tax administration for processing the needs created by the health crisis and an overload could cause general problems.