Chance to rejoin debt payment schemes
By next Monday, November 23, the platform where borrowers can apply to re-enter the debt repayment program with 100 or 120 installments will reopen to cater for those who failed to meet their tax obligations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The necessary condition for rejoining is the payment of the November tranche, while those installments that have not been paid will be added as extra tranches after the last scheduled one.
All borrowers who have been hurt by the pandemic and for any reason have missed any tranche payments between March and October 2020 can continue to pay off their dues as of November 2020, with all the benefits remaining intact, according to a Finance Ministry decision.
Asked whether the new lockdown means the payment of the tranche will be postponed by a month, until December, a ministry official said this is not feasible for technical reasons. He noted that many taxpayers are waiting for the platform to open so they can pay the November tranche, adding that there may be a small extension of a few days for the installment due by November 30.
He went on to note that borrowers who are unable to re-enter the payment program with 100 or 120 tranches due to problems caused by the pandemic will enter a new category of cases that will be reassessed and may benefit from a new intervention for those whose businesses have been forced to close by government order.
Taxpayers and corporations wishing to continue to pay their tranches can do so as of next week, while the unpaid tranches can be paid after the end of the program: For instance, a company that had joined the 120-tranche plan and was unable to pay the July and August installments, thereby forfeiting their right to remain in the repayment program, can re-enter it once the platform opens and continue covering their obligations starting with the November tranche. The two missed tranches will be due once all scheduled installments have been paid.
By the end of the month, the online platform for the standard payment program with 24 or 48 tranches will open, for the inclusion of any taxpayers who have missed their deadlines since November 1, even though today they have no right to have the debts rearranged.
