No tax declarations for now as accountants go on strike

Unions representing accountants, tax experts and consultants have announced they will refrain from submitting the tax declarations of their clients until April 18 to protest pension reforms, which, they say, will oblige them to pay up to 70 percent of their income in taxes and social security payments.

They also said they will block the entrances of tax offices on Thursday throughout the country.

“If the new system to calculate [social security] contributions is implemented then, by next year, it will be impossible for us to submit [client] tax declarations because there will simply be no more accountant offices and freelance accountants, as they will have all shut down,” said Konstantinos Kollias, president of the Economic Chamber of Greece.

Vasilis Kampanis, the head of the nationwide federation of self-employed tax consultants (POFEE), urged his colleagues to “put political affiliations aside” and join the protest against pension reform.