By G. Palaitsakis
More than 2.4 million households in Greece and more than 200,000 legal entities (mostly SMEs) are due – according to finance ministry calculations – to pay up to 2.5 billion euros in five different taxes to state coffers by July 31.
The sum corresponds to payments in order to partially or completely pay-off five different taxes and levies: the annual personal income tax; a so-called “solidarity tax” imposed on top of the income tax co-efficient for annual incomes deemed as “high”; a one-off annual fee (between 500 and 650 euros) imposed on self-employed professionals, regardless of annual revenues and expenses; a “luxury” tax for 2017 linked with the ownership of upscale vehicles, boats, pools etc, and VAT remittances owed by professionals and businesses that collect the specific tax (i.e. sales taxes).
As in previous years, after the electronic submission of income tax and corporate returns was made obligatory, a risk of the state’s online system collapsing is ever-present.
As a result, associations representing accountants in the country have asked for a short extension of the relevant filing deadline, at least until July 30 – a request that is expected to be met by the finance ministry.
