By G. Kouros
The government late last week precluded a new 100-instalment plan for paying off arrears to the tax bureau, whereas changes are also in store for the unpopular property tax next year.
Nevertheless, alternate finance minister Tryfon Alexiadis said the revenue goal for the property tax, known as ENFIA in its Greek-language acronym, will remain at 2.65 billion euros. He did not specific what changes his government will make to the property tax regime.
Speaking on state-run television, Alexiadis on Friday emphasized that the finance ministry will not approve another such long-term payment plan for taxpayers and businesses, stressing that the labor ministry has its own policy vis-à-vis arrears owed to various social security funds.
Meanwhile, the finance ministry is expected to table a draft bill on electronic transactions in the coming period, with the highlight of the bill being a provision that calculates a taxpayer’s income tax deductible only through the inclusion of e-transactions – as opposed to paper receipts and invoices used in the past.
A rebate, as a percentage of overall transactions, is also foreseen in professional sectors (craftsmen, for instance) usually associated with widespread tax evasion in Greece.
Besides the “carrot” portion of the bill, proposed “sticks” will be the obligatory presence of POS terminals for all businesses, and the connection of cash registers with the tax bureau online servers.
