Payment plan for tax debtors in early March

The Finance Ministry is working on a new settlement plan for tax debts in up to 120 tranches for salaried workers, pensioners and those who do not qualify for the out-of-court mechanism.

The new arrangement is less attractive than the one recently announced by Labor Minister Effie Achtsioglou, whose plan for overdue taxes includes income criteria, unlike that for social security arrears.

According to a top Finance Ministry official, the final number of installments has not yet been decided, but the regulation will be ready for implementation in early March. In any case, the same source adds, all obligations for the current year will have to be met, which means that the new payment plan will also include debts created up to December 31, 2018.

The plan will include income criteria for debtors so as to secure the approval of the country’s creditors. It will also contain a haircut on penalties that in some cases will amount to a complete write-off.

A Finance Ministry official told Kathimerini that the regulation will need “to operate rapidly, easily and with just a few parameters.” Otherwise, he noted, it will become complicated and hard to operate online, as all debtors interested will submit an application to enter the new payment plan through the electronic Taxisnet platform.

Source: ekathimerini.com