Debts to the State: Reduction of debtors for debts up to 5,000 euros [πίνακας] – 2024-04-04 22:32:28

The hunting of the debtors of the State by the judicial departments of the tax authorities and also the messages sent to them by the Independent Public Revenue Authority seems to be gaining ground as both their number and debts are decreasing, especially those ranging from 50 to 5,000 euros.

On the other hand, the number of debtors with debts of more than 5,000 euros is increasing, as can be seen from the data of the report of the 4th quarter of 2023 of the State Budget Office to the Parliament, which were made public on Monday, April 1st.

The total number of debtors

With reference to the total number of debtors, at the end of January 2024 there is a decrease of 99,985 persons (natural and legal) in relation to the corresponding period of 2023, with the result that the total number of those who owe taxes and customs is 3,931,625 debtors against 4,031,610 debtors at the end of the corresponding month last year.
The reduction in question comes from the categories of debt between 50 and 5,000 euros, with their number decreasing by a total of 154,384 persons, while from 5,001 euros to 10,000 there is an increase in the number of debtors by 1,680 persons.

Debts from 50 to 10,000 euros

It is noted that a decrease in the total overdue balance is observed in the debt range from 50 to 5,000 euros (by 59.1 million euros), while from 5,001 euros to 10,000 there is an increase in debts by 14.5 million euros.

On the contrary, in the remaining categories of debt, an increase in the number of debtors is observed, with the largest, by 36,057 persons, recorded in debts of less than 50 euros.

The reduction in the number of debtors in the debt range from 50 to 10,000 euros is accompanied by a reduction of the total overdue balance on an annual basis by 54.6 million euros in total. However, in the highest categories of debt (up to 100 million euros) an increase in the overdue balance is observed.

Debts over 1 million euros

The category of debt over 1 million euros requires special analysis, as in the range between 1 and 100 million euros an increase in the overdue balance by 1.5 billion euros is recorded, while debts over 100 million euros show a significant decrease of 10 .1 billion euros, which stems from the write-off of debts of OSE SA amounting to 10.4 billion euros.

It is worth noting the different participation of natural and legal persons in the formation of the total overdue balance by debt range. In more detail, in the low debt categories, almost all of the overdue balance comes from natural persons. It is indicative that 98.2% of debts under 50 euros and 88.2% of debts under 10,000 euros come from natural persons. Accordingly, the number of natural persons who owe less than 50 euros corresponds to 95.6% of the debtors of this category of debt, while for debts of less than 10,000 million euros the number of natural persons was formed at the end of January 2024 at 3,169. 960 people, making up 88.8% of the total for the specific range of debt.

Legal entities

On the contrary, as the amount of debts increases, the role of legal entities in shaping the overdue balance is strengthened. In particular, in the overdue balance category of more than 1 million euros, legal entities participate in the debts by 69.3%, with their overdue balance at the end of January 2024 reaching 57 billion euros. Accordingly, the number of legal entities that owe more than 1 million euros was 5,743, making up 61.2% of the number of debtors in this range of debt.

Overdue obligations of insured persons

According to the 4th Quarterly Progress Report Year 2023 of the Insurance Debt Collection Center (KEAO), the total of overdue insurance debts at the end of December 2023 amounted to 47.6 billion euros (29.5 billion euros principal debts and 18.1 billion euros in additional fees), i.e. it showed an increase of 385 million euros compared to the previous quarter. This change comes from the increase in additional fees (by 403.4 million euros), as the main debts showed a decrease (by 18.4 million euros). On an annual basis, the number of debtors’ registers decreased by 59,168, with the result that their total number at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 was 2,267,625 registers.

However, total debts increased by approximately 1.9 billion euros compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, which is due to an increase in both main debts (by 285.8 million euros) and additional fees ( an increase of 1.6 billion euros).

In particular, the increase in overdue principal debts stems from the debt range of more than 10,000 euros (by 1.1 billion euros in total). According to data from the KEAO, debtors with overdue obligations to insurance funds stood at 1,611,261 (natural and legal persons) at the end of December 2023, with 41.3% of them (a rate corresponding to 666,163 debtors) having debts between 500 and 10,000 euros. On the contrary, only 5.9% of the main debts are concentrated in this specific debt range. In addition, it is worth noting that almost all of the main debts (94%) concern amounts above 10,000 euros, while approximately half of the main debts (42.1%) are located in the debt range from 10,000 to 100,000 euros. On the contrary, the number of debtors with debts of more than 10,000 euros constitutes 37.9% of the total.

Source: ot.gr