Hatzidakis: 50% reduction in bank charges at POS – What he said about tax returns – 2024-04-26 16:23:10

The Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis announced a legislative regulation that will reduce by 50% the charges of banks at POS.

The relevant amendment is expected to be tabled this week or next week at the latest in Parliament. As Mr. Hatzidakis said, the charges for small amounts are high and after discussions, the legislative regulation was decided which will reduce them by 50% for amounts up to 10 euros.

For tax returns

Speaking to Sky, the Minister of National Economy and Finance said that within the week the platform for submitting tax returns will be opened, while clarifying that no extension will be given to tax returns.

He added that the tax office has started notifying the 25,000 “disappeared” who have not made an appointment and that fines have already been imposed.

This year’s tax return submission process, although there will be no substantial changes to the tax forms apart from those concerning freelancers, is significantly different compared to previous years as it is the first time that those who have income exclusively from wages and pensions to leave the completion and submission of the E1 to the ‘luck’ of the Independent Inland Revenue Authority. In practice, this means that if someone belongs to the above category of taxpayers and does not enter the AADE platform at all to complete and submit their declaration, the submission process will be completed normally and in fact on time.

The traps

However, this new system for 1,000,000 employees and pensioners hides some serious pitfalls that those involved should take into account in order not to have to rush afterwards to submit amending or supplementary declarations.

The pre-filled codes will include salary or pension details as well as withheld taxes, interest on deposits, details for houses, cars, private school tuition, loan installments, shopping expenses with electronic money, dependent children.

For the remaining categories of taxpayers such as freelancers, farmers, income earners and those who receive dividends from participation in businesses, nothing changes.

They will submit the tax declarations from the beginning by filling in forms E2, E3, etc. with the corresponding codes. This category also includes employees and pensioners who, in addition to their income from wages and pensions, receive some rent or have income from other sources.

Also, if someone during the previous year bought or sold an asset, this should also be declared by the taxpayer himself because in the case of the purchase, he would have to justify the source of the money he spent.

Especially in the matter of the consumption of capital from older years, in order for a taxpayer to be able to cover the poten esches for a purchase of great value, he should pay special attention and fill in the corresponding codes correctly, which in no case are pre-filled. In the event of an error, an amended statement must be submitted, and indeed if this is submitted after the end of the deadline for submission of the statements, a fine of 100 euros is imposed.

What changes for professionals

The new system of presumptive taxation of professionals, self-employed and businesses adds new codes to the E3 form to calculate the income earned in 2023,

Among the new data that the approximately 700,000 professionals will have to fill in are the date of commencement of operations where the years of operation of the business are derived, the total annual payroll costs of its employees (in the case that it employs staff). The amount of the company’s annual turnover results in any case from the data in its books that are entered every year in the forms of the tax office.

At the same time, professionals must declare:

-If they are exempt from the new taxation system (large children or with a disability of 80% or more)

-If they are entitled to a reduction of the minimum annual net income that will be determined with the new system (they are based in a small village, disability 67%-79% etc.).

-If they fall into a category that is exempt from the presumptive method of taxation, such as a patient in hospital, soldier, prisoner, etc.

– If they wish to be checked by AADE to confirm that their income is indeed below the minimum set by law.

Source OT