IRS: How to achieve a “haircut” of up to 50% in fines – 2024-10-04 08:20:38

Taxpayers must fill out a special declaration of confession of the tax offenses they have committed in order to get a “haircut”, at the tax office, of the fines from 25% to 50%.

With the declaration of acceptance of the debt confirmed in the context of the audit, the taxpayers waive the right to appeal to the courts, while they will have to pay immediately, within three days, 25% of the amount that has been confirmed. The remaining amount can be paid in installments which cannot exceed 12.

The statement

In the form called “Declaration of acceptance of actions in the context of the tax audit” interested parties should:

• To fill in their personal details (name, VAT number, company name, type of activity, address,
• To state that they accept the act of correcting the determination of the tax, fee or levy
• To state that within 3 days of notification and receipt of the relevant message in the electronic account inbox they will pay 25% of the main tax and that the remaining amount after deducting 25% and reducing the fines will be paid once or in up to 12 installments.

With the new rules activated from October 1, 2024, taxpayers are given the possibility to accept the debt after the issuance of the “regret” but the deduction is reduced, depending on the stage at which the acceptance will be made. The earlier the declaration of acceptance of the debt is submitted, the greater the discount on fines will be.

“Haircut” of fines

Specifically, the new procedure provides for a reduction in fines as follows:

• 50% if the admission of violations (failure to submit declarations or submission of inaccurate declarations) is made after the issuance and notification of an inspection order or invitation to provide information, and until the deadline for submitting an overdue initial or amending declaration from the notification of a temporary corrective determination of tax. In order to secure the deduction, the audited person should submit the relevant overdue initial or amending declarations before the notification of the act of temporary corrective tax assessment (with the issuance of the audit order) or submit the relevant declarations within 10 days of the notification of the act temporary corrective tax assessment.
• 40% if the main tax debt is accepted after notification of a definitive corrective tax assessment but before recourse to the Dispute Resolution Division (DDR). The audited person has a period of 30 days from the notification of a final corrective tax assessment to appeal to the TEN and during this time, he can accept the result of the audit and reduce the fine, in order not to risk the rejection of his appeal by the TEN and the certificate of the entire fine.
• 30% if the main tax debt is accepted before submitting an appeal to a competent administrative court.
• 25% if the main tax debt is accepted before the start of the discussion before a competent court.

Source: ot.gr