With the presumptive tax, the Mitsotakis government denies 450,000 freelancers a basic component: the possibility of a loss. But this is how it suffocates them, since they are asked to pay exorbitant taxes. However, those operating under sole proprietorship status do not only have this tax incentive, since the Mitsotakis government does not only stick to the presumptive mechanism, which does not take over companies but only sole proprietorships. Now the untrained tax officials rush to collect at all costs 1.7 billion euros in 2024 using the “estimated” tax as a weapon. In their sights not only freelancers but also employees and pensioners.
The services of the AADE are preparing to check 120,000 TINs, in order to “take out” 20,000 of those who will be asked to pay an “estimated” 1.7 billion in additional taxes. What is frightening is the fact that they are looking for specific target figures and, as can be seen from the subjective factors they have set, they will do everything, even to impose additional taxes totaling 1.7 billion euros without it happening.
Undeclared income for “tax bell”
In essence, under the pretext of undeclared income, 120,000 taxpayers will be checked after “subjective” cross-checks in order to find the “lucky” 20,000. Taxpayers with earnings from abroad, property owners with undeclared income from short-term rentals such as Airbnb, employees and pensioners with undeclared retroactive amounts as well as professionals are within the scope of the tax avoidance mechanism.
AADE adds two new services to its arsenal and enlists artificial intelligence in the tax control mechanism. Specifically, they will work:
- The tax and customs audits and investigations special forces center, which will serve as a central coordination hub.
- The dedicated mass digital intersection unit, which will feature innovative tools such as big data analysis, benchmarking, online surveys and digital invoicing audits.
This is where the problem comes in. The Dispute Resolution Division (DDR) of the AADE in a percentage of 28% cancels the acts of tax officials against citizens. Subsequently, a percentage of the order of 43.86% of those rejected appeals to the slow tax Court.
What does this mean; Quite simply, the tax officials probably do not know the tax law very well and impose subjective (according to their own interpretation) fines. In absolute numbers, since 2013 when the TEN began to operate, 83,855 cases have been adjudicated, of which 60,341 were rejected. Of the taxpayers who were not vindicated, 33,875 appealed to the tax courts. Accordingly, for 2023, the appeals before the TEN amounted to 6,481, of which 1,801, i.e. 30.2%, were accepted (cancelled in part or in whole).
Untouchables who owe large sums
When 0.2% of public debtors owe almost 90 billion euros, an amount that constitutes 80% of the total arrears, why do you insist on going after those who owe or may hide small sums? In the overdue balance category of more than 1 million euros, companies participate in the debts by 69.3%, with their overdue balance reaching 57 billion euros at the end of January 2024. Under the state of these elements and in the absence of substantial tax audits on large debtors, the answer to the above question is summed up in the phrase “the tax evader is responsible for tax evasion”. As can be seen from the relevant data, approximately 4 million taxpayers (natural and legal persons) appear in debt to the tax office, of which 3.8 million or nine out of ten have overdue debts that do not exceed 10,000 euros.
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