How to halve your tax fines

Admission of tax evasion as early as possible can slash penalties and surcharges per a new bill

Fines and surcharges will be reduced by up to 50% in the event that the taxpayer acknowledges their main debt to the tax authorities, according to the draft law that will soon be submitted to Parliament. There will also be a time limit imposed on tax audits, and an extra chance for debtors who have dropped out of their debt arrangements.

With the new out-of-court tax dispute resolution procedure introduced by the draft law, fines and surcharges can be reduced or even halved. The faster the acceptance of the debt by the taxpayer, the greater the discount will be.

The procedure concerns those who recognize their debt and do not appeal to the administrative courts to cancel the tax audit and the dues that the tax office has determined for them. Essentially, this is the evolution of the out-of-court committee for tax disputes that applies today, with the difference that the whole process will be done automatically.

Sources from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance explain to Kathimerini that thousands of tax dispute cases will then be able to close with a statement from the taxpayers themselves.

According to the provision, the surcharges and fines owed will be reduced if the taxpayer accepts their main debt through an automated process, depending on the stage at which the result of the audit will be accepted.

Also, with another provision of the bill, tax cases will be archived if an audit order is issued but the audit has not been completed within two years. A maximum time limit is set for carrying out the controls with the aim of not finding the companies in a permanent hostage situation.

Changes are also expected in the provisions concerning the old arrangements of the pandemic and the energy crisis as well as the 100-120-installment plan, with the aim of including as many debtors as possible in the arrangement. According to competent sources, there are 232,000 such cases, which account for around 1.2 billion euros in debts.