Automatic completion and submission of tax returns, “unlocking” of tax information due to debts owed to third parties, tax audits by the AADE auditors’ offices with new digital tools and also abolition of the presentation of books for audit by self-employed professionals brings the new tax bill prepared by the ministry of National Economy and Finance.
The provisions of the bill on the Tax Procedures Code which were presented by the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Haris Theoharis during the last cabinet meeting are expected to be put to public consultation in the coming days with the bill making its way to Parliament by the end of the month .
The new provisions to be added to the Tax Procedures Code provide for:
- Automatic completion and submission of tax returns. Employees and pensioners who have no other source of income will not need to complete and submit a tax return. The declarations of the specific taxpayers will be completed and submitted by AADE as their income will be known and the determination of their tax liability will be done automatically. It is estimated that this year approximately 1 million taxpayers will be spared the headache of completing and submitting their tax return. In particular, with the expansion of digital functionality, it is now possible to automatically compile the income tax return from home and submit it directly, achieving faster certification and collection of taxes and reducing the burden of compliance for those liable.
- Online awareness due to debts to third parties. Tax awareness will be automatically “unlocked” in the event that citizens settle their debts to third parties, e.g. in the municipalities. In particular, when communication with other agencies is required for the provision of tax information, this will be done exclusively through interoperability. The Municipalities will communicate online with the AADE and in any case when the citizens pay their debts to the municipality, the tax awareness will be automatically unblocked. Today, if a debt to the municipality (eg calls from the municipal police) goes to the tax office, and is paid to the municipality, the tax office is not automatically informed and the tax information is still “locked”. With the new system, the tax authority will see at the same time whether the debt has been paid.
- Finally the presentation of books for control at the tax office. Freelancers, the self-employed, farmers and businesses that keep aplographic books are exempted from the obligation to present tax records, books and data for inspection, as the transmission of these data through the myDATA digital platform is now universally applied.
- Changes to controls. The way of selecting cases for audit is changing, based on the audit risk criteria applied by the Tax Administration, with the integration of the new possibilities provided by their electronic and digital execution. AADE now has at its disposal digital tools that allow the audits to be carried out by the auditors’ office. By applying special algorithms, extracting data from social media and with the help of artificial intelligence, the tax control mechanism has the ability to identify hotbeds of tax evasion and reveal hidden incomes. Along with the new provisions, the concepts of partial, full and remote audit and the corresponding orders are defined and the scope of the audit order is related to the audit report and the maximum duration of the tax audit is defined.
- Limitation. The limitation periods for tax cases remain the same, but the limitation period, after the activation of the new provisions, will start from the date of notification of the relevant act to the taxpayer.
- Only digital communication with AADE. The digital/electronic communication of the Tax Administration with the Taxpayer regarding the notification of deeds, other documents and files is universally introduced, which also provides the advantage of accurately recording these transactions, as a result of which the time, form cannot be challenged in court and the content of the communication.
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