Taxpayers get a mountain of taxes to climb
Greek taxpayers are being stunned by the realization that demands concerning their 2016 incomes are up to twice as high as last year.
Changes to the tax system have sent rates soaring for the 40 percent of taxpayers that have been notified of the additional tax they will have to pay. Changes in income brackets as well as in the brackets used for calculating the solidarity tax are mainly responsible for increasing taxpayers’ burden this year. This mainly concerns salaried workers and freelance professionals, as well as taxpayers with revenues from properties.
In some cases the annual difference in the tax due is more than the difference between the incomes of 2015 and 2016. For instance, a taxpayer with incomes of 66,000 euros in 2015 and 76,000 euros in 2016 is now forced to pay tax amounting to 21,646 euros, against 10,692 euros last year. This means that the extra 10,000 euros he or she managed to earn last year is being siphoned off by the taxman.
The huge amounts of tax due are virtually impossible to pay in the three installments (in July, September and November) foreseen by the government. Many taxpayers are considering signing up now for the 12-installment pay plan, while others fear they will simply fail to meet their obligations, particularly as the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) is also coming soon.
