Tax avalanche coming in 2012
Taxpayers? incomes are about to shrink further in 2012 due to the dozens of taxes they will be forced to pay in the new year in order for the government to achieve a primary surplus of 2.3 billion euros.
Salary workers and pensioners are bracing for a fresh assault on their pockets, as every month they will be obliged to pay an extraordinary tax as well as other taxes that the Finance Ministry was unable to calculate when it should have, such as the 2009 Single Property Tax and the property taxes for the years 2010 and 2011.
Among the taxes set to burden households will be the solidarity tax (dating from 2010, as well as for 2011 and 2012), the major lowering of the tax-free ceiling, the annual fee to practice a profession as well as the reduction of tax exemptions.
The new tax system will be particularly harsh on families with three or more children, as they will have to pay additional income tax ranging between 540 and 2,750 euros.
