Discount offered as carrot for tax case closure
The government is working on a plan to bolster state revenues through offering discounts of up to 60 percent to taxpayers who have resorted to justice or the General Secretariat for Settling Tax Disputes of the Finance Ministry against decisions on tax cases.
The plan is meant to serve as a method of closing cases, but will only concern those already investigated and then disputed by individuals or companies.
The proposal has secured the provisional approval of the country’s creditors, or at least their representatives, because it is seen as capable of fetching significant revenues into state coffers. It could also reduce the backlog of cases at administrative courts.
According to data compiled by the Finance Ministry, there are more than 87,000 cases concerning a total of over 7 billion euros pending at administrative courts. From the start of the year up to the end of August, 8,471 cases were brought to the General Secretariat for Settling Tax Disputes in which taxpayers disputed decisions by tax inspectors. Just over 5,900 of those have been examined and the general secretariat has upheld 345 of the taxpayers’ appeals.
