ECONOMY

No receipts for 2015 incomes

No receipts for 2015 incomes

There will be a tax-free threshold for Greeks for 2015 incomes without the requirement that receipts be submitted, but as of next year receipts from debit and credit card payments will have to be produced for taxpayers to qualify.

Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis on Wednesday announced the abolition of tax statement entry number 049, where receipts were declared, adding that the 2,100-euro tax exemption limit that salary workers and pensioners are currently entitled to will still apply for tax statements to be submitted in the first half of 2016.

This and other changes will be included in the new tax bill headed to Parliament in the coming days. It will also provide for tax-exempt monetary gifts of up to 5,000 to close relatives, as long as they were given between the start of the capital controls on June 28 and the end of December 2015.

From January 1, 2016, all transactions will have to be conducted via credit or debit card. For taxpayers to be eligible for the tax-free threshold of 9,550 euros, they will have to collect 10 percent of their income (or more) in receipts through card use. Taxpayers will need to collect 2016 receipts through debit and credit cards but their banks will automatically inform the tax authorities on taxpayers’ annual spending.

Anyone who doesn’t conduct their transactions with cards will likely lose their tax discount, unless the ministry decides to grant exceptions for those who are unable to use cards, such as elderly people living in remote areas.

The bill will further include clauses regarding the transfer of the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) to the General Secretariat for Public Revenues, and possibly others rendering the secretariat more independent. The process of linking companies’ cash registers up to the ministry’s Taxisnet online system will start on January 1, with the aim of having them all connected by the end of next year. The draft law will also allow taxpayers who have incomes from dividends to submit their income tax declarations up to June 30.

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