Keep asking for receipts, says Alexiadis
Taxpayers must continue collecting paper receipts for now, whether they have paid in cash or with credit or debit cards, Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis said on Saturday, while promising that there will be no value-added tax hike on the eastern Aegean islands for the time being.
Speaking on Mega TV, Alexiadis conceded that there has been a major delay in the submission of the tax bills to Parliament and it is he himself who is to blame and not the creditors. When the draft laws are tabled, which he said will happen soon, they will include clauses according to which the tax-free threshold will be reached by salaried workers and pensioners through card payments.
However, he added that until then taxpayers should keep asking for receipts for all manner of payments, that being the only way to combat tax evasion.
The minister said the government will not further burden the eastern Aegean islands that are receiving the lion’s share of migrants, choosing not to waive the VAT discount that it had agreed with the country’s creditors to do this summer. This is part of negotiations with the creditors, he added.
He also said the first income tax installment will probably be due in May, while installment payments will be monthly, not every two months.
