Dues moratorium extended
The Finance Ministry has granted another long extension to the tax payment deadline, putting back the suspension that was to last until April 30 by another eight months, to the end of this year, allowing for dues to be paid afterward in 24 or 48 tranches. It has also extended the deadline for the February tranches of arranged debts of businesses and workers in sectors that have suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The measures that Finance Minister Christos Staikouras announced on Thursday concern debts of about 1 billion euros in total. Some €600 million of that is debts whose suspension has been extended until December 31, and about €400 million is the February dues of arranged arrears.
The market had long anticipated the extension of the tax payment moratorium for dues run up during the course of the pandemic, given that the lockdown has been extended and most enterprises will be unable to meet their obligations after end-April.
The debts that had been frozen until the end of April will now be payable after December 31, 2021, either in 24 interest-free installments or in 48 tranches with an interest rate of 2.5%. Therefore the first tranche will be due by January 31, 2022 and the rest on the last working day of each month that follows.
This concerns arrears that have not been rearranged and have been owed by pandemic-stricken individuals and corporations since the period between March and June 2020.
Staikouras’ decision also provides for the postponement of the February installment of previously arranged debts to the state, which will now come due after the end of each arrangement’s timetable, and the payment of the other tranches postponed before February 2021. The tax administration has also postponed the payment of the tranches due between March and June 2020, and from November 2020 to January 2021.
The sectors benefiting from this measure are the same as those of the activity code numbers (KAD) affected that applied for January.
