Electronic tax system victim of its success
The much vaunted electronic tax system known as Taxis and its online brother, TaxisNet, suffered a serious blow yesterday when the government announced that the response from the public had been so great that the system could no longer accept more users. With 214,936 people having registered to submit tax returns through the Internet, the Finance Ministry said it would have to limit the number of taxpayers doing so to 300,000. Even though the government had declared that it was mandatory for self-employed professionals and small companies (using B Category books) to file their VAT returns through the Internet after July 1, it now presented as a positive development the fact that it could no longer do so. In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that what it wanted was to safeguard the quality of the system rather than pursue quantity. «The Finance Ministry expresses its satisfaction at the trust that the Greek populace has shown in the electronic services (TaxisNet),» the ministry’s press office announced. «It is a fact that in the short time it has functioned, the number of system users has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.» It said that the number of users submitting VAT statements in the last 12 months had risen by 287 percent (from 62,000 in March 2001 to 240,000 this March). This includes 81,840 people with C Category books and 157,576 with B Category books. Also, the number of people registering to file tax returns increased by 360 percent over the last 12 months, from 46,794 last March to 214,936 today. «After achieving these satisfactory results, and given that many businesses with B Category books asked for the suspension of the mandatory submission of VAT statements through the Internet, the Finance Ministry decided to accede to their request,» the ministry said. «Also, in accordance with the planning of the General Secretariat for Information Systems, the target of 300,000 income tax statements had been set. This is to be met soon. In order to maintain the quality that users of the Internet expect, the further increase in the number of users of TaxisNet will be suspended after meeting the target,» the statement added. «The immediate aim of the Finance Ministry is to further increase the quality of the electronic services provided to the users of TaxisNet.» The government had so wanted to promote the use of the Internet that National Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis had announced a 2.5-percent discount and quick processing of their returns for citizens sending their statements electronically. This means that those who had not yet registered will not be able to enjoy the advantages of the electronic system.
