For issues such as where the country currently stands in terms of public debtthe taxation and digitization of her and of course for the “ancestral custom” of the advance extensions of the submission of tax returns spoke on the First Program of Hellenic Radio 91.6 and 105.8, o Haris Theocharis, Deputy Minister of Finance.
“Why is Greece lagging behind in investments from the European Union?” was the question that the Deputy Minister of Finance was initially asked to answer, characteristically saying the following:We have gone through a ten-year crisis, a very difficult period, in which investment collapsed. They collapsed precisely because the economic situation was not such that it allowed business opportunities to exist for someone to consider, choose and ultimately invest. This was also the case for the Greeks, who, of course, went through very difficult situations and possibly did not even have the funds to make an investment, and on the other hand, it was also true for foreigners, because it was a period in which our country was connected to all negatively, all negative connotations in relation to its ability to attract investors. That has changed. Recently, investments – while in Europe in the last three years they have remained stagnant, they had a 1% increase in absolute amount compared to the previous years – in Greece they have increased by 40%. Therefore, from the point of view of growth, our country is a champion. Also, if we look at investments in all other sectors except real estate, our country is at the highest point in the last three years that it has ever been. Where we currently lag is in real estate investment. These are missing. And this to some extent – it’s not the only one – also explains the rise of all these prices and interest rates in Housing, whether rents or purchase prices, precisely because for years we haven’t had investments in housing and the needs are great.”
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What did Haris Theocharis say about the digitization of taxation
Then you are asked if all this effort for digitization her taxation and for cross-checks has paid off in the fight against tax evasion with measurable data, the undersecretary of finance said “of course it has paid off. I will tell you the figures of yesterday’s Eurostat announcement on the primary surplus, which rose to 1.86% from 1.15 that we had targeted. This was mostly done on the revenue side rather than the expense side. There were even many areas where costs went up. It came together on the revenue side and that happened precisely because we tackled tax evasion to a significant extent. We calculate our profit over 2 billion a year from tackling tax evasion and all these initiatives that we have developed whether it is called POS or my-data, whether it is the change of freelancers or difficulty in using cash and of course the anti-smuggling measures with the two-year closures at gas stations, we have already started doing that. We understand that they will pay dividends in favor of the welfare state and in favor of the reduction of tax rates in the coming years.”
Traffic fees
Regarding the traffic fees, Mr. Theoharis underlined “we will give a gradual increase in the fine, it will increase by one percentage in January, by a larger one in February and from there it will reach 100% from March onwards and in this way we will not there is no reason to grant an extension. Someone who was negligent or had something happen to them and was going to pay it on the 31st and something happened to them or they were busy with something else, it won’t cost as much if they’re a few days late. And in this way I will assure you that the need and the pressure from the people for extensions of the traffic fees will disappear.”
Tax statements
Finally, he noted “the second thing we do with the statements is this: When the state insists on specific deadlines, it obviously has to meet its own obligations. And because March 31st is if you want the end of March the informal date that we open the tax return systems, but for very special reasons because this year we are innovating with the returns that are submitted on behalf of the taxpayer by the administration and that had to be voted on last week , voted on Thursday, received a gazette on Monday, the AADE opens the tax declarations in April, possibly today and in any case, within the week so that these declarations can begin to be made. So we come as the Ministry of Finance and say the following self-evidently: We need to instill a spirit of trust. As we say that no extension will be given, so we also say that if we took some days that we took from you in the days of April, even until the 25th, we will give a corresponding extension until July 25, so you get exactly the same days you would expect under other circumstances. And this morally legitimizes us vis-à-vis you and those who, like me, agree with what you say about non-extensions that no further extension be granted. So, the state comes first and fulfills its own obligations and then demands that the citizens fulfill their obligations”.
Source: ERT
