Tax Department: €70 million in taxes refunded - €200 million to be collected

An intensive effort by the Tax Department in recent months has resulted in a refund of over €70 million in excess taxes, with an additional €200 million expected to be collected, according to Tax Inspector Sotiris Markides. He emphasized that the Department aims to clear all outstanding Company and Individual Returns by the end of 2023.

As part of this project, approximately 1.5 million income tax, Special Contribution for Defence, and Special Contribution for Employees taxes have been cleared from Individual and Company Income Tax Returns. Markides stated that the goal is to clear all Company Returns for the tax year 2021 and all Individual Returns for the tax year 2022 by the end of this year, with Income Tax Returns being cleared within six months from the submission deadline for each tax year.

Markides explained that the Department has been using automatic cross-checks electronically and overtime work by officers during evening hours and weekends to achieve the clearance work. Priority has been given to clear Corporate Income Tax Returns for the tax year 2020, with a deadline for filing Corporate Income Tax Returns for the tax year 2021 on March 31, 2023.

Markides noted that a sampling basis was used to select returns based on risk analysis for more audits, and some returns were left pending until examination. He also mentioned that the clearance of Corporate Income Tax Returns for the 2020 tax year will begin in March, and efforts are being made to clear Personal Income Tax Returns for the 2019-2021 tax years within the next few weeks.

He added that starting in 2019, there is a special feature for the examination of GST contributions.

In addition, Markides informed the CPS that the Company Income Statement (TF4) and Self-Employed with Accounts (TF1 Accounts) for the tax year 2021 have been posted on the TAXISnet system since May 2022. This timely posting of Returns allows taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations, with a deadline of March 31, 2023. So far, approximately 50,000 Corporate Income Tax Returns for the 2021 tax year have been submitted and 1,000 Returns have been processed and are in Provisional Receipt, while about 90,000 Corporate Income Tax Returns have been received for the 2020 tax year.

Markides concluded by stating that the timely posting of Individual and Company Income Tax Returns for the tax year 2022 on the Taxisnet System is expected again this year.

[With information and sourcing from CNA]