By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

One in four households was not taxed last year based on their real income but based on presumptions. Approximately 1.74 million taxpayers, while they had declared an income of €3 billion, were finally taxed for €9 billion as their living expenses burdened them with an additional €6 billion of “invisible” of income.

Completing the tax return is therefore not a simple task and the language of tax experts has become “hairy” to say that the presumptions are FIGHTS, can therefore be challenged. But in order to do this, the taxpayer must provide those documents or evidence that prove that the assumed expenses are higher than the actual ones. It is therefore sufficient for the debtor to prove that:

-He was serving his military service
-He was in jail
-They were treated in a hospital or clinic
-They are unemployed and entitled to unemployment benefits
-They lived with first-degree relatives and share in the expenses of those relatives, so they have reduced living expenses.
-They are orphaned minors who have inherited passenger cars for private use.
-For reasons of force majeure, they made smaller expenses than the objective ones.

If one or more of the above conditions are met, the taxpayer is obliged to accompany his tax return with the necessary supporting documents, the correctness of which will be examined by the tax office. As long as the data is sufficient, the tax administration reduces the annual objective expenditure accordingly.

There are certain cases where the system of presumptions is not applied at all such as:

– Passenger cars for private use of the disabled, which are exempt from road tax.
-Foreigners who live permanently in Greece or Greeks who live permanently abroad but work exclusively in business offices established in our country.
– Car resale businesses that have been subject to the special tax regime of Law 2859/2000
– The pleasure boats of permanent residents abroad
-The purchase of fixed equipment for professional use by persons carrying out business activity
-The market of passenger cars for private use specially configured for persons with a mobility disability that exceeds 67%
-For the acquisition of assets by persons who have their tax residence in Greece but do not earn income in Greece.

The presumptions are applied with a 30% reduction for pensioners who have exceeded the age of 65.