By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Last 48 hours for those who have retroactively received wages, pensions or other sources of income – even as far back as a decade – to declare them. Otherwise, the AADE it will take… the initiative of the movements and will calculate projected taxes and of course also fines on its own.

In the notices he sent en masse, either by e-mail or to the personal mailboxes of taxpayers at Taxisnetin the previous period the central authority was clear: “In the event that you do not submit the required amending Declarations by 03/01/2024, the Tax Administration will take the necessary actions to determine your tax liability, issue the relevant acts and the imposition of the prescribed sanctions”.

It is certain that many who received such notices from the AADE were surprised because they had not received any prior information about the existence of retroactives and therefore about the obligation they had to declare them. On the contrary, their employers and the insurance funds calculated retroactive amounts with a long delay, paid them, but did not inform the AADE so that they appear pre-filled in the tax returns to which they refer.

The existing tax framework expressly provides that any type of additional fees, compensations, pensions paid retroactively to employees and pensioners either by law or court decision or other contract are taxed in the year to which they refer – and based on scales and rates that were in force in that year – because as the time of acquisition they are considered the time when the beneficiary acquired the right to collect them. Consequently, they must be declared with a separate amending statement at the time they concern.

From 2015 onwards, the amending declarations of retrospectives are submitted electronically. A separate statement is required for each year to which the retroactives relate. So if someone received retroactively for the years 2018 and 2019 they will need to submit 2 separate amending returns. In retroactive statements, the amounts are pre-filled and it is not possible to modify other codes.

The additional tax that will arise must be paid in one lump sum, but there is also the possibility of settling it in up to 48 interest installments. The more installments, the higher the interest rate. The first installment must be paid within three working days of the settlement of the debt.

In the event that the additional tax resulting from the return declaration is up to €100, no fines are imposed.

A fine is also not imposed when the amending declarations are submitted late, but not due to the fault of the beneficiary of the retroactive returns, but due to the fault of the employer or the competent body (even if it is from abroad) which has the obligation to issue and grant a relevant certificate necessary for to complete the statement. In such cases, the declaration is considered timely if it is made within the tax year in which the necessary certificates were issued by the obliged entities.