By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Seven hundred and thirty-five thousand self-employed and employed people will be taxed for the first time this year in a presumptive manner and for many the …unpleasant surprise will be big.

However, the imputed way of calculating their income is debatable, which means they can challenge it.

The dispute process is described in a decision by the head of AADE Giorgos Pitsilis. After the income tax has been determined, the taxpayer can, with an application on a special platform on the AADE digital portal, challenge for objective reasons the minimum annual income from the exercise of his business activity on which the tax was calculated.

These objective reasons are the following:

-Military service. If it has expired, a certificate of enlistment status is presented. If not, a certificate from the serving unit is attached
-Imprisonment. Parole or detention certificate must be submitted
– Nursing. A certificate of hospitalization in a public hospital or private clinic must be submitted
-Pregnancy. A pregnancy certificate from IDIKA, either from a public hospital or a private clinic, must be submitted
-Inability to exercise activity for 12 months after giving birth or adopting or fostering a child. For the first case, a birth certificate must be submitted. For adoption, the relevant court decision and for fostering, the deed of placement in a foster family and the certificate of registration of the minor in the National Register of Minors.
-Extensive Natural disasters. The decision of the competent institution by which state aid is provided is attached.
-Revocation of operating license or prohibition of operation
– Other reasons of force majeure that could not be prevented such as serious health problems, accidents, etc.

The taxpayer’s application is examined by the head of the department responsible for receiving his tax return and decides whether to proceed with a new tax assessment or not.

In the event that an income tax control order is notified to the taxpayer before the examination of the submitted application, the application will be examined by the competent agency as a matter of priority.

In addition to the objective reasons, the taxpayer has the possibility to challenge the presumption for other, special reasons by requesting with a special statement – which you can see in the accompanying material – to be CHECKED at the same time. A prerequisite is the timely submission of income tax and the completion of codes 443-444.

However, the tax will be confirmed and then the audit will take place. Throughout the audit the tax must be repaid normally.

Within 60 days of the income tax filing deadline, the taxpayer must fill in a questionnaire – which you can see in the accompanying material with the audit application – about their financial situation and living conditions. The completion and submission of the above questionnaire takes place through a special application on the digital portal of A.A.D.E. which will be developed for this purpose. If the questionnaire is not completed within 60 days, the right to challenge is lost.

During the tax audit, the taxpayer is required to provide any available evidence to verify the correctness and accuracy of the information stated in the questionnaire. The authorities have the right to extend the audit to earlier tax years if they deem it necessary.

The control is carried out within 12 months from the submission of the relevant application. Upon completion of the tax audit, a tax correction act is issued and any additional amount of tax is confirmed or the tax that has been confirmed on the amount that is not due, is deleted or refunded as the case may be.

According to the Ministry of Finance, due to the new taxation system 473,000 taxpayers will see an average tax increase of €1444. This is also the reservoir from which any challenges to the presumption are expected to arise.