His question about her announcement of the association of tax professionals regarding heaps of mistakes that he observes in the pre-completed tax returns, the Minister of Finance expressed speaking on SKAI radio.

Kostis Hatzidakis assured that the data collected by EFKA, the banks and the other obliged entities are not lacking in reliability compared to last year, “because the banks are the same, the EFKA is the same, the entities that send the data are the same in AADE” as he characteristically stated.

He also wondered if the fact that the tax declarations are simpler this year and it is not necessarily necessary to resort to accountants and tax experts for their submission, is related to the announcement of the Panhellenic association, adding that last year and the year before – when the declarations were more complicated – there were no such announcements.

He also noted that within the day there will be an announcement from AADE.

Regarding the issue of accuracy, Mr. Hatzidakis stated that “we understand the issue of accuracy and inflation. We don’t pretend that everything is perfect and we don’t hide the problems.”

Asked to comment on the Prime Minister’s initiative to bring today a letter to the President of the Commission denouncing the unfair practices of multinationals, Mr. Hatzidakis mentioned that in the past initiatives undertaken by the Prime Minister at the European level, such as regarding the Recovery Fund, the vaccination certificate, or the action they have achieved.

“I don’t want to be a soothsayer,” noted Mr. Hatzidakis, but we are doing everything possible to deal with a phenomenon that concerns not only us, but all governments.

The announcement of the Ministry of Finance

“On the occasion of the announcement of the Panhellenic Federation of Tax Professionals (P.OF.E.E.) about this year’s tax returns and especially the pre-completed returns, the Minister of National Economy and Finance Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking on SKAI radio and to the journalist Yannis Andritsos, he made the following statements:

“The system of pre-filled declarations, first of all, existed to some extent in previous years. What’s the difference this year? The signature. That is, last year the taxpayer’s signature was required anyway. Now if there is no signature within the deadlines, it is assumed that the taxpayer has accepted. What is all this about? It has been done for years and is evolving from this year further, to limit the effort of taxpayers, running left and right to collect data and expenses, which are collected in the form of income by accountants. Let’s be completely clear.

There was this announcement. I asked AADE to look into the matter. See if there is any aspect that needs addressing. In any case, there will be an announcement from AADE within the day. With the reservation of the AADE’s announcement, however, I, as the Minister of Finance, want to note that in any case these data which are collected by the EFKA, by the banks, etc. they are no less reliable than last year’s figures. Because the banks are the same, the EFKA is the same, the agencies that send the data to AADE are the same. On the contrary, this year it is a step forward due to the logic, which I have just explained to you.

So, it makes an impression on me because last year there were no such announcements or the year before or the year before and there are especially this year. Could this be related to the fact that the taxpayers signature is no longer required and the return is deemed to be valid and therefore an additional reason for taxpayers not to resort to accountants? Maybe; It is a question that anyone can think about.

However, I want to assure you that obviously the Ministry of Finance and the AADE are not playing with the tax declarations. AADE will carefully examine and clearly answer these questions posed by the Federation of Tax Technicians.

I want taxpayers to know that steady steps are being taken towards taxation and the modernization of the tax system: With pre-filled tax returns, with myDATA, with the expansion of electronic invoicing, with the connection of POS to cash registers. With many and different steps. And we will preserve these steps. We are trying to be in a modern European government everywhere. The same applies to the issues of the tax system. And I call on all involved to show the greatest possible responsibility. And the mind understands”.