By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Until the activation of the issuance of a digital certificate of debt, in order to collect money from the State or to sell a property while having unregulated debts, one had to go through a small “Calvary”.

The digital issue of debt with just a few clicks, ended the process of successive visits to the tax office counters, significantly facilitating property transfers which last year exceeded 171,000, increased by 21.7% compared to 2022.

With a circular issued by the Governor of AADE, Giorgos Pitsilis, clarifications are given on the conditions and the process of digital issuance of the certificate. According to the circular:
The certificate is issued digitally for the collection of money or the transfer of property, after a relevant application and its rejection due to unregulated debts of more than €30 for the granting of proof of awareness for which the taxpayer is also informed.

The debtor then requests that the possibility of digital debt issuance be investigated.

In the case of the issuance of a certificate for the transfer of real estate, all the certified debts, overdue and not due, are listed. If it is issued for the collection of money, then the settled debts as well as the suspended debts are indicated.

If the debtor wishes, non-overdue suspended debts can be included, regardless of the amount, or overdue suspended debts with a basic debt of less than €50,000

If the amount collected by the taxpayer and paid to the tax administration is not sufficient to pay off the suspended debts, approval is required from the head of the DOU to pursue the collection of the debt.

If the price is less than the objective value of the property and the debts are not paid then a guarantee of collection of the remaining debts is required

AADE also published some examples that shed light on the applicable:

Example 1

Data:

The taxpayer submits an application for a certificate of awareness to collect money from a local authority.
The taxpayer has total overdue debts of €40,000, not settled in a legal manner.
The amount of the collection amounts to €80,000.

Answer:

With the submission of the debtor’s application for the issuance of a proof of awareness, the conditions for granting it are checked.
Due to overdue debts not settled in a legal way, no proof of awareness is granted.

The taxpayer is informed of the reason for rejecting the issuance of a proof of awareness and consents to the issuance of a debt certificate.
The conditions for granting a debt certificate for money collection are checked.
A certificate of debt is issued digitally for the collection of money with the applicant’s total debts (€40,000), with the indication on the certificate of debt that for the return of any remaining amount to the beneficiary by the service or the payment organization, it is not necessary to present proof of awareness as there is no other reason for not issuing a proof of awareness other than the above debts.

Example 2

Data:

The taxpayer submits an application for the issuance of a proof of awareness for the transfer of real estate due to a compelling reason for a price (sale of real estate).
The taxpayer has confirmed debts to the Tax Administration, as follows:
a) confirmed overdue debts of €40,000 not settled in a legal manner.
b) confirmed overdue debts of €5,000
c) confirmed debts in suspension of collection amounting to €160,000, of which overdue debts in suspension of collection are €60,000.
The total overdue principal debts under suspension of collection are over €50,000
The other conditions for proof of awareness are met.
The objective value of the property being transferred is €80,000.

The stated price amounts to €80,000.

Answer:

Due to overdue debts not settled in a legal manner, no proof of awareness is issued.

The taxpayer is informed of the reasons for rejecting the issuance of a proof of awareness and consents to the issuance of a debt certificate for the transfer of real estate. – The conditions for granting a certificate of debt for the transfer of property are checked.
Since the price covers overdue debts suspended for collection, no approval is required from the relevant Head to pursue the collection of the service debt.
Therefore, a digital certificate of debt is issued for the transfer of a property with an indicated amount of debt (40,000 + 60,000 + 5,000 =) €105,000, in order to render the total product of the price, i.e. the amount of €80,000.