By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

The opportunity to declare retrospective income the years 2015-2021 are now available to taxpayers as the relevant platform has been opened. So those who received retrospectively from salaries, pensions or other sources must declare them by December 31, 2024, when the platform will also be closed.

These incomes are declared with a separate amending statement at the time concerning why, according to the existing tax framework, any kind of additional fees, compensations, pensions paid retroactively to employees and pensioners, whether based on law or a court decision or another contract, are taxed in the year they relate to – and based on scales and rates that were in force in that year – because the time of their acquisition is 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 declaration is required for each year to which retrospectives are concerned. So if someone received retroactively for the years 2018 and 2019 they will need to submit 2 separate amending returns.

In retrospective statements, the amounts are pre-filled and it is not possible to modify other codes.

The resulting additional tax – after deducting any tax withheld at a rate of 20% – must be paid in one lump sum by January 31, 2025. Otherwise, there is the possibility of settlement 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 declaration of retroactive 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 retrospectives, but due to the fault of the employer or the competent body (even if it is foreign) which has the obligation to issue and grant a relevant certificate necessary for to complete the declaration. 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.

Any uncollected accruals paid in 2023 should also be declared with a supplementary declaration in the relevant period.

For those wages for which the wage tax was paid or should have been paid in a previous tax year, amending declarations are submitted to the agency responsible for receiving them for the years to which these wages relate.

With the submission of each amending statement, a new invoice with the amount of the tax is automatically issued.