An electronic black-out is threatening a 2-bil euro revenue

Giorgos Papakonstantinou is trying to untie the Gordian Knot of the non-collection of revenue from real estate, and even before returning from the summit in Brussels he has called a staff meeting at the Finance ministry this morning.

Despite the 1-2% reduction in interest rates which he is introducing, the minister is to order a new wild tax hunt to cover revenue shortfalls. First on the list are those who did not request completion, did not pay VAT and do not pay their debts to the IRS.

However, the "short circuit" of electronic tax returns and payment of property taxes that have remained uncollected since 2009, is also up for discussion. They are seeking solutions "here and now" and the meeting is of "strategic importance" in relation to the state budget and the memorandum in general.

They are passing the work to the GOCs

The first major problem identified in last night's meeting, is that both the private information technology companies, which in 2007 were granted the handling of the completion of tax returns for the payment of ETAK in 2009, the FMAP and FAP, can not meet the needs, although the state has fulfilled its obligations.

The Finance ministry was expecting to receive about 1 billion from taxes on property, but at best it appears that the returns will not be sent before April for the ETAK of 2009, or June for the FAP of 2010. In this case, revenue will have to be collected one month after receiving the notes, which is the margin provided to debtors by law.

The termination of the contract will also be discussed in the meeting, as there are indications that the settlement will be delayed even further. According to sources, there are also thoughts of giving part of the work to the GOCs in order to make things quicker. But despite all this, the companies are expressing their objections that the GOCs are slow in sending the modified data for the latest E9 statements.

E3-panic at the accounting offices

At the same time though, there is consideration for a time extension for E3 tax returns of businesses and freelancers, which have been moved to the beginning of April. The reason is the deficiency found in TAXIS – the private supplier has also received criticism here – in receiving and processing the volume of electronic statements and information contained therein. It is a major problem for individuals too because if the issuing dates change and are extended until May, the procedures of both the General Secretariat for Information Systems and the accounting departments of companies will be disturbed. In this case, the state will not collect 1-2 billion euros in time, an amount that would have normally flowed in from March.