(Greece) Tax wave risks the public wrath
http://www.ekathimerini.com/202653/article/ekathimerini/business/tax-wave-risks-the-public-wrath
Tax wave risks the public wrath
19.10.2015 : 22:33
PROKOPIS HATZINIKOLAOU
The Finance Ministry is set to face the wrath of taxpayers for the first time since the January election that brought the SYRIZA-led coalition into office, due to the additional taxes citizens will be asked to pay, the increased interest rate in the 100-tranche payment scheme and the exclusion of thousands of households from the heating oil benefit.
The tax wave began on Monday with an interest rate hike from 3 to 5 percent on the installments of the payment program for people with debts to the state.
In practice, this means that the annual interest burden for someone who owes 20,000 euros will rise from 600 euros to 1,000 euros.
This concerns debtors who owe more than 5,000 euros to the state, or those owing smaller amounts unless they are taxpayers without a business activity, have real estate valued at 150,000 euros or less, and the debt that has entered the payment plan exceeds 50 percent of their annual declared income, in which case the interest will remain at 3 percent.