Employees and self-employed people who miss the October 31 deadline for their 2025 personal income tax returns will not be charged interest or surcharges if they file and pay by the end of November, but they will not be considered tax compliant.
Tax Commissioner Sotiris Markides decided on Monday, using powers granted to him under the law, not to impose the charges as long as returns are filed and the related taxes and contributions are paid by the end of November.
He told Phileleftheros this was not an extension, only a decision not to impose fines. Anyone who files after November 1, however, will not be considered tax compliant and cannot be issued with a tax compliance certificate, he said.
Markides gave three reasons for the decision: higher fines, a tax base that has grown by 100,000 people over the past decade, and a large number of requests from those affected.
Under the tax reform in force since January 1, the fine for late filing has risen to 150 euros from 100 euros.
The Tax Commissioner said the Tax Department’s aim was compliance, not punishing taxpayers. He described the wider tax base as one of the main reasons for the decision. The base is expected to reach 345,000 taxpayers for the 2025 tax year, up by 100,000 since 2016.
Returns filed so far
By Monday, 228,000 taxpayers had submitted their returns in final form, according to Tax Department figures. In total, 253,500 had worked on their returns, including 25,500 who had saved them as provisionally received, meaning they were still pending.
For the 2024 tax year, 337,400 taxpayers submitted final personal income tax returns, out of a total of 342,600 processed.
Move to new system
Markides said that because of the gradual move to the new Tax For All (TFA) computer system, it may not be possible from November 1, 2026 to change a return’s status from final submission back to provisional receipt. Taxpayers should therefore submit their returns in final form, he said.
The deadline for completing the TFA system was extended by 18 months because of the tax reform.
Phileleftheros understands the changes to the system have been approved by the Central Changes and Requirements Committee and will cost 5.5 million euros. Income tax returns from employees and self-employed people will be filed through TFA from next year.
