Finance Minister notes efforts to defer green taxes to May

Efforts to differentiate the timeline for the implementation of "green" taxes on fuel, water, and waste to May, are ongoing, Finance Minister, Makis Keravnos has said, adding that the goal is for the new tax reform to be completed and voted on by the end of 2025 so that it can be implemented in 2026.

"The goal is for the new tax reform to be completed and voted on by the end of 2025, so that when we file our tax returns in 2026 for the 2025 tax year, the data decided within the framework of this reform will apply", he noted.

Asked whether the "green" taxes would be applied in May, Keravnos said that for the taxes concerning fuel, water, and waste, "there is an (EU) commitment because they have been included in the Resilience and Development Plan and specific milestones have been set."

"The milestones were for November 2022" and "through many efforts, we managed to push them to May 2025", he said, adding that "we were able to remove the carbon tax from businesses to avoid creating inflationary pressures and also convinced (the EU), after a lot of effort, to apply them for just two years".

The Minister highlighted that "our efforts continue, and I hope the best possible outcome will be achieved, both for the tax burden on society and mainly for creating a mentality to understand and address environmental and climate change issues in the most appropriate way."

Asked to clarify whether it will be examined if the taxes will be imposed in May or whether there will be a delay, Keravnos said, "the timeline is for May, but this does not mean that our efforts to introduce a differentiation stop."

The Minister talked to the press on 21 March, after a session of the Economic Advisory Committee, which was discussing the preliminary framework for the promotion of the Tax Reform. Keravnos noted that "the process is moving forward at a very good pace, through very productive discussions, and we are close to reaching a final conclusion".

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Energy, Commerce, and Industry, George Papanastasiou, the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Yiannis Panayiotou, the General Directorate of Development, employer organizations and trade unions.

(Source: CNA)