The Government is awaiting the comprehensive opinions and comments of all those involved - the business world and professional sectors - and is reassuring them regarding the concerns expressed in relation to some of the provisions included in the six tax reform bills which are currently under public consultation.
Recognising the complexity and seriousness of the entire project, the Government has also responded positively to requests for an extension during the public consultation, which was expected to be completed on 25 August.
Due to the concerns and requests of the bodies, it was decided to extend the public consultation until 10 September.
It is noted that although the public consultation was extended, the Government still believes that the goal of implementing the entire reform from 1 January 2026 remains feasible, although it recognises that this is a very difficult undertaking.
"The philosophy has not changed"
Regarding the strong reactions recorded by various economic stakeholders, a government source who spoke to InBusinessNews stated that "when we receive the opinions of all the stakeholders, we will evaluate them and accordingly see how to proceed."
"In general, however, because we are also seeing reports on the issue, it is important to emphasise that the philosophy of tax reform, as presented to the various bodies, has not changed," the same source underlined, indicating that "such a thing is not true, but we are certainly not dogmatic."
According to the source, "if there are any specific provisions that appear or will prove to be problematic, after we receive all the comments and opinions, the Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the Government, will certainly study them and we will see what and how we can change the bills."
"I repeat, we are in no way dogmatic and that is why we are in public consultation on the bills," he pointed out.
Why was the extension granted?
Regarding the request from stakeholders to extend the public consultation period, the same source stated that the Government responded positively to the requests put before it and decided to extend the duration of the public consultation until 10 September, in order to allow all stakeholders to submit their comments and observations on the six bills.
"Some organisations informed us that due to the fact that it is August and they do not have time to submit their opinions in full, they asked us for an extension of a few weeks, which we granted until 10 September," he explained.
As a Government, the government source who spoke to InBusinessNews continued, "we understand that these are multi-page documents, difficult and technical documents, which cannot be easily handled by anyone, and because the various organisations have their own bodies, which they must inform, this is why it was decided to grant this extension, in order for them to have the necessary time to study them in depth and submit their opinions."
The target for implementation from January 1, 2025 remains
Asked whether the goal set by the Government for implementing the tax reform by 1 January 2026, is feasible, the same source answered in the affirmative.
As he emphasised, "the Government's goal remains and we will try to achieve it. We understand that it is a matter for both the Parliament and the competent Parliamentary Committee (Finance), which should examine the state budget from the end of October, but the goal of implementing the reform from 1 January 2026 remains."
"We fully understand the difficulty of the entire undertaking, but this is the goal, provided that the Parliament will be able to manage such a large package of bills in the time it has ahead of it," he emphasised.
According to the same source, "it is also important to look at the various concerns from the stakeholders, to take them into account and, if necessary, to make the necessary changes to facilitate - as much as we can - the work of the Parliament."
"However, in order to avoid further delays, the legal drafting of the bills is also progressing on the part of the Law Office of the Republic and the Ministry of Finance has reviewed some points with it," he noted.
Finally, the government source reiterated that "we want to believe that the goal of implementing the reform from 1 January is feasible, although we fully understand the difficulties that exist and the tight time frames."
(Source: InBusinessNews)
