Filenews 1 May 2022 - by Eleftheria Paizanos
There is little response from taxpayers to the call of the Tax Department to submit earlier this year the income statements of an employee and self-employed person, for the tax year 2021. Although the filing of tax returns began on the 8th April, three weeks later, only 6,000 have submitted them, out of the 280,000 taxpayers who have an obligation to do so.
According to data from the Tax Department obtained by "F", a total of 8,200 taxpayers have processed their tax returns, of which about 6,000 have submitted their return definitively and 2,200 have processed their return and placed it on provisional receipt.
The last date for the submission of tax returns and the payment of the tax and charges due is July 31, 2022. Therefore, taxpayers who submit their tax returns from August 1st onwards will be subject to an administrative fine of €100.
On behalf of the Tax Department, Sotiris Markides appeals to taxpayers to comply with the timetables and not wait at the last minute to submit their income returns. "There is an appeal to taxpayers as, in order to avoid overloading the system, to proceed with the completion and final submission of their return, if they do not expect other data, in order to avoid overloading the system in the last days of submission," Mr. Markidis told "F".
According to the decree of the Ministry of Finance, taxpayers who last year had mixed incomes up to €19,500 are obliged to submit tax returns. According to Mr. Markides, the 2021 tax return retains all the automations that have been introduced in recent years for faster and easier completion by taxpayers. As he said, the collection of data from the General Accounting Office and the Social Insurance Service for pensioners and self-employed persons is available, adding that the calculations of the totals, i.e. income tax, contributions for the GHS and the special defence contribution, are also made automatically.
It should be noted that for the convenience of taxpayers, on the website of the Department of Taxation www.mof.gov.cy/tax useful informative material has been posted for the completion and submission of the return, under the icon "Personal Income Statement 2021". Mr. Markides called on all taxpayers who will have to pay tax to settle it either through jccsmart (only for timely payments that do not carry interest and charges) or by registering the debts through a Tax Portal and paying through internet banking. Taxpayers who have already registered with TAXISnet will use the same codes. In case someone has lost or forgotten the passwords to TAXISnet, the retrieval and sending of new codes is done automatically through the TAXISnet website (https://taxisnet.mof.gov.cy) by selecting "I forgot my Passwords" and entering the tax identification number (TIN) and the e-mail address.
It is reminded that for the Tax Portal the same passwords apply that the taxpayer has for his access to the TAXISNet system. All online payments take 1-2 business days to appear on your payment status.
Finally, in May, the income statement of a company and a person with accounts for the tax year 2021 is expected to be posted on TAXISnet, with the obligation to submit it by March 31, 2023. As Mr. Markides stated, for the first time this return will be available so early for submission, which creates optimism that no extensions will have to be given, as taxpayers will have more than 10 months to comply.
