By Alkis Kofos, Tax Associate of the POMIDA Information Office

The most serious problem that continues to hinder the completion of the process of declaration and collection of compensation for a large number of property tenants from the ongoing rent reduction is the one related to the inability to deposit the compensation amounts in their bank accounts. A significant part of the non-completion of the compensation procedure is due not so much to the absence of a registered bank account of the beneficiaries in TAXISNET, but mainly to the non-observance of the rules governing the type and status of these accounts, so that the automatic transfer and deposit of the amounts of their compensation by the payment mechanism of the AADE is not possible.

These not so widely known rules are mainly included in the circular POL 1140/2006 and its amending 1019/31-1-2020 of the Ministry of Finance, and they are:

1. Any person entitled to receive compensation due to a reduction in the rent of real estate should notify the AADE, even if late, of his/her bank account in order to receive the amount to which he/she is entitled. In particular, the full IBAN of the deposit account should be entered on the beneficiary's page in TAXISNET, in the left column "My Taxis Net" and in the "Account Declaration - IBAN" window.

2. The latter POL 1019/20 explicitly states that "In the case of a joint account, this account may be declared by up to two beneficiaries". Therefore, according to this provision, no money is deposited in joint accounts with more than two beneficiaries, even if the name of the beneficiary of the compensation is first.

3. The name of the lessor-claimant may be first or second in the declared bank account.

4. The account must be opened in any Greek Bank, with an IBAN starting from GR. Deposit in a foreign bank does not seem to be foreseen, nor has it been tested whether it can work in practice.

5. The registered account must be active, and not marked as "inactive". It will be classified as inactive when no transactions have been made for 24 consecutive months with direct debit to the beneficiary's account. Time deposit accounts are not classified as dormant. If there is an account but it is already designated inactive, an application to the Bank and updating of depositors' details is required.

The observance of all the above rules is therefore absolutely necessary for the collection of the landlords' compensation which POMIDA with its continuous efforts has managed to secure, and which are in fact tax-free and unconfiscated by law!

Source: POMIDA