Greeks abroad won’t need to lodge any tax documents to the Greek government until September, after the government conceded it will need to work out some kinks in the law and extend the time limit.
Committee Chairman for Greeks Abroad and Minister, Adonis Georgiadis is working closely with the government to try and simplify the process and will be looking to alter the law to avoid further headaches.
Greeks abroad have until September 30 to lodge a tax return or proof of residency under the Law 3945/2011 passed last year.
Consul General of Greece in Melbourne, Eleni Lianidou has assured Australian Greeks that the bureaucratic nightmare will soon be over.
At an open meeting last week, the Consul General said “the goal is to abolish any provisions that create unnecessary problems for the expatriates”.
The tax issue hasn’t just angered Greeks in Australia, but has forced the World Council of Hellenes Abroad SAE to take action.
Dr Olga Sarantopoulos, secretary of the SAE and president of the Hellenic Society in Austria has written a letter to the Greek Finance Minister requesting the law be redacted to save Greeks abroad from countless paperwork and fines.
She pinpointed Australia as a country vulnerable to double-taxation and that the Government has done little to counteract this issue.
“Intergovernmental agreements to avoid double-taxation do not exist everywhere as e.g. in Australia and I call for the immediate commencement of procedures to reach an intergovernmental agreement between Greece and Australia in this matter,” she said.
She also mentioned that a lot of the documentation requested by the law cannot be issued by certain countries and voiced her anger over the lack of communication from the Greek government before the law was introduced.
Dr Sarantopoulos has called for a special committee to be created to represent Greeks abroad over the tax issue.