To the Minister of Finance Mr. Christos Staikouras
The Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Theodoros Skylakakis
The Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Apostolos Vesyropoulos
COM.: To the Minister of Development Mr. Adonis Georgiadis
& The Governor of AADE, Mr. George Pitsilis
Here Athens, 3.1.2021
SUBJECT: To liquidate immediately & payment of compensation to the owners!
Dear Ministers, Governors, Happy New Year!
“>The announcement by the government to suspend the payment of the January rent by the businesses that remain closed by state order and pay 80% of the rent to the owners from the state budget, may be a positive development (despite the loss of 20% of income for the owners), if four conditions are met:
First, readjust the submission process of declarations of rent abatement (“COVID”) from January, for the benefit of both owners and management, so that the control as to whether or not the tenant is entitled to the abatement rent in the given month to be done automatically, through the VAT number & KAD of his activity, at the time of submission of the COVID declaration, as well as the immediate liquidation of the declaration and payment of the refundable amount to the owner, without waiting for the submission deadline to expire. It does not make sense for landlords to collect (if they collect) reduced rents with the expectation of even partial compensation from the state and discover after six months that the tenant was not entitled to the reduction! Automating this process will result in January rent refunds being made immediately, and not around Easter.
Secondly, they are paid within of January the debts of the State to the landlords for the rent reductions of November – December 2020, and to grant an extension for corrections to all the erroneous declarations of the period March-October, based on POMIDA’s proposals, in order to clear them up as well. In this regard, we note that despite the superhuman efforts made by AADE executives, many thousands of owners have not been fully compensated for the March-October 2020 rent reductions, offset against their tax obligations.
Thirdly, any procedure for regulation, suspension or extension of tax and other of their obligationsprescribed for the other categories of taxpayers, as the last due installment of ENFIA and income tax for 2019 incomes is paid in February.
Fourth, to issue the decision with the January 2021 KAD IMMEDIATELY, in order to avoid the generalized perception that non-payment of rent concerns everyone, with disastrous results for transactions and landlord-tenant relations!!!
POMIDA recognizes, as always, the difficulties of tenants operating in its sectors economy which have been severely affected by the crisis. But it is an indisputable fact that property owners were also forced to contribute to dealing with the effects of the pandemic with a forced reduction in their incomes and should be treated with the same, at least, interest from the state!
At your disposal for any clarification and cooperation
The President Gen. Secretary Stratos I. Paradias Tasos I. Vappas
