Nicosia – The House of Representatives passed last week a law to write off overdue taxes of up to €100.

The Amending Law on the Procedure for Settlement of Overdue Taxes (Amending) (No.2) Law of 2017, provides that if the total tax liability of the taxpayer does not exceed €500, the amount of €100 will be written off.

It is also provided that if the total tax liability of the taxpayer does not exceed the amount of €100, the entire amount owed will be written off, without the requirement of a relevant application.

The reasoning behind the move is to alleviate the administrative workload on the Tax Department which has to deal with tens of thousands of cases of petty sums.

Ruling Democratic Party (DISY) Deputy, Onoufrios Koulla, commented that in this way, authorities would be free to turn their attention to major sums, thus improving their overall tax-collection efficiency.

According to the Tax Department, there are currently some 35.000 taxpayers who owe an average of €60 for a collective €2.1 million. The amount includes late fees and penalties.

Among these, €263.000 is owed for VAT, €1.480.730 for income tax, €202.697 for immovable property tax, and €156.673 for the special defence contribution.