"I want to assure you that obviously the Ministry of Finance and AADE do not play with tax returns," said the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking on SKAI radio today on the occasion of an announcement by the Panhellenic Federation of Tax Professionals (PofEE) for this year's tax returns and especially the pre-filled returns. 

"The system of pre-filled returns, in principle, existed to some extent in previous years. This year, what is the difference? The signature. That is, last year, the signature of the taxpayer was required anyway. If there is no signature within the deadlines, the taxpayer is deemed to have accepted. What is all this for? It has been done for years and is being further developed this year to reduce the effort of taxpayers, running left and right to collect data and expenses, which are collected in the form of revenue by accountants. Let us be completely clean," Hajidakis said, adding:

"There was this announcement. I have asked the AADE to look into the matter. To see if there is any aspect that needs to be addressed. In any case, within the day, there will be an announcement from the AADE. But subject to the announcement from the AADE, I, as Minister of Finance, would like to point out that in any case, these data, which are collected by the EFKA, by the banks, etc., are in no way less reliable than last year's data. Because the banks are the same, the EFKA is the same, and the institutions that send the data to the AADE are the same. On the contrary, this year is a step forward because of the logic that I have just explained to you.

So I am surprised why there were no such communications last year or the year before or the year before last, or the year before or the year before that, and there are especially this year. Does this have to do with the fact that taxpayers' signatures are no longer required and the return is considered to be valid, hence an additional reason for taxpayers not to go to accountants? Could it be? It is a question that anyone can ponder.

In any case, I want to assure you that obviously the Ministry of Finance and the tax authorities are not playing around with tax returns. The DPA will look carefully and will respond clearly to these questions raised by the Federation of Tax Consultants.

I want taxpayers to know that steady steps forward are being taken in taxation and in the modernization of the tax system: with pre-filled tax returns, with myDATA, with the expansion of electronic invoicing, and with the connection of POS to cash registers. With many different steps. And we will preserve these steps. We are trying to have a modern European government everywhere. This also applies to the issues of the tax system. And I call on all parties involved to show the greatest possible responsibility. And let's be clear."