Unconstitutional state tax claims

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The State Council of Greece recognized the constant extensions of the state’s tax claims as unconstitutional

On the basis of Decision No. 675/2017 of the Greek State Council, the continuous extensions of the statute of limitations of the State against the taxpayers is contrary to the principle of the security of law, which is derived from the principle of the rule of law.

In particular, the principle of protected trust of the citizens, which is a specific manifestation of the abovementioned provisions, requires a clear and predictable application of regulations that are established each time and must be observed with particular severity, as long as it concerns the provisions, that could entail serious economic consequences for the parties concerned. As a consequence, the introduction of tax encumbrances requires the application of a statute of limitations, which, in order to ensure the above-mentioned principle, must be predetermined and predictable enough for the taxpayer, and, in general, have a reasonable time frame for implementation.

In view of the above, the State Council ruled that the provisions contradict the Constitution, on the basis of which the statute of limitations of the state’s tax claims is constantly extended, shortly before the expiry of such a time period, but since the decision regarding this issue was not taken at the plenary session of the State Council, the case was referred to the plenary session of the Court, whose decision will finally resolve this extremely important issue of the statute of limitations of the state’s tax claims.