Article by Mr. Nikos Siakandaris, Managing Partner of Andersen Tax in Greece from www.capital.gr
As is well known, persons managing a legal entity are personally and jointly and severally liable for all their personal property, in addition to the legal entity for tax and insurance corporate debts.
The above is provided for in Article 50 of the Code of Tax Procedure on Solidarity Liability (as it stands today), which governs legal persons, namely presidents, directors, managers, chief executives, executive directors and legal officers and liquidators of legal persons. at the time of their dissolution or merger, are personally and jointly and severally liable for the payment of interest, penalties and taxes payable by such legal persons, irrespective of the time of their confirmation, or the period to which these debts relate. For example, if in 2019 a certain amount of tax (income, property, etc.) or a fine related to 2014 is established, then the debt is certified as follows:
1. To the legal person
2. The last legal representative in office
3. To the legal representative at the time the debt was incurred (in our example in 2014)
If, in fact, the above amount was related to VAT then all managers would be liable for repayment from the year 2014 onwards, even if the company did not commit any infraction during the time they participated in management. So for example if the company in 2015 and 2017 had another legal representative then the above debt is confirmed as follows:
1. In the company
2. The last legal representative in office
3. To the legal representative at the time the debt was incurred (in 2014 example)
4. To the legal representative during 2015
5. To the legal representative during the year 2017
At the same time, these persons face severe criminal penalties at times of committing a felony for offenses they neither knew nor could know about. In addition and on the occasion of the attempt to issue tax information, the above persons are informed that it cannot be issued due to the existence of a debt of a legal person to which they were involved many years ago and as a result a number of acts involving them personally cannot be implemented. once again consistent taxpayers became enslaved to obsolete and anachronistic provisions that led to the refusal of serious executives to be appointed to positions of responsibility, given their fear of possibly to engage in a painful process for the same future.
With the proposed provisions of the new tax bill expected to be passed in the next few days, the above provision changes significantly. Thus, in order for one of the directors to be held liable for his personal property for corporate debt to the State, the following conditions must be met cumulatively:
a. participate in management during the operation of the legal entity or at the time of its dissolution, dissolution or merger,
b. the debts were incurred during his term of office and
c. the debts were not paid or attributed to the State by his fault.
The term liability is expected to be clarified by a FFD directive and to set a militant presumption of non-liability. With the proposed amendments, any legal representative of a company will become co-liable for corporate debts only for the time he / she was managing the company. to the extent that the debts were not paid to the State by his fault. It is even envisaged that these new provisions will have retroactive effect in the sense that debts which at the time of entry into force of the law (as will eventually be voted on) have been ascertained against persons as being jointly and severally liable under the preceding provisions, no longer pay the faces are heavy. However, it will be necessary to file an application with the authority that has undertaken the relevant liability seeking action within three (3) months of the publication of the law.