The regulation for the payment of overdue debts was tabled in Greek Parliament on Thursday to offer promised tax relief to those in need. Finance Ministry sources say that the new measures will offer gradual relief however there are terms that need to be met. For instance, those who wish to make use of the regulation are required to be able to meet payments for all their tax contributions and other obligations now and over the next eight years.

The 100 installments are an improvement to the 48 payments as well as other measures in the past, however a great deal of time has already been lost over the last six years of the recession and the measure may be too late for millions unemployed and vulnerable groups that are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

The coalition government seems oblivious to the fact that at the end of every month people are holding out for the promised tax regulations and those most in need are agonizing over covering their expenses. October 30 is no exception and even though the new measures that have been talked about for some time have finally made their way to Parliament it will still take 2-3 weeks before they are finally passed.

Critics of the measures say that they are mainly geared towards those who can meet their obligations rather than those who are struggling and have already fallen in making debt payments. There will be no incentive for those who already have overdue payments that they can’t meet to finally begin making contributions.

The draft bill includes:
* a promised 30% cut to a special levy on everyone earning more than 12,000 euros per year
* arrears of up to 15,000 euros can be paid in 100 installments whereas fines and surcharges for late payments will be cut
* those with overdue debts over 15,000 euros will pay in 72 installments
* debtors with arrears worth one million euros will be allowed a maximum of two missed payments per year
* interest rates charged for overdue sums will be slashed to 4.56% from 9.75%