Deputy Minister of Finance Nadia Valavani on Wednesday announced that a new “one-off” measure for the repayment of standing tax debts will be included in a draft bill tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The draft bill has been especially developed to “deal with the humanitarian crisis and the organization of the government and government agencies”, as the wording goes, and focuses mainly on helping residents living under what the government calls “dire poverty.”

S[ealomg to the private Mega TV station, Valavani said she intends to submit the draft bill that provides for the repayment of verified tax debts in 100 installments over the weekend, and noted that the bill will not be subject to negotiations with the Eurogroup.

Underlining that this is not a unilateral action — something the new government pledged, in writing, not to do — as the bill promises a financial benefit for the state.

She clarified that the draft bill will not include the previously announced provisions that promised a hefty “haircut” on the overall amount owed in exchange for “early repayment” — a previously announced provision that generated howls of protests from taxpayers and business owners that had paid their debts on time during the previous difficult years.

However, Valavani stressed that this is not a “defeat” but a conscious decision to respect the opinion ministry experts and permanent staff.

With regard to the provision of a tax-free threshold of 12,000 euros in yearly income, Valavani said it will be included in a new draft bill to be tabled in the second Parliament semester.