Tax and customs board recommends waiting to file tax returns
The Tax and Customs Board are warning people not to rush to file their tax turns later this week for fear of crashing the system. Tax returns can be filed electronically from February 15.
On Wednesday at a press conference, Sander Aasna, head of public services, warned that the early hours of Saturday - and probably last hours on Friday - e-services may be overloaded as people rush to declare their income. He said previous years have shown Estonians like to declare their income as soon as possible.
To prevent e-EAMT (online services of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board) from crashing due to demand, the number of people who can submit a service declaration at one time is limited. Thus, failure to enter the e-EAMT does not mean that it is a technical failure, but that you have been placed in a queue.
"There is no need to rush. From this year, the deadline for filing a tax return is one month later, April 30," said Aasna.
In addition to queuing at e-EMTA, waiting times can also be long when calling the information line. The tax and customs board also recommends you to not submit a physical paper declaration to the service bureau in the first few days.
Overpaid tax returns are refunded in the same way as in previous years. Once the return is correct, the money will arrive within one or two weeks. However, the speed of return is not directly dependent on the order in which declarations are made, Aasna said.
Overpaid income tax will be refunded from February 26 to those filing their income tax returns electronically and from March 19 to paper filers.
If a person has to pay additional income tax, the due date is October 1.
The income tax return is based on data made available to the tax and customs Board. As an update, information on the sale of taxable real estate has been added this year. Aasna said the pre-filled part must be checked and changed if necessary.
An additional innovation has been added his year and a person can, if they wish, donate their overpaid income tax or part of it to a charity. Up to three donors can be selected from charities. However, it is worth noting that donations cannot be reclaimed.
The tax return does not need to be filed by people whose annual income is less than €6,000, whose income does not require additional income tax and who do not qualify for tax benefits.
Evelyn Liivamägi, head of the tax department at the Tax and Customs Board, said over the years, there have been tens of thousands of people who file their tax returns when they do not need to.
More information is available here in English.
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Editor: Helen Wright