Hundreds of unequivocal appeals by court officials were filed in Dispute Resolution Directorate (DDR)who demand the return of the solidarity levy withheld from them in 2021, the period during which it was suspended for the private sector due to the pandemic crisis and the problems faced by private sector workers.

However, the judges have a different opinion and ask for the return of the special solidarity fee with interest, presenting the following requirements:

• Violation of the principle of equality before the law, equality in public duties and the prohibition of discrimination.

• Violation of the principle of proportionality while maintaining a special solidarity levy for civil servants.

• Arbitrary equating of judicial officials with civil servants.

• Violation of the right of bailiffs to property.

However, all appeals were rejected because TEN follows the law and the decisions of the Ministry of Finance and AADE. Of course, before applying to the administrative courts, all taxpayers are required to file a complaint in the first instance, and then appeal. In the event that the judges are acquitted and if civil servants and pensioners follow the same practice, the Greek state will have to return an amount of 400 million euros for 2021 and an additional 400 million euros for 2022.

In one of the applications submitted, the following is noted. The appellant with this contested appeal asks:

If they are acquitted and civil servants follow the same path, the Greek state will have to return a total of $800 million.

a) Cancel the cancellation of the booking when submitting your electronic application.

b) repeal the challenged act.

c) the exemption of his earned income from the special solidarity contribution in accordance with Article 43A of Law 4172/2013.

d) Return with interest of the withheld solidarity contribution in the amount of 1025.75 euros.

It is noted that the judges who received a negative answer have already applied to the administrative courts, but none of the cases related to the special collection of solidarity has yet been considered.

It is noted that the appeals were voiced by the board of directors. of November 20 of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors, where it was decided to entrust legal advisers with the processing of cases on a claim for the payment of a joint contribution for 2021.

As a reminder, in September 2020, the government decided to suspend the solidarity fundraiser for 1.2 million private sector workers, freelancers, farmers and individuals earning incomes above 12,000 euros. Only income from pensions and income from paid work paid to public sector workers was excluded from the suspension, and this is because during the health crisis and quarantine, contracts were suspended for thousands of workers facing significant survival problems.

However, the measure also affected civil servants and pensioners who had additional income from any other sources, such as rent, for example, since the exemption concerns income, not taxpayers. Such a development of events may lead to a wave of appeals from civil servants, as well as pensioners, for whom, as mentioned above, the solidarity fee was not “frozen” during the sanitary crisis.