New Provision for Greece’s Thomas Cook-hit Tourism Businesses

Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) announced this week that it would be allowing an income tax deduction for bad debts which resulted from the collapse last year of British tour operator Thomas Cook.

The decision, signed on Wednesday by Secretary General of Public Revenue Giorgos Pitsilis, is aimed at facilitating Greek businesses that held agreements with Thomas Cook by simplifying procedures for unpaid invoices.

According to AADE, the decision addresses a number of issues tabled by affected parties including the fact that the British tour giant did not repay a large number of invoices that were issued on credit by Greek counterparties and a request by impacted companies for provisions that would foresee writing-off bad debts in 2019.

Referring to the new measure, Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said it supported businesses, employees and tourists. “The people who encountered problems when they visited our country were given support and continue to rely in large part and to a satisfactory extent on this support, and this allows us, from a security standpoint, to look forward to 2020 with optimism,” he said.

In November, the minister had announced that 30 million euros would be allocated to tourism enterprises impacted by Thomas Cook’s bankruptcy to cover employer contributions.