Tax returns: Who was assessed €13.87bn, and how many were caught by presumptive tax rules?

Higher wages and pensions and, to a lesser extent, efforts to curb tax evasion significantly increased taxpayers’ incomes in 2024, but also led to higher tax bills, mainly for employees and pensioners.

Statistics from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) on tax returns filed in 2025 for income earned in 2024 show that declared income rose by an additional €9.9bn in a year (up 9.3% from 2023), taking the total to more than €115.93bn, compared with €106.08bn in 2023.

At the same time, taxable income reached €119.50bn, while the total tax assessed on employees, pensioners, professionals, income recipients and farmers came to €13.87bn, up from €12.27bn the previous year, an increase of 13%.

However, the rise in incomes did not significantly alter the picture of declared individual incomes. Half of taxpayers continue to report income of up to €10,000.

Caught by presumptive tax rules

Meanwhile, despite adjustments, presumptive living expenses remain a powerful revenue-raising tool, catching more than 1.2 million taxpayers.

A total of 1,209,091 tax identification numbers showed an additional difference under the presumptive rules. In practice, this translates into an additional €3.88bn in taxable income, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to pay tax on income above the amount they actually declared.

The profile of those facing these charges is particularly noteworthy, as presumptive expenditure rules no longer apply only to the self-employed but extend across society. Employees and pensioners account for the largest number of returns caught, while income recipients recorded the largest overall increase in imputed income.

Specifically, 433,697 were employees, 350,004 pensioners, 296,284 income recipients, 69,814 professionals and 59,292 farmers.

Income recipients had the largest increase in income due to the presumptive rules, at €1.415bn. They were followed by employees at €1.045bn, pensioners at €962.08m, the self-employed at €243.38m and farmers at €215.94m.

What we declared

The widespread application of the presumptive rules is largely explained by the income distribution of the 9,153,357 taxpayers who filed returns.

The data show a marked concentration in the lower income brackets, making it particularly easy for households to be caught by the presumptive rules, even on the basis of basic assets.

More than half of taxpayers (52.11%, or 4,769,821 people) declared annual income of up to €10,000. Add those who reported between €10,000 and €20,000 (2,958,581 people, or 32.32%), and 84.43% of taxpayers — nearly eight and a half in 10 — had annual income below €20,000.

By contrast, just 1.74% (159,570 tax identification numbers) declared income above €50,000, while only 1,233 taxpayers were at the top of the income pyramid, with earnings of more than €900,000.

The ones carrying the tax burden

Employees face the largest tax burden, with tax assessed on their returns amounting to €5.67bn. They are followed by the self-employed, at €3.74bn, and pensioners, at €2.49bn. Despite accounting for the largest total income, employees have a lower tax-to-declared-income ratio. Pensioners, who number more than 2 million, account for about a quarter of total declared income.

Table 1: Taxpayers by declared income bracket

Source: AADE

Income sources and the final bill

In aggregate, declared income totalled €115.93bn. The vast majority came from wages, pensions and seafarers’ income, which together reached €82.93bn and accounted for 71.54% of the total.

Far behind were income from business activity, at €10.99bn; dividends, interest, royalties and capital gains from the transfer of capital, at €10.80bn; income from property, at €9.28bn; and income from farming, at €1.92bn.

After adjustments, including the addition of €3.88bn under the presumptive living expense rules and the deduction of €3bn in losses and €401.42m in deductions, final taxable income stood at €119.50bn. In addition, amounts taxed separately and tax-exempt amounts of €15.42bn each were declared.

Total tax assessed came to €13.87bn. Tax under the income tax scale amounted to €18.02bn, but was reduced by €4.37bn through the applicable tax reliefs (tax-free allowance).

The final bill included, among other items, €145.23m in tax on seafarers’ income and €86.04m in “penalties” for taxpayers who failed to meet the required threshold for electronic receipts, while €9.65bn had already been collected through tax withholding.

Family status

• There were 4,309,781 single taxpayers, with total declared income of €45.19bn. Average income per return was about €10,486.
• There were 1,334,439 couples without children, with total income of €33.87bn and an average of about €25,382.
• One child was reported by 618,122 taxpayers, with income of €16.60bn, while two children were reported by 512,261 taxpayers, with income of €16.54bn.
• A total of 100,732 taxpayers reported three children, with declared income of €3.21bn.
• There were 22,542 large families with income of €514.35m; of these, 17,839 reported four children and total income of €431.32m.

Table 2: Summary of income and tax figures

Source: AADE