The worldwide outbreak in December 2019 of COVID-19, a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, immediately lead to a worldwide health crisis. Up till now, there have been more than 778 million cases of persons infected with COVID-19 reported to the United Nations World Health Organization (UN WHO). (UN WHO, https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases?n=c (accessed 22 Oct. 2025)) The health crisis caused by the virus and the economic impact that the virus had on states’ economies and public finances, including the European Union (EU) Member States, was significant. In order to tackle the virus, containment measures were needed to be taken, which reduced economic activity. Subsequently, the downfall in economic activity had consequences for tax revenue. Meanwhile, various tax measures were implemented by the EU Member States to financially support businesses and individual households during the health crisis and simultaneous economic crisis. An important measure has been tax debt relief, concerning delaying the payment of tax debt and otherwise resolving tax debt issues for taxpayers. During such a severe public crisis, from the viewpoint of human (fundamental) rights, taxpayers in the EU should be entitled, as a right, to tax debt relief measures.
EC Tax Review