18.2.13
The government budget made a provision of collecting at 3 billion euros from real estate property taxes, however this task appears to be more difficult than originally planned. The Ministry of Finances’ leadership is considering taxing all land, regardless of value and use to achieve its target.
Should the original plan go though, with “high” tax-free thresholds, the Ministry estimates that it will not collect more than 2 billion euros from taxes, as a significant proportion of land owners will not go untaxed. Sources from the Ministry indicate that one thought is for all land owners paying a minimum of 50 euros.
Another solution to help generate the 3 billion euros is to create a system of progressive tax scales, effective from the first euro-worth of property. In any case, this shortfall will require intense political discussion amongst the three government-forming party leaders, as both Mr. Venizelos and Mr. Kouvelis are in favor of high tax-free thresholds.
