The Ministry of Finances has decided to form a special committee which will be tasked with submitting proposals regarding the revision of objective real estate values by the 22nd of December. According to the government’s financial policy program, the revision of objective real estate values must conclude by the 1st of January 2017.
As such, there is the possibility of the new tax valued being applied to the controversial “ENFIA” real estate tax for 2016. The new values will also have a significant impact on the reach of protection against the auctions of primary residences. By reducing the objective, tax value of property, a larger section of homeowners will be able to benefit from the legislation provisions.
In any case though, the Greek government will have to ensure that it draws 2.65 billion euros from the ENFIA tax, as stipulated in the recent bailout agreement with its European creditors. This means that while prices may indeed drop in certain areas, in others they may increase.
The intention of the Ministry is for the new objective tax values to reflect market values. Prior to the onset of the financial crisis, market values were significantly higher that tax values. The crisis however caused a collapse in the market, with many owners unable to sell on their property and facing serious problems in taxation.
