The Greek Finance Ministry said it will quickly proceed with revising property tax values that haven’t been changed despite big pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions as part of austerity measures that have greatly reduced the value of buildings, many going unrented or with reduced rents, forcing the owners to pay more for properties that arent’ worth it.
The Ministry said it will reassess property prices used for tax purposes – known as “objective values” – so that they will be ready in July, with the aim of applying them within 2013 and using them as the basis for the calculation of the single property tax to be imposed as of 2014.
The decision by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras provides for the formation of a committee that will have to deliver the new objective values by July 8, while the valuation system will be extended across the whole country, the newspaper Kathimerini said.
The new values will be determined by adjusting data used by previous committees to today’s conditions. In recent years this information has been supplied by prefectural authorities and estate agents, a practice which is set to continue for the time being due to the fact that the property value database, which will adjust values automatically in accordance with transactions, is not yet ready.
Ministry officials say that the new values will be reduced in several parts of the country, in line with commercial prices which have declined considerably in recent years due to the major drop in demand, especially in the most expensive areas of Athens and the country’s other main cities.
On the other hand, other parts of the country will see significant increases, particularly in areas where the system of valuating properties according to construction costs has been applied instead. Hundreds of villages and towns in places such as Myconos, Santorini, Rhodes, Crete and even in parts of Attica will see their objective values soar.
Objective values play a crucial role in determining how much Greeks pay in taxes, as they determine the level of all property taxes, the verification of income tax and the level of other levies such as inheritance tax.
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