New
tax rates for property
P. HATZINIKOLAOU
On January 1, the government will announce the new
adjustment to the officially determined values of
properties depending on the area (used for tax purposes
and known as “objective prices”), Economy
and Finance Deputy Minister Antonis Bezas said yesterday.
The adjustment concerns all properties, whether within
town planning or outside it, and is the follow-up
to last winter’s adjustment. The government
has stated it wants to raise objective prices gradually,
within a three-year period that started in 2006.
Bezas told state TV that the increases in objective
values for properties within town-planning zones will
be smaller than last winter’s and, according
to sources, will not exceed an average of 25 percent.
Yet the increases in certain areas will be greater
due to the bigger difference between objective and
commercial prices. In other instances, the rise will
be smaller. The same policy will apply to farms and
plots outside town-planning zones, he noted.
These developments are expected to increase demand
in the property market by the end of the year for
the tax burden from the objective price adjustment
to be reduced.
The gap between objective and market prices remains
wide, particularly at minimum rates. At Perama, in
Piraeus, the minimum zone rate was at 600 euros per
square meter last year, while in the market it stood
at 1,500 euros/sq.m., that is, a 150 percent difference.
Another candidate for adjustment is Haidari, in western
Athens, where the minimum zone rate is now at 750
euros/sq.m., while the commercial value starts from
1,800 euros/sq.m.
As this additional burden will also concern main-residence
owners, the Economy Ministry is considering a rise
in the tax-free ceiling for the purchase of a main
residence by about 10 percent. It is also planning
a 50 percent increase of the minimum construction
cost, set officially for tax purposes, in order to
beat tax evasion. The increase will be spread over
three years, starting from 2007.
29/11/2006 Kathimerini
English Edition
