Additional levies, which can reach up to three times the current levels, would be imposed on property owners by the Local Government Code, put up for consultation until June 4, in an Interior Ministry bill.

It establishes two new property ownership taxes, which are expected to bring a two or three times greater burden in total compared to the current level.

The Local Development Fee is coming to replace the current Real Estate Fee (TAP) and the Electrified Premises Tax, which is itself a higher burden. This is because it will be calculated with a coefficient ranging from 0.03% to 0.07% on the square meters of the surface of each property, multiplied by the objective zone price per square meter, which applies in the area of the property and by the age coefficient of the property.

TAP is calculated with lower coefficients, ranging from 0.025% to 0.035%, while the Electrified Premises Tax ranges from €0.02 to €0.07 per year, per square meter of surface with electricity. At the same time, the new code also includes a new Regional Development Fee, with a coefficient from 0.015% to 0.035% on the taxable (“objective”) value of the property. The revenues from the regional fee will be allocated exclusively to the financing of projects under the responsibility of the region.

Depending on the applied rate, the new Local Development Fee is expected to cost up to €67 per year for a property of 80 square meters and an objective value of €160,000, provided it is over 25 years old. The corresponding cost for the Regional Development Fee for the same property is set at up to €56.

Therefore, an estimated amount of €123 per year results from these two fees, which is higher than current dues. It may even be three times higher if the highest rate is imposed.

This is because the sum of the two fees translates into a rate of 0.035% to 0.10% for each property, depending on what policy each municipality and each region will choose. According to the Panhellenic Federation of Property Owners, it is similar to the cost of the old ETAK, the “forerunner” of today’s Single Property Tax (ENFIA).

Source: Ekathimerini.com