ENFIA bills to come after the festivities

Property owners will only find out about their Single Property Tax (ENFIA) dues this year after the celebrations for the end of the bailout program in August – and probably after the Thessaloniki International Fair in September too.

The government’s intention is to avoid issuing the ENFIA pay slips before the feel-good events it plans to stage, but still have the first tranche of the tax due by the end of September.

The calculation of the property tax for each of the 6.4 million property owners in Greece will start as soon as the income tax statements have been processed; the amounts will be confirmed in mid-August, but taxpayers will not be informed before mid-September. The first of the five monthly tranches will be payable by September 28.

This year’s ENFIA load will be heavier for about 1 million owners, who won’t learn that their dues have increased until mid-September, a few days before the first installment will have to be paid, along with the second tranche of income tax, also due by September 28.

The new “objective values” (property prices used for tax purposes) will lead to a considerable ENFIA hike for owners of medium-sized and large properties – typically assets adding up to over 250,000 euros.

Examination of the new objective values shows that in many suburbs of Athens where zone rates ranged between 1,100 and 2,500 euros per square meter the objective values have now soared by 300 to 600 euros/sq.m. Such increases lead to property tax hikes of up to 1,500 euros per year.

While the majority of those owners may see their ENFIA dues stay the same as last year, it is the supplementary property tax that is about to jump, and the government is once again shifting the load to owners of large or expensive properties so as to keep assets in neighborhoods with lower rates at a low tax level.

Real estate experts have spoken of fake objective values created through surgical interventions by the government that are out of touch with the market reality just so it can achieve the collection of 2.65 billion euros from ENFIA and the Supplementary Property Tax.

Source: ekathimerini.gr