Greek FinMin imposes ‘special tax’ for property owners living in their own home

The book of the new Income Tax Law is clear: income from properties is been considered also the”imputed income” from the use of own property or the use of property given from parents to children to live in free of charge.

According to daily “Eleftheros Typos” the tax on non-existing income will be calculated based on the property value with a multiplicator of 3%.

Taxpayers living in their own properties will be burden with an additional property tax of 11%-13% for making use of their own homes.

Exceptions may be considered for properties below 200 square meters.

The new Tax Code has been in effect as of 1.1.2014.

Daily Imerisia sheds more light into the tricky issue:

“The income from own use or from the free of charge concede is presumed to consist of three percent (3%) of the assessed value of the property. Exception from the taxation of the imputed income of the previous section concerns the free of charge concede for property up to 200 sq meter to be used as main residence by children or parents.”

In clear words: property owners living in their own homes will be called to pay a “living in own home tax”, while exempted from this fictitious income will be the fictitious income if the property is up to 200 sq meters and given for free to children or parents to live in.

The tax will be 10% to fictitious property income up to 12,000 euro and 33% for any amount above.

Example:

a property with objective value 200,000 euro has fictitious income 6,000 euro. The owner living in his own home should be asked to pay 600 euro because he lives in his own property.

Non-stop taxes on non-existing incomes

Of course, this new tax is additional to regular and emergency property taxes and are to be unified under one. So far, living in your own property was considered as one of the “presumptuous income criteria”. That is the tax office would calculate, one needs €40 per square meter to maintain a property. If the taxpayer was jobless but a home owner of XY sqm, the tax office would make up a fictitious income for you:  €3,000 per year to cover your needs and €3,000 per year for home maintenance. And ask the relevant tax.

It is not a secret that the Troika, the Greek Finance Ministry and the Greek government consider the “Greek property” as an endless source of revenues. Even if they bring zero income like in the case the owner lives inside.

But the “unified tax” restricts the finance ministry moves to squeeze more taxes from the properties. Therefore they name the additional property tax “imputed income tax from property”.

Mainstream media and many news websites call the whole plan a “gaffe” and try to reassure the shocked property owners that the Finance Ministry is trying to call it off with a new legislation.

…and you thought Absurd and Surreal were only means of Arts

 HA! They are truly and honestly sick!

PS every time I write about Greece taxing “fictitious income” I can’t help but think of the Irish who rejected the “taxation of deemed income” as against the Constitution. Their Constitution, of course.