New betterment property tax in the pipelines for owners

Thousands of property owners to carry a new burden

Greek property owners will be burdened with a new tax from January 2017, as the government plans to reintroduce a betterment tax after it was defunct for the past two years. The Greek government had attempted to implement the tax in 2014, but widespread social backlash and the confusion caused by its calculation forced authorities to suspend it for 2 years. Prior to its suspension in 2014, the betterment tax was imposed on property owners who had bought it after 1995 and was determined over the difference of acquisition and the cost of sale. For example, if a property had an objective value of 100,000 Euros, and the seller wanted to sell it today for 150,000 Euros, he would be compelled to pay a 15% tax on the difference between the two prices i.e 50,000 Euros. The buyer would have to pay a transfer fee worth 3% on the property’s objective value.