The moment of truth has arrived for six million Greek property owners. Taxisnet is now ready to offer notices concerning the joint property taxes (ENFIA) amounts that need to be paid by the end of October.

The only changes to this year’s rates from those of 2014 are that taxpayers will need to pay the amounts in less installments to last year, meaning that each amount will be greater in comparison. The ENFIA rates will have a 60% cap as they will be based on the erroneous objective values that existed in 2007 but are not synchronised to current values. There is also an index concerning contributions that have to do with the age of constructions.

The government did not keep its pledge to do away with ENFIA or even base it on more realistic values, however there are promises that objective rates will be changed in the middle of 2016 so that future ENFIA rates are based on actual values that are believed to be 15-20% lower than the ones currently in force.

Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis had stated that ENFIA will be replaced by a fairer tax that will include an amount for the total sum of taxpayers’ properties rather than each individual item owned that would include exemptions for those who own property valued at up to 50,000 euros, but possibly lower. Alexiadis said that it is not just that a property in Nikaia constructed in 1970 and valued at 50,000 euros should have to pay ENFIA at a time when another Greek taxpayer may own preoprty in London worth 3 mln euros and not have to pay even a euro. Exemptions for property beneath the 50K amount would mean that 2.8 million home owners would no longer have to pay ENFIA.

At current levels, it is expected that ENFIA rates will line state coffers with 2.65 bln euros.