Zone rates rise 8% on average

The new property zone rates the Finance Ministry announced on Monday for the entire country showed an average increase of 8% and will start applying from January 2022, allowing interested buyers as well as sellers to study the new rates and act accordingly.

Crucially the overhaul of the property rate calculation system for the so-called objective values has now incorporated almost the entire country. A total of 13,808 zones now have their rates and all taxes can be calculated on that basis, including the Single Property Tax (ENFIA).

However, as Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Secretary General for Economic Policy Christos Triantopoulos stated, this is just the first step, because the ministry is already cooperating with universities and the technical chamber for the process of redrafting the zone rates, amending the commercial coefficients of each area and possibly the age coefficients; the latter is considered particularly significant as most properties are quite old.

In five out of the nine zone rates announced (55%) there will be hikes averaging at 19.5%; another 21% of zones will see a decrease averaging at 14.7%, while 24% of the zones won’t have any change in their rates. Across the country the increase comes to 8%, Staikouras said.

The new zone rates are bringing changes to the ENFIA coefficients so as to avoid an extra tax load on more property owners in 2022. According to a senior ministry official, the necessary adjustments will be made to the property tax with a negative fiscal impact, to prevent a hike for taxpayers. ENFIA will practically be overhauled with the aim of avoiding not only increasing the main property tax but also the supplementary one, which owners of property valued at more than 250,000 euros pay.

Staikouras stated that it is possible a new ENFIA cut will be made in 2022, after the 22% average reduction in 2019, saying that the increased burden will concern areas that until this year have been undertaxed, citing the example of Mykonos.