By B. Papadimitriou

The biggest problem with our so-called objective values — a set of figures that determine the tax payable on property transfers — is that they are anything but objective. They have always been charges set by the tax office. And so, yet another tool of the state mechanism has been transformed into a tool for market distortion.

The problem with objective values is not so much the level at which they are set by faceless bureaucrats in the Economy Ministry’s Syntagma Square offices; the problem is the taxes and other charges which are calculated on the basis of these figures. And they are hardly insignificant.

This is what the public should be focusing on. If we really believe that the state could get by with far lower taxes, then we should insist that it does. After all, most figures in the current government objected to the system of tax on property — during their heady years in opposition — and pledged to find ways of curbing taxes and restoring objective values to realistic levels when they eventually came to power.

The likelihood is that the government will, at some point, be obliged to go this way. Greece has the highest taxes and charges on property transfers, something which stops its real estate market from functioning properly.

It is the government’s duty to reduce property transfer taxes, review a raft of other charges related to property transactions and slash corresponding bureaucracy.