ECONOMY

Confusion over single property tax ends?

The Economy Ministry rushed to dispel property owners’ fears that they would after all be taxed for their primary residence. Owners of houses valued up to 300,000 euros are exempt from paying the Single Property Tax for their primary residence, but thousands of them received notifications suggesting they would have to pay if they jointly own a house with someone else. Many couples who share ownership of a house were asked to pay the 0.1 percent levy on the official value of the property that is used for tax assessment purposes. The story broke in the press on Thursday and the ministry was yesterday forced into suggesting that property owners should ignore the notifications and not pay the tax. Instead, Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis said in Parliament that taxpayers will be required to submit an official statement to the tax authorities stating their primary residence. However, the problem arising from the fact that taxpayers were not required to specify their primary residence had been noticed long before the tax assessment began. The ministry had even issued an assurance that there would be no problem.

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