Property tax revenue beats state expectations
Despite several weeks of vehement protests against the imposition of a new property tax on homeowners, it appears that the levy has been one of the government?s few successful austerity measures as it is forecast to bring in 2 billion euros in much-needed revenue by the end of the year, significantly higher than the 1.7-billion-euro target.
The estimate was made by high-ranking members of the Public Power Corporation (PPC), which has been levying the new tax by attaching it to homeowners? electricity bills. According to PPC officials, the rate at which the first installment of the tax is being paid safely suggests that the target of 1.7 billion euros will be exceeded.
According to the latest data available, eight in 10 homeowners have paid the tax. More specifically, 83 percent of bills sent out by early November were paid, bringing in 650 million euros in revenue.
Earlier this week PPC started sending out a second wave of bills for the second installment of the property tax, officials told Kathimerini.
It is expected however that a significant proportion of taxpayers will ask to benefit from a special arrangement — offered to socially vulnerable groups and those demonstrably unable to pay the levy.
According to a circular issued by the Finance Ministry earlier this month, people who are more than 80 percent disabled will get tax breaks. Also, the document said, the electricity company will not cut the power supply of homeowners who fail to pay the bill in cases where they face serious health problems.
