Against the backdrop of what is happening in the country and in the world, the Greek government has decided to make a number of changes to the procedure for calculating and paying a single tax on real estate in Greece - ENFIA. According to the new bill, the majority of ENFIA payers in 2022 will be able to spend more on maintaining Greek real estate and maintaining their own wealth due to the fact that they will save on taxes.
ENFIA has been included in property taxes in Greece since 2012. Then, it appeared in the context of an agreement on financial assistance to a country in crisis. The approach to the tax assessment is constantly changing, mainly in favor of reducing the tax burden on owners of non-luxury real estate.
In the spring of 2022, the Greek government submitted a bill to the Parliament introducing a number of changes to the ENFIA accrual procedure. According to the document, owners of inexpensive real estate will receive a significant discount, while a small percentage of single tax payers owning elite residential and non-residential facilities will experience an increase in the tax burden.
According to the media in Greece, the proposed government bill to change the distribution of the tax burden on ENFIA provides for an increase in payments compared to 2021 for 6% of property owners in the country. At the same time, the bulk of payers - more than five million residents - will receive a discount on ENFIA.
- In total, there are about 6.2 million ENFIA payers in Greece.
- Approximately 900 thousand payers will not be affected at all.
- 320 thousand payers in 2022 will pay more than in 2021.
- 4.98 million payers will experience a reduction in the tax burden.
Among other things, after the adoption of the changes, the lower limit for the value of real estate that falls under the previously adopted document on the provision of a thirty percent discount will increase. Thus, until 2021, the right to a 30% discount on ENFIA applied only to properties worth up to 60 thousand euros inclusive, from 2022 this figure will increase to 100 thousand euros. Accordingly, the tax on real estate valued from 100,001 thousand euros to 150 thousand euros will be calculated taking into account a discount of 25%.
Another innovation will be the possibility of paying ENFIA divided into ten equal installments until 2021, the payment was only allowed to be broken down into six installments. It is believed that by reducing the tax burden on property owners in Greece, the country will be able to become more attractive to foreign investors and those who are planning to move to the EU from third countries.