Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, speaking of “class unilateralism” announced a planned reduction to the Uniform Real Estate Ownership Tax (ENFIA), in a effort to start implementing “positive” measures as Greece exits the memorandum era.
According to an amendment tabled in Parliament by Greece’s Finance Ministry the reduction comes to 30 per cent for real estate up to 60,000 euros, seeing the ENFIA tax reduced for more than 5.5 million property owners in the country.
“Of the 5.8 million who own property impacted by ENFIA, 5.5 million will see a reduction,” Mr Tsipras said while speaking in Parliament, estimating that the property tax cut will offer relief to 90 per cent of taxpayers.
“The first 100 days since exiting the memoranda is just the beginning,” he added.
In the less financially robust regions of the country, reductions in while property tax are expected to be slashed as much as 50 per cent by 2020, Athens News Agency (ANA) reported.
Moreover, the reduction of tax on business was cut to 28 per cent from 29 per cent in 2018, while in 2020 tax will come down to 25 per cent. The move is alleviate small and medium size businesses with an aim to boost the creation of new employment opportunities, wage growth and job security.
The PM also announced the distribution of a so called social dividend for a third consecutive year, amounting to 710 million euros and shared among 3.5 million citizens dubbing it a “clean exit” for the underprivileged citizens who have been burdened the most by the financial crisis.