By. G. Palaitsakis
[email protected]
The Greek government is, by all accounts, aiming to retain a property tax (ENFIA) for this year and 2018, which despite its unpopularity, has proven to be a dependable revenue source for the state budget.
Any changes will come after 2018, when the leftist government will reportedly unveil what it calls a "fairer" property tax, one that will ostensibly reduce the overall revenue total from the specific measure by 35 to 40 percent.
The current leftist-rightist coalition government rode to power in January 2015 on a populist wave of virulently anti-austerity and anti-bailout rhetoric, which included a pledge for an immediate revocation of the property tax.
At last glance, however, a "fairer" property tax will be bumped for 2019 or even 2020 - albeit scheduled general elections must be held in 2019. The latter is part of so-called "off-set" measures that Athens hopes will be taken if highly ambitious primary budget surplus targets (as a percentage of GDP) will be achieved after 2019 and an unspecified number of years thereafter.
