The plenary session of the Council of State decided that the Greek government was obliged to have reviewed objective property valueson May 21, 2015 . Current objective property values do not correspond to actual market value of properties, due to the economic crisis.
The failure of the government to state new objective property values may lead to a retrospective adjustment of property values, thereby throwing off the taxation system of real estate, the single property tax (ENFIA) and the actual declared assets of taxpayers.
The Council of State found against the government, in that it failed to issue a ministerial decision adjusting the objective values of real estate, thus obliging the government to adopt the decision retrospectively with the starting date of May 21, 2015.
Thirteen property owners appealed to the Council of State asking the government to issue new objective values for properties as required by law
The taxpayers on November 2013 had submitted to the Ministry of Finance a request for adjustment of objective property values. The ministry never answered their request and the taxpayers appealed to the Council of State.
The taxpayers argued that since property values plunged due to the economic crisis, the taxes do not correspond to the citizens’ taxpaying capacity. The last time real estate objective values were established was in 2007, while in some areas they were established in 2010. The law demands that the government reviews objective values every two years.
The objective values on which taxpayers are expected to pay taxes on are far apart from the market values at the present time.
If the government applies the ruling, something that will have to have the approval of the lenders, it will throw out its revenue targets from the property tax.
