New Greek Property Tax (Haratch, Haratsi)- Check Your Electricity Bills!

New Greek Property Tax. Wall Street Journal Report

ekathimerini report

In Greece, the size of a property (in square metres) is recorded on each electricity bill. That will be the basis for the calculation of the new tax hike, an average of 4 Euros per square metre, but it will "range between 50 cents and 10 Euros depending on the neighbourhood".

Will this really be a  temporary measure?

One wonders how they will collect or assess taxes on the enormous villas with illegal basement-rooms and converted attic spaces and "balconies", which add very considerably to the overall (undeclared) square metre size of many properties?

Will the unions sabotage the tax?

The blogger Keep Talking Greece is outraged by the new details that have just emerged and he wrote this on 15 September.

Now there's a legal challenge.

The Guardian reports on how it will affect foreign property-owners

But the latest news (18 September) is that it may not happen at all, because the Government first has to assess the true market value of each property, and there's no way that such a tax could bring in enough revenue in time...so it's back to the drawing board.

It's not a good idea anyway, says the Troika (BBC 19 September). Much better to collect existing taxes more efficiently.

Gavin Hewitt (BBC), 'Pity the Greeks'.

Corfiot Peter Papageorgiou's blog for another angle on what's going on.

Kathimerini, 23 September

People have started to call the tax "Haratsi" (poll-tax under the Ottoman Turks), with slogans like-

Μην πληρώνετε τα χαράτσια!

Update 13 October from Keep Talking Greece