Greek property news

Sometimes life on a Greek Island does not always fulfil the dream, this can be for a number of reasons, for example unforeseen problems arise if legal paperwork is not thoroughly checked, or the property not structurally checked. Coming from a different culture can also be fraught and stressful. Living on a Greek Island means that, as someone once told us; “people will be watching what you do. If you do it well, you will have many friends in the village. Do it badly, and you will struggle to buy a loaf of bread.”  Or just maybe, through no fault of your own, things just go badly wrong. Personally speaking, our own experience had been a good one, but it is not always the way as the following experience will highlight.

I have decided to publish this email from George in Australia because since starting my site in May 2005, this is the first email I have received of this nature. I do not know why he sent it to me; he is not a client of mine. I sell property in Skopelos and Skiathos. He is highlighting problems facing him in Mytilini Lesvos. Maybe he is sending his email to all property websites that have business or connections to Greece out of frustration. Whatever his reason is, I feel for his predicament and his experience demonstrates that the dream can sometimes go wrong.  Whatever the motive, Angels Greek Island Homes is here to help guide you through the roses and the thorns of buying property and living in Greece. I will tell you about the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. I have pages about legal guides and building a house in Greece. I also have a blog where people are able to read about the latest Greek property tax laws or other articles relating to Greece, good or bad.

Remember when buying in another country from where you reside you are embarking on an adventure, especially so if you don’t speak the language or have no family connections, see Lou Traki’s Blog. Hopefully you will have the best experience of your life and will be happy in the outcome, but remember as George’s story demonstrates, sometimes things can go wrong. Whatever George’s intentions are for sending me his email, I wish him well and feel sorry that his experience has been a bad one. I also wish all of you visiting or living in Greece well for the New Year ahead and we are already thinking about how soon we can take a return flight to our ‘Greek life’ in 2012.

But for now, from us to you, we wish you the very best happiness for 2012 from Angels Greek Island Homes.

=====

Email From: George

To:info@angelsgreekislandhomes.com

Date28 December 2011 04:16

Subject: Do not buy Real Estate In Greece

Dear Sir / Madam

Can you advise people not to buy Greece and how to deal with neighbours who go and make claims on thoroughfares and then build on them and get 2 witnesses to say that they owned it and claim ownership thus blocking the entrance to your property..

This is exactly what happened to me in Mytilini and my local council Polixnitos advised me that I am a foreigner and am not welcome as the council staff were the ones building this home after hours.

The Polidimia in Lesvos works on kickbacks and depending on who you pay off will depend on what gets done as I was asked to leave and fined for complaining about the neighbour who was also a friend of

The person who trespassed… and built on this thoroughfare.

I can only come to one conclusion about Greece and that is everyone is corrupt and even the police has a price…There is no justice in Greece and only criminals and crooks run Greece..

You either have to join them or leave the country. Greece must be very proud of its public servants, and people..

The day a government sacks them will be the day I rejoice..

George

Australia

=====

For information about buying and building property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

Legal guide for buying property in Greece
Buying property in Greece – Legal Guide

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (6)

Please see a reply from the European Union to  Mr Charles Legrand regarding Greek tax legislation

Dear Mr Legrand,

Thank you for your message, which was forwarded to EUROPE DIRECT by the Audiovisual Services of the Commission. EUROPE DIRECT is an information service of the European Union (EU) which provides citizens and businesses with answers to questions of a general nature about the EU. You can find further information about EUROPE DIRECT at:

europa.eu/europedirect/

The legal text you refer to in your email (C-155/09) is a judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union, in which the Court rules on a case brought against the Hellenic Republic for failure to fulfil its obligations under EU law. The Court ruled that the Greek tax legislation (“Law 1078/1980”) that grants exemption from the tax payable on the purchase of a first residential property only to persons residing in Greece is contrary to EU principles. This judgment is EU law and the Member State must comply with it without delay.

Greek tax legislation which grants exemption from the tax payable on the purchase of a first residential property only to persons residing in Greece is contrary to European Union principles:

Court of Justice of the European Union PRESS RELEASE No 1/11 Luxembourg, 20 January 2011
curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-01/cp110001en.pdf

You may also want to search for the complete text of the judgment on the website of the Court of Justice:
www.curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/j_6/
(Please insert “C-155/09” in the field “Case no”.)

For further questions you may contact the Court of Justice of the European Union directly by using the following webform:
www.curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/T5_5133/

We hope that this information will be of use to you and remain at your disposal should you have further questions about the EU.

With kind regards,

EUROPE DIRECT Contact Centre
www.europa.eu – your shortcut to the EU!
Disclaimer
Please note: We will try to ensure that you receive the information requested, or to direct you to an appropriate source. However, we are unable to comment on specific issues pertaining to EU policy, and information provided by EUROPE DIRECT may not be considered as legally binding.

================

Charles Legrand adds:

Not sure I will pursue my case – as the ”understanding / feedback / knowledge” within the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Authority – is at best confused – at worst very-confused.  Readers might be able to get something back with the help of a legal beagle here in Greece.

We have received a Tax assessment form with an amount to pay today.
We have been asked to pay taxes on our property (only one residence).
The Tax demand has come from the Foreigner’s Tax office in Athens
The Taxes are various – covering ”supposed income that you have to run the residence”
Included is a Tax for Community charges and other such taxes for having the residence here.

The Ministry of Finance said when I asked them to clarify – ”This law including non resident Expats is something of a mistake & has caused confusion – we have advised the Foreign Tax folks, but can’t direct them to adhere”.

My personal take on all of this:  I guess a Law has been passed recently that includes Expats living in Greece. The most likely reason for our inclusion in my opinion is that Government of Hellas is looking to ”extract” monies from any source possible due to the austerity measures.

In Summary: ”Taxes & Death are certainties”.

We will be paying this tax and discussing with our Accountant what we do in the future. (Tax due end of Dec 2011)

Personally I think as follows: I do believe this might be something that stays with us going forward.

Charles

======

For information about buying and building property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

Legal guide for buying property in Greece
Buying property in Greece – Legal Guide

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (1)

This series of articles is brought to you by Lou Traki.

Things have got very quiet here, many people have left or gone into an early hibernation as they prepare for the winter. It has been quite cold and cloudy, not much sun. There is no more referendum and the Prime Minister has resigned. I’ve also heard that the local Town Hall people in Skopelos have had their salaries cut by 50%, so things are getting serious. The austerity measures are very bad. A Greek friend of mine living in Skopelos told me the Greek Government can take everything from him except his smile. They tried to take it but he wouldn’t let them…

The property tax in Skopelos will be 3 euro per square metre, and anyone who pays electric and has a tax number will have to pay. However, the electric company have complained that they will effectively be unpaid tax collectors and are talking about boycotting it as there will be a hell of a lot of administration work for them to do. Incidentally, Volos is rated at 6 euro and Thessaloniki at 9 euro!

Which brings me to living in Greece in November 2011

The house that Jack didn’t build…

Given the aforementioned, (or if you’re reading this in anti-chronological order, the after-mentioned), you would have to be bonkers to want to live in Greece. This was 2007 remember, so it was pre- banking collapses, global economic meltdown, new property taxes, Greek referendum, new coalition Government with economist Lucas Papademos as Prime Minister, a eurozone demand that a paper is signed by the Greek Government so there is no futher negotiation or hiccups over the bailout agreement and a pint in the local pub didn’t need a second mortgage.

We had certain set criteria which we had discussed, agreed and cast in stone: We didn’t want to buy, only rent; we didn’t want a ruin or massive restoration project and we DEFINITELY didn’t want the first house we saw.

So after agreeing to buy the first house we saw, a massive restoration project but with spectacular views and almost 1000 square metres of land, we pronounced ourselves happy and ran back to England to await the massive realisation and cognitive dissonance of what we had done.

“No problem”, I said, full of optimism. “We’ll just sell our house here and move over to Glossa Skopelos to live, and then take it from there. What on earth can go wrong?” The answer came with the resounding crash of the American sub-prime mortgage market, widely acknowledged as the catalyst of the 2008 crisis.

After four years of ‘For Sale’ signs outside our house – yes, that’s four years…in 2011 we finally pitched up in Glossa Skopelos, O.K so the economic situation in Greece and timing could not be worse. But we were here, my wife for a month and me, for the duration.

And that more or less brings us up to now.

Apart, that is, from the motorbike, horse, chickens, dog, cats and other sundry encumbrances.

Well, the horse is Yianni’s. He’s gone off to Europe for a few weeks with his wife to see their grand-daughter and I’ve agreed to look after it while they are away.

So I’m a mug…. I don’t know anything about horses. So far it only entails going to their house for about half an hour every morning and giving it straw as well as shovelling sh1t, but being a “stupid English” I’m also buying it carrots, apples and cereals from the supermarket.

Not to mention feeding their chickens (although the eggs are a bonus) and their dog and cat!

Life in Glossa Skopelos, what can I say? The rest can wait for the next instalment…

Contact Lou Traki or Angels Greek Island Homes HERE

Buy property in Skopelos
Property For sale in Skopelos

For information about buying and building property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

Legal guide for buying property in Greece
Buying property in Greece – Legal Guide

Get RSS Feed Updates

Filippos Petsalnikos

Comments (2)

We have been informed that the proprerty tax rate for Skopelos is 3 euro per square metre. Anyone who pays electric and has a Greek tax number will have to pay. However, the electric company have complained that they will effectively be unpaid tax collectors and are talking about boycotting it as there will be a lot of administration work for them to do. Incidentally, Volos is rated at 6 euro and Thessaloniki at 9 euro per square metre.

The new property tax in Greece will range from €0.50 cents to €20.00 and taxes each square metre of homes according to the age of the building (the older the building, the less tax pecentage), tax value and average house prices of the neighbourhood. This new tax will be in effect for a period of three years and will be collected in instalments through electricity bills. Those who will not pay or cannot pay will have their electricity cut off. It wil start from October 2011.

All property owners in Greece are required to pay this new tax whether you live in Greece or not.

Further updates to follow…

To contact Angels Greek Island Homes click here:

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (1)

This series of articles is brought to you by Lou Traki.

Lou Traki has just moved from the UK to Glossa, Skopelos Greece, where he plans to live and start a Business

In the beginning…

Which is actually, not the beginning, but the end of the beginning.

It’s actually all Peter Mayle’s fault. Him and my friend Gary.

Peter Mayle was the first person I remember who wrote about going off and living somewhere else. Of course he wasn’t the first person to actually do it, but he popularised (some may say ruined) Provence in his books and I remember reading them.

Gary you won’t know. Unless you worked as an Apple Mac operator in Manchester in the 80’s or 90’s, lived in Chadderton, or drank in the Trafford Hall Hotel.

He was, and indeed is a good pal of mine who upped sticks and moved to Perth, Western Australia in about 1998. Being a good pal I did the decent thing and went to the airport to see him and his family off on their big adventure. In the back of my mind was the nagging thought: “Why do these things always happen to other people and not me?”

In 2000, being a good pal I did the even more decent thing and went with my wife and our kids out to Perth just to see if he was alright. He was… We came back, but the seed was sown.

“Why don’t we just bugger off and live somewhere else?” I said to my wife one day, sometime later. “cos” she said, in that way that means ‘Don’t be so daft’. From then on I was determined. That’s just the way we are.

Having frequently travelled to Greece and the Islands on holidays, it was the natural place to start. Keffalonia had always been a favourite destination, but had been unfortunately Correlli’d when we went back in 2005.

Crete in 2006 bore little fruit, once we battled through full English breakfasts, Sky Sports football and Daily Mirrors on street corners. We wanted something different.

Not wishing to give the impression that we were looking for the ‘Real Greece’, which incidentally doesn’t exist except in other people’s travel books from the 60’s or 70’s, we were looking for real life, somewhere with a bit of character. Charm, yes, but not all feta cheese and goats in the living room.

Fate brought us to Skopelos and the village of Glossa in 2007.

Now Greece is a bonkers country. For the uninitiated, ‘bonkers’ is an endearing northern term meaning ‘eccentric, charming, infuriating, frustrating and brilliant but with a tinge of madness’. The Greeks are bonkers people. Skopelos is a bonkers island, and Glossa is a bonkers village.

What on earth would make us want to stay there?

Contact Lou Traki or Angels Greek Island Homes HERE

Buy property in Skopelos
Property For sale in Skopelos

For information about buying and building property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

Legal guide for buying property in Greece
Buying property in Greece – Legal Guide

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (0)

The new Property Tax Law in Greece has now been passed by the Greek Parliment.

The property tax will range from €0.50 cents to €20.00 and taxes each square metre of homes according to the age of the building (the older the building, the less tax pecentage), tax value and average house prices of the neighbourhood. This new tax will be in effect for a period of three years and will be collected in instalments through electricity bills. Those who will not pay or cannot pay will have their electricity cut off. It wil start from October 2011.

All property owners in Greece are required to pay this new tax whether you live in Greece or not.

Further information will follow on the amounts property owners in Skopelos will have to pay…

To contact Angels Greek Island Homes click here:

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (0)

On Sunday 11 September 2011 a new additional property tax was announced by Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in Thessaloniki Greece

The property tax will range from €0.50 cents to €10.00 per square meter (averaging at about €4 per square meter), depending on the type of area the property is in. It will be in effect for a period of two years and will be collected in instalments through electricity bills.

Further information will follow…

To contact Angels Greek Island Homes click here:

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (0)

This update kindly provided by Maria Rizopulu, solicitor, Skopelos Greece

An older tax regulation which applies to foreign owners of property in Greece has been “revived”.  Owners of Greek property living abroad  are now obliged to file annual income tax returns.

The I.R.O (Internal Revenue Office) assumes the income you need to prove to maintain your property. (calculations according to square meters of property), the pool and the car you own, there is also a yearly income amount that is assumed you will need to support yourselves in Greece (whether you have been to Greece or not throughout the year)  The amount is 3,000 euros for unmarried owners and 5,000 euros for married couples (if the property is in both names). These amounts are added to your total annual tax bill. For this additional assumed amount you need to pay extra tax of euro 230 for unmarried owners or, euro 380 for married owners.

Proof must be attached to your tax return that you have imported into Greece the relevant amount during last year by transfer from a non-Greek bank to your Greek bank. (Please note that the name on the sending account must match the name on the beneficiary account).

Proof is in the form of the certificates from the Greek bank (called in the past – pink slips). If you don’t have that proof than you will be taxed by 5% as if that amount (assumed income) was really income.

The taxation is 5% – Not 10% ( as previously mentioned) for the amount of euros you are not able to prove importation for (pink slips).

You should ensure that whoever is to make your tax return has plenty of notice. Tax returns can now be filed electronically and individual code numbers have to be issued.

Tax returns for foreigners are filed during May and any “pink slips” should reach your tax representative by mid April at the latest

An additional (approx.) 53% of the tax is charged as advance payment for the next year which can be returned if you have the necessary pink slips to prove and cover the amount to you would need to import.

If you do not pay this tax then you will be fined and if you owe more than 5000 euro you could e sent to prision.

To explain

Property owners in Greece are now charged ‘a living expense tax’ of  euro 3000 if you are a single person and euro 3000 for each single owner of the same property. So, if there is 3 single owners of one property you are charged euro 15000. It is euro 5000 if you are a married couple.

You are then charged tax for each square meter of property you own. The pool and type of car you own are also calculated taxed accordingly. (Please see the culculation  table below.)

Before you panic, you do not have to pay euro 3000 or, euro 5000 and then for each added square meter of property per year.  YOU ONLY HAVE TO PAY 5% of the entire culculated final amount.

For example it is: 230 or 380 euros for assumed income to support yourselves in Greece  and then,  5% of each square meter of property. If you own a car and pool, It is 5% for type of car and pool.

Property owners only pay tax on the on the amount they cannot prove they have imported into Greece. So if your final tax amount is culculated at 6000 euro per year and you have not imported any euros. Your tax bill is 300 euro. If you have imported  2000 euro your tax bill for the year will be 5% of the remaining 4000 euro (euro 200 to pay). If you can prove import for the full amount then you pay zero tax that year.

How do you import your euros into Greece?
You can transfer your money directly into your Greek bank account
You can withdraw money from your UK GBP from a cash machine in Greece.
BEWARE: IF FOR EXAMPLE, YOUR ACCOUNT IS WITH THE NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE YOU CAN ONLY WITHDRAW MONEY FROM A NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE CASH MACHINE – THE CASH MACHINE MUST MATCH THE BANK YOUR ACCOUNT WITH. YOU MUST KEEP THE SLIP THAT COMES OUT OF THE MACHINE.

Take your cash machine slips to the bank with your bank book and ask them for pink slips. Remember to ask for a pink slip for all the money transfered into your account from abroad. Give your lawyer the pink slips you got from the bank and have your tax return done. More to follow…

Please see the new Greek  property tax laws explaned below:

Houses

the first 80 square meters ———€30 per sq.m.
next 81-120 sq.m ——————–€50 per sq.m.
next 121-200 sq.m——————-€80 per sq.m
next 201-300 sq.m——————-€150 per sq.m.
300 sq.m ——————————€300 per sq m.

Garages/storage rooms and other “assisting” rooms (as in the building permit)           €30 per sq. m.

All above stated amounts have a 20% levy if they are independent private houses (not apartments) as it is the usual thing for foreigners.

If the house is a secondary house for you (not main residence) the above amounts are reduced to ½. This applies only if you declare residency abroad and not in  Greece.

Cars

Cars up to 1,200 cc ————— €3,000
1,200-2,000 cc ——————— €300 per 100 cc
2,000 c———————————€500 per 100 cc

The amount is reduced depending on how old the car is:

30% for over 5 years to 10 years old
50% for over 10 years old

Pools

External: up to 60 sq.m. ————-€60 per sq.m.
over 60 sq.m. ————————–€200 per sq.m.

Internal pool: —————————The amount is doubled

Please see an example below:

A house of 110 sq. m. with an external pool of 30 sq.m.

House
The first 80 sq. m. at €30 per sq.m. —————— €2,400
The next 30 sq. m. at €50 per sq.m. —————– €1,500

Subtotal: —————————————————– €3,900
Plus 20% levy: ——————————————— €780
Subtotal: —————————————————–€4,680
Less 50% “second house” allowance, leaves — €2,340

Pool
30 sq. m. at €60 per sq.m. —————————– €1,800

Yearly assumed income to support yourselves in Greece

—————————————————— €3,000 0r €5,000

Total: ——————————————– €7,140 or 9,140

This is the amount you must demonstrate you have imported during the tax year to pay zero tax.
If you have only imported €3,671 (for example) you must pay 5% of the balance

For a single owner – Total to pay: €173,45
For a married couple – Total to pay: €273,45

For multiple single owners – Amounts are multiplied by number of owners.

To contact Angels Greek Island Homes click here:

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (6)

This article is brought to you by: Holidaylettings and Angels Greek Island Homes

More than 80 per cent of Britons searching for a holiday home abroad are showing interest in the European countries that have been affected most by the global economic crisis as they hope to bag a bargain.

According to currencies.co.uk, Brits looking to buy abroad in the next 12 months have been considering well tried holiday destinations Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Spain and Italy with a recent surge in interest that it is thought will keep growing in the coming months. However, it is recognised that with present market conditions and despite the rising number of enquiries, it is unlikely that many of them will turn into purchases. For the most part, potential British buyers squeezed by the current austerity measures, remain unsure about the current economic climate and risk of buying abroad.

This will not have been helped by the increase in interest rates implemented by the European Central Bank in April, the first since 2008 to 1.25%, which has strengthened the euro against the pound. As a result, any major purchase in Europe has become much more expensive for British buyers, so most investors are tending to hold off for the time being.

It has been reported that the Greek economy is growing faster than the U.K. with a 0.8% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011 (The UK. was 0.5%). Saying this, Greece still needs financial help from the Eurozone, so property prices may not be rising just yet.

The property market in Greece is currently quite depressed; prices achieved in Skopelos can be up to 30% lower than the equivalent three years ago. This means that canny buyers from around the world looking for long term investments and holiday homes are now taking advantage of the dip in the market. There are signs that things are moving as new buyers are coming in from the near and Far East, Africa and Russia.

As a holiday destination Greece remains popular, with more British people planning to go this year for a reliable break that delivers on expectations for a much needed ‘time-out’ of busy lives, days of sunshine and relaxation within the beautiful setting of the Mediterranean.

It is still possible to get a bargain holiday on the Internet. This year there are some good flight and holiday deals to be had as holiday companies realise they need to fill seats and holidaymakers just do not have the same levels of disposable income as before the credit crunch kicked in. This is good news for us holiday makers who don’t want to give up on our much needed week or two away but have to stick to a reduced budget, for this year, at least!

To take advantage of the current dip in the market and buy a home in Greece please see:

Buy property in Skopelos
Property For sale in Skopelos

For information about buying and building property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

Legal guide for buying property in Greece
Buying property in Greece – Legal Guide

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (0)

Information kindly provided by Maria Rizopulu, solicitor, Skopelos via Glossa Houses

This is to inform you about the new regulations which affect you as owners of property in Greece.

As you may already know, the government has abolished the law by which a yearly property tax was owed by all owners of property in Greece.

Instead of that they have recently introduced a new regulation by which all owners of property in Greece (foreigners included) are obliged to file YEARLY income tax returns whether they have income in Greece or not. In these returns they declare the ownership of any property (building), pool and car.

There is a system (which uses various factors) by which the Tax Office calculates the ASSUMED income one should have to maintain the property, the pool and the car. For the house and the pool it depends on the square meters, for the car on the capacity of the engine and the age of the car.

Foreign owned houses in Greece are described as “secondary house” and so the assumed income is half of what is calculated for a “first house”.

Proof must be attached to your tax return that you have imported into Greece the relevant amount during last year by transfer from a non-Greek bank to your Greek bank. (Please note that the name on the sending account must match the name on the beneficiary account).

Proof is in the form of the certificates from the Greek bank (called in the past – pink slips). If you don’t have that proof than you will be taxed by 10% as if that amount (assumed income) was really income.

You should ensure that whoever is to make your tax return has plenty of notice. Tax returns can now be filed electronically and individual code numbers have to be issued.

Tax returns for foreigners are filed during May and any “pink slips” should reach your tax representative by mid April at the latest.

Thank you

February 2011

Skopelos Greece

Please see the new Greek  property tax laws explaned below:

Houses

the first 80 square meters ———€30 per sq.m.
next 81-120 sq.m ——————–€50 per sq.m.
next 121-200 sq.m——————-€80 per sq.m
next 201-300 sq.m——————-€150 per sq.m.
300 sq.m ——————————€300 per sq m.

Garages/storage rooms and other “assisting” rooms (as in the building permit)           €30 per sq. m.

All above stated amounts have a 20% levy if they are independent private houses (not apartments) as it is the usual thing for foreigners.

If the house is a secondary house for you (not main residence) the above amounts are reduced to ½. This applies only if you declare residency abroad and not in Alonissos or Skopelos.

Cars

Cars up to 1,200 cc ————— €3,000
1,200-2,000 cc ——————— €300 per 100 cc
2,000 c———————————€500 per 100 cc

The amount is reduced depending on how old the car is:

30% for over 5 years to 10 years old
50% for over 10 years old

Pools

External: up to 60 sq.m. ————-€60 per sq.m.
over 60 sq.m. ————————–€200 per sq.m.

Internal pool: —————————The amount is doubled

Please see an example below:

A house of 110 sq. m. with an external pool of 30 sq.m.

House
The first 80 sq. m. at €30 per sq.m. —————— €2,400
The next 30 sq. m. at €50 per sq.m. —————– €1,500

Subtotal: —————————————————– €3,900
Plus 20% levy: ——————————————— €780
Subtotal: —————————————————–€4,680
Less 50% “second house” allowance, leaves — €2,340

Pool
30 sq. m. at €60 per sq.m. —————————– €1,800

Grand total: ———————————————— €4,140

(This is the amount you must demonstrate you have imported during 2010)

Get RSS Feed Updates

Comments (7)