WHEN Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos told CyBC that “people will be asked to pay less [Immovable Property Tax] than last year and the reason is very simple, many more properties have been included”, he was being economical with the truth!
It is clear from the table below that the Cyprus government has shifted the burden of taxation onto the 22% who own properties valued between €200,000 and €400,000 and the 20% who own properties valued between €400,000 and €1.5 million who will be required to pay €79 million of the €137 million of the Immovable Property Tax the government plans to collect.
A number of people commenting on earlier articles in Cyprus Property News have already raised the point that they will be paying more Immovable Property Tax this year than last, despite the Interior Minister’s assurance that they would pay less.
Assessed Property Value | IPT Rate | Number of Owners | IPT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 386,695 (100%) | € 137,489,891.70 | |
| Up to € 200,000 | 0 | 209,883 (54.3%) | € 0 |
| € 200,000 to € 400,000 | 0.1% | 85,540 (22.1%) | € 24,407,083.10 |
| € 400,000 to € 1,500,000 | 0.1% | 77,463 (20.0%) | € 54,299,733.80 |
| € 1,500,000 to € 5,000,000 | 0.1% | 11,635 (3.0%) | € 28,133,688.60 |
| € 5,000,000 to € 10,000,000 | 0.1% | 1,423 (0.4%) | € 9,683,055.50 |
| € 10,000,000 to € 30,000,000 | 0.1% | 591 (0.2%) | € 9,267,679.70 |
| € 30,000,000 and above | 0.1% | 160 (0.0%) | € 11,698,651.00 |
And who do these changes benefit? You’ve guessed it those larger owners, including property developers, whose properties are valued in many millions of Euros.
As well as the larger owners, the owners of low value properties will also benefit from the change in taxation; those owning property up to €200,000 (54% of owners) will be exempt under the new arrangements.
Meanwhile I’ve received reports and supporting documents showing that the nefarious developers have already invoiced their deed-less customers for Immovable Property Tax for 2014 based on the 2013 rate (1.9%) rather than the 2014 rate (0.1%) – 19 times more than they should be paying.
I wonder if the government and lawmakers will ever have the will or the intestinal fortitude to stop all the lies and deceit that has given Cyprus such a bad name internationally.
Maybe they should start with the people at the top – perhaps lessons in speaking the truth would help.
Author: Nigel Howarth, news.cyprus-property-buyers.com