Present at the event were the MP of New Democracy Mr. Christos Staikouras, who represented the official opposition at the conference, the Vice President of New Democracy Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, Mr. MPs of SYRIZA Yiannis Theophylaktos, of New Democracy Giorgos Koumoutsakos, of the Movement for Change George – Dimitrios Karras, the Mayor of Athens Giorgos Kaminis and the deputy mayor Giorgos Broulias. Also, the candidates for the Region of Attica Giorgos Patoulis and for the Municipality of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis and the ND politicians Ioanna Kalantzakou and Vassilis Spanakis.
In his speech the president of POMIDA, Mr. Stratos Paradias, emphasized that due to the tax burden today, real estate ownership has turned from a right into a burden, with the result that a large part of the owners constitute the most vulnerable group of society. He described the imposition of a supplementary tax by ENFIA as a fatal mistake and reiterated that POMIDA does not ask for the abolition of taxation but for its rationalization and relief for all taxpayers.
“We failed to abolish ENFIA but we took the country out of the memorandums”, said the representative of SYRIZA, member of the political secretariat, Mr. Nikos Skorinis, pointing out positive developments in certain indicators of the economy such as exports, industrial production, unemployment and deposits. “We are not, he added, enemies of property” while noting the reduction of the ENFIA applied in 2018 for certain categories of taxpayers.
“Taxation must be fair and logic, not like today when the citizen is forced into expropriation by the threat of violent loss of his property”, pointed out the representative of New Democracy Mr. Christos Staikouras. He reiterated the party’s commitments to reduce ENFIA by 30% in two years, suspend the capital gains tax and establish tax deductions for the costs of upgrading and maintaining real estate. he emphasized that after the release of professional leases established during his ministry, the market worked satisfactorily, while he reiterated that New Democracy will keep the commitments it undertakes towards the owners.
The representative of the Movement for Change, Mr. Georgios-Dimitrios Karras, noted that under the PASOK government, leases were liberalized, the eviction of troublesome tenants was facilitated and the preparation of the Land Registry began.
The Mayor of Athens Giorgos Kaminis took stock of the last eight years, noting, among other things, the reduction of municipal fees, the release of thousands of properties that had been pledged by the Municipality, as well as the implementation of a pilot program to upgrade the aesthetics of a wide area in the center of Athens.
The recent IOBE study (carried out on behalf of the Association of Businesses for the Quality and Development of Constructions) on the adverse effects of the ENFIA additional tax on construction and the economy as a whole was presented by the general manager of the Foundation, Nikos Vettas, highlighting in particular the losses in the Gross Domestic Product that it causes.
“The additional tax is an exaggeration that must be abolished. It did not exist in the original design, which was based on the principle that as many as possible pay as little as possible,” pointed out Mr. Nikos Karavitis, a former official of the Ministry of Finance and responsible for the planning of real estate taxation. “The additional tax, he added , is a wealth tax and not real estate tax. It is unfair and excessively burdens high assets that do not necessarily correspond to high incomes.” He stressed the need to reduce the main tax of ENFIA but also to increase it on plots of land and off-plan properties.
The course of implementation of the Cadastre and preparation of the forest maps was presented by the president of “Hellenic Cadastre”, Professor Mr. Vyronas Nakos who announced that by the end of April it is planned to pre-post the cadastral data of Attica which had been collected with the declarations submitted in 2008. Mr. Nakos also presented the new application for electronic submission of Land Registry declarations and made it known that last Wednesday the competent commissioner Ms. Korina Kretsou signed a funding of 83.5 million for the Land Registry.
Present at the conference were the presidents of some of Europe’s largest property owners’ organizations, namely the president of the German Federation Mr. Kai Warnecke, the Austrian Mrs. Fritz Noszek, the Portuguese professor Mr. Luis Menezes Leitao and the Dutch Mrs. Cindy Van De Velde. The representatives of the European organizations as well as POMIDA were received yesterday Friday by the President of the Republic Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Mr. Warnecke awarded the President of POMIDA and the International Union of Property Owners (UIPI) Mr. Stratos Paradia the gold medal of the German Federation, for his contribution to the struggles for the defense of the rights of the owners of Europe.
In the context of the conference, POMIDA awarded an honorary distinction to the president of the Association “The Smile of the Child”, Mr. Costas Giannopoulos, and an honor entitled to a permanent membership card to the Association, which will be provided with free legal and technical support for real estate issues. with Protergia, for the POMIDA ANYTIME INTERAMERICAN home insurance program, as well as for the new services that will soon be provided to members of the organization.
Detailed analysis of the issue of short-term leases and its legal, tax and social aspects were presented at the Conference by the Special Advisor of POMIDA Lawyer Mr. Giorgos Christopoulos. See the entire presentation attached.
