As the State rightly provides for commercial enterprises, professionals housed in leased real estate and prohibited from operating by the State, and their staff for the lease of their principal residence , the same must be taken care of for the owners – lessors of the properties in which they are housed, for many of whom rents are their main or even exclusive means of survival, and for whom there is no positive provision . A typical example are the owners of short-term rental accommodation with today’s zero bookings.
Decisions to support businesses and employees are absolutely necessary. However, for property owners, the tax obligations of 2020 remain the same as those that applied in 2019, a year of economic growth, without the slightest substantial support for them:
*The four-month suspension of payment of current installments of tax liabilities is without any purpose for consistent taxpayers since during this period there are no current tax liabilities.
* ENFIA remains unchanged, sacrificing the promise of a new 8% reduction.
*The income tax rate remains up to 45% plus solidarity contribution up to 10%. *The combination of these two taxes ultimately works as a means of “confiscating” private real estate.
*The self-evident suspension of the increase in property values, as he had requested a few days ago POMIDA does not take off the table the risk of adopting for 2021 the unrealistic estimates for increases in objective values of around 50%.
*Pressures will there will be for greater rent reductions, but also from other business tenants from other industries with “collateral” losses from the current situation, and there will be many owners who will want to help them voluntarily even if they are not obliged, because they are directly interested in the survival of the their tenants. That is why it is absolutely necessary to have legislative recognition as fiscally valid of any reduction agreement or total exemption from the payment of rent for the period from 1.3 to 31.12.2020.
Essentially, this year property owners are asked to meet the same tax obligations they had last year, with much less income, or none at all. We hope that the situation will be normalized as soon as possible, otherwise Menippus’ objection will be valid: “No if you receive more than the one who does not have”…
POMIDA will fully inform its members and all interested parties with announcements and posts on its page www.pomida.gr about the measures as soon as they are specified legislatively.
