Decision A.1030/2021 of the Ministry of Finance was published in the Official Gazette, which determines the procedure and conditions for the payment of the amount of the compensation of the landlords for the rents January – February 2021, as required by law in the context of dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Article 7 of the amendment of the Ministry of Finance submitted to the draft law entitled “Payroll and human resources issues of the Independent Public Revenue Authority” amends its second article from 20.3.2020 Act of Legislative Content (A’ 68), which was ratified by article 1 of Law 4683/2020 (A’ 83), in order, for the cases of businesses for which measures of suspension or temporary prohibition of operation have been taken for in the month of March 2021, a full exemption from the obligation to pay rent should be provided.
Government Gazette 538B’/11.2.2021 published decision A.1025/2021 of the Deputy Minister of Finance which precisely identifies the categories of businesses whose operation is either prohibited, for the mandatory exemption from the obligation to pay the total rent, or are classified as affected for their mandatory exemption from 40% of the total rent, for the months of January and February 2021. In this decision, after which the opening of the application of the AADE will follow for the submission of the COVID declarations for these months, the following are mentioned:
Law 4772/2021 was published, which includes the new regulation for the reduction of real estate rents for the months of January and February 2021, together with many other urgent fiscal and tax regulations and other provisions. Then a new ministerial decision will be issued based on the new regulation for rents for the months of January and February 2021, which will determine:
* For which commercial leases of businesses closed by government order will be subject to the 100% rent reduction for those months, and
* For which commercial leases of affected people (which will be and most), but also for employees’ residences, the reduction will remain at 40%. Its most important tax provisions are the following:
Decision A 1003/2021 of the Ministry of Finance was published in the Official Gazette, which provides for the procedure and conditions for the payment by the state to property owners of 50% of the loss from the rent reduction for the months of November and December 2020. The crediting of the corresponding amounts to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries for the month of November is expected to start from Monday, January 18, 2021 and for the month of December from February 15, 2021.
Of all the government interventions to deal with the coronavirus, the one that most troubled the parties involved and the Administration, both in substance and in its procedural handling, is the forced reduction of leases of certain categories of real estate leases and then, following the continuous steps of POMIDA to the government staff, the establishment of partial and tax-free compensation of the lessors.
Extending the lockdown until 11.1, in order to open schools, has other serious side effects in the rental sector:
Extension of the deadline for submission of information statements, defined in par. 8 of article 11 of the decision under data POL.1162/2018 (B’ 3579) was signed by the Governor of A.A.D.E. Mr. Giorgos Pitsilis, responding positively to the recent POMIDA memorandum. The text of the decision is as follows:
The Press Office of the Ministry of Environment and Energy announced that the platform for the “Electronic Building Identity”. For one month, until January 31, 2021, the new system will operate on an optional basis, alongside the current procedure. The adjustment period ensures a smooth transition for engineers and avoids downtime. From 1.2.2021 the registration of the Electronic Building Identity and the Identity of Independent Divided Property will be mandatory and will be done exclusively electronically and free of charge.
The Ministry of the Interior issued a detailed circular with data DEPEA/111748/705/19.11.2020 and subject “Clarifications for the implementation of Law 4122/2013 on the Energy Performance of Buildings”, with which analyzes the new rules in relation to the Energy Performance of Buildings, in terms of minimum energy requirements performance, the Energy Performance Certificate (PEA), the Energy Performance Study (EES), the notification of tenants – buyers, as well as the obligations of brokers, advertisers, the press and property owners for each advertising listing, which will be effective from 1.1.2021. The provisions of this new decision are as follows:
The Thessaloniki Property Owners Association actively represents property owners, highlighting their issues and proposing solutions for their resolution, while also providing information and support to its members.
