The President of POMIDA, Mr. Stratos Paradias, in his introductory speech emphasized the following:
The pandemic and its ongoing consequences had private real estate among its first victims. The process of supporting closed and affected businesses and households that are housed with rent, with a forced reduction of the rents paid at the expense of their lessors, brought the heavily taxed lessors, those who have rents as their sole means of subsistence and those who have increased current tax and debt obligations.
POMIDA from the beginning, with persistence and patience, asked the Government to return 50% of the reduction to the owners as tax-free compensation, so that the remaining 50% burdened by society as a whole. This was finally accepted in two phases first with a 30% offset and then with a 50% payment. What turned out to be the most difficult bet for the State, was the creation and management of the process of declaration, liquidation and return of these compensations, due to the wide range of cases of return declarations, the arbitrary reduction of rents from ineligible tenants, or from late declaration to the owners, after the expiration of the deadline that the owner had for a declaration of compensation.
So to date we have a large number of refunds and payments, but also many outstandings even from in March, without compensation, but unfortunately also without an answer. Pending issues for which a new deadline for a corrective or even an initial declaration should be given, if this is justified, so that money is not lost from any kind of errors by owners or tax technicians or losses of the short deadlines that applied to these declarations. Especially for the cases of late notification of tenants regarding their suspended status, it should be expressly provided that no rent reduction will apply if, when this is announced to the landlord, the deadline for submitting a COVID declaration has already expired.
Also, the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs should immediately address both the complete indifference to informing owners about the exact details of employee suspensions, through the ERGANI system, as well as and the ongoing collusion of many employers and employees to place them in a virtual suspension of minimum days, so as to simultaneously defraud both their housing landlords and the State.
Today that we have even moved to a total reduction of rents in certain categories of leases, the situation of the owners who have them, without any suspension of their obligations so far, will become tragic if our proposal toimmediately confirm the validity of every COVID statement at the time of submission so that landlords know they are indeed entitled to and receive the compensation they are entitled to is not adopted.
The Minister of Finance Mr. Christos Staikouras presented the measures taken by the government both before the pandemic and during the crisis to compensate the owners while expressed the thanks of the government and the ministry to the owners for the high sense of social responsibility they have shown. He presented the timetable for offsets and compensations for the loss of income from rents of commercial premises and residences and invited those owners who have not declared the IBAN of their bank account to AADE to do so through the “personalized information”, in order to credit the amounts are attributable to them.
Specifically for the beneficiaries of the two months of November and December, the return process as he said has started and will continue in February, while for the January and February reductions that the process starts 15 days after the deadline for submitting the Covid declaration and is completed within 30 days from the end of this deadline.
Mr. Staikouras acknowledged the right of POMIDA’s request to officially announce the Activity Code Numbers for which the reductions apply in January and pledged that the matter will be settled within the week, while regarding the delays in the compensation of the owners, the minister emphasized that the intersections in relation to the properties are very difficult, which is why it was decided to pay the compensations directly to the owners’ accounts instead of offsetting them with tax liabilities. He also reiterated that the objective values will be updated throughout the country with the aim of adjusting them to the real prices.
The former Deputy Minister of Finance, representative of the official of the opposition, Mr. Tryfon Alexiadis, reminded that SYRIZA, as a government, proceeded to reduce the ENFIA, provided a solution for uncollected rents based on the proposals of POMIDA, legislated the regulation of the obligations of owners in up to 120 installments, regulated the short-term rental market and institutionalized the full exemption from municipal fees for properties that were never electrified, while limiting the need to issue an electronic building ID only upon transfer, abolishing the periodicity of controls. He also asked that low and middle incomes be made the priority of government policy.
Kinal MP Mr. Michalis Katrinis He described as unthinkable the harmonization of the objectives with the commercial values which, as he said, would drag property taxes upwards. He also asked to extend the deadlines for both the arbitrary and the electronic identity and the undeclared squares. Hatzidakis, responding to a relevant remark of the president of POMIDA in relation to the complaints about the suppression of the measure of the suspension of employment contracts, to the detriment of both property owners and the State, stated that immediate measures will be taken to ensure transparency as the government’s aim is to support the really affected businesses and their employees. Mr. Hatzidakis recalled the measures taken during his tenure at the Ministry of Environment and Energy highlighting, among other things, the arrangements for forest maps, building identification and in particular the “Divided property” which was a proposal of POMIDA, the Land Registry where it was recorded significant progress as land registration went up from 28% to 65%, the restoration of the institution of the transfer of the building factor and the end of the multi-year hostage of the owners of expropriated properties. The minister paid particular attention to the “Save – Autonomy” program which, as he recalled, was started during his ministry in 2009 in collaboration with POMIDA and supports both the owners and the construction industry and the protection of the environment.
The Minister of Development and Investments Mr. Adonis Georgiadis in his greeting underlined that if the pandemic had not started, the government would have implemented a more aggressive tax reduction policy. “If we wronged you, I apologize, we tried to keep the economy alive. Communication is uninterrupted and protects us from mistakes. We will continue in the same spirit in the coming years, with respect for private property and the public interest”, he said.
The Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Mr. Nikos Tagaras stressed that with the electronic identification of buildings that will be implemented from next Monday, February 1st, costs will be reduced and the quality of service to citizens will be improved. He clarified that the engineer’s certificates issued until January 31 are valid for a two-month transitional period, that is until March 31. He also announced the implementation of a support program for the owners of preserved buildings with financing from the Recovery Fund in the first phase for the insurance of these buildings, while he noted that this specific category of owners will also benefit from the institution of the transfer of the building factor.
The Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Mr. Georgas Georgantas added that the application of the digital transfer of real estate will operate as a pilot after March and emphasized that the government has given tangible examples of writing to combat bureaucracy and simplify procedures.
The Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Mr. Gyorgos Stylios stated that in 2021 almost all mortgage repositories they will evolve into cadastral offices and the number of cadastral services provided online will be expanded. Also with funding from the Recovery Fund, the project of digitizing the records of the mortgage offices will proceed.
The Deputy Minister of the Interior, responsible for Macedonian Thrace issues, Mr. Stavros Kalafatis, in his greeting to the POMIDA conference, emphasized that he closely monitors its work both in Thessaloniki and Northern Greece, as well as throughout the country, and is willing to contribute as much as he can to solving the problems of the owners, as was done in the period of Law 4178/2013.
The commander of AADE Mr. Giorgos Pitsilis informed that more than 70% of the of rent reduction declarations for the period March – August 2020, while for November the accepted declarations are estimated to exceed 75% as they present much fewer errors compared to the previous months. He noted that the Authority has started a technical dialogue with POMIDA for individual problems of property owners while he announced that a new application is being prepared for the declaration of lease details as well as digitization of property transfer tax declarations with the aim of completing the process within the day.
The Regional Governor of Attica Mr. Giorgos Patoulis noted that the pandemic is an opportunity for the real estate sector to orientate itself towards a new model of investment in high yield real estate.
The mayor of Athens Mr. Kostas Bakoyannis underlined that modern municipalities are engaged in a race for tourists and investors while he presented his investment program Municipality to upgrade areas such as Alexandras Avenue, Botanikos, Theater Square. He also reiterated his commitment that when the conditions allow it, the municipal property taxes of the Municipality of Athens will be reduced. >Grigoris Konstandellos who represented the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece, and as president of the KEDE Institutions and Transparency Committee, stated that the KEDE Board of Directors has already accepted and unanimously voted for POMIDA’s proposal for the re-operation of the platform for declarations of undeclared surfaces. He also announced that he will recommend to the competent bodies of KEDE the acceptance of the main requests of POMIDA which are the automatic cessation of the charging of municipal fees for vacant and non-electrified properties from the day of the electricity interruption, the reduction of surcharges and fines for overdue area declarations with a limit of 50% and the reduction of the statute of limitations for debts to Municipalities from 20 to 5 years, as also applies to debts to the State.
The general director of the Land Registry Mr. Stefanos Kotsolis presented the new digital services provided by the Land Registry to professionals and citizens, while announcing that last week it became the first electronic transfer of property transfer in collaboration with the Notary Society.
New Democracy MP Mr.Vassilis Spanakis pointed out the need to improve the a system for determining the objective values with the formation of more zones within each Municipality, as well as to address the injustices suffered by the owners through the process of rent reductions and to review the supplementary tax of the ENFIA.
In other topical issues, our goals and proposals for the next period are briefly as follows:
IN PROPERTY LEASES: Precluding any consideration of a return to tenancy arrangements by prohibiting the enforcement of court orders or forced extensions of any category of leases for any period after the end of the pandemic.
IN CAPITAL TAXATION:Repeal of the supplementary tax of ENFIA, as recommended by IOBE and the Pissarides Committee, and a “FREEZE” of any increase in the objective property values of urban areas, with parallel inclusion in the off-plan system of properties and buildings that essentially escape taxation.
IN INCOME TAXATION: To reduce the tax rates of the rental scale to reasonable levels and to make permanent the abolition of the extraordinary levy. p>
ON THE MUNICIPAL FEES: The immediate reopening of the municipal fees platform with new rules, as a permanent communication tool for property owners throughout the country and abroad of Hellenism with the revenue services of the country’s Municipalities, and the limitation of the debt limitation period to five years. In non-electrified properties, the exemption from the fees should be done automatically with the interruption of the electricity supply, as long as the property is not used.
IN THE RENOVATION OF BUILDINGS: To include the cost of materials in the tax-exempt amount of the renovation of buildings and the implementation of energy saving measures.
IN THE RENOVATION OF BUILDINGS p>
ON THE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY:To continue until the end of the pandemic the parallel validity of the engineer’s certificate, because under the current conditions it is practically impossible to collect the many required plans, certificates, autopsies, etc.
ON THE OWNERSHIP PROBLEM:To be resolved immediately for the off-plan properties with a time limit of the right of the State, which today can and does claim everything from everyone and forever, sending tens of thousands of owners to the commissions and courts in endless procedures that last for generations.
IN THE LAND REGISTRY: To legislate the right of citizens not only for compensation but also for the complete return of their property, after the expiry of the above deadline for judicial correction of first entries. To modernize land registration legislation in the Dodecanese, so that property rights are not lost due to shortcomings and quirks of Italian legislation that are still in force today.
ON THE FOREST MAPS:To recognize all legal property rights and to give every aggrieved owner the opportunity to appeal and defend the rights in every phase of the process of posting and sanctioning them.
IN THE MANAGEMENT OF APARTMENT BUILDINGS: To simplify the process of obtaining a management VAT number, with exemption from any obligation to submit unnecessary annual tax returns, independent taxation of any income and exemption from the typically existing obligation to declare in E9 shared warehouses, parking spaces, etc. without millimeter and exclusivity of use.
TO THE CONSERVATORS: The State should fulfill its constitutional obligations towards them by establishing substantial incentives for their rescue.
IN REAL ESTATE CONTRACTS: To reduce the hitherto invincible bureaucracy that turns every notarial deed into a Calvary for contracting parties and notaries.
COURT APPEAL FOR RENT REDUCTION: Regarding the related question of many of our members about the possibility of legal claim for full compensation of landlords from the reduction of rents, the position of POMIDA, as formulated by the special rapporteur at the Conference Lawyer and President of the Property Owners of Volos Mrs. Neokleia Kratira is as follows:
As known, based on of the Constitution, every citizen is entitled to free access to Justice to assert their rights. It is obvious that the predominantly body that has jurisdiction and a legitimate interest in appealing to justice for this problem is none other than Pomida. However, in the scientific view of its legal executives who have examined the matter, with the data so far, not only does the conditions for the prosperity of any kind of appeal are fulfilled, but the risk of creating an unfavorable case law against us is not met, but the risk Movements, as unfortunately has happened in the past. It was particularly tempting for our organization, but harmful and ineffective for our members, who have been trusting us for decades because they know that they will only learn the truth from us. However, POMIDA, which with its hard struggle and its constant interventions has succeeded in persuading the government to return a significant part of the reductions as tax -free compensation, will not urge or prevent any owner from claiming his rights in any way he preferred Everyone, having in mind our above remarks. Giorgos Christopoulos, Antonis Mouzakis and Alkibiadis Koos was extensively analyzed by the real estate owners and their subsequent tax liabilities. The President of the Panhellenic Association of Owners of Counter -Buildings and Monuments Professor of NTUA Mr. Plutarch Giannopoulos referred to the state’s oligarchy to take and implement any measure in favor of their owners, as dictated by the Constitution and the International Convention. , resulting in the complete abandonment of the approximately 20,000 preserved buildings in our country. ) on privileged terms through the cooperation of POMIDA with the Protergia of the Mytilene Group & Amp; For the POMIDA Building Insurance Program with Interamerican. = “https://www.minfin.gr/web/guest/-/omilia-tou-ypourgou-oikonomikon-k-chrestou-staikoura-sto-38o-eesio-panellenio-synedrio-tes-panelenias-omospondias-idiokteton- Akineton-pomida-? Inheritredirect = True “> here . Related video here .
