Thousands of properties in Cyprus that have not been declared to the property Tax Department have been discovered during a revaluation exercise by the Department of Lands and Surveys according to the island's Interior Minister.
Property developers have requested a change to property tax legislation voted by the House last year to avoid the injustices that occurred, CEO of Aristo Developers Theodoros Aristodemou said.
The government has appointed the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on the administration and consolidation of the various property taxes; the work should be completed in 3 months.
Having debated changes to Immovable Property Tax for more than a month, it is expected that MPs will vote on the various proposals to amend the law at a Plenary session of parliament on Thursday.
No sooner had the Council of Ministers agreed changes to the Immovable Property Tax rates for 2013 when AKEL stepped in demanding that first residences should be exempted from this tax.
At a meeting in Troodos yesterday, the cabinet decided that those with properties whose 1980 value is €5,000 or less will be exempt from paying IPT and scrapped the €75 minimum charge.
The Inland Revenue Department has started to send out Immovable Property Tax demands by post and all property owners will receive a notice by 15 September a tax official has said.
It is anticipated that the deadline for paying Immovable Property Tax will be extended to allow the authorities sufficient time to print, file and send registered property owners tax demands.
A Cypriot MP has tabled a bill for discussion at the House Finance Committee requiring property buyers to pay Immovable Property Tax even though they do not have the Title Deeds to the property they have purchased.
The race is on to complete the revaluation of some 500,000 properties island-wide by the end of June 2014 to meet one of the bailout conditions agreed with Cyprus' international lenders last month.
A bill on Immovable Property Tax, a prerequisite for the payment of the first instalment of the Cyprus bailout, is being drafted and will be placed before parliament as soon as possible.
The Cyprus Interior Minister, Socrates Hasikos, has announced that plans drawn up under the Christofias administration which aimed to raise €180 million by increasing Immovable Property Tax have been scrapped, for now.
Following representations from hoteliers, property developers and others the government is rethinking its property tax bill which aimed to raise €180 million; €120 million more than suggested by the troika.
