IN THE city of Corinth, the municipal rates on an 82sq m apartment amount each year to €150, municipal taxes to €44.20 and the property tax to €21.78.
Whether they have a television set or not, all households must pay the annual TV licence fee of €50.88, which funds the country’s public broadcaster ERT.
All of the above taxes are levied through electricity bills.
Water usage is metered, with the cost per cubic metre varying depending on the municipality in question and the total amount consumed. In Athens, for example, the incremental monthly cost per cubic metre ranges from 41 cents each for the first five cubic metres of water used to €3.24 for each cubic metre consumed above 35 cubic metres per month.
Water bills, issued every three months, include a connection charge, sewerage costs (indexed at 75 per cent of the cost of the water used), a 1 per cent levy that goes into the auxiliary pension fund of water company workers and VAT at 13 per cent (for the water) and 23 per cent (for additional charges).
The extra charges and taxes mean the amount payable is far above the cost of the water used. Thus a household of four in Athens that consumes 32 cubic metres of water (which costs
€18 without VAT) ends up paying about €40 on their water bill.
Since late last year, consumers, homeowners and taxpayers – in as far as these can be distinguished – have faced a barrage of austerity-era taxes and charges.
By far the most controversial and contested levy in a country with about 80 per cent home ownership is the emergency property tax, which is also being collected via electricity bills rather than by the country’s inefficient revenue system. The new tax, which will continue until 2014 at the earliest, is based on multiplying the square meterage, the age of the building and the government-defined property values of the district.
Thus last year, the owner of an eight-year-old, 156sq m apartment in the Nea Filadelfia suburb of Athens was billed €918.40 for
his primary residence and €417.60 for his 87sq m summer home on the island of Evia.
Those who refuse to pay the tax face having their power disconnected. Moreover, landlords must foot the bill for their tenants.
Taxpayers have also been hit by a so-called solidarity tax, ranging from 1 to 4 per cent of net annual income. For a couple with two children earning about €40,000, this translates into about €650.
A luxury tax has also been levelled on the owners of private vehicles above 1,920cc, swimming pools, yachts, aircraft and helicopters amounting to 5 per cent of what the government decides is the cost of maintaining them.
Other tax increases this year include a 10 per cent jump in motor tax and a 12.2 per cent surge in electricity prices. Adding to the cost of all bills was the VAT increase in September from 21 to 23 per cent (and 11 to 13 per cent for food).
