Cyprus property tax could lower this year

Photo: Sergey Yeliseev

Part of the island's bailout conditions were that real estate values would be updated from their existing records to ensure that taxes were for the correct amount. Indeed, before last year, owners of Cypriot property were charge taxes based on values in the 1980s with some paying far below the amount required.

The country has since been racing to re-evaluate all property on the island by the middle of the year. Some officials have been working overtime, while others have been brought in from other departments to boost manpower.

Now, Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos says that the task is almost complete, reports Cyprus Mail, which means that homeowners will be levied the right amount, in some cases a lower sum.

"People will be asked to pay less than last year and the reason is very simple, many more properties have been included," he told state broadcaster CyBC.

Once finished, though, Cyprus still has one other big issue to resolve: title deeds. Both matters have combined to dent confidence from overseas investors in the island, although sales have recently begun to increase once more, even as poor economic conditions have kept domestic demand low.

"These are matters that we should have sorted on our own years ago but we didn’t," confessed the minister, "and the troika (lenders) had to step in."

"In this instance, they are welcome."