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The Ministry of Finances is preparing a new bill, which will introduce in detail all properties of Greek citizens and will give a clearer picture about their income. This measure will apply to all tax payers but the main goal of the government is to include about 750 thousand citizens, who are declaring that they are working freelance and are submitting an annual income of €10 5000—in other words, they are declaring that they are on the border of the social minimum.

With the introduction of the detailed income list, the used until now tax declaration will change as well. With the new changes it will include all income, expenses and property data in detail – real estate, big purchases, credit cards, etc. structural changes in the tax administration are expected as well, like modernizing the tax information system. The government hopes that after introducing the new measures and the after the expected increase of tax income, the budget deficit will decrease significantly until 2012.

Minister of finance Georgos Papakonstantinou said that with the help of the detailed income report, tax revision will be easier and cross checks of companies and individuals will stop tax violations. “The system can be based on a combination of legal measures and good technical prerequisites. Of course, the question with the effective application of true income report is still valid. As a whole our goal is to reach a higher level of taxation, where a common information system for detecting property and financial condition of citizens will be applied,” said Papakonstantinou.

Regarding cancelling the Common real estate tax (ETAK) in 2010, Papakonstantinou stressed that the change will not affect owners of small and average real estate properties. This change is targeted towards owners of big real estate properties in offshore companies, who have business interests within Greece. Regarding the church properties the minister said that the only ones which can be taxed are those used for commercial use (renting, lending or sale-trade).