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The Greek government has in store a number of pre-election Easter gifts for citizens. In this way, after the allocation of the so-called social dividend of primary surplus, which is about to take place within 20 days, it provides for more measures in favour of taxpayers.

One of them is the decision on the luxury tax that will unblock the real estate market as well as the announcement of a regulation concerning illegal buildings. At the same time, the government has published a regulation on road tax that enables thousands of car owners to obtain their registration plates after paying just that portion of the tax due by the end of the year. Moreover, as every year before Easter, a decision of the Minister of Citizen Protection will forgive the violations of drivers and they will be able to obtain their registration plates, registration documents and driving licences.

The application and payment procedure of the so-called social dividend is underway

A special web portal to  the General Secretariat for Information Systems is to start functioning by the end of the week, on which you can apply for the payment of the so-called social dividend. Those people entitled to the allowance who apply for it by the end of April will receive the lump sum in their bank accounts by 10 May, i.e. within 20 days after the receipt of applications.

Taxpayers will need to complete the following information: full name, social security number, electricity batch number, the number of people who live together and, of course, the bank account to which the amount will be transferred.

The allowance starts from 500 euro for singles and increases depending on the number of children, reaching 833 euro for a family with two children. In particular, starting from 500 euro the amount increases by 166.7 euro for the wife and by 83.3 euro for each child. For example, a family with four children is entitled to an allowance amounting to over 1,000 euro.

Changes in the luxury tax on real estate

For about three months the real estate market in Greece has been "frozen" as, although the luxury tax was voted within the context of the last bill, the interpretative provision to it still remains on paper. Therefore, no sale contracts have been signed because the amount of the tax due is not clear.

Now the government wants to resolve this issue and it is expected that the responsible Minister will sign in the coming days the relevant provision with instructions, which will finally unblock the market, allowing 250,000 properties that have not been offered for sale to reach the market.

A relief for road tax and the return of registration plates

As of today, Maundy Thursday, car owners will be able to obtain the registration plates of their cars or motorcycles, which they have left at the tax offices, if they can pay 9/12 of the annual road tax.

The relevant regulation is already published in the Official Gazette and the order sent to the tax offices by Secretary General on Public Revenue Harris Teoharis opens the way for car and motorcycle owners to obtain their registration plates after paying the road tax due only for the months remaining to the end of the year.

To which sectors will the 4.2 billion euro of the new National Strategic Reference Framework be allocated?

Sectors such as tourism, agricultural production, transport infrastructure, environment, pharmaceutical industry, energy, construction and information technology are about to be supported with 4.2 billion euro of the National Strategic Reference Framework, opening 550,000 jobs.

The programmes of the new National Strategic Reference Framework totalling 4.2 billion euro allocated to nine dynamic sectors aim at restarting the Greek economy.

This is the first step that will activate the new model for the development of the country and, according to sources, the activities funded under the programmes will be ready for announcement in early September.