Property tax dodgers discovered
Thousands of properties in Cyprus that have not been declared to the Tax Department have been discovered during a revaluation exercise by the Department of Lands and Surveys according to the island’s Interior Minister.
The general assessment of immovable property valuations formed part of the Memorandum of Understanding between Cyprus and the troika of international lenders. In a letter to MPs, Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos revealed that “The recent revaluation has brought to light thousands of cases or properties that were not declared to the tax authorities resulting in the owners only paying for land tax.”
The minister noted that land and buildings registered at 1 January 2013 had been valued according to their current market and zoning prices. However, the same could not be said of property valuations at 1 January 1980, where some of their owners had only been paying property tax on the land although they had erected buildings.
The tax evasion cases will be passed to the Cyprus Tax Department.
