The 2016 State Budget is a marvelous thing, rearing up with unerring regularity to hit struggling property owners in their wallets.
Another devious ploy cooked up by the Tax Authority and local councils for 2016 is that those properties that councils deem to be vacant could have to pay three times the amount of rates (IMI) than if the same property was ‘lived in.’
'Vacancy' will be determined by a property having no electricity or water supply contract, or, if there are contracts, vacancy will be based on what the local council alone deems to be ‘low consumption.’
Municipalities get sent the information on water, electricity and gas contracts each year by October 1st. They then can identify the victims and the data is sent on to the Tax Authority with a recommendation to increase IMI between 0% and 300%.
The process by which the utility companies inform the councils became automatic this year, a measure provided for in the detail of the State Budget so the ahpless property owner is left out in the cold with a big bill to pay and bureaucratic nonsense to wade though if the owner is to complain.
Low consumption’ is decided on by the council so mostly empty holiday homes, homes struggling to be rented out, homes being refurbished and homes with their own photovoltaic systems may be subject to the full 'x3' multiplier.
Owners have pointed out that councils are an 'interested party' as it clearly is in councils’ interests to declare low energy and water consumption so properties can be classed as ‘vacant’ to trigger high rates bills.
The law is the law and the budget is the budget, but however much they might proclaim their even-handedness, the councils are acting both as jury and executioner.
