Greeks Vow to Rebel Against New 'Monster Tax'

Spiegel
September 13, 2011

The Greek government's new real estate tax, a desperate bid to meet its budget goals and secure fresh foreign aid, will hit the population hard. Greeks have almost their entire wealth invested in property -- and are more worried about the tax than about the prospect of a national insolvency or leaving the euro.

Jannis Foteinos doesn't look especially wealthy. The 57-year-old pensioner is wearing sandals and socks and ordinary-looking glasses, and he doesn't have that many teeth left. He lives in the working class Athens district of Aigaleo. But he owns two apartments, one 100 square meters in size, the other 130, and he is outraged at the new real estate tax introduced by the embattled Greek government on Sunday.

"We might as well shoot ourselves," he said. The government aims to collect €2 billion ($2.72 billion) in extra revenue by imposing a tax averaging €4 per square meter for two years in a desperate bid to stave off insolvency by meeting its budget goals and thereby qualifying for the payout of further aid from the euro zone and International Monetary Fund.

For people like Foteinos, the tax entails another financial burden they can ill afford. The former shop owner recently had his monthly pension cut by €200. Now he could face a tax bill of some €1,000 in the coming days. Given that prospect, he doesn't really care that politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition have started talking openly about the possibility that Greece will go bankrupt or even have to leave the euro zone.

In fact, he wouldn't mind getting the drachma back. "Everyone here has had bad experiences with the euro," he said. That may be a little exaggerated. But for many Greeks, the real estate tax poses a bigger problem than the currency. "I can't judge whether the drachma would be better or worse," says Irida Thanopolous, 40, who runs a small street café nearby. She is a little embarrassed to admit that she owns six apartments. She bought one with her husband, the other five were part of her dowry. That amounts to almost 500 square meters which will now be liable to tax. "That is totally tragicomic," she said.

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