SPEAKING before the parliamentary Interior Committee, Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos admitted that mistakes had been made in updating 1980 property valuations to 2013 values.
He said that the government is considering extending the deadline for receiving objections from the end of 2014 to April 2015.
According to Hasikos 4,671 objections had been received at the end of September; 1,275 had been corrected and officers were continuing to examine the remainder. Approximately 7,000 further cases had been reported to the Citizens Service Centres. He said that the Land Registry will consider complaints involving large areas in the coming months.
The minister stressed that it was not necessary to include an independent valuation of the property with the objection.
He noted that it was inevitable that mistakes would be made as a revaluation exercise would require 400 staff dedicated to the task for a period of four years.
MPs have received hundreds of complaints.
A Paphos hotel valued at €6.5 million at 1980 values had been revalued at €162 million, while a bank had estimated its value at just €40 million.
A plot of land valued at €227,000 at 1980 values had been revalued at €76 million. Another plot of land in Paphos previously valued at €5,980 had been revalued at €706,000.
In August, the Cyprus Technical Chamber (ETEK) demanded that the Land Registry publish the criteria it employed to assess immovable property values for taxation purposes. Perhaps we now know why it did not!
Disputing 2013 valuations
Owners wishing to dispute their property’s 2013 value can file an appeal. The charge depends on the 2013 valuation of their property:
For properties valued up to €100,000, the charge is €37.50.
For properties valued between €100,001 and €500,000 the charge is €75.00.
For properties valued between €500,001 and €1 million, the charge is €150.00.
For properties valued in excess of €1 million, the charge is €357.00.
But regrettably, this is the way it is in Cyprus. You end paying up for the mistakes/incompetence of other people and government departments!
Can I assume that the charge for filing an appeal, regarding a property valued according to the 2013 valuation, will be returned when the appeal is successful? Seems fair to me to not have to pay for the mistake of others.
I just find it astonishing that a plot of land valued at €227,000 at 1980 values had been revalued at €76 million. I have 9.5 donums valued at cy£300 in 1980 and a further 6 donums at cy£350 in 1980 (different parts of the Island) At €227,000 in 1980 it must have been some massive piece of the Island or someone has misplaced a decimal point. As for the hotel at €6.5million at 1980 values – goodness! my memory tries to tell me that for the pound equivalent of €6.5 million I could probably bought most of either Nicosia, Paralimni, Polis, Paphos and Larnaca perhaps not the airport.
I have seen developer held titles showing figures of €13 million, €11 million etc. etc. but I just cannot reconcile those kinds of numbers with my recollections of the time at 1980 or 1970 or 1960 or 1950 for that matter. I sometimes wonder where these numbers come from as no one I ever knew could spell million let alone comprehend that kind of money, figuratively speaking. I wouldn’t have thought any property that I would ever have been associated with would possibly have exceeded a value of cy£500, perhaps cy£750 for the very largest and most vast. A friend tells me I am locked in a time warp, perhaps he is right, but I know what I know and fact is fact. Very strange! Perhaps it’s a case of think of a number, double it, add P for plenty, add a monster percentage for ethnic origin or just for the hell of it then multiply it by the number of members of your immediate family; then it may make some sense.
My cynicism has got the better of me (again) but I wouldn’t put it past this lot to have done this on purpose. Going on the figures quoted, they’ve already coined between an extra €175,162 and a possible €700, 560 in appeal charges so even by yet another cock up they still find ways to take your money.
Mistakes! Surely not. Would that be similar to the broken promises, false hopes, terminological inexactitudes, misinformation and let’s not forget the smoke and mirrors and not least the artful ways.
On the up side the man has admitted mistakes were made so credit where credit is due and all as part of the Island’s bailout agreement. I wonder…….
Sorry to be a killjoy,
BUT – when people bought their villa they knew (or should have known) the cost of transfer.
Having had to pay the full amount myself I ask why should others get 50% off, particularly at a time when the country is short of money.
Just pay up
If Mr Hasikos felt the revaluation exercise would take 400 staff 4 years to complete, how did he imagine the Troika’s June 2014 deadline would be met? Perhaps he was banking on yet another shift of goalposts or change of stadium by the Troika as we have seen previously or has he made yet another “inevitable mistake”?
As at this morning (3/10) no-one in our street has even received Notice of said Revaluations!
@MartynG on 2014/10/03 at 9:00 am – It isn’t surprising that no-ones received a notice advising them of their property’s revised valuation. The government hasn’t sent out any notices. If you want to find the revised valuation, follow the link in my reply to ‘Goldberry’.
Stupid question. We do not have our title deeds. How can we find out what the valuation is? Thanks in advance.
@Goldberry on 2014/10/03 at 8:29 am – It isn’t a stupid question – you’ll need to get the relevant details of your property from your developer (or it may be in your sale agreement) and follow the guide at Cyprus property valuations now online.
I lived in the UK 30 years. Always been able to negotiate the values for the Rates payable, without valuers and their fees.
I am going to do the same here.
What about the 50% reduction in Title Deed Transfer Taxes Mr Hasikos?
Where has that promise gone to?
@Costas Apacket on 2014/10/03 at 1:45 am – Where has the promised 50% in Property Transfer Fees gone? Out of the window along with a number of other ministerial promises!
lets see how much extra they rake in this year, should be way over the 75 million target as set out by troika….any ‘extra’ cash I guess will be used to plug the holes for example the extra needed for the minimum wage policy they are implementing (after all the public sector domain was up in arms when they heard that money for this would come from taxing their final salaries and pensions!)