Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/07/2013 19:08 -0400
Greece

Since the Greek government enacted the remarkable law that property taxes will be enforced via the electricity providers in the beleaguered country, an incredible 30,000 households per month have seen their power supply cut off. Ekathimerini reports that some 700,000 customers have now had their debts restructured (with payment plans) as part of the billing process; but what is perhaps incredible is that while the State has specifically banned 'disconnection' for not paying the property charges, the utility's computer system is unable to distinguish if payment is for electricity or property tax. There are apparently workarounds involving deposits for tax debts but the situation is set to deteriorate further this year due to the increase in electricity rates and expected further reductions in household incomes.

Via ekathimerini,

About 1,000 electricity connections are cut every day in Greece as Public Power Corporation customers are increasingly unable to pay their power bills on time, while accumulated debts to the country’s electricity giant stood at more than 1.3 billion euros at the end of 2012. This is not only due to the economic crisis that has eaten into household incomes, but also to the special property tax paid via power bills.

PPC data show that some 700,000 customers had had their debts rearranged with new payment plans by the end of last year, up from 400,000 at the end of 2011. The situation is set to deteriorate this year due to the increase in PPC rates and expected further reductions in household incomes.

There is, however, a particular problem with the special property tax. While the Council of State has banned the disconnection of houses for not paying the property charge through the PPC bill, if customers do pay for their electricity, PPC’s software cannot distinguish between payment for the property tax and that for electricity. As a result, the corporation cannot tell whether consumers have paid toward their power bill or just a part of their property tax unless they have paid the full amount.

PPC says that this problem can be overcome by the taxpayers visiting the tax offices, where they can apply to have their property levy paid separately to the tax authority, which involves the payment of a 50-euro deposit. Afterward, any payment delay will only concern the customer and the tax office, and not PPC.

What you see there will get applied elsewhere sure as eggs are eggs.
Only a matter of time now.

andyh wrote:
Already happened in a way in the UK, just before I left they'd managed to tie water bills into council rents.

Yep, it's true. Happened to us a few months ago. What those statistics don't tell you tbf is how many are reconnected the same day because they a) went and paid up, b)did as it suggests regarding contacting the tax office, or c) getting in touch with a group of electricians that have got together and pledged to illegally reconnect anyone....as I observed during our own disconnecting and subsequent re-connecting it's not that difficult a task

I'm currently looking into ways around the law that states a household can produce as much solar energy as it likes but can only run one socket off it.

Oi....how true is this please????

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/07/2013 19:08 -0400