Budget, Financial Services, Legislation, Lithuania, Real Estate, Taxation

For this law to come into force the president Dalia Grybauskaite will have to approve of it. She had said before that she is in favour of the law. The real estate tax is to be subjected to entire real estate owned by natural persons and the owned real estate value, exceeding LTL 1 billion (EUR 0.29 billion) will be taxed by 1% rate. Luxury real estate is to be taxed next year. It is estimated that the "luxury tax" will bring LTL 30 million (EUR 8.7 million) to the budget, writes LETA/ELTA.

MPs expressed their contradictory opinions over the law.

MP Mantas Varaska said that adopting this law was a pre-election and populist move.

The representative of the Liberals' Movement agreed with Varaska and said that many people who own luxury property bought it for bank loans.

Social-democrat Jonas Jagminas proposed to postpone adopting the law, until Lithuania becomes economically stronger.

Conservative Rimantas Jonas Dagys said that he supported the law, moreover, all the international institutions were urging Lithuania to adopt the law. Social-democrat Mindaugas Bastys was concerned whether the majority of farmers will be taxed. The Minister of Agriculture Kazys Starkevicius said that the farmers will not have to pay the tax.