Wildfires: How and when the fire victims will be compensated

Businesses and farmers who have been “hit” by the catastrophic fires will receive advances in compensation without bureaucracy, without control in the first phase but with a simple application that will be submitted to a special electronic platform that will be opened by Independent Authority for Public Revenue – AADE on the web portal arogi.gov.gr households, as was announced by the government depending on the size of the damage suffered.

The Ministry of Finance and the AADE have started a race to run as quickly as possible the procedures for the disbursement of the advances to the fire victims while at the same time the recording of the damages begins.

The planning

According to the plan, the aid will be granted in two phases:

1. In the first phase, the advance payment will be made at the end of August and the beginning of September through a simple procedure. Next Wednesday, August 18, AADE is expected to open a special platform on the arogi.gov.gr portal. In this platform, individuals, entrepreneurs, farmers and stockbreeders in the affected areas will enter with the their personal Taxisnet codes and will apply in the form of a responsible statement. In this statement they will state the extent of the damage that each property has suffered according to their personal assessment. Upon submission of the application, fire victims will receive as first aid:

• For houses that have been completely destroyed 20,000 euros (14,000 euros advance for the Housing Assistance and 6,000 euros for household goods).

• For houses that have not been completely destroyed but have suffered serious damage that make them temporarily uninhabitable 12,000 euros (8,000 euros advance payment of housing assistance and 4,000 euros for household goods).

• For houses that have suffered serious damage but are habitable 5,000 euros (3,000 euros in advance of housing assistance and 2,000 euros for household goods).

• For buildings that have been completely destroyed the deposit amounts to 14,000 euros, for buildings that have not been completely destroyed but have suffered serious damage that make them temporarily non-functional the amount is set at 8,000 euros and for buildings that have suffered serious damage but are operational aid is 3,000 euros.

• For companies whose buildings have been completely destroyed, they will receive an advance payment of 22,000 euros, 14,000 euros for Housing Assistance and 8,000 euros for a grant.

• For agricultural holdings whose facilities have not been damaged or do not have facilities and have suffered damage to perennial crops, will be given 4,000 euros if areas over 50 acres have been affected, 2,000 euros if areas between 10 and 50 acres and 1,000 have been affected euros for smaller crops.

Housing assistance:

– Concerns properties of natural persons and legal entities, as they have been declared in the last asset declaration statement (form E9).

– Can not exceed 80% of the value of the property, as calculated for ENFIA property tax.

– It is unsecured, tax-free and not set off with debts to the State.

The owners of the houses that use them privately are entitled to both the Housing Assistance and the compensation for household goods.

Tenants

In case the house has a long-term lease, the landlord is entitled to the Housing Assistance, and the tenant the compensation for household goods.

2. In the second phase, the rest of the amount will be paid to the beneficiaries after the registration of the losses by the competent services of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is completed, with the schedule providing for the disbursement of the money in the next two to three months. The additional amount for Housing Assistance will be paid after the completion of the examination of the file, while in case no file is submitted or a lower amount of damage is determined in relation to the advance payment, the difference will be counted by the tax authority as unduly paid. It is noted that the housing assistance reaches up to 150,000 euros for homes that were destroyed or damaged while the affected companies will receive 70% of their turnover losses and 20% in advance.