Maybe you can verify this story that I was told. On a few vacations to Greece I wondered why so many buildings of all shapes and sizes had some re-bar sticking out somewhere, usually at the top of a post. I was told that it is about evading property taxes by never completely finishing construction, that taxes were not due on unfinished buildings. So they were never finished. The buildings were all occupied and fully livable but I guess the owner could point to the re-bar sticking out and say it was not really finished.
This is exactly what I heard about Bolivia, more specifically La Paz. The city looks like 80% of the buildings were started 1 year ago and waiting for another storey to be completed, and put paint on it. But no, you see these unfinished buildings, with just raw concrete and bricks, and people happily living there.
It might have caught law makers by surprise initially (not really buying that), but its so damning visible even to outsiders, it just highlights the rampant corruption and lack of actual care from politicians there.
tl;dr of the accepted answer: It's not for tax evasion, it's to make later expansion cheaper. They don't count as "Unfinished buildings". If the house has power (empty or not), or someone lives inside (with or without electrical power), the owner must pay the full 100% of the normal property taxes.
Can confirm -- people (used to) build apartments with extensions in mind, so you would get a permit and plans for a 3-story building, then only build the first two floors. The third floor would then be built 10 years later for children/grandchildren. Greek private citizens are still very allergic to getting huge loans, land ownership is still very fragmented, and tall tower blocks are virtually impossible due to earthquake activity and permit limitations.
the permit to build might allow you a building with three floors at given/approved surface. You dont have to build 3 floors now, you can build 2 or 1 and later you can build up to the allowed limit.
Doubt it. Construction is different in Greece, it's all concrete and bricks. You need the iron to as an extra floor so most buildings have iron sticking out so its possible to add it. It usually gets covered with ceramic roof tiles
