Tax Service started collecting the tax on assets, introduced in 2016 for the first time in Moldova

Only 30 of the approximately 2,700 people who own luxury estate paid the tax.

Almost 60,000 lei were collected in luxury tax payments for those holding real estate with an area exceeding 120 square meters and with a cadastral value of over 1.5 million lei. In all, authorities hope to collect 50 million lei by the end of 2016.

Luxury tax must be paid by about 2,700 people. Tax Service data shows that most Moldovans who own expensive homes, 2,450 people, are in Chisinau.

In Balti are 40 in Ialoveni - 25, and in Straseni and Hincesti about 20 people each.

On average, a person must pay a fee of 0.8 percent of the property price, ie around 18,000 lei. The owner of the home will have to pay the fee until 25 December 2016.

In case the owner will not meet the deadline, he faces a fine of 25 percent per year of the amount owed.