The appeal, made at a press conference by the Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS), is based on indicative real estate tax assessments that the Tax Administration has sent out in recent weeks.

According to the OZS, the assessments show the real estate tax is on average two- to eight-times higher than the fees it has replaced.

Marija Jagodic, owner of a carpentry business, said her tax bill would rise to EUR 10,000 from EUR 2,400, which she said was "impossible" given the current economy.

Janez Kert, a farmer from Gorenjsko region, said the tax on a plot of tilling land that is designated in zoning laws as building land was 30-times what he used to pay.

This shows that the real estate tax will lead to stagnation of small businesses and undermine their competitiveness, OZS chairman Branko Meh said.

The OZS thus welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court to stay the tax until it reaches a final verdict.

Meh expects the judges to order the government to tweak the law so it is just.

Similarly, Roman Žveglič, the head of the Trade Union of Farmers, hopes the court will order corrections to make the law "palatable".

The appeal comes after the indicative income tax assessments caused outrage among the people.

Not only are the tax bills much higher, the calculations are so riddled with mistakes the Surveying and Mapping Authority (GURS) has been inundated with tens of thousands of requests for correction.

Under the Constitutional Court's decision, the tax authorities are allowed to carry out procedures related to the real estate tax, but they are banned from actually sending out the tax bills.