As in many countries where tourism is a vital part of the economy, short term rentals play an increasing role in the accomodation of the millions of visitors arriving in Greece every year.
Naturally, the government wants its piece of this cake; additionally, the widely unregulated growth of this sector in the past years has led to some unpleasant side effects: Low quality accomodation, overpricing, illegal renting etc.
To ensure a better regulation of the market, improve competition (especially with the hotel sector) and of course benefit financially there will be new laws and rules regarding short term rentals from 2024.
1. The biggest change concerns persons who run 3 or more short term rentals. They now must declare a business and pay 13% VAT on their income.
However, they will also be entitled to subtract all expenses regarding their rented properties! So, in the end this may even be a good thing for some.
2. There will be an accomodation fee of 1.50 EUR per night to be paid. This will be collected by the platforms (AirBnB etc) and paid to the IRS directly. It needs to be taken into account when defining the price though.
3. The good news is that despite to rumours there will be no time limit on the total time a property can be rented. The only restriction is that a single say may not exceed 60 days. Longer stays will be taxed as regular rent income which is less favourable, so we would advise you to avoid this.
To sum it up, the new law which has been a constant source of rumours for a year will not have the negative impact on property owners that many had feared it would.
Mostly the regulations cater to the concerns of hotel owners who see the growing number of short term rentals as a threat to their businesses and – rightfully in parts – complained that those benefit from not having to pay any substantial fees.
We recommend to our clients to look into the possibility of declaring a business for their rental. The possibility to deduct all expenses may easily outweigh the 13% VAT that have to be paid on top.
If you are in doubt just contact us!
