Amendment for ‘Stayover Tax’ Tabled in Greek Parliament

An amendment to the law of the highly debated stayover tax, already being charged since January 1 at hotels and rooms-to-let across Greece, was tabled in Greek Parliament by the Finance Ministry on Thursday.

The amendment stipulates that customers at hotels or accommodation facilities will be required to pay an extra fee charged on top of the going rate at departure and be issued a receipt which does not include VAT.

The stayover tax currently in effect foresees a surcharge of 0.50 cents at one- and two-star hotels, 1.50 euros at three-star hotels, 3.00 euros at four-star hotels and 4.00 euros at 5-star hotels. One- and two-key furnished rooms/apartments will be charged 0.25 cents, three-key furnished rooms/apartments 0.50 cents and four-key furnished rooms/apartments 1.00 euro.

Hoteliers will be required to declare earnings from the levy in monthly statements to tax authorities and deposit taxed sums by the last day of the following month.

The hospitality industry and government were at loggerheads over the levy which the former say will lead to a decline of 435 million euros and a loss of 6,000 jobs. In a letter to Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura and Alternate Finance Minister Katerina Papanatsiou, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels pointed earlier this week to a series of adjustments that must be made.