Greek Updated Law Includes New Tourism Tax, Rules for Short-term Rentals

by Maria Paravantes 14 November 2023

written by Maria Paravantes 14 November 2023 2 comments

Photo source: Greek Travel Pages

An updated bill tabled by Greek National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis this week and that includes a new tourism tax, is open for public consultation until November 27.

According to Hatzidakis, the draft law includes reforms that aim to tackle tax evasion and at the same time ensure fair taxation and the necessary resources to strengthen social policy.

Affecting the hospitality and tourism sectors, the new rules discontinue the current stayover tax charged on hotel guests and in its place introduce the “climate crisis resilience charge”.

More specifically, key changes affecting tourist accommodation and Airbnb-style rentals include:

– the current stayover tax will be replaced with the new “climate crisis resilience charge”, which means that property owners leasing out one property or more will be required to charge an extra daily scaled fee which will range from 1.5-euros to 10 euros in March-October and 0.5 euros to 4 euros from November to February applicable to all forms of tourist accommodations. Revenues from this charge will go into a specially created emergency fund for natural disasters

– persons leasing out three or more properties for short-term tourist lease will be required start business operations, including keeping financial accounts, paying VAT and other taxes

– those leasing their properties for short-term accommodation purposes but have failed to register on the registry will have to pay a fine equal to 50 percent of the previous year’s gross income and a minimum of 5,000 euros. The fine is double if there is a repeat violation

– short-term rental is defined as the lease or sublease for a specific period of time, less than 60 days, of a property posted on a digital platform and as long as no other services are provided apart from accommodation and the provision of bed linen

– the ministry has created a new Activity Code Number (KAD) for short-term rentals activity

– fines for online platforms found in violation of the rules include 100 euros per customer for submitting information late; 300 euros per customer for failing to submit required information; 300 euros per customer for submitting incomplete or inaccurate information; 1,000 euros per customer for failure to comply with tax authorities requests; 2,500 euros per customer for failure to cooperate during an audit; and 5,000 euros for each violation for failure to comply after an audit. Fines can reach up to 500,000 euros per inspection.

Greek Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis. Photo source: Greek National Economy and Finance Ministry

Additional changes to taxation regulations include:

– transactions for the purchase or sale of real estate cannot be carried out in cash

– a new system of taxation is introduced for freelance professionals

– fines for the use of cash in transactions exceeding 500 euros are now double the amount of the transaction.

“This bill is a serious reform effort to tackle tax evasion. The government is taking measures on many different levels in order to have tangible results. With these initiatives, we will be able to curb tax evasion and support social policy accordingly, starting with health and education, as will be seen in the 2024 budget,” said Hatzidakis.

The minister has previously announced that the government’s new Airbnb regulations will go into effect at the beginning of the new year.

Follow GTP Headlines on Google News to keep up to date with all the latest on tourism and travel in Greece.

Maria Paravantes

Chicago-born and raised, Maria Paravantes has over two decades of journalistic experience covering tourism and travel, gastronomy, arts, music and culture, economy and finance, politics, health and social issues for international press and media. She has worked for Reuters, The Telegraph, Huffington Post, Billboard Magazine, Time Out Athens, the Athens News, Odyssey Magazine and SETimes.com, among others. She has also served as Special Advisor to Greece’s minister of Foreign Affairs, and to the mayor of Athens on international press and media issues. Maria is currently a reporter, content and features writer for GTP Headlines.

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2 comments

Chris H. 15 November 2023 - 17:51

The Greek Government appears to think that tourists will get them out of their self inflicted financial problems. There is a definite move towards upselling offerings to travellers, such as spa resorts, foodie experiences and so on. While this may produce increased profit margins in the short term, the experience of other destinations that have tried this indicates that such tourists are fickle and are prepared to move on to other countries at the ‘drop of a hat’. In the meantime, Greece will have lost the custom of millions of loyal visitors who have loved the more natural and traditional Greece and supported the country for decades. We are already considering whether to continue with our 2 holidays a year to the islands and mainland.

Mrs M Cole 15 November 2023 - 12:18

Does that mean that the old Tourism tax (now renamed), is increasing for a 5* hotel from 4e per room per day, to 10e per room per day? If so, I think we will have to look elsewhere for our 2 5*holidays we have took per year on the Greek Islands for the last 16 years. We have always happily paid 56e tax for our two weeks each visit. IF it is now 10e per room per day, the new charge is 140e. That is an extortionate extra amount to find! We are forced to pay it, which is unfair as it is. We book a year in advance, so our two 2024 fortnights are already booked. As to 2025, that demands serious consideration, as Greece is becoming ridiculously expensive. For what you now pay for a 5* Greek hotel, it will soon be less money to fly long haul! Not impressed that the Tourism Tax cost has been MORE than doubled. We are not all millionaires you know! Some of us are now Pensioner’s on fixed incomes. I feel numerous people will be looking elsewhere, despite loving Greece. We will probably have to learn to love somewhere else …

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