An association of short-term rental companies has argued that new tax rates for their businesses, as announced by the Greek Independent Public Revenue Authority, are overly burdensome, affecting Airbnb in Greece.
A recent circular from the Greek Independent Public Revenue Authority announced that if a legal entity manages 10 properties through short-term leasing, then it will pay taxes as if it operates 10 different branches of the business. This would mean that if a company owns and operates 10 different apartments as Airbnbs throughout Athens or Nafplio, they will be taxed for each apartment as a separate branch.
The Association of Short-Term Rental Companies and five short-term rental companies brought a complaint to the Council of State (CoS), the country’s Supreme Administrative Court, claiming the tax inhibits their businesses, and applied for the circular to be nullified. They even argued the circular in question to be unconstitutional because it imposes an additional tax burden without this being provided for in a formal law.
The application was discussed in the Second Chamber of the Council of State, which reserved its decision for the next period of time.
This comes at a time when the fate of Airbnb in Greece is under sharp debate. For years locals have increasingly protested the swelling numbers of Airbnb and other short-term rentals, which have hiked housing costs and priced people out of central neighborhoods.
In early September Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a series of new regulations to curb this heady proliferation of Airbnbs. These regulations included a one-year freeze on new licenses for properties on short-term rental platforms in the center districts of Athens, and an increase in the daily climate resilience fee airbnb owners must pay. There was also an incentive tacked on– owners who moved their properties to long-term leasing will be exempt from paying rental income tax for three years.
Additionally a, joint decision of the Ministers of Economy and Development, Finance and Tourism “for reasons related to the protection of housing,” put into effect January 2024, declared that individual taxpayers can not operate more than two properties short-term rental properties, and that the lease of each property shall not exceed 90 days per calendar year and for islands with under 10,000 residents, only 60 days per calendar year.
But the market for short-term rentals in Greece is massive. According to Insete data, 2024 showed a steady rise in short-term rental accommodation supply in Greece, averaging about 20,000 new units per month. The Association of Short-Term Property Leasing Companies has noted that they want to protect this gargantuan market from regulation.
