Beginning on January 1st, 2024, Greece’s Parliament changed a few rules for short-term rentals. We’ll explain, in plain English, what changes were made, and which changes are most important for you if you are planning to rent out your property in 2024.
Why Was This Law Passed?
One goal of the law is to create a balance between real estate owners and the tourism industry as a whole (hotels, bed & breakfasts, etc). Secondarily, the Greek government hopes to collect funds for public projects.
What Are the Key Changes?
1. Climate Fee
During the period between March and October, a fee of 1,50€/day will be applied to properties being rented. On detached properties which are more than 80 sqm, the fee is 10,00€/per daily use.
From November until February, a fee of 0,50€/day is applied. On detached properties of more than 80 sqm, the fee is 4,00€/per daily use.
Who Pays the Climate Fee?
The Climate Fee is collected from the guest and is paid by the owner of the property to the tax authorities. These fees are already in effect, because they began to apply on January 1st, 2024.
Why is There a Climate Fee?
According to the government’s announcements, this charge will create revenue that goes towards a special fund for public projects.
2. Accommodation Tax
An additional accommodation tax of 0.5% of the rental amount will be collected from the guest and paid to the tax authorities. This fee began to apply on January 1st, 2024. Up until now, only tourism businesses had to pay this tax, but it is now extended to rental properties as well.
3. Short-Term Rental Stay Limits
In fact, this change doesn’t have any effect at this point. A few years ago, the Greek government had announced a short-term rental stay limit of 90 days, but didn’t determine any regions to which this limit will apply. This limit has now changed to 60 days starting from January 1st, 2024, but still without indication to which regions this might apply. Therefore, as before, homeowners are still free to rent out their property for 365 days a year.
For more rental best practices, see our complete article here.
4. EOT Licenses
On property projects, if all apartments are rented through a short-term rental system, an EOT license (issued by the Greek National Tourism Organization) must be obtained. To read more about EOT licenses and how to get one for a property, read on here.
5. Tax on Owners of Multiple Properties
Disregard this section if you don’t own multiple properties. If you are an individual with three or more properties available for short-term rental, you must charge a VAT (Value-Added Tax) of 13%. If you fall into this category, you may want to consider registering as a company. Companies have the advantage of offsetting the VAT they have to pay with other business activities. For more information, contact our legal team at contact@elxis.com.
What Taxes Do I Pay if I Don’t Own 3 Properties?
Rental income earned by private individuals who own one or two properties which are used as short-term rentals are still outside the scope of VAT. For more information about taxes paid by rental property owners, see our complete tax article here.
