If you’re an expat living in Greece, or planning to buy a second home and keep a car here, there’s one piece of yearly bureaucracy you’ll definitely come across: the road tax in Greece, or teli kykloforias.
While it may sound intimidating at first, the idea is straightforward: every vehicle with Greek licence plates must pay an annual fee to be legally on the road. Think of it as Greece’s way of funding road infrastructure and keeping track of active vehicles. And as we head toward 2026, Greece’s tax authority (AADE) has released new clarifications to make the rules easier to understand… or at least a bit clearer than before! You can read our full guide about cars in Greece, here.
Let’s break it down simply.
Vintage cars in Corfu
What exactly is road tax in Greece?
Road tax is an annual fee every owner of a Greek-registered vehicle must pay before the end of the year. If your car or motorcycle has Greek plates? You pay. If it’s foreign-registered? Different rules apply (more on that below).
The amount you owe depends on when your vehicle was first registered and its environmental footprint:
For cars registered before November 2010
Your fee is based on engine size (cubic capacity/cc).
More cc → higher tax.
For cars registered after November 2010
The fee is based on CO₂ emissions.
Cleaner cars pay less; very low-emission or electric cars may pay nothing at all.
This hasn’t changed for 2026—AADE confirmed that road tax levels stay the same as the 2025 schedule.
Electric and ultra-low-emission vehicles remain exempt or enjoy significantly reduced fees.
When is your deadline for 2026?
The deadline to pay your road tax in Greece for 2026 is the 31st of December 2025. There’s no official extension at the moment, and AADE is known for being strict with these deadlines, especially now that everything is digital. If you miss the deadline, penalties increase quickly:
| If you pay in January | +25% |
| If you pay in February | +50% |
| If you pay after the 1st of March | +100% |
That means a €240 road tax can suddenly turn into €480… so it’s worth paying on time.
How do you check and pay road tax in Greece?
Owners can log into myCAR or the myAADE platform using their Taxisnet codes. Your notice includes a QR code, so you can pay via your banking app without entering any information. If Greek portals feel overwhelming, don’t worry, most expats simply ask their accountant to handle it. It takes them only a few minutes.
Vintage car in Rethymno, Crete
What if you’re not using your vehicle?
If you leave your car at your holiday home for long periods, Greece allows you to declare it “immobilised” (ακινησία) through myCAR. When your vehicle is declared off the road:
– you don’t owe road tax
– the vehicle cannot be moved
– and AADE cross-checks digitally to make sure you’re following the rules.
From 2025 onward, AADE is increasingly strict: vehicles with unpaid tax, no insurance or overdue KTEO (Vehicle Technical Inspection Center) inspections are flagged automatically, and fines can reach €2,000.
Transfers, co-ownership & number plates: AADE’s new clarifications
AADE recently issued an updated FAQ guide, answering the issues that confuse owners most, especially foreign ones.
- Selling or buying a vehicle
If you sell your car, you owe the tax for the year of the sale. If the paperwork is submitted late in the year and the sale finalises in the next year? You also owe the tax for the transfer year.
- Co-ownership
Only one co-owner pays, but if the tax remains unpaid? All co-owners are equally liable for the full amount.
- New licence plate number
If your plate number changes (common after re-registration), you don’t pay again. The AADE system links old and new numbers automatically.
- Proportional (monthly) tax
From 1 April each year, you can activate your car for a chosen number of months and pay only for that period. If you forget to immobilise it once the period expires, AADE will automatically immobilise it.
What if your car has foreign plates?
This is where many expats get confused. A foreign-registered vehicle can stay in Greece for up to 6 months within a 12-month period. After that, it must leave the country or be officially imported and re-registered. If you keep using a foreign car illegally, penalties can be extremely high. So, if you plan to live in Greece long-term, re-registering your car is usually the safest path.
For expats, road tax in Greece may feel like one more Greek bureaucracy ritual, but it’s a simple one once you know the basics. Taking that into account, if your car has Greek plates, check your 2026 notice on myCAR, pay before December 31, and keep your car properly registered or immobilised to avoid unpleasant surprises.
