Greece Increases Fines for Failure to Comply to Airbnb Tax Rules
In efforts to tackle tax evasion and lost revenues and to ensure a fair playing field in tourism accommodation, the Greek Finance and Economy Ministry announced that it will tighten rules and increase penalties that apply to short-term rental operators as of 2024.
Key points include:
– owners leasing out one property or more will be required to charge an extra 1.5-euro overnight charge per day applicable to all forms of tourist accommodation (stayover tax). Revenues from this charge will go into a specially created emergency fund for natural disasters
– hosts with more than three listed properties will be required to keep financial accounts, pay VAT and other taxes
– 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
– entire buildings renting apartments short-term or residential complexes will be defined as tourist accommodation facilities and thus be required to obtain a license
– 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
– 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.
According to Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) there are currently 168,819 properties listed in its registry. AADE has announced that it will launch inspections later this month and in December carry out a second round of crosschecks to assess adherence.
Last week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that short-term rental income of hosts with more than three listed properties would be taxed as of January 2024 and that the stayover tax (applicable to all forms of tourist accommodation) would increase from the current 0.5 cents-4 euros range to an escalating 1-6 euros.
This week, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee adopted a set of rules facilitating public access to data and giving platforms more responsibility in supporting the removal of illegal listings in line with the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Earlier this week, Short-term rental operators Airbnb, Booking.com and VRBO signed an updated agreement with Greece’s tax authorities.
In September, short-term rental bookings were up by 31 percent compared to the same month a year ago and expected to rise by 30 percent in October.