A series of changes in the way property owners are taxed are coming from the beginning of 2024, with most of them focusing on better and faster service to the citizen.

At the same time, the interventions that come to diversify the map in the short-term rental market are important.

Therefore, those who operate more than two properties will be treated by the Tax Office as entrepreneurs, which means that they will have to follow a specific road map, with the start of activity and opening of books.

An important section – change, which has been implemented, but not completely, due to the abstention in which the notaries are in, but also the possibility of continuing the process of transferring property with cash, as long as a preliminary agreement has been signed and an advance payment has been given, is the abolition payment of part or all of the property acquisition price.

There are two main directions that govern the framework of changes.

One is to make the process of transferring or acquiring a property easier for the taxpayer, significantly reducing the time required to do so, as well as the volume of supporting documents required.

The other has to do with the need for tax justice.

Especially in the case of short-term leases, an attempt is made to equate these properties with hotel properties, as far as this is possible.

Let’s see indicatively the main changes coming from the new year, formal and substantive.

Specifically:

1. Real estate transfers will now be mandatory using banking tools. Any contract recording an advance, partial or full cash payment will be considered void and non-transferable. The measure is already in place, however, as those who have signed a preliminary agreement and given a cash advance are given the opportunity to continue the whole process until the transfer deed is completed, the regulation will be fully effective in 2024 and will apply to any moves made from zero base.

2. Based on the new legislation, incentives are given with a greater tax reduction for real estate renovation. Expenditures for the purchase of goods and the receipt of services related to the energy, functional and aesthetic upgrading of buildings, reduce, equally distributed over a period of five years, the income tax of natural persons, up to the corresponding tax for each year, with a total upper limit spend 16,000 euros. Costs for materials are taken into account up to an amount corresponding to 1/3 of the amount for service costs. All costs should result from invoices that have been paid by electronic means of payment and transmitted to AADE by the supplier through the myDATA system.

3. Changes in the way long-term leases are taxed. Individuals who own three or more properties in short-term rental will be required to start a business, keep books and issue tax information. Also, as is natural for all self-employed people, they will be charged with the prescribed insurance contributions, business tax and VAT from the first property.

4. The short-term accommodation fee for non-residents is extended to short-term rentals, which is 0.5% of the income.

5. Increase in fines for non-registration in the Short-Term Rental Property Register: The fine for non-registration in the Short-Term Rental Property Register, which is currently horizontal, amounts to 5,000 euros and is imposed on the manager, whether he is a principal or usufructuary or a third party, will now be defined at 50% of the gross income of the last fiscal year and at least 5,000 euros.

6. Establishment of a 60-day upper limit on each short-term rental: The 60-day limit applies to the duration of each rental separately.

7. Abolition from January 1, 2024 of the obligation to issue a certificate of non-payment of Real Estate Tax (TAP). The citizens were obliged to present the said certificate to wait at least from one to nine months in order to receive it from the Municipalities. Based on the new regime, the Land Register will inform the municipality which in turn will check if there is a TAP debt and if there is then the debt will be confirmed and collected through the tax office. In this way, property owners and buyers will not suffer in queues at municipal services.

According to the new regulations:

• TAP Certificate: The legal entity of public law with the name “Hellenic Land Registry”, upon completion of the registration of each registrable act by which ownership of a property is transferred, informs the Municipality, in whose district the property is located, a) of its area property, the ownership of which changes, and b) for the data of the licensor and the acquirer of ownership of the property, as they are entered in the database of the Hellenic Land Registry with the registration of each registrable deed. After notification, any Real Estate Fee debt is confirmed and collected by the liable licensor of the acquirer in accordance with the applicable provisions at the Cash Service of the beneficiary Municipality.

• Land map: The multiple submission of an excerpt of a land map is abolished in the case of divided properties located within the same plot. Today, if someone is interested in buying separate horizontal properties in an apartment building, they have to attach to the contract three cadastral plot extracts showing exactly the same plot at the corresponding cost.

• Electronic Property File: In parallel with the implementation of the Electronic Property File, the collection of documents will be carried out by the notary who draws up the property transfer contract after authorization of the parties. The notary authorized by the buyer and the seller of the property undertakes to collect the certificates electronically through the e-Transfer platform which “runs” on the public digital portal gov.gr The new system exclusively concerns contracts between natural persons on real rights on real estate in areas that have been registered and a Land Registry Office operates. Through the new platform, all the supporting documents necessary to complete a purchase and sale will be collected electronically within a few 24 hours.