Disclosed revenues from short-term property leasing – the now ubiquitous Airbnb-type – have surged so far in 2024 and are forecast to reach 830 million euros, when the corresponding figure for 2023 was roughly 600 million, the head of Greece’s independent tax bureau (AADE or IAPR) revealed on Tuesday.
Speaking at the 25th Prodexpo exhibition in Athens, Giorgos Pitsilis, the governor of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, as the tax bureau is now officially called, said the figure for the sector has mushroomed since 2017.
“In 2017 tax revenues (from the sector) were around 70 million euros, while last year they reached 740 million euros. This year, in the first nine months, we have revenues of 742 million euros (against 640 million euros in the corresponding period of 2023) and we estimate that by the end of the year we’ll reach 830 million euros,” he said.
Pitsilis said the most recent figures collected by the tax bureau – in cooperation with the specific global online platforms – show that more than 6,200 legal entities and individuals in Greece have declared more than three properties offered up for short-term leasing. He also said compliance with legal and tax obligations in Greece is “good”, as 90% of such property holders and managers registering with AADE. At the same time, he said some 500 of the former properties had provided incorrect codes, while another 500 failed to register, according to an estimate.
“We’ve located them, and we’ll be bothering them in the coming period to comply,” Pitsilis said.
PM’s top economic adviser
On his part, Alexis Patelis, the chief economic adviser to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, ticked off a series of figures regarding short-term leases, including that 100,000 properties have their own property code, with another 40,000 such codes were added over the last four years.
“Of these 100,000 registered codes, one-fourth are leases for at least 90 days a year, which is why we finally decided not to impose a time limit,” Patelis said. He further underlined that roughly 80,000 of such properties are owned by private individuals, of which four-fifths are rented for less than 90 days.
Airbnb’s Valentina Reino
Valentina Reino, Airbnb’s head of public policy & campaign for southern Europe, in turn emphasized that the agreement between the short-term rental operators and Greece’s tax bureau marks a “best practice” in Europe.
As she said, it is easy for hosts to register on the platform and comply with the law, as the process is automated and repeated every year. She also stressed that Airbnb’s experience from other countries, where restrictions were imposed on the short-term rentals, is not positive, as the latter failed to benefit local communities, while property prices increased.