Airbnb

A new law passed by Parliament in late December requires that property owners who use digital platforms such as Airbnb, Tripping and FlipKey to lease accommodation to tourists for short periods pay up to 45 percent in tax on their income, with the purpose of boosting state funds.

The concentration of hospitals in Halandri and the growing trends of medical tourism and short-term property rentals advertised on the Internet have combined to increase demand for accommodation in the northern Athens suburb on home-sharing platforms.

The Greek state appears to be moving closer to making some money out of the short-term apartment and room rental sector, which has managed to remain under the taxman's radar since it first started to take off in Greece thanks to international online platforms such as Airbnb, Homestay and others.

In its first public statement on Greek tax affairs, Airbnb took a tough stance against the Greek government and refused to share the tax details of the property owners with whom it cooperates with the Greek state.

Airbnb’s refusal to provide the Treasury Department with information on property rental in Greece is subject to a tax on owners who use the short-term online leasing platform.

The historic center of Athens and the neighborhoods of Exarchia, Koukaki and Neos Cosmos are the areas with the greatest concentration of apartments available for short-term lettings in the Greek capital on Airbnb, according to data compiled by the independent monitoring service Inside Airbnb, which tracks the flow of ads on the online platform.

The Greek state could have obtained revenues of more than 1 billion euros in total from 2015 to 2017 had it imposed the same tax on properties advertised on short-term leasing online platforms that it imposes on hotels, according to a Grant Thornton survey for the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

The rising trend in home rental rates across Greece has now become clear, though it is seen mainly in Athens and Thessaloniki where demand appears increased.

According to the latest national survey by the RE/MAX Hellas network of estate agencies, rental rates are showing an average growth of 2.1 percent this year from 2016.

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