18 Dec New obligations in short-term leases – Renting more than 3 Airbnbs must be through a company.
The draft law was recently voted, which, among other tax provisions, brought significant changes to short-term leases.
With effect from 01/01/2024 the Ministry of Finance has introduced provisions that will cause chain-reversals in operating of short-term leases, aiming at limiting tax evasion and assimilating them, under certain conditions, with hotels, in a wider context of equal competition.
Specifically:
-For property owners who are individuals, it is clarified when income from short-term rentals is income from real estate and when it is considered income from business activity.
The criterion for the distinction is the number of properties rented out through short-term rentals.
Property owners who rent 3 or more properties through a short-term rental platform (Airbnb, booking, etc.) are now considered to acquire income from business activity and will become businesses (sole-proprietors or legal entities) and will be liable to start business activity and the resulting obligations, such as to submit VAT returns, to transmit income & expenses through my data, to pay insurance contributions, trade fee, etc.
The income obtained by individuals from the short-term leases of up to 2 properties is still considered as income from real estate if the properties are rented furnished without providing any services other than bed linen amenities.
-In case all flats of an apartment building or residential complex are available for short-term lease, they will now be considered as a tourist accommodation and must have the relevant license.
-Short-term lease is subject to VAT for both legal entities and individuals. The lessor’s income if he/she is a legal entity (company) or an individual who owns at least 3 properties for short-term stay is subject to VAT 13%, which applies to hotels and rooms-to-let.
-The accommodation fee of 0.5% of income, previously only applicable to hotels and furnished apartments, is also extended to short-term rentals. This is collected through a special platform by all those active in the sector, regardless of the number of properties.
-The accommodation tax, which until now was imposed on hotels and rented rooms is abolished and it is replaced by the “climate crisis resilience fee”.
The climate crisis resilience fee is now also imposed on short-term leases, while its amount varies depending on the category of accommodation as well as seasonality.
| Category | Amount per day today | New Price MARCH -OCTOBER | New Price NOVEMBER -FEBRUARY |
| 1-2 stars | 0,50 € | 1,50 € | 0,50 € |
| 3 stars | 1,50 € | 3,00 € | 1,50 € |
| 4 stars | 3,00 € | 7,00 € | 3,00 € |
| 5 stars | 4,00 € | 10,00 € | 4,00 € |
| Rooms to let | 0,50 € | 1,50 € | 0,50 € |
| Tourist residences | 0,00 € | 10,00 € | 4,00 € |
| Short-term lease | 0,00 € | 1,50 € | 0,50 € |
| Short-term lease of detached houses over 80 sqm | 0,00 € | 10,00 € | 4,00 € |
The climate crisis resilience fee is levied on specific elements – receipts of collection of a climate crisis resilience fee issued from 1 January 2024.
-The time limit of the lease duration to be considered short-term is redefined. In particular, a limit of less than 60 days is set on the duration of the lease in order to be considered as short-term lease, instead of less than the duration of a year that was in force.
It is clarified that the limit of 60 days does not concern the total duration of leases over time, but the duration of each lease separately. Thus, for example, it will be allowed to lease a property for 100 or 150 days during the year provided that each lease separately does not exceed 60 days. The new definition of short-term lease is as follows: “Short-term lease is defined as the letting or subletting of real estate for a specified period of time, less than 60 days, provided that no services other than accommodation and bed linen are provided.”
Penalties
Finally, in addition to the changes in the operation of short-term leases, the new law could not fail to include the provisions for tightening fines in case of violations.
Property managers (owners, usufructuaries or third parties) who will not be registered in the Short-Term Rental Property Registry (MAE) and will post the property on digital platforms without indicating the registration number in the MAE in a prominent place as well as in any means of promotion, will be fined, whether they are the owner or usufructuary or a third party. The penalty per tax year will be at 50% of the last year’s gross income and a minimum of 5.000€, while there was in effect a standard penalty of 5.000€.
