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The sharing economy, meaning an open market for the temporary use of goods or services via a digital platform, is a particularly innovative economic activity, involving three parties: individuals who occasionally offer goods or services, those who use these goods or services, and above all, the platforms, that act as mediators in these transactions. in this context, short term real estate leases are concluded for a specific period of time, for less than one year. The types of real estate that can be leased using this procedure are: a) apartments, b) detached houses (other than those that have been characterized as such, due to the abolition of the establishment of horizontal property), c) any other form of housing, with structural and functional autonomy d) rooms in apartments or detached houses.

Short-term real estate lease in the framework of sharing economy is possible under the following conditions:

Registration of the property manager (natural person or legal entity, or any other legal entity, owner, possessor, landlord or sub-tenant or any third party, who undertakes the promotion of the property on digital platforms) in the “Short Term Stay Registry” that is kept by the Independent Public Revenues Authority (IPRA)

Compulsory indication of the registration number in the Short Term Stay Registry in a visible place, in the post on digital platforms, as well as any other promotion means

In case there is an Authorized License of the accommodation, there is a similar responsibility to indicate the Authorized License number in the property post, without the requirement to register it Short Term Stay Registry.

Registration in the Short Term Stay Registry is mandatory for each individual leased property.

Taxation

Income derived by natural persons or legal entities from short-term real estate rentals, in the framework of the sharing economy, is an income derived from immovable property, provided that the property is leased furnished, without the provision of any other services, apart from the provision of bed linen. In case any other additional services are provided, this is considered to be income derived from business activity. The income derived from the abovementioned type of lease, is exempt from VAT. The property manager who does not hold an Authorized License, and an owner of furnished tourist accommodation, are obliged to submit a Short-Term Stay declaration in a form of a digital application that will be created by the Independent Public Revenues Authority. The owner, possessor, landlord or sub-tenant of the property, when assigning the management of their real estate to a third party, for short-term lease, is obliged to submit the Digital Data of Immovable Property Lease Declaration, where the property manager’s personal information will be recorded, otherwise, he/she himself/herself will be considered as the manager of the property. In the case of a co-ownership of a property, where one of the co-owners is the manager of the property, the other co-owners are not obliged to submit the Digital Data of Immovable Property Lease Declaration. The owner, possessor, landlord, or sub-tenant of the property, if they lease the sub-leased property, continue to have the obligation to submit the Digital Data of Immovable Property Lease Declaration, as per the provisions in force.

Penalties

In case the obligations are not adhered to, there is an administrative fine of five thousand euros (5,000) imposed on the property managers, which is considered to be a State income, it is collected as per the provisions of the Central Union of the Municipalities of Greece, within fifteen (15) calendar days, from establishing the infringement, the property manager is obliged to undertake the necessary compliance actions. In the event of non-observance of the new obligations within one year from the issuance of the enforcement of the fine, the fine is imposed twice and in the case of each subsequent infringement, four times the amount that was originally imposed. In the event of failure to submit or submitting an inaccurate Short-Term Stay declaration, a fine twice the amount of the rent as shown on the digital platform on the day of the inspection is imposed on the property manager. In the event that the Short-Term Stay declaration has expired, there is a separate fine in the amount of one hundred (100) euros. * A Joint Ministerial Decision can be issued, whereby, for reasons, related to the protection of the housing, geographical areas may be established, where restrictions regarding the provision of real estate for short-term lease may apply in the following way: Short-term lease of more than two (2) properties per TIN of the income beneficiary may not be allowed. The lease of each property should not exceed ninety (90) days per calendar year and for islands with less than ten thousand (10,000) inhabitants – sixty (60) days per calendar year. Exceeding the duration, as stated above, is allowed, under the condition that the total income of the lessor or the sub-lessor, from all the properties they have available for lease or sublease, does not exceed twelve thousand (12,000) euros in the relevant fiscal year.