You are viewing post The new legislative provision on a short-term lease
On the grounds of the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 4 sub-paragraph A3 of the Law 4336/2015 an amendment of the Greek legislation was introduced, according to which from the November 1st, 2015, for the short-term lease of property by the owners-private persons the time limit of 30 days was canceled, and as a result, the lease of the properties for 30 days and less shall not be considered automatically as a tourist lease (as it was until today).
In view of the foregoing and in accordance with this new provision, a private person who wishes to rent his property for a few days to any third party has the right to do it without obligation to obtain a license from the Greek National Tourism Organization – the only condition is that the property will be leased without providing any additional services.
These new rules are applied to all types of apartments and houses, as well as non-main accommodation rooms within the meaning of article 1 par. 2β of the Law 4276/2014, for the lease of which until today there was an obligation of having a license of the Greek National Tourism Organization. In particular, this applies to three categories of properties: a) self-serviced lodgings-furnished villas (at least 80 square meters, which have a separate entrance and a separate plot of land), b) self-serviced furnished houses (at least 40 square meters, with independent functioning and separate entrance), and c) furnished rooms and apartments to rent (accommodations, rooms or apartments, with one or more rooms and a bathroom).
The prerequisite for exemption from the obligation of having a license granted by the competent services of the Greek National Tourism Organization is (on the basis of known information at this moment, since it is expected the regulation of the Ministry of Finance, which will set out the specific details of this provision) the fact that the subject of the agreement between the private person and the tenant will be the lease of the property without the provision of any other services. Only in this case, on the basis of information provided by the Ministry of Finance at the moment, any owner-lessor will be taxed on income derived from the property lease. Otherwise, if the above-mentioned self-serviced rooms provided and other kinds of services such as cleaning, catering, on the one hand, the obtaining of the license of the GNTO will be required, and on the other hand, the lessor will be taxed on income from business activities.
The remaining provisions of the law are not canceled: the fact that means that anyone has the right to obtain a license of the GNTO and to use his commercial real estate as a self-serviced accommodation, as it was applied up to the present day.
It is emphasized that the clarification of the competent ministries and the regulation of the Ministry of Finance are expected with any additional permits and general further conditions. Consequently, by the principle of legal certainty, it is recommended a literal application of the currently known provisions without any excess.
