Greece independent public revenues authority is reportedly ready to employ the “Portuguese model” for locating property owners that lease dwellings via various online platforms but who don’t declare the income.
The tax bureau, made “independent” after demands by creditors as entailed in three memorandums, will ostensibly exploit a “search robot” to scan such platforms, the best-known and most profitable being AirBnB.
Based on recent figures and estimates, for the greater Athens area alone, properties up for short-term leasing on a specific website exceed 5,000, with the average asking price at 52 euros per overnight stay, and with the occupancy rate at 73 percent.
The aim is to locate property owners and managers that continue to lease property on a short-term basis – usually to foreign visitors and with electronic bank transactions employed – without registering the lodgings on a special platform inaugurated by the tax bureau this year.
A fine for failing to register property utilized for short-term leasing can reach up to 5,000 euros.
