Greek property changes for 2027: which are law, and which, like the 15% tax on non-EU buyers, are only announced

Greece has written some of its 2027 property-tax changes into law, while others so far exist only as government announcements.¹⁶ The difference matters to owners, landlords and buyers who live abroad, because an announced measure can still change before it is voted, and some relief that is already law applies only to Greek tax residents.¹ This explainer sorts the measures by legal stage as of 8 October 2026.

What is already law?

Most of the measures in force come from law 5246/2025, as amended, published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ, Fyllo Efimeridas tis Kyverniseos) as ΦΕΚ Α' 198 on 11 November 2025.¹

ENFIA ends on main homes in the smallest settlements

ENFIA (ΕΝΦΙΑ, Ενιαίος Φόρος Ιδιοκτησίας Ακινήτων, Eniaios Foros Idioktisias Akiniton), Greece's annual tax on owning property, is cut by 50% for tax year 2026 on main homes in settlements of up to 1,500 inhabitants, and these homes are fully exempt from 2027, under law 5246/2025.¹²⁵ The cap is 1,700 inhabitants in the Region of Western Macedonia, the regional unit of Evros, and municipalities on the national border in the Regions of Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and Epirus.¹ Population is taken from the most recent census.¹ Settlements in Attica are excluded, except those in the Islands regional unit.¹

The whole home, valued as it is for ENFIA, must not be worth more than €400,000.¹ The exemption in law 5246/2025 applies only to individuals who are Greek tax residents, and only to their main residence.¹²² An owner who is not tax resident in Greece gets no ENFIA exemption under law 5246/2025, even for a house in a qualifying settlement.¹

Lower tax on rental income from tax year 2026

From tax year 2026, law 5246/2025 taxes rental income at 15% up to €12,000, 25% on €12,000.01–€24,000, 35% on €24,000.01–€36,000 and 45% above €36,000.¹ Landlords will see the 25% bracket for the first time in the returns they file in 2027 for 2026 income.⁵¹⁹ The draft 2027 budget puts its cost at €90 million in 2027.³⁵

Empty homes let on long leases

Law 5246/2025 gives a three-year income-tax exemption on rent from homes that were empty for the previous three years and are let on leases of at least three years signed between 8 September 2024 and 31 December 2026.¹ Under the law as it stands, a lease signed after 31 December 2026 does not qualify.¹

Rent through a bank only, from 1 July 2027

Article 210 of law 5222/2025 requires rent to be paid only through a bank account.²⁴ ΑΑΔΕ (Ανεξάρτητη Αρχή Δημοσίων Εσόδων, Anexartiti Archi Dimosion Esodon), the tax authority, moved the start of that obligation to 1 July 2027 by decision Α.1187/2026, announced on 17 September 2026.¹¹¹²²³ The obligation had been due to start on 1 October 2026.¹³²³ Until 1 July 2027 the current ways of paying rent remain valid.¹² ΑΑΔΕ said it needed the time to finish a system that cross-checks rent payments with payment providers, and to let owners and tenants adjust.¹¹¹²

A landlord whose rent is not paid through a bank loses the 5% deduction for expenses on property income.¹³²⁴ Under article 210, tenants also lose state benefits linked to the lease,²⁴ which Larissanet, a regional news site, says include the rent refund.¹³

Higher income limits for the rent refund

Law 5313/2026, published on 25 June 2026, raised the annual family income limits for the rent refund to €25,000 for a single person and €35,000 for a married couple, plus €5,000 for each dependent child.¹⁴¹⁵ The refund is paid once a year, by the end of November, to the IBAN the tenant has declared to ΑΑΔΕ.¹⁵ The Prime Minister said tenants would receive the next payment, for 2025 rents, on 30 November 2026.⁶⁷

What has only been announced?

The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced a second set of measures on 5 September 2026 at the ΔΕΘ (Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης, Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis), the Thessaloniki International Fair.⁶⁷ The Ministry of National Economy and Finance (Υπουργείο Εθνικής Οικονομίας και Οικονομικών, Ypourgeio Ethnikis Oikonomias kai Oikonomikon) costed them in the draft 2027 state budget, which it tabled in Parliament's Standing Committee on Economic Affairs on 5 October 2026.²³

A budget line is not a law. The Finance Ministry bill now in public consultation, open until 22 October 2026, deals with loan servicers, crypto-assets and courier payments, and contains none of these housing measures.¹⁶¹⁷ On 8 September 2026 the newspaper Πρώτο Θέμα (Proto Thema) reported that the transfer tax would go into an omnibus bill expected in public consultation within the following month.¹⁰ We found no such bill published by 8 October 2026.¹⁶¹⁷

ENFIA: a higher population cap (announced, not law)

The government has announced, but not legislated, that from 2027 the ENFIA exemption would cover settlements of up to 2,000 inhabitants, and up to 2,200 in Western Macedonia.⁷⁹ The announcement says 131 more settlements would qualify, for 12,855 in total.⁶⁹ Reports put the number of extra owners at about 62,000; one report counts them as properties rather than owners.⁸⁴⁹ The draft budget costs the wider exemption at €8 million a year.³⁴¹⁹ Newsit reports that owners would first see the change on the 2027 ENFIA assessment, expected in mid-March 2027.⁷ Nothing announced so far extends the relief to owners who are not Greek tax residents: text quoted from the draft 2027 budget keeps the condition that owners be individuals who are Greek tax residents (φορολογικοί κάτοικοι Ελλάδας), and that the home be their main residence (κύρια κατοικία).³⁴

Landlords and builders (announced, not law)

The government has announced that the three-year tax exemption for empty homes let long-term would extend to homes let from 2027 to 2030.⁹²⁰ It has also announced that the income-tax reduction for building-upgrade costs, worth up to €16,000 in total, would run for the same period.⁹¹⁸²¹ The suspension of VAT on new buildings would also be extended, to 2030 according to reports.⁸¹⁸

Under the announced plan, new short-term rentals, such as Airbnb lets, would also be restricted in 2027 in municipal districts of Athens and Thessaloniki.⁹³ Τα Νέα (Ta Nea) and the draft budget text specify the three municipal districts of Athens and the 1st municipal district of Thessaloniki.⁸³

Who would pay the 15% transfer tax?

The government has announced that from 1 July 2027 the transfer tax on buying a home would rise from 3% to 15% for buyers from countries outside the European Union.⁶⁹

The 15% transfer tax on non-EU buyers is an announcement, not a law: no bill had been published by 8 October 2026.⁹¹⁶

The Finance Minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, said the 15% rate would apply to individuals, not to legal entities such as companies.⁹¹⁰ Reports of the details say it would cover homes only, not commercial property or land, and that EU and EEA citizens, holders of long-term resident status (επί μακρόν διαμένοντες, epi makron diamenontes) and people of Greek descent (ομογενείς, omogeneis) would be exempt.⁸¹⁰ With the 3% municipal surcharge, the total would come to 15.45%.⁸⁴ By our calculation, the surcharge adds 0.45 percentage points, because 3% of 15% is 0.45.⁸

The wording on who pays is not consistent. The published text of the Prime Minister's speech speaks of buyers who «προέρχονται από τρίτες χώρες» ("come from third countries", in our translation) outside the EU, and mentions neither citizenship nor tax residence.⁶ Press reports of the government's details by Newsit and Πρώτο Θέμα, and by Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (Efimerida ton Syntakton) citing ministry sources, refer instead to citizens («πολίτες») of non-EU countries.⁷²⁰¹⁰ Text quoted from the draft 2027 budget refers to individuals who are tax residents of third countries, in Greek «φορολογικούς κατοίκους τρίτων χωρών (εκτός ΕΕ)».³⁴ Under the citizenship wording nationality decides, and under the budget wording tax residence decides, so a US or British citizen who is tax resident in Greece could fall on different sides of the line depending on which version reaches the bill.³⁷²⁰ Πρώτο Θέμα also reports that how the 15% tax would interact with the Golden Visa residence scheme is unresolved.¹⁰

What can readers do now?

Under current law, a lease of at least three years on a home left empty for the previous three years must be signed by 31 December 2026 to qualify for the three-year exemption.¹ Landlords and tenants have until 1 July 2027 to move rent payments to a bank account.¹¹¹² For the announced measures, including the 2,000 threshold and the 15% transfer tax, nothing changes until a bill is published and voted.¹⁶