Hundreds of foreign property owners across Greece are believed to be earning undeclared and untaxed income from renting out homes and vacation properties, prompting an intensified crackdown by the country’s tax authorities.
According to officials, the issue primarily concerns citizens from EU and Balkan countries who lease their properties through short-term platforms such as Airbnb or through long-term rental agreements without declaring the income to Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).
The problem is particularly widespread in tourist destinations like Crete, the Aegean islands, and Halkidiki, as well as in major cities such as Athens and Thessaloniki. These areas have seen a surge in property purchases by foreign investors in recent years. Many buyers reportedly register their properties through companies or local intermediaries, effectively bypassing the Greek tax system. As a result, while they earn significant rental income, those earnings remain invisible to the authorities.
To address the issue, AADE has begun using advanced data analysis tools and cross-referencing information from major rental platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com. The agency is also relying on the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), an international system established by the OECD that allows for the automatic exchange of financial data between tax authorities in over 100 countries.
Experts in Greece’s real estate market argue that stricter enforcement of the CRS and more targeted cross-border data checks could significantly reduce tax evasion. They also emphasize that fairer taxation would help stabilize the market and prevent Greece from becoming a tax haven for undeclared foreign investments.
Under the CRS framework, tax authorities can exchange information on bank accounts and income held abroad by Greek residents—and, crucially, by foreign nationals earning income in Greece. However, the system’s effectiveness depends on the quality of data shared by participating countries. Officials note that in cases involving non-EU states or countries with limited administrative capacity, the flow of information remains incomplete, making it difficult to identify foreign property owners who fail to declare their earnings.
Greek authorities are now considering imposing fines and retroactive taxes on undeclared rental income. In some cases, these amounts are estimated to reach tens of thousands of euros per property, marking what could become one of the most significant efforts yet to clamp down on tax evasion in Greece’s booming real estate market.
