Each year, between 2,000 and 3,000 new businesses become liable for ENFIA, the country’s annual property tax, driving a continuous increase in corporate tax contributions.
In 2019, legal entities across Greece collectively paid about €465 million in ENFIA. By 2025, that figure has climbed above €565 million. Until 2021, companies accounted for less than 20 percent of total ENFIA revenue, but their share has now reached around 25 percent and continues to grow.
Unlike private property owners, companies have not benefited from any tax relief or adjustment in how their property taxes are calculated. The rise in the number of firms paying ENFIA is linked not only to the creation of new property-owning companies but also to efforts to manage taxation more efficiently, especially regarding rental income.
For businesses, rental income is taxed at a flat rate of 22 percent, regardless of the amount, and related expenses are deductible. For individuals, however, the tax scale is progressive—ranging up to 45 percent even after the reductions that will take effect in early 2026. This means that for landlords with substantial rental income, it is often more tax-efficient to channel revenue through a company rather than hold property in their own name.
Currently, individuals pay 15 percent tax on the first €12,000 of rental income, 35 percent on the next €23,000, and 45 percent on anything above €35,000. This results in an average tax rate of roughly 22 percent once annual rental income exceeds €19,000—about €4,250 in income tax per year, whether declared as personal income or through a company.
From 2026, the government will introduce a new rental tax scale, cutting the middle bracket from 35 percent to 25 percent for income between €12,000 and €24,000 per year. The change benefits those earning more than €1,000 in monthly rent. Under the new system, a 22 percent effective tax rate will only apply once annual rental income exceeds €27,000, making company ownership less attractive for landlords earning under €2,250 a month.
Even so, companies continue to face a heavier ENFIA burden than individuals, as they pay both the main property tax and a supplementary levy ranging from 0.1 to 0.55 percent. As a result, forming a company to collect rental income generally makes financial sense only for those managing larger property portfolios.
The sharp rise in real estate values since the pandemic has boosted rental yields, which in turn has inflated property-related income. This trend likely explains the expansion in the number of companies paying ENFIA. In 2019, there were 54,443 such legal entities; by 2020, 57,562; by 2022, 61,562; by 2024, 67,372; and by 2025, a record 70,997. The increase between 2024 and 2025—3,625 new entities—marks the largest annual jump ever recorded.
Not all of these cases are purely tax-driven. The property market has been thriving in recent years, encouraging more companies to become active in real estate management and investment. However, some individuals seeking to reduce their tax liabilities have adopted so-called “double lease” arrangements: they create a company that rents their property from them and then sublets it to the actual tenant at a higher rate. While legal in principle, this practice may amount to tax evasion if it exists solely to avoid taxes—a determination that depends on the outcome of tax audits.
Whether rental income will continue to grow is now one of the biggest questions for the market, especially after the introduction of the new tax brackets. Rental prices rose by roughly 10 percent during 2025, suggesting that next year’s tax filings could show a significant jump in declared income.
