Golden Visa: raising thresholds to €800,000 and €400,000 - Airbnb banned

The Finance Ministry leadership presented on Thursday (March 21) a program to adjust the Golden Visa program for foreign nationals investing in real estate in Greece. The minimum property area for the Golden Visa will be 120 square meters and the minimum purchase price for the Golden Visa will be increased to 800,000 euros in Athens, Thessaloniki and the tourist islands.

As announced by the Minister of Economy and Finance Fedor Hadjidakis, as of May 31 (with a transition period provided for, if there are prior agreements), the limit for obtaining the Golden Visa for foreign nationals will be changed. Specifically, the limit for obtaining the Golden Visa is increased to 800,000 euros in the following areas: Attica, Regional Division of Thessaloniki, Regional Division of Mykonos, Regional Division of Santorini and islands with a population of more than 3100 inhabitants. In other areas, the real estate value to be paid by the investor for the acquisition of real estate is 400,000 euros and 250,000 euros for conservation. For buildings that have industrial use and are converted into residential premises, the limit is 200,000 euros. In any case, the investment must be made in a property of at least 120 square meters.

In addition, it should be noted that a ban on short-term rentals (Airbnb) is envisioned. That is, buyers opting for the Golden Visa are obliged to choose long-term rather than short-term rentals. Finally, according to Minister Hadjidakis, residency periods can be extended for five additional years if the property remains in the ownership of the investor. If it is sold, the residence permit is revoked.

For more details on the adjustments to the Golden Visa, see. Press release of the Ministry of Economy and Finance: regulating bureaucracy, improving service to taxpayers, using modern communication technologies with AADE and strengthening transparency in the draft law on changing the tax procedure.

In parallel, the changes in the Golden Visa were presented, which prioritize the housing needs of households and allow to continue investments under more sustainable conditions.

Minister of National Economy and Finance Fedor Hadjidakis said: "The Draft Law on Tax Procedure serves the goals of transparency, reduction of bureaucracy, better service to citizens and the use of AADE digital tools. Procedures that were previously carried out through the exchange of documents, which caused delays and, in some cases, as in the case of issuing a tax notice, to the detriment of the citizen, will now be carried out digitally, quickly and securely. Moreover, we are creating a framework so that hundreds of thousands of citizens will be exempted from the obligation to submit a tax statement if their income is known in advance to the tax authorities. In parallel, we are creating a sustainable regulatory framework so that hundreds of thousands of citizens can avoid the ruling of a tax statement if the income is known to the tax authority. In general, the draft law on tax procedure is a qualitative leap in the direction of digitalization of the state and real resistance to bureaucracy. In such a scenario, the draft proves the government's desire to improve the daily life of every Greek citizen, especially in their interaction with economic and financial services."

Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Haris Theocharis said, "With the new draft law of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, we are decisively introducing radical changes to the Code of Tax Procedure. I have the courage to say that the draft law takes one of the most important steps that have taken place in recent decades in the operation of the tax mechanism in Greece. With measures such as the introduction of automatic pre-filling of tax returns, we will relieve about 1 million salaried employees and pensioners from the process of preparing and submitting tax returns. Tax returns are automatically pre-filed by AADE and finalized automatically unless the taxpayer raises objections within the tax filing deadline. Currently, only the pre-filing of income from wages and pensions applies, but from now on the automatic filing applies to all income, including income from shares, real estate rentals and bank interest.