NEW LAW - Greek Property Owners Need To File Contracts Online

Owners leasing homes or commercial properties, including farms and tourism-related properties on contracts shorter than a year, are now required to submit copies of the contracts electronically, instead of through the tax offices, the Finance Ministry said in an announcement this week.

In clarifications issued on the new regulations, the ministry's General Secretariat of Information Systems, which handles all tax-related electronic filing by taxpayers, stated that contracts must be filed online through the Taxisnet platform even if the agreement with the renter is verbal (this also includes cases of subleasing and granting of free use or by some exchange).

An exception is made for those allowing the free use of a home up to 200 square metres in surface area, to be used as a main home for immediate relatives.

All property owners must have a tax identification number (AFM), or apply for one, before proceeding with their online application. Exceptions are made for rentals to foreign nationals who don't have AFMs, as long as the lease is under a year, and new legal entities whose paperwork has not been completed.

Applications must be completed by the end of the month following the start or change of a lease and taxpayers may print the proof of the application's acceptance through Taxisnet.