Room for improvement, especially with respect to some neighboring countries such as eg. Bulgaria presents tax burden accompanying the acquisition, ownership and operation real estate in Greece. Industry leaders note that tax cuts could lead to lower rents, as this would reduce the burden on landlords, creating an appropriate incentive to lower prices. On the other hand, of course, some experts are more skeptical about the effectiveness of such a move, since there is no certainty that the rate cut will have the desired effect, especially if the percentage of undeclared income traded on the real estate market is taken into account.

In any case, after the rationalization of previous years, Greece looks to be about the European average in terms of tax burden. Although there are still important pathologies, such as for example its structure LIGHTwhich “punishes” those with assets above €400,000 through an additional tax, a much better picture than a few years ago when Greece heavily taxed both the ownership and operation as well as the purchase and sale of real estate.

On the contrary, most countries opt for a different system, whereby real estate is taxed when it is bought and sold, and generally when it is commercially exploited and, to a lesser extent, owned. (ENFIA), Greece applies a system of collecting tax from the central government, but has begun to significantly reduce the main tax. Following recent changes to zonal and related rates, tax has been reduced by 40% for 80% of owners compared to the previous year. At the same time, in the coming years, it is planned to further reduce the tax by 10% if the property is insured against natural disasters.

In the rest of Europe, property tax is either not levied at all or is levied mainly at the local government level, with rates varying depending on the value of the property or its location.