Tax "safari" on property owners renting out their properties through Airbnb and Booking for "black cash"

Short-term rentals via Airbnb and hotel and holiday accommodation via Booking will come under close scrutiny from AADE auditors in the coming days, as there are signs of increased tax evasion.

Despite measures taken to combat the phenomenon, “black cash” continues to circulate widely in the short-term rental sector, with significant discrepancies being found between bookings and declared income, as well as when renting accommodation through Booking. A cross-checking program will begin immediately using a new digital module that also uses artificial intelligence.

The property rental data check will use algorithms and artificial intelligence applications to combine and cross-check all sources of tax and other data. This includes property data declared in Taxisnet, last year's income reflected in 2024 tax returns, and property owners' bank account and credit card transactions.

According to the Greek Tax Authority's plan, the inspections will focus on:

• Undeclared property
  The data provided in the tax returns will be verified with the data provided to AADE by short-term rental companies such as Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO. As part of the agreement signed with these platforms, AADE has already received all rental data for 2023. Thus, the control mechanism, having a complete picture of the type and area of ​​the rented properties, as well as the amount of revenue collected by managers, will begin cross-checking. The goal is to identify cases of non-declaration of real estate in the register or false declaration of information about the property and the rental period.
• Business owners renting out their properties through Airbnb
  A special team of the Hellenic Tax Authority will conduct a series of cross-checks between the VAT numbers of owners, the Property Identification Numbers (PIDs) and the registers of short-term rental platforms. The goal is to identify those who rent out more than two properties for short-term rent and have not transferred their VAT number to the business. In practice, about 7,500 taxpayers who own three or more properties will be under the microscope.
  They will be checked to see if they have set up a business and paid insurance premiums, business tax and VAT on their first property since this year. Next year, they will be taxed on the minimum imputed income applicable to sole traders, rather than the rent scale as is the case for individuals. Those who have not yet done so will receive an email warning from AADE.
• In hotels – rooms rented through Booking
  A cross-check of hotel gross revenue data with Booking platform revenue data for the 2022 tax year has begun. Auditors have already targeted hotels, which are being audited for their reported occupancy and nightly rates based on data displayed on Booking.com. The goal is to establish whether the amounts reported are realistic and whether taxes are being paid based on these figures.

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