Greece plans to raise the tax on buying a home from 3 percent to 15 percent for people from outside the European Union and European Economic Area, starting July 1, 2027. It has been announced by ministers but is not law yet.
Add the municipal levy and the rate you actually pay goes from 3.09 percent to 15.45 percent. The finance ministry’s own examples: a home assessed at 200,000 euros carries a transfer tax of 30,000 euros instead of 6,000.
At 500,000 euros, 75,000 instead of 15,000. At 800,000 euros, 120,000 instead of 24,000.
It applies to homes only; not shops, offices, land or anything else. And only to people, not companies. EU and EEA citizens are exempt. So are ethnic Greeks abroad and anyone holding EU long-term resident status in Greece.
Deputy Minister Dimitris Markopoulos, setting out the detail, said the point was to slow down the bulk buying of homes that pushes prices up and shuts residents out of housing.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the rise at the opening of the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair on Sept. 5, with a start date that looked like January 2027.
The ministry came back on Sept. 7 with the exemptions and a later start, after the property industry objected. Markopoulos said the July date leaves room for sales already in progress to close.
The measure goes into the bill carrying all the fair’s tax announcements. That bill is expected to open for public consultation within a month, and Deputy Minister Thanos Petralias said it would be voted around October. Exemptions could still be added before it reaches Parliament.
If you’ve been thinking about buying in Greece, here is what matters:
The tax does not care how many homes you buy or what you plan to do with them. Buy one apartment to live in and you pay the same 15 percent as someone buying ten to rent out. The exemption that would cover you, long-term resident status, takes five years of legal residence in Greece to earn, so it is no help if you are deciding this year.
That leaves about ten months at the current 3.09 percent.
Still unanswered: which passport counts if you hold two, whether an EU passport gets you out of it, what paperwork proves your status and when it gets checked, how Golden Visa purchases are treated, and how the exemption for ethnic Greeks will be written.
Sources:
Δημήτρης Μαρκόπουλος: «Τα μέτρα είναι αποτέλεσμα ουσιαστικού διαλόγου με την κοινωνία και τους παραγωγικούς φορείς» — Hellenic Ministry of National Economy and Finance, Sept. 7, 2026
Συνέντευξη Τύπου του Υπουργού Κυριάκου Πιερρακάκη και της Πολιτικής Ηγεσίας του ΥΠΕΘΟΟ — ερωτοαπαντήσεις — Hellenic Ministry of National Economy and Finance, Sept. 7, 2026
Το νέο τοπίο από τον φόρο μεταβίβασης 15% για αγοραστές από τρίτες χώρες — Protothema, Sept. 8, 2026
Ακίνητα: Σε ποιους επιβάλλεται ο φόρος μεταβίβασης 15% – Τι άλλαξε μετά τις αντιδράσεις — newmoney.gr, Sept. 8, 2026
Στα εγκαίνια της 90ής ΔΕΘ ο Μητσοτάκης — in.gr, Sept. 5, 2026
Στο 15% από 3% αυξάνεται ο φόρος μεταβίβασης για υπηκόους τρίτων χωρών — dnews.gr, Sept. 6, 2026
I love how governments roll out massive structural changes to production without stress testing a single edge case first. Look at the open loops left sitting in this announcement:
1) Dual Nationalities: If a buyer holds an American passport and an Italian/Greek passport, which record controls the transaction at the registry?
2) Golden Visa Pipeline: Do buyers who submitted applications under the previous framework get grandfathered, or do they get caught in the 15% crossfire mid-transaction?
3) The Ethnic Greek Exemption Loophole: How exactly is the ministry going to legally define and verify ethnic Greek abroad status at notary closing without turning every property transfer into a 6-month genealogy audit?
4) 5-Year Long-Term Residence Rule: Expecting someone to hold 5 years of legal residence before granting an exemption for a home purchase is completely circular: most people need to buy or secure housing to build long-term residence.
Moving the deadline from January 2027 to July 2027 didn't fix the policy, it just gave everyone a 10-month window to exploit every loophole before the bill even hits Parliament for a vote in October.
If you buy before the deadline, are you locked in at the lower rate?