Greece: the 15% home purchase tax will depend on tax residency, not on your passport

In brief

• From 1 July 2027 the home purchase tax rises for individuals who are not tax residents of the EU or EEA.
• The rate announced by the government is 15% instead of 3%, or 15.45% instead of 3.09% with the municipal surcharge.
• Public consultation closed on 1 November. The ministry intends to take the law through parliament in November.
• On an apartment at EUR 400,000 the difference is EUR 49,440, and at EUR 800,000 it is EUR 98,880.
• The text may still change before the vote. Under the announced terms, a purchase completed before 1 July 2027 is taxed at 3%.

In six weeks the measure gained a text and a different payer

On 6 September the prime minister announced the increase at the Thessaloniki International Fair. The next day the ministry named the buyers: citizens of countries outside the EU and EEA. We covered that announcement and the purchase process in our report on the 15% tax for non-EU buyers. There was no bill at the time.

The bill appeared on 18 October with a list of its measures. One separate item is a higher purchase tax on homes from 1 July 2027 for individuals who are not tax residents of the European Union or the European Economic Area. Citizenship is not mentioned. For many buyers that is a difference of tens of thousands of euros, so check the text parliament votes on, not the September speech.

Your passport no longer decides. Where you pay tax does

A passport shows whose citizen you are. Tax residency shows where you pay tax as a resident. The two countries often differ, and the rate now rests on exactly that difference. Here are three buyers, with the municipal surcharge included:

The third row explains why moving to Europe may now also pay off on a home purchase. For a family already planning to live in Cyprus, Portugal or Greece itself, tax residency in an EU country changes the deal budget more than any haggling with the seller. The second row is an unpleasant surprise for anyone who saw a European passport as protection.

Residency cannot simply be declared. It is determined by time in the country, your centre of interests and each state's rules, and the tax office may check that a move is real. Changing country for a single deal makes no sense: look at the whole picture, including income tax and your choice of tax residency. The final text will say which document Greece accepts and on what date status is checked, so it is best to get a residency certificate in advance.

In its September presentation the ministry named exemptions for people of Greek origin and long-term residents, and left companies, commercial property and land outside the increase. We will check against the enacted text whether the law keeps them in the same form.

On an EUR 800,000 purchase the tax rises by almost EUR 99,000

The tax base is the higher of two figures: the contract price or the cadastral value. A contract price below market will not help, since the base cannot fall below the cadastral value. The amounts in the table are not random: they are the Golden Visa thresholds in different regions and for different property types. We include the municipal surcharge and use the contract price as an example.

The tax is paid on top of the price and does not come back on resale. Buying in May rather than July 2027 can differ by tens of thousands of euros on the same apartment, so compare properties with the purchase date in mind. Haggling with a seller rarely covers such a gap.

Avoiding the tax by buying through a company looks tempting, since companies stayed outside the increase in the September presentation. We would not build a plan on this before the final text exists. A company has its own taxes, costs and reporting, and the Golden Visa has separate ownership conditions. Such a structure has to be calculated as a whole and only under the enacted law.

The Golden Visa costs more to enter, while the thresholds stay

The list of measures does not change the programme thresholds: EUR 800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and large islands, EUR 400,000 elsewhere, and EUR 250,000 for conversions and restorations. What changes is the budget. A Golden Visa investor resident outside the EU and EEA will pay EUR 98,880 more to enter Attica than today, and this tax does not come back on resale. Build a full budget with our Golden Visa guide, and see how the programme has changed in our article on the 2024-2026 changes.

The new tax arrives in a market that has already cooled. According to the Ministry of Migration, 2,551 new applications were filed in the first half of 2026 against 4,553 a year earlier, down 44%. There is an upside for buyers: with no rush, a property can be checked calmly. The time is capped by the date, because a purchase takes two to four months and the tax is paid before signing at the notary.

The finest question concerns the EUR 250,000 route. If a building already counts as a home at transfer, the rate the law applies becomes decisive, and the ministry's description gives no direct answer. For such deals we check the transfer date and the property's designation before any preliminary contract. To compare Greece with other countries, see our articles on Argentina and the Greek Golden Visa and purchase tax in Portugal, and all options in our residence permits section.

The statistics show how quickly this market reacts to rules. In 2025 investors received 8,879 permits, almost twice as many as a year earlier, as applications filed before the threshold rise came through. New applications fell by a quarter over the same period. Nearly half of active permits belong to Chinese citizens, and buyers from third countries remain the core of demand, so the measure hits it directly. It is logical to expect the next surge of applications before 1 July 2027, and better not to test notaries' queues in person.

The same bill brings relief for owners

The tax on buyers is one line in the package. Other measures on the ministry's list favour those who already own or are building in Greece:

• The ENFIA tax is abolished from 2027 in settlements of up to 2,000 residents, or 2,200 in Western Macedonia. That adds 131 settlements and about 62,000 owners.
• The tax exemption for vacant homes that are let out is extended to 2027.
• The suspension of capital gains tax on property sales is extended to 2027.
• The VAT exemption for new buildings and the deduction for upgrades are extended to 2027.

The VAT point matters to buyers of new builds: which tax applies to a given deal, purchase tax or VAT, is checked against the building permit and the contract. Annual payments are covered in our articles on the ENFIA tax and property taxes, and the wider picture in taxes in Greece.

Five questions the law has to answer

• On what date residency is checked: the deposit, the preliminary contract or the final deed.
• Which document proves it, and whether another country's certificate is accepted without further checks.
• Whether the exemptions for people of Greek origin and long-term residents remain, and how they are defined.
• How the law treats preliminary contracts signed before 1 July 2027.
• Which rate applies to buildings converted into homes and to restored properties from EUR 250,000.

The first and fourth questions matter most to anyone already negotiating. If status is checked on the date of the final deed, moving to an EU country before then could change the rate. If the deposit date decides, that option disappears. Until the text is published, leave a margin in contracts and do not pay a large deposit just for the sake of the rate.

What to do before the law is passed

Our position: if you are resident outside the EU and EEA and complete after 1 July 2027, budget at 15.45% and do not plan on the law being softened. The measure is built into the budget plans, and the package goes to a vote as a whole.

We support the purchase from choosing the property to registration: real estate and documents. You can go through your situation at an online consultation. Once parliament passes the text, we will check the test, exemptions and transitional rules against it and update this report.

How this report was prepared

Prepared on 3 November 2026. Sources: the statement by the Greek Ministry of National Economy and Finance of 18 October 2026 on the bill with the measures of the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair; the prime minister's statement of 6 September 2026; the ministry's presentation; data from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. Calculations by BRIDGES at the announced rates. We had not checked the full text of the bill at the time of writing and rely on the ministry's description.