Concerns expressed through the public consultation on the mini-tax bill, about the stringency of the conditions for a property that is closed or available for short-term rent to be provided on a long-term basis, have led the finance staff to consider making amendments before the bill is submitted to the Parliament.
The main objective is for the specific measure to work as efficiently as possible, “freeing up” a significant number of properties in order to cover the increased demand. Moreover, it will help the owners to benefit through a 3-year exemption from income tax.
Based on the provision included in the mini-tax bill, in order to receive a tax exemption for three years, the property must have remained unused for three consecutive years and in particular the 2022, 2023 and 2024.
According to sources, the financial staff is considering reducing the specific period of time to two or even one year in order to include as many owners as possible.
Something similar seems to be considered for the cases of transition of the property from short-term to long-term lease. That is, if an owner has made his property available for short-term rental for a year or two and wishes to rent it long-term, he should also have a three-year income tax exemption.
Conditions
According to the tax bill, a three-year tax exemption is provided for those properties that will be rented out if they were previously declared vacant or available for short-term rental. The conditions include:
- The surface of the property must be up to 120 sq.m.
- The property must be leased for three years between 8 September 2024 and 31 December 2025.
- The property in the tax years 2022, 2023 and 2024 must have been declared vacant, not declared as leased or as the lessors’ main or secondary residence, or as self-occupied or freehold property, or was allocated exclusively for short-term lease and the concluded short-term leases have been declared in the Tax Office Administration.
The public consultation of the bill ends on November 19.
