Airbnb Greece – Initial CoS Ruling Deems Tax Circular Unlawful

A plenary session of Greece’s Council of State (CoS), the country’s highest administrative court, is set to deliver a final ruling on a significant case with potentially huge economic implications for the tourism sector, one that concerns the tax regime of property owners in Greece offering short-term rentals via platforms like Airbnb.

Recently, a seven-member panel of the high court – and specifically the CoS 2nd department – declared a circular issued by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) unlawful and invalid regarding the imposition of a standalone business fee on Airbnb rentals. However, due to the case’s significance, the matter was referred to the court’s plenary session for a definitive judgment.

The court’s Second Section noted in its ruling that the challenged circular, which “has a regulatory nature,” was not published in the Government Gazette but was only uploaded online (via DIAVGEIA) and put into effect. Consequently, the court deemed it “unlawful, invalid, and subject to annulment on grounds of legal certainty,” as rightly argued by the petitioners.