Greece’s financial success
On Thursday 11th December, Greece’s Minister of Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis was elected President of the Eurogroup – the informal meeting of EU finance ministers which guides the Union’s economic policy. As Minister of Digital Governance, Mr Pierrakakis oversaw the rapid and successful digitisation of government services in the first Mitsotakis administration of 2019-23, and apart from being a recognition of his personal qualities, the choice is a remarkable turnaround for a country which only ten years ago was under strong pressure from the same Eurogroup – and particularly the German Finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble – to leave the euro. That did not happen and following a period of supervision by the EFSF/ESM and the IMF, which made large loans to help the country through its financial crisis, Greece’s financial position has gradually improved to the point where it was able make early repayments of the more expensive IMF loans by 2022, and anticipates fully paying off the first bailout loans by 2031, 10 years ahead of schedule.
With money in hand, the current Mitsotakis government has adopted a policy of rebates and subsidies addressed to the more vulnerable segments of society, including pensioners and young people. This has inevitably brought criticism from the opposition parties, who have claimed that such benefits should be equally distributed, e.g. by a lowering of VAT rates. However, the government has replied that it makes more sense to distribute the money to those most in need of it, rather than to a broad sector of the population which will include many who have less need of it.
Rebates for rental tenants
Among these schemes is one introduced this year and intended to be permanent, which gives a rebate of one monthly rental to those in rented accommodation who meet certain criteria. Eligibility is for those with annual incomes of up to €20,000 (€28,000 for couples), plus €4,000 for each dependent child , and €31,000 for single parent families plus €5,000 for each dependent child beyond the first. The refund equals one twelfth of annual rental costs with a ceiling of €800 plus €50 for each dependent child. The refund affects approximately 1 million tenants of primary or student housing and will be paid every November without the need for application, based on data from tenants’ tax returns.
The system of rental subsidies has also given the government, incidentally, a new tool in the fight against tax evasion. With the payment of the subsidy depending on the production of a lease showing the amount of rental being paid, as a report in Haniotika Nea makes clear, it now has the opportunity to check up on rentals which are suspiciously low:
AADE conducts a “safari” of checks on fake rentals
With the completion due, at the end of December, of the process of submitting amended declarations by taxpayers who had declared erroneous rentals and received reduced rebates of rental in the past week, checks on rental agreements with unnaturally low rents are being started by the Independent Authority for Public Income (AADE).
Targeted cross-checks are being carried out between the declared rentals and market rents, especially in the case of rental contracts which show large divergences from the data available to the tax authorities from banks, utilities and other sources. Coming under the microscope will be agreements between owners and tenants which were made for purely formal reasons, with the real rental not being declared.
Statistics from the rental subsidies are increasing suspicions of “black rentals”, since of some 900,000 eligible tenants, 180,000 declared monthly rentals of up to €100, while 630,000 quoted amounts between €100 and €400. Only ten per cent declared rentals over €400, despite the “explosion” in prices at least over the past three years which have led to the unprecedented housing crisis.
It is estimated that there are thousands of property rentals which have either not been declared, or are understated, or are supported by old, outdated rental agreements which continue to show amounts which do not correspond to the actual rental cost.
From 1st January 2026, every euro paid for housing, be it for a main residence or a student apartment, must pass through the banking system. Those who do not pay the rent via a bank will be excluded from the subsidy, even if they fulfil the criteria. At the same time, property owners who receive rents in cash will not be entitled to the 5% reduction allowed on gross income [for income tax purposes], while businesses which pay their rent in cash will not be entitled to claim it as an expense.
(Haniotika Nea, 09/12/25)