A report in Haniotika Nea on 10th February summarises coming changes in the rules for rental payments, which are part of a government drive to reduce tax evasion in the property sector. The move is intended to outlaw under-the-table cash transactions and make it easer for the tax authorities to check rental incomes declared by property owners against the actual rentals paid by tenants. While the changes, as first announced in December 2025, were originally intended to apply from 1st January of this year, it would appear that the ruling has been delayed and will now apply from the beginning of April.

The size of the problem is demonstrated by fact that, as reported on the Dnews.gr website on the same date, “While property prices and rents have risen steadily across the country, declared rental income corresponds to an average monthly rent of just €255 nationwide – an amount widely considered unrealistic. According to the government’s economic team, this discrepancy points to systematic tax evasion, either through undeclared leases or by declaring rent amounts significantly lower than those actually paid. In reality, average rents exceed €450 per month, and the majority of tenants report paying up to €600.”

Changes in the rules for rental payments

From the 1st April 2026 the framework for the payment of rents is changing, with the implementation of regulation no. 5264/2026. The basic change is that all rental payments must be made and received electronically, i.e. through a bank account. Both tenants and landlords who do not follow this rule could find themselves incurring considerable financial losses.

With the exclusive use of bank accounts for such payments, the AADE will be able to undertake automatic cross checks of reported rentals against bank transactions. In this way the margin for undeclared sums of money and under-the-table agreements will be reduced. In detail, the changes to rental payments will be as follows:

Bank accounts
– The bank account must be in the name of the property owner and must have been declared to the special electronic platform of the AADE.
– Payment of rentals to third party accounts (relative, proxy, lawyer or management company) will not now be recognised as they will not allow the identification of the real beneficiary.
Joint accounts
– The owner is recommended to appear first in the beneficiaries of a joint account.
– If, however, there are several joint lessors, then each owner must declare their own IBAN, so that the appropriate amount can be deposited.

If the process of electronic payment is not followed, then severe financial losses can ensue. Specifically:
– Owners will be excluded from receiving the discount of 5% on rental income for tax purposes, intended to cover depreciation and property-related expenses.
– Lessees will not be included in the housing subsidies for vulnerable households and students, and in the new annual return of rent which can be as much as €800.
– Electronic payment is the basic condition for the granting of each tax reduction or government subsidy related to accommodation.
– Businesses which from 2026 pay business rents other than by bank transfer will not be able to deduct them as expenses from their gross income.
(Haniotika Nea, 10/02/26)

Who would the penalties affect
While the announcement predicts “severe financial penalties” for those who do not comply with the new rules, the subsidies which they will not have access to are restricted to those at the lower end of the income scale. For example the return of 1 month’s rent is only available to single persons with an income of up to €20,000 and in properties valued up to €120,000, or couples without children with an income of up to €28,000 and in properties up to €140,000. (There is an increase of €4,000 in income and €20,000 in property value for each additional child.)

Thus while there is an incentive for rentals at the lower end of the scale to be correctly reported by both landlord and tenant, this will not necessarily apply in the case of more expensive properties. On the other hand with the degree of access which AADE now has to people’s patterns of expenditure, the use of cash transactions to facilitate tax evasion is becoming ever more difficult.