Greece announces a 15% property purchase tax for non-EU buyers: what it means

On 6 September 2026, at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that the property transfer tax for buyers from countries outside the European Union would rise from 3% to 15%. With the municipal surcharge, the rate in force today is 3.09%.

For Vietnamese buyers this is the most consequential change to the Greek market since the Golden Visa thresholds were raised in 2024. Before doing any arithmetic, though, one thing needs saying plainly.

This is an announcement, not law

No bill has been published. What exists is the prime minister's announcement, detail supplied by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance on 7 September, and a narrowing of the scope by ministerial clarification the following day.

Two practical consequences follow. First, the figures and dates below can still change. Second, and more important for anyone mid-purchase: there are no transitional rules yet for deposits already paid, reservation agreements already signed, or transactions in progress.

Two dates are in circulation

The prime minister said 1 January 2027. The finance minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, subsequently gave 1 July 2027. Both have been reported, and until the bill appears neither is settled.

We give both rather than pick one: picking the earlier date rushes people, and picking the later one costs them preparation time.

Who pays, who does not

After the ministry's clarification the scope is considerably narrower than the initial announcement suggested:

• Caught: residential property, bought by an individual who is a non-EU/EEA citizen and does not hold long-term resident status in Greece.
• Outside it: commercial property, land, and purchases made by legal entities.
• Exempt: ethnic Greeks, and those already holding long-term resident status.

The point to state plainly for Golden Visa clients: the investor permit is not long-term resident status. They are two different titles in European law — long-term residence is the status under Directive 2003/109/EC, normally requiring five years of actual residence. A Golden Visa holder remains a third-country national, and so is likely caught unless the bill exempts them specifically.

On legal entities being outside the measure: we record that as the ministry stated it, not as advice. Buying through a company brings its own chain of consequences for corporate tax, filing, running costs, and for whether the Golden Visa application is accepted at all. Anyone considering it needs Greek tax counsel on their own facts, not an inference from a news line.

The figures against the stock we distribute

The cheapest flat in our current list is EUR 275,000, the dearest EUR 348,000. The transfer tax would move as follows:

• At EUR 275,000: from roughly EUR 8,498 to EUR 41,250 — a difference of EUR 32,753.
• At EUR 348,000: from roughly EUR 10,753 to EUR 52,200 — a difference of EUR 41,447.

At the Golden Visa thresholds the gaps are wider still: a EUR 250,000 conversion goes from about 7,500 to 37,500; a EUR 400,000 purchase from 12,000 to 60,000; a EUR 800,000 Attica purchase from about 24,000 to 120,000.

In short, on an Athens flat in the range Vietnamese buyers typically look at, the difference lands somewhere between thirty and forty-odd thousand euros — large enough to change the arithmetic outright, not a rounding item.

What to do now

If you are mid-purchase: ask your lawyer which moment fixes the rate — the date of the preliminary agreement, or the date the notarial deed is signed. That is precisely the point on which no transitional rule yet exists, and it decides what you pay.

If you are considering a purchase: the earliest date mentioned is 1 January 2027. But do not let a measure that is not yet law push you into a hurried decision. A flat bought in haste to save several tens of thousands in tax can still lose more than that on resale.

If the goal is the residence card rather than the property: this is the moment to re-examine whether Greece remains the most sensible route compared with the other programmes on our list.

We will update this article when the bill is published. See also Greece Property, the Greek Golden Visa and the projects we distribute.

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The information in this article is for reference at the time of writing. It is not legal advice and no outcome is promised — immigration policy, tax rules and market conditions can change. For an assessment based on your family's specific circumstances, please request a consultation with the VNIS Investment team.