Buying a house in Greece: first the tax, then the notary — and only done at the land registry

First the order that is fixed on this site: in your first year you don't buy — you rent, you get to know the island or the region, and only then do you decide. This article is for the moment you have got that far. In terms of order, Greece resembles Portugal: the tax is paid by you, before the deed. But there is a step that follows which the Netherlands doesn't know: you are only done once the land registry has registered the deed.

Step zero: without an AFM you sign nothing

Everything in this process — the tax return, the deed, the assessments afterwards — hangs on your Greek tax number. That AFM is the first thing you arrange, and it can already be done from the Netherlands.

Before the deed: the transfer tax, together with the seller

The transfer tax (foros metavivasis) is 3% of the value of the property, plus a municipal surcharge of 3% on that tax — so effectively 3.09%. The return is a joint return by buyer and seller, nowadays digital via myPROPERTY on the tax portal, and the notary draws it up. After that you have three working days to pay — and only with that proof of payment can the deed be executed. So the order is immovable: first the tax authority, then the signature.

For whoever is really going to live there, there is a serious exemption for the main residence: up to € 200,000 for a single person and € 250,000 for a married couple (with increases per child) you pay no transfer tax; you only settle up on the excess. EU citizens qualify for it, but note the condition that determines everything for emigrants: you must live in Greece permanently, or settle there within two years of the purchase. Whoever buys from the Netherlands therefore claims the exemption on a promise — and that deadline is shorter than it sounds.

The deed — and then the Ktimatologio

The deed is executed before the symvolaiografos, the Greek notary. But unlike in the Netherlands, with that signature you are not yet the owner: the transfer is only completed once the deed is registered with the Ktimatologio, the national land registry. For years that was a drawn-out step of weeks; since the digital transfer folder on akinita.gov.gr the notary starts the file online, you give your consent via TaxisNet, the supporting documents are retrieved automatically and the deed — if no old issues attach to the property — is registered within one working day. So ask your notary explicitly for the digital route; for properties with a history in the old mortgage registers it takes slightly longer.

After the purchase: the E9, and then the ENFIA every year

Two things follow after the handover of the keys:

1. The E9 return — the declaration of your property holdings to the tax authority, by 31 January of the year after the purchase at the latest. If your transfer ran digitally via myPROPERTY, the E9 of buyer and seller is generated automatically — check it, but the work is done.
2. The ENFIA, the annual property tax on every property you own on 1 January. The assessment comes from the tax authority based on your E9; the amount depends on location, floor area and value. Put it in your annual budget, because it comes every year — including on a house that stands empty.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Greece.