Check your E9 property description in Greece

By Christos ILIOPOULOS*

Athens, 18 June 2025

If you own real estate property in Greece you must be aware of the E9 list you file with the Greek tax authority, describing in detail every piece of property you own. Based on this description you have given to the tax authority, the annual property tax is levied and paid by you, the owner. Each real estate piece of property (house, apartment – condominium, plot, parcel of land, other property rights including shared rights) must be described in the E9 form in a codified way, for the tax authority to have the basic characteristics of your property, in order to assess its tax value and subsequently impose the property tax, which is called ENFIA.

It goes without saying that the description of your properties in the E9 list must be accurate, representing the actual condition, measurements, dimensions and other factors of the real estate. Whether the owner has filed an E9 property description which is accurate essentially is verified each time the property is to be transferred, either as a sale, or a gift or any other transfer transaction. In that moment, the notary who in Greece drafts along with the lawyers and certifies the transfer deed, will thoroughly examine many factors and measurements of the property, as well as previous deeds and the new extremely detailed technical survey by a civil engineer, in order to come up with the actual characteristics of the property. These must coincide with the E9 description. If there is any discrepancy, the E9 will have to be modified and brought up to date. In most cases, this modification has to be done retroactively, covering the last five years.

If the modification of the E9 results in an increased tax value of the property, the owner must first pay the additional annual property tax which will be levied for the last five years and then be able to sell or transfer the property.

The E9 legal and technical description of the property must be accurate and reflect reality, in order to lead to a fair annual property tax (ENFIA). There are cases where property owners have not checked for years the accuracy of their E9 property description. The owners may be away from Greece, or may be heirs to estates in Greece, in cases where the deceased has passed many years ago and the annual property tax has not been paid for a long time. There are other cases where the tax authority in Greece has been imposing the annual property tax each year, thus accumulating a tax debt for the owner of the property in question, while a more accurate description of the property would significantly reduce the annual property tax.

If a property owner discovers after several years that the accumulated annual property tax was wrongfully increased due to a mistaken E9 description of the property, he/she can file a modification of the E9 description, which will result in a reduced annual property tax retroactively, thus reducing the accumulated taxes owed. However, the Greek tax authority will accept the modification of the E9 description only for the last five years. For years before the last five, the tax authority will reject the modification. The taxpayer, owner of the property must in that case file an objection, requesting the modification to be accepted even for the period before the last five years, citing several arguments, depending on each specific case. The objection will be processed and considered by the tax authority and in many cases objections are approved and the E9 modified property description is upheld even for ten or more years back in time, thus resulting in reduced back property taxes. Each particular case has its own facts and any property owner who believes that the E9 property description is not accurate, should seek professional advice in order to correct the E9 form and then be able to transfer the property, while benefiting from reduced property tax obligations.

   *Christos ILIOPOULOS, attorney at

the Supreme Court of Greece , LL.M.

www.greekadvocate.eu

e-mail: bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr