Greece is preparing to restart online property auctions over unpaid tax debts, with the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) set to resume the process on September 16.
The new round will gradually put homes, plots, storage facilities and agricultural land up for auction as the tax administration steps up collection efforts against taxpayers with unresolved debts.
More than 2.3 million taxpayers are currently at risk of compulsory collection measures, while the total amount of old and new overdue tax debts has surpassed €114.5 billion.
According to the latest figures, around 4.79 million individuals and legal entities owe money to the tax authorities. Of these, approximately 1.68 million have already faced compulsory collection measures, while AADE has the power to activate measures including the seizure of bank accounts and assets against more than 2.3 million debtors.
The government is also targeting more than €6 billion in collections from overdue debts by the end of the year.
72-payment plan remains available
Taxpayers facing the risk of compulsory measures can also use a new 72-installment repayment plan.
The scheme covers overdue debts to the tax administration dating through December 31, 2023. Applications can be submitted until December 31, 2026.
There is one key condition: applicants must have already paid or arranged through the standard repayment scheme any debts incurred from 2024 onward.
43 properties scheduled for auction
The first round includes 43 properties in Attica, Mykonos, Drama, Thessaloniki, Chania and Halkidiki.
Opening bids range from just €1,000 to €1.247 million.
The auctions begin on September 16, 2026. In Neos Kosmos, Athens, a 183.6-square-meter plot with a multistory building will go up for auction with a starting bid of €1.247 million.
In Magoula, a 478-square-meter plot containing a 167-square-meter two-story home and a parking space has a starting bid of €433,000.
Several properties on Mykonos are also scheduled for the same day. They include a 4,400.4-square-meter agricultural plot in Vounakia, with an opening bid of €370,000, as well as properties in Livadi Ano Mera and Kalo Livadi. Their starting prices reach €553,000.
The combined opening bids for the properties scheduled for the first day total €3.274 million.
A day later, on September 17, nine properties in Drama are scheduled for auction. They include agricultural plots of 10,533 and 3,758 square meters, with opening bids of €20,000 and €6,000, respectively, along with plots and smaller agricultural properties. In six cases, the starting bid is €1,000.
The program continues on October 14 with a 225.42-square-meter plot and multistory building in Keratsini, with an opening bid of €778,000.
On November 4, an auction is scheduled for a 9,000-square-meter agricultural plot in Kavallari, Lagadas, with a starting bid of €47,500.
On November 11, another 11 property auctions are scheduled in Marousi, Agia Paraskevi and Chania. Opening bids range from €4,800 to €595,200. The properties include plots with buildings, an apartment, underground storage areas and agricultural land in Galatas and Eastern Selino.
On November 18, 14 agricultural properties in Komitsa, Ouranoupoli and Nea Gonia in Halkidiki are scheduled for auction. The properties range from 1,690 to 125,113.55 square meters, with opening bids between €15,000 and €365,000.
AADE targets more than €6 billion in collections
Property auctions are only one part of AADE’s broader debt-collection strategy.
The tax administration has set a target of collecting more than €6 billion in overdue debts by the end of the year.
Its operational plan calls for €1.7 billion in collections from overdue debts as of December 31, 2025, that have remained unpaid for more than 360 days, as well as another €1.5 billion from debts with shorter delays.
AADE is also targeting at least €1.5 billion from old overdue value-added tax debts. For newly overdue debts, the collection target has been set at 35%.
Another €850 million or more is expected to come from large debtors and targeted collection measures.
At the same time, AADE plans to classify around €6 billion in accumulated debts as uncollectible. Authorities have determined that, despite exhausting the available enforcement measures and efforts to identify assets, there is effectively no possibility of recovering those amounts.
Source: tovima.com
