Hotels Resilience Fee: 2024 surplus confirms mistake of sharp hike this year

The large increase in the Resilience Fee for hotels in the climate crisis this year was unnecessary, as evidenced by the official data of the Independent Authority of Public Revenue, according to which an overperformance of revenues is observed in 2024.

This development of the prescribed overperformance of revenues from the Resilience Fee had been assessed in an analytical report by Tornos News in November 2024, underlining that there is no need to impose such a large increase.

As Tornos News wrote at the time, the Ministry of Economy and Finance had budgeted revenues of 202 million euros from the Resilience Fee for 2024 and expected revenues of 405 million euros due to the increases for 2025.

It also noted that revenues from the Resilience Fee for the period January - September 2024 (data available at that time) had reached 251.6 million euros and everything indicated that for the entire year they would reach and possibly exceed 300 million euros from 147.82 million euros in 2023.

This means, as the report stated, that in order to reach the target of 405 million euros in the 2025 Budget, the Ministry of Economy and Finance did not need additional revenues of 203 million euros. euros, but additional revenues of up to 100 million euros. That is, approximately 100 million less revenue than what had been budgeted was needed, as long as the actual amount of revenue for the year 2024 was corrected, according to official data from the AADE.

At the same time, the report emphasized that by correcting the calculation error, the needs for revenue would automatically be reduced by approximately 50% or more, and accordingly, it would be fair to reduce the amount of increases in the Sustainability Fee for tourist accommodations. It would be a solution that would not negate the Prime Minister's announcements about the increase in the Fee, would not overturn the budget of the Ministry of National Economy to achieve revenues of 405 million euros and would spare hoteliers from the worst of excessive increases to the detriment of the competitiveness of the Greek tourism product.

Ultimately, despite the above points, nothing changed, and the excessive increase in the Fees was imposed on the entire spectrum of tourist accommodations from this year. Nevertheless, the report was confirmed with the above, according to the official data of the AADE, which Tornos News brings to the public today.

+150% revenue in 2024

This is because the total revenue from the Climate Resilience Fee for 2024 reached 368.92 million euros, recording an increase of 149.58% compared to 2023. This means that it exceeded the forecasts of the Ministry of Finance for 2024 by 167 million euros. And since the target for 2025 was 405 million euros, it was only 36 million euros short of achieving it and not 203 million euros, as stated in the budget.

Based on the new data, if nothing changes, the revenue from the Resilience Tax in 2025 will skyrocket to around 570 million euros.

In the 6 years since the Accommodation Tax and its evolution as the Resilience Tax, the Greek government has collected over 1 billion euros from Greek and foreign tourists through tourist accommodations. Specifically, in 2018 - the first year of imposition - the revenues reached 124.65 million euros; in 2019, they reached 133.57 million euros; in 2020, they amounted to 41.9 million euros, in 2021 to 68.9 million euros, and in 2022 to 136.77 million euros, and in 2023 to 147.82 million euros. euros and in 2024 to 368.92 million euros.

This practically means that in the two-year period 2025-2026, the Greek government will collect a higher amount from the Tax than it collected in the six-year period 2018-2024. It is also worth noting, according to data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority, that the turnover of tourist accommodations in 2024 reached 11 billion euros. Assuming that it will be maintained at the same levels in 2025, about 5% of the turnover of tourist accommodations, regardless of additional tax obligations and other charges, will be allocated to the Resilience Tax. And all this while the Resilience Tax burdens only the competitiveness of tourist accommodations and no other sector of the Greek economy.

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