Property owners who listed vacant homes for rent in 2025 or converted short-term rentals to long-term leases and declared them by December 5, 2024 on the special tax authority platform will not pay a single euro in taxes on the income they earn over the next three years.
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This measure debuts with this year’s tax returns, meaning that for an annual rent of €12,000, the owner saves €1,800 annually or a total of €5,400 over the 2026-2028 period, as the 15% tax on rental income of this amount will not be imposed. The regulation aims to bring more vacant properties to market and contain rental prices that are in constant rally mode.
The latest tax law brought three significant changes effective from November 2025 that completely alter the rental market landscape to make the measure work more effectively nationwide. The new provisions expand the scope of application: for families with three or more children, the exemption applies to homes over 120 sq.m., increased by 20 sq.m. for each child beyond two.
If the tenant leaves within the three-year period, the exemption continues for the remaining time if re-rented. For rentals to medical/nursing staff, educators, and uniformed personnel, the tax exemption applies even for leases of at least 6 months.
What are the requirements for tax exemption on vacant properties & Airbnb
However, to secure the tax exemption, specific rules must be met. The basic requirement is timely declaration by December 5, 2024, on the special tax authority platform, of residences that remained vacant or short-term rental properties intended for conversion to long-term rentals, to “lock in” the exemption for rents collected in 2025. Those who declared properties late, even if meeting other requirements, are not entitled to the exemption bonus.
Additionally:
- Regarding residences that had been available for short-term rental, inclusion in the regulation requires that the property was legally and exclusively available for short-term rental during the 2024 tax year, provided the new long-term lease was established within 2025. Furthermore, all related short-term rentals must have been properly declared to the tax administration and no other rental declaration (long-term) should have been submitted before the start of the new contract. This means the transition from short-term to long-term rental must be clean and fully reflected in tax records.
- For properties that were “vacant,” the requirement is that they were declared as empty on form E2 or were not declared as rented, owner-occupied, or freely provided during tax years 2022, 2023, and 2024. Once a long-term lease contract of at least three years duration has been concluded, and the property meets other criteria—namely main areas up to 120 sq.m., timely declarations on E2 and income tax returns—the landlord is entitled to complete exemption from income tax on rents collected during the first 36 months. If the tenant leaves the residence, the exemption continues until completion of three years if within three months the owner concludes one and only one new three-year primary residence contract. If this lease is also terminated, further tax exemption is lost.
The exemption also applies when the qualifying property is rented for at least six consecutive months to medical or nursing staff, educators at all levels of public education, as well as uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces and Security Corps, provided it is not made available for short-term rental within the three-year period.
When the exemption is lost
If during the three-year period the residence remains without a tenant, the exemption ceases to apply from the tax year in which the property became vacant. It is also permanently lost if the property remains vacant with a second tenant for the remaining period. Additionally, if the property returns to short-term rental status before completing the 36-month period, the exemption is retroactively revoked from the first year, resulting in an obligation to pay tax on rental income that was not previously taxed.
