Greece introduces 50% tax break for relocating professionals

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Greece introduces 50% tax break for relocating professionals

Sponsored by

eygreece.png
The introduction of this tax regime aims to lure back some of the Greeks who left during the debt crisis

Manos Tountas of EY in Greece examines the ambitious tax law which intends to create more professional jobs across Greece, and aims to reverse its crisis-era brain drain.

Recent Greek Law 4758/4.12.2020 introduces a special tax regime aimed at attracting foreign tax residents, who wish to transfer their tax residency and relocate to Greece to work as employees in a “new employment position” or as freelancers.



In order for a prospective applicant to be eligible, they must cumulatively:

  1. Not have the status of being a Greek tax resident for the previous five of the last six years before the transfer of their tax residence to Greece;

  2. Relocate from an EU/EEA country, or a country with which Greece has a valid agreement concerning administrative cooperation on tax issues;

  3. Provide employment services locally to a Greek legal entity or to a Greek branch of a foreign company; and

  4. Declare that they intend to stay in Greece for a minimum of two years.


The favourable tax treatment also applies equally to those who apply and transfer their tax residency to Greece, in order to undertake a business activity locally, such as to set up a business as freelancers.




Provided that the application is successful, the individual:

  • Becomes a Greek tax resident under this special tax regime;

  • Becomes exempt from paying income tax and solidarity tax on 50% of their Greek source employment income or freelancer income;

  • Is taxed in Greece for any other Greek source and foreign source income according to the general tax rates (with a right to receive a foreign tax credit for taxes paid abroad on certain conditions etc.); and

  • Becomes exempt from the application of local tax rules on annual imputed income deriving from ownership or possession of a residence or a private use vehicle.


The application of this special tax regime is provided for the fiscal year of the application and for the following seven fiscal years. No further extension can be provided.




The deadline to apply for this regime is July 31 of the year during which the individual is commencing employment or business activity.



As of the guidance presented in December 2020, it was expected that the Greek tax administration would issue further guidelines to clarify a number of points, such as:

  • The meaning of “new employment position” in the above context;

  • Whether there is a requirement for the individual to remain employed by the same employer for all the above specified period (seven years) in order to remain subject to this tax regime; and if so, whether the change of employer or termination of the employment contract by the employer or resignation of the employee during the above period will result in revocation of the tax regime retrospectively or only for the future;

  • Whether the individual is expected to physically stay in Greece for as long as they remain subject to this tax regime;

  • Whether the individuals will be exempt from the application of imputed income deriving from the purchase of a residence or a private use vehicle; and

  • Whether the individual may apply to be subject to this tax regime for a shorter period than the seven year period provided by the law and whether they have the right to apply to have this revoked.


It appears that introduction of this tax regime aims to lure back some of the Greeks who left during the debt crisis to pursue careers abroad. Likewise, it is a method for attracting foreign talent and experienced professionals from abroad to relocate to the country.




The changes may also attract a number of investment banks intending to open or expand their existing offices in Greece, so as to expand their presence in the Eurozone, or other companies wishing to relocate their employees to the country.



Manos Tountas

Tax manager

E: manos.n.tountas@gr.ey.com


more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Veteran Elizabeth Arrendale will lead the new advisory practice, which will support clients with M&A tax structuring, post-deal integration, and more
MAP cases keep increasing, and cases closed aren’t keeping pace with the number started, the OECD’s Sriram Govind also told an ITR summit
Nobody likes paperwork or paying money, but the assertion that legal accreditation doesn’t offer value to firms and clients alike is false
Ryan hopes the buyout will help it expand into Asia and the Middle East; in other news, three German finance ministers have called for a suspension of pillar two
SKAT, which was represented by Pinsent Masons, had accused Sanjay Shah and other defendants of fraudulent dividend tax refund claims
TP managers must be able to explain technical issues in simple terms, ITR’s European Transfer Pricing Forum heard
Prudential had challenged HMRC over VAT group relief; in other news, Donald Trump unveiled timber and wood tariffs, and the European Commission published a ViDA implementation strategy
Australia’s CbCR rules have ‘widespread support’ and do not put American companies at a competitive disadvantage, the FACT Coalition said
Baker McKenzie advised two of the member firms involved, while several advisers provided transaction counsel to US-based Grant Thornton Advisors
Foreign remittance requirements put additional administrative burden on Indian law firms and strain their relationship with foreign associate firms, according to practitioners
Gift this article