Greece attracts digital nomads through tax incentives

Greece announced tax incentives for digital nomads. The Greek government in an effort to attract digital nomads, from all over the world, has put forth a plan to incentivize people who are willing to live and work from Greece. The plan includes lucrative tax exemptions for digital nomads who want to work digitally from Greece for at least 2 years.

See how it is done:

According to article no. 40 par. 1 of L.4758 / 2020, (Government Gazette A` 242 / 04.12.2020), the Greek government amended the existing tax framework for the establishment of foreign freelancers in Greece for the exercise of business activity.

According to no. 5 C of the Code of Tax Legislation (Law 4172/2013) persons who transfer their tax residence in Greece, to conduct individual business activity in Greece, have a tax deduction of 50% of what they would normally pay. At the same time, they are exempted from the solidarity contribution of no. 43A.

The 50% discount on taxation as well as on the solidarity contribution is valid for the next 7 years (No. 5C par. 7 law 4172/2013).

This action automatically brings Greece to the top of the destinations that provide significant tax incentives for relocation.

Conditions (no. 5C par. 7 in conjunction with par. 1):

• One must declare that he will stay in Greece for at least 2 more years
• The tax seat of the interested parties must have been in the EU or the European Economic Area, or any other country where Greece has a transnational agreement in the field of taxation
• For the last 6 years, one must not have been a Greek tax resident for at least 5 years

Application procedure:

If a digital nomad is interested in living and working from Greece, then he must follow the procedure below:

• Submit your application to the local tax office. The applications are submitted from 01/01 to 31/07 each year.
• If the application is not submitted on time, then it will be considered as an application for the next year.
• The tax administration will decide, within 60 days, if the application will be accepted.
• There is no limit to the number of seats, with anyone meeting the necessary criteria being able to join the program

In the following days, it is expected that the Greek government will issue more instruction about the details of the accession to the program, the document one must have, and when the applications can be submitted.