November 26, 2020

Anna Murray 

On November 24, Greece's legislators presented a new tax bill to the Parliament that would offer foreign taxpayers a 50% discount on their income tax in order to attract foreign taxpayers and Greeks living abroad to move their tax bases to Greece. Under the current tax rate in Greece, it is a 44% income tax for annual earnings over 40,000 Euros, equivalent to US$47,000.

Minister of Finance of Greece Christos Staikouras explained the proposed new law would provide 7-year tax benefits to foreign and self-employed workers who are willing to relocate to Greece. The new legislation is expected to be voted in the Parliament in weeks and will come into effect on January 1, 2021. Prior to the global economic slowdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Greece has already suffered a financial crisis, with an unemployment rate estimated at 18% in 2020. Thus, Greece has been installing several tax measures to revive the country's economy in recent years. 

Greece has its economic dependency on the tourism industry whose vulnerabilities have been hit hard by the coronavirus lockdowns. Thus, Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis supported the new tax break to all income levels and occupations and hopes it will attract finance and IT professionals abroad to relocate to work in Greece.

Photo:Webshot.