Country topic
Tax in Greece
You are a Greek tax resident if your permanent or main home, your habitual abode or the centre of your personal and economic interests is in Greece, or if you are in Greece more than 183 days in any 12-month period, counted from your first day there. The statute sets the 183-day count aside for people there only for tourism, medical or similar private reasons for up to 365 days; a residence permit for remote work is not that. Greek tax residents are taxed on worldwide income. [T1] [T2] The Greek scale for wages, pensions and business income is 9% up to €10,000, 20% to €20,000, 26% to €30,000, 34% to €40,000, 39% to €60,000 and 44% above, with lower rates in the second and third bands for dependent children. Greece reduces its tax on foreign income by the foreign tax you paid on it, up to the Greek tax on that income. We did not price social charges or property taxes, and the sources do not show how the scale applies to freelance income from a business abroad. [T3] [T4]
What we found
The research, with its sources.
Research information, not advice. Rules change, so check the source before you act on one.
- You are a Greek tax resident if your permanent or main home, your habitual abode or the centre of your personal and economic interests is in Greece, or if you are in Greece more than 183 days in any 12-month period, counted from your first day there. The statute sets the 183-day count aside for people there only for tourism, medical or similar private reasons for up to 365 days; a residence permit for remote work is not that. Greek tax residents are taxed on worldwide income. [T1] [T2]
- The Greek scale for wages, pensions and business income is 9% up to €10,000, 20% to €20,000, 26% to €30,000, 34% to €40,000, 39% to €60,000 and 44% above, with lower rates in the second and third bands for dependent children. Greece reduces its tax on foreign income by the foreign tax you paid on it, up to the Greek tax on that income. We did not price social charges or property taxes, and the sources do not show how the scale applies to freelance income from a business abroad. [T3] [T4]
- Article 5B taxes all foreign-source income of a person who receives a pension from abroad at a flat 7% for up to 15 tax years. Conditions include not being Greek tax resident in five of the previous six years and moving from a state with a tax administrative-cooperation agreement with Greece; the tax is paid in one instalment by the last working day of December, and missing it ends the regime. It is written for pension income, not wages or freelance income. Whether the 1950 US treaty’s information-exchange article counts as the required agreement is unknown, so check with AADE or an adviser. [T5] [T6]
- Article 5C exempts 50% of employment income earned in Greece with a Greek entity or a Greek branch of a foreign company, or of business income from an activity in Greece, for seven tax years; you commit to stay at least two years. Its text points to work done in Greece for a Greek employer or in a Greek activity and does not mention remote work for a foreign employer, so whether it covers that is unknown. The digital nomad visa bars work for an employer based in Greece. [T7] [T8]
- The IRS lists a 1950 income tax convention and 1953 protocol with Greece, and AADE’s list shows a treaty with the United States in force. Each country may tax its own citizens as if the convention did not exist, so it does not take a US citizen out of US tax; Greece credits US tax on US-source income, and private pensions paid from one country to a resident of the other are exempt in the paying country. It covers income tax, not social security. [T6] [T9] [T10]
- US citizens abroad generally file as they would at home, on worldwide income. The 2026 foreign earned income exclusion limit is $132,900 per person; its physical presence test needs 330 full days in a foreign country in any 12 consecutive months, and you cannot take a foreign tax credit on income you exclude. Foreign accounts totalling more than $10,000 at any time in the year are reportable on an FBAR. A private adviser says moving abroad does not automatically end US state tax residency, because each state sets its own test. [T11] [T12] [T13] [T14] [T15] [T16]
- Self-employed people in Greece pay into e-EFKA in one of six categories chosen for the year, from €250.77 to €675.87 a month for pension and health together in 2026, plus small extra levies. The US–Greece social security agreement covers retirement, disability and survivors benefits and puts self-employed people under the system of the country where they live; how it works for an employee who stays on a US employer’s payroll while living in Greece is unknown. For Canadian, Australian or New Zealand passports we have not checked social security agreements, so those are unknown. [T17] [T18]
- For Australians, Treasury’s list of Australia’s income tax treaties shows Greece only as an airline profits agreement in force from 7 April 1981, and no general double tax agreement. We could not open an official Canadian or New Zealand treaty list, so whether a Canada–Greece or New Zealand–Greece income tax treaty exists is unknown here, and so are the rules that end Canadian, Australian or New Zealand tax residence when you move. [T19]
The country
More on Greece.
Topics
More about Greece.
Questions about Tax in Greece.
When do I become a Greek tax resident?
You are resident if your main home, habitual abode or centre of personal and economic interests is in Greece, or if you spend more than 183 days there in any 12-month period, counted from your first day. Residents are taxed on worldwide income. A remote-work residence permit does not count as a tourist stay.
What are Greece’s income tax rates?
For wages, pensions and business income the scale is 9% up to €10,000, 20% to €20,000, 26% to €30,000, 34% to €40,000, 39% to €60,000 and 44% above, with lower rates in two bands for children. Foreign tax paid on foreign income is credited, up to the Greek tax on it.
Does Greece have a 7% tax regime for pensioners?
Yes, in Article 5B: a flat 7% on all foreign-source income of someone who receives a pension from abroad, for up to 15 tax years, if you were not Greek tax resident in five of the previous six years. It is written for pension income, not wages or freelance income. Check the conditions with AADE.
Is there a 50% income tax relief for new residents in Greece?
Article 5C exempts 50% of employment income earned in Greece with a Greek entity, or of business income from a Greek activity, for seven tax years, with a two-year stay commitment. It does not mention remote work for a foreign employer, so whether it applies to that is unknown.
Does Greece have a tax treaty with my country?
The IRS lists a 1950 US–Greece income tax convention; it lets the US keep taxing its citizens. Australia’s Treasury list shows Greece only with an airline profits agreement. We could not open an official Canadian or New Zealand list, so those are unknown.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [T1] Income Tax Code, article 4: tax residence, TaxHeaven (private Greek legal database; reproduces the law as in force, not an official site), Law 4172/2013 art. 4. Checked 15 October 2026. Resident if your permanent or main home, habitual abode or centre of vital interests is in Greece, or if you are there more than 183 days in any 12 months.
- [T2] Taxation of non-Greek-sourced income obtained by Greek tax residents (as recorded by the Atlas Tax Map), Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). Checked 30 May 2026. As recorded by the Atlas Tax Map: Greek tax residents are taxed on worldwide income (checked 30 May 2026). The live page refuses automated access.
- [T3] Income Tax Code, article 15: tax rates, TaxHeaven (private Greek legal database; reproduces the law as in force, not an official site), Law 4172/2013 art. 15 as amended. Checked 15 October 2026. Scale for wages, pensions and business income: 9%, 20%, 26%, 34%, 39%, 44%; lower rates in the second and third bands for dependent children.
- [T4] Income Tax Code, article 9: credit for foreign tax, TaxHeaven (private Greek legal database; reproduces the law as in force, not an official site), Law 4172/2013 art. 9. Checked 15 October 2026. Greek tax on foreign income is reduced by foreign tax paid on it, up to the Greek tax on that income.
- [T5] Income Tax Code, article 5B: 7% for people with pensions from abroad, TaxHeaven (private Greek legal database; reproduces the law as in force, not an official site), Law 4172/2013 art. 5B. Checked 15 October 2026. 7% flat tax on all foreign-source income of a pensioner moving tax residence to Greece; 15 tax years; not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years; moves from a state with a tax administrative-cooperation agreement.
- [T6] US-Greece income tax convention of 1950 and protocol of 1953 (PDF), Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. Article XIV: each country may tax its own citizens as if the convention did not exist; Greece credits US tax on US-source income; private pensions from one country to a resident of the other are exempt in the source country; article XVIII exchanges information.
- [T7] Income Tax Code, article 5C: 50% relief for new tax residents, TaxHeaven (private Greek legal database; reproduces the law as in force, not an official site), Law 4172/2013 art. 5C. Checked 15 October 2026. 50% of Greek employment income (with a Greek entity or a Greek branch of a foreign company) or sole-trader income from business in Greece, for 7 tax years; stay at least two years.
- [T8] Migration Code, article 68: digital nomads (visa and Z.1 status), TaxHeaven (private Greek legal database; reproduces the law as in force, not an official site), Law 5038/2023 art. 68. Checked 15 October 2026. Statute text: 12-month national visa from the consulate, 3,500 euros a month (net where it comes from employment or services), plus 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child, 75 euro visa fee, two-year I.8 permit applied for before the visa ends.
- [T9] Treaties for the avoidance of double taxation (as recorded by the Atlas Tax Map), Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). Checked 30 May 2026. As recorded by the Atlas Tax Map: a treaty with the United States is in force (checked 30 May 2026). The live page refuses automated access.
- [T10] Greece - Tax treaty documents, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. Lists the 1950 convention and 1953 protocol as the income tax treaty documents.
- [T11] US citizens abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. US citizens abroad file as they would at home.
- [T12] Foreign earned income exclusion, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. Maximum exclusion for tax year 2026 is $132,900 per person.
- [T13] Physical presence test, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. 330 full days in a foreign country in any 12 consecutive months.
- [T14] Foreign tax credit, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. No credit for tax on income you exclude.
- [T15] Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Checked 15 October 2026. Reportable when all foreign accounts together exceed 10,000 dollars at any time in the year.
- [T16] State taxes after moving abroad, Expatriate Tax Returns (private adviser, not official). Checked 15 October 2026. Private adviser; general only. Each state sets its own rules, so check your state tax authority.
- [T17] Freelancers and self-employed: insurance categories for 2026, e-EFKA (Greek social security institute). Checked 15 October 2026. Six categories from 1 January 2026, pension plus health, 250.77 to 675.87 euros a month; the choice binds for the year (Greek-language page).
- [T18] Totalization agreement with Greece, Internet Archive copy of 11 May 2026, US Social Security Administration. Checked 15 October 2026. Covers retirement, disability and survivors; self-employed people are covered by the country where they live; the live page refused automated access today.
- [T19] Income tax treaties (list of Australia’s treaties), Australian Government, Treasury. Checked 15 October 2026. Page last updated 24 March 2026: Greece appears once, as an airline profits agreement signed 5 May 1977 and in force from 7 April 1981; no general double tax agreement with Greece is listed.