More perks for ‘non-doms’

Greece is anticipating an investment wave from foreigners wishing to relocate to Greece through the “non-domiciled” (non-dom)  system, from pensioners from abroad making extensive use of the favorable tax status that was recently introduced and from enterprises relocating from the City, in London, after Brexit. All of this is expected from the end of the first quarter, provided that the health crisis has subsided.

The Finance Ministry is also planning to submit to Parliament before the end of this quarter the new institutional framework for the creation of so-called “family offices” – managers of large family fortunes. – so as to attract foreign capital.

A ministry official told Kathimerini that it has seen enormous interest in legislation related to the relocation of tax domicile, introduced over the last few months. He does not rule out – depending on demand – that those deciding to relocate will have their domicile in Greece extended by another 15 years, covered by the non-dom framework.

The law also provides significant benefits to wealthy foreigners. Besides a flat tax of 100,000 euros per annum on their global incomes, the government is offering an additional perk: an exemption from all inheritance or donation taxes concerning any non-realty assets abroad. The same exemption will apply to all family members of the foreign taxpayers in this status, which means that they can transfer their asset to their children tax-free.

A year after the special tax status for individuals of great wealth relocating to Greece went into practical effect, the joint ministerial decision on the necessary investments from these people has just been issued. It is reminded that the people in this category enjoy special tax treatment for up to 15 years provided that they invest a minimum of €500,000 in Greece.

However, while the regulation of the non-dom status by the tax authorities was based on the principles of simplicity and speed, the text of the ministerial decision is quite complicated and raises various issues of interpretation.