The government is set to attract northern European pensioners with tax exemptions should they decide to move their tax residence to Greece.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the plan at a meeting with the top officials of his finance ministry earlier this week. It is envisaged that the tax exemption would apply for nearly 10 years. The exemption would include not only their pensions but also any other sources of revenue from property or capital gains from stocks anywhere in the world.
The plan, Greece’s Kathimerini website reports, is based on a Portuguese model introduced in 2009 in which foreign pensioners are exempted from taxation including on revenues in their country of origin, provided they had not been taxed in Portugal in the five years before they submitted their application.
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If it is successful in attracting foreign pensioners, Greece will benefit from their spending their pensions in the country and possibly buying a property or vehicle there. The plan could be particularly beneficial to Greece’s regional areas and the islands where the revenue from tourism drops in the winter months.