The inheritance tax in Greece for the immediate family members is relatively low. For the spouse, the children, the grandchildren and the parents of the deceased, the tax – free initial amount is €150,000 for each of them. This means that each of these persons can inherit up to €150,000 worth of inheritance share and not pay inheritance tax at all, provided the deceased has died from 2010 and on and the inheritance tax declaration is filed within six months from the passing. For an inheritance share above €150,000 and up to €300,000, the inheritance tax is only one per cent (1 per cent), meaning only €1,500 for a share worth €300,000.

If the deceased died outside of Greece, or the heir lives outside of Greece, the time limit to file the inheritance tax declaration is twelve months from the passing. If there is a will left by the deceased, the time limits of six or twelve months to file the inheritance tax declaration start from the probation of the Will and not from the date of the passing. If the Will is executed outside of Greece, it must be probated at the country where it was executed and then it will also be probated in Greece, where it must be applied, if there are assets of the estate in Greece. In that case, the time limits to file the acceptance of inheritance start from the probation of the Will outside of Greece and not from the subsequent probation of the same Will in Greece.

The tax – free amount of €150,000 for the above close of kin may be reduced the next months, since the lowering of the tax – free inheritance tax amount is an obligation of the Greek state towards its creditors, within the context of raising the taxes to collect revenue to pay Greece’s debts. Any person, therefore, who is entitled to a share of an inheritance in Greece must bear in mind that the tax – free amounts for the heirs may be lowered soon. Thus, to avoid paying higher inheritance taxes or to avoid paying inheritance taxes at all, it may be wise to file now all paperwork to the tax office, the notary, the court, the municipality and to other Greek authorities, in order to take the inheritance share now and not later on.

The main document which is required is the death certificate, which if from abroad, must be officially translated in Greek and have either the Apostille stamp, or the stamp of the Consulate of Greece in the foreign country, depending on the laws of that country. We will also need a copy of the passport of the heir(s), a power of attorney (POA) to be signed either at the Greek Consulate, or at a local notary in the foreign country with Apostille or at a notary public in Greece, and the close of kin certificate from the Municipality of birth in Greece, of the person who is deceased. To this end, it may be needed to register in Greece the marriage certificate of the deceased, if the marriage took place outside of Greece, as well as the birth of his/her children.

The jurist who will organise the settlement of the estate in Greece, who is usually a lawyer, must have the list of assets of the deceased in Greece, and their description, in order to start the process of their evaluation for tax purposes. We must also check whether the deceased had declared the assets properly to the Greek tax office and whether these assets need today a more accurate description in the way of a modern survey map by a civil engineer.

* Christos Iliopoulos is an attorney at the Supreme Court of Greece, LL.M. For more, visit greekadvocate.eu or email bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr