New Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013)

Summary of key points:

On 23 July 2013, Law 4172/2013 was published in the Government Gazette replacing the Greek Income Tax Code.
The new provisions are in principle applicable for income generated and expenses incurred for tax years starting
as of 1st January 2014. The new provisions aim is to signicantly simplify and rationalize the current tax system.
They relate to individual and corporate taxation, while more specic provisions regarding their implementation
will be included in the Tax Procedures Code, a separate piece of legislation is to follow. The new Income Tax Code
takes into consideration the denitions and income characterisation deriving from international tax law rules and
includes provisions relating to cross border transformations, as well as Controlled Foreign Companies (CFC) rules.

The main provisions are summarized as follows:

Individuals subject to income tax foreign tax credit
Individuals having their tax residency in Greece are subject to Greek income tax on their worldwide
income,whilst a foreign tax credit is provided on foreign income declared in accordance with the OECD
guidelines for the avoidance of double taxation.
Foreign individuals employed by local law 89/1967 ofces are subject to Greek income tax
only for their Greek source income.
Individuals having their tax residency outside Greece are subject to Greek income tax on their Greek
source income earned during a given scal year. The new law provides a detailed but indicative list of
income sources deriving in Greece. Foreign income is dened as any kind of income that is not classied
under tax law as Greek source income.

Tax residency
The law introduces and claries the denition of tax residency as follows:
Individuals: an individual is classied as a tax resident of Greece provided that: a) he maintains in Greece
his primary residence or habitual abode or the centre of his vital interests or he is a consular or diplomatic
employee or public servant working under a similar regime or a public servant of Greek nationality
working abroad or b) is physically present in Greece for a period exceeding 183 days during a given 12-
month period consecutively or sporadically for the scal year, during which the above 12-month period is
completed.
Legal persons and legal entities - a legal person or entity is considered to be a Greek tax resident in the
following cases:
a) they are incorporated or established under Greek law,
b) they have a registered ofce in Greece or
c) the place of its effective management is in Greece at any time during the tax year. The effective place
of management concept should be reviewed on an ad hoc basis as per the factual background of each
case.
To this end, indicative criteria are listed (such as the place where the annual General Meeting of
shareholders/ partners or the Board of Directors takes place) without however excluding additional
factors that although they might not substantiate on their own the existence of tax residence in Greece,
they are taken into account when determining the place of effective management (such as, the
residence of the majority of shareholders or partners).

It is claried that these provisions do not apply to companies subject to tax under Law 27/1975 and Legislative
Decree 2687/1953.

Permanent Establishment (PE)
The concept of PE is dened in accordance with the OECD guidelines.
A non-exhaustive list of examples, which may under certain conditions give rise to PE, is also provided for.
In any case, the provisions of the various Double Taxation Treaties ("DTTs") override the provisions of domestic
law, which is applicable in absence of any DTTs.

Taxable income categories
Taxable income is determined as income deriving after allowable deductions from the gross income.
The following categories of taxable income are dened:
Employment and pension income
Business income
Capital income
Capital gains
A different tax rate applies for each income category.

Tax year
The scal year coincides with the calendar year. Legal persons or entities keeping double- entry books may set
their tax year to end on June 30th or at any other date following the tax year of their shareholder, foreign legal
person or entity, whose participation in the domestic legal person entity exceeds 50%.
The option of a tax year exceeding 12 months not provided for.

Incomes acquisition time
Incomes acquisition time is considered to be the time when the right to collect the income is acquired.
Exceptionally, for uncollected accrued income from employment and pensions that has been collected by the
beneciary at a later tax year, the time of acquisition of such income shall be the time of collection, to the
extent that it is indicated separately in the annual salary income statement granted to the beneciary.

Corporate Income Tax

Taxable and exempt legal persons & object of tax
Taxable persons are limited liability companies and partnerships established in Greece or abroad, domestic or
foreign non-prot legal persons of public or private law, cooperatives and their unions, civil law societies, civil
prot or non-prot companies, joint stock or undisclosed companies to the extent they exercise a trade or
business, consortia as well as legal entities.
There is denition of tax exempt legal persons.
All income of taxable legal persons is considered as business income.
The corporate tax rate for legal persons and legal entities with double entry accounting books is 26%.

Thin capitalization rules
Thin capitalization rules are radically amended:
The new rules apply to all loans irrespective of their origin (intercompany or not, banking etc).
The amount of redundant interest (interest on debt minus interest income) is now taken into account for the tax
deductibility of interest rather than the equity and loans of the borrower as per the previous regime.
The amount of net interest paid by a company is tax deductible up to 25% of the earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) after tax adjustments; for companies that are not part of a group, the
net interest is tax deductible if it does not exceed 1.000.000 per year.
Subject to conditions, interest expenses can be carried forward in subsequent years.
Credit institutions are excluded from these provisions.
The new provisions apply for interest expenses realised in tax years beginning as of January 1st, 2014 onwards.
Inbound dividends received by a Greek tax resident legal person
In the case of specic requirements that are not met (e.g. the participation percentage is less than 10%),
dividends are taxed pursuant to the general provisions, while the tax that has been withheld is offset against the
corporate income tax liability.
The participation exemption on the basis of the EU Parent Sub Directive applies to inbound dividends
received by a legal person from any subsidiary irrespective of whether it is established in Greece or in an EU
member state or a third country, except in a non cooperative country.
If the legal person receiving the dividends does not participate by at least 10% for 24 months, it could
temporarily benet from the exemption, provided that the latter submits to the tax administration a guarantee
equal to the amount that should have been paid if the exemption was not available. If the 24 month holding
period is not completed, the guarantee may be forfeited, in any other case though, the exemption is denitive
and the guarantee expires.
If the distributed prots to the parent company result from the participation of the subsidiary with another
legal person, the expenses relating to said participation are not tax deductible.

The above provisions apply for dividends received as of January 1st, 2014 onwards.

Dividends distributed by a Greek tax resident legal person
Dividends (and other relevant payments) distributed to a legal person included in the EU Parent Sub Directives
Annex, are not subject to withholding provided that the relevant requirements are met.
If the legal person distributes dividends to its parent company which has not completed the 24 month holding
period of at least 10% participation but meets the rest of the requirements, the distribution can be exempt of the
withholding provided that the legal person deposits a bank guarantee of an amount that is set based on a specic
calculation.
The same applies for payments of interest or royalties between afliated companies pursuant to EU Directive
2003/49/EC.

Said provisions apply for payments realized as of January 1st, 2014 onwards.

Prots credited or remitted abroad from a branch in Greece
Pursuant to the new provisions, it would appear that the branch remittance tax is abolished.

Points regarding mergers and spin-offs, transfers of assets for shares and exchanges of shares
EU Directive 2009/133/EC on the common system of taxation applicable to mergers, spin-offs, transfers of assets
and exchanges of shares concerning companies of different Member States is transposed into the Greek Income
Tax Code.
The aforementioned provisions apply to restructurings among Greek tax resident companies (no cross - border
element), while it is not clear whether prior domestic restructuring laws still apply (i.e. Law 2166/1993, Law
1297/1972 and article 16 of Law 2515/1997).
Additional provisions are introduced compared to the current regime; in particular:
The foreign shareholder of the transferring entity, who exchanges securities of the latter for securities in the
receiving entity, appears to be exempt from tax on the capital gains due to the merger or spin-off, as long as
he holds both securities through a permanent establishment in Greece. The same applies in the case of a share
exchange.
The receiving entity is entitled to carry forward the losses of previous years of the transferring entity, subject to
the same conditions that would have applied to the latter if the merger or spin-off had not taken place. In
addition, in case of transfer of the registered ofce of a European Company (SE) or European Cooperative Society
(SCE), the permanent establishment that is created in Greece is entitled to carry forward the losses of previous
years of the company that transferred its ofce.
The above provisions apply to restructurings realised as of January 1st, 2014 onwards.
Deduction of business expenses
Deduction of expenses is in principle allowed under the following conditions, with the exception of certain
expenses, which as per legal provision, are explicitly not considered as deductible for tax purposes:
They are made to the interest of the business or in the ordinary course of its business transactions.
They correspond to an actual transaction, whose value is not considered less or more than the actual one,
based on indirect audit methods (crosschecks).
They are recorded in the accounting books of the period in which they incur and are duly supported by proper
documentation.

These provisions apply for expenses related to tax years ending after 30.6.2014 .

Depreciations
Depreciations performed from the owner of xed assets and from the lessee, in case of a nancial leasing
agreement are considered as tax deductible items, whereas the concept of nancial leasing is signicantly
widened for the purposes of this provision.
Depreciation is performed by applying a specic depreciation rate on the acquisition or construction cost per
asset class of a business.
The depreciation of each xed asset begins the month following the one in which the asset is used or being
put into service by the taxpayer.

The relevant provision is effective for tax years ending from 1.1.2014 onwards.

Valuation of inventory and semi-nished products
A time limitation of a minimum four years, as of the tax year of rst use, is introduced in the case of a change of
the method chosen by a business for valuation of its inventory and semi-nished products.

The relevant provision is effective for scal years ending from 1.1.2014 onwards.

Bad debts
Bad debt provisions and write-offs are deductible for income tax purposes at a rate dened on a case-by-case
basis, according to the period of time that the relevant claim remains uncollectible and the amount thereof.
Restrictions are introduced as regards formation of bad debt provisions for business shareholder or partner
holding at least a 10% participation and for business subsidiaries with a minimum 10% participation; in addition,
special rules for the deduction of bad debt provisions are introduced for banks, leasing and factoring companies.

The aforementioned rules apply to provisions formed in tax years beginning on 1.1.2014 onwards. The provisions of
Law 2238/1994 apply for provisions of bad debts that have been formed in the tax years 2010 2013.

Tax losses carry forward
Tax losses may be carried forward to be offset against business prots for ve consecutive tax years from the tax
year, in which they were incurred. A new rule is introduced, under which the right to carry forward tax losses
ceases to apply, in the case of changes in ownership or voting rights exceeding 33% of their value or number,
unless it may be proved that the transfer has not taken place for the purpose of tax avoidance or tax evasion.
Offsetting of losses incurred abroad against business prots derived domestically is not allowed, with the excep-
tion of income arising in other European Union or European Economic Area Member States, which is not exempt
based on the applicable Double Tax Treaty concluded and implemented in Greece.
The rules governing the deduction of losses (debit balance) resulting from the exchange of Greek government
bonds under the PSI remain unchanged.

Indirect method of prots determination
Business income is determined based on indirect audit methods in the case of certain infringements making audit
verications impossible or when the accounting books as well as other supporting documentation are not main-
tained or disclosed for inspection after two requests from the tax authorities.

Intercompany transactions
The new law denes the term associated person, which extends to legal persons, individuals and any other
body of persons. The term encompasses two persons whereby: i) the one of them holds directly or indirectly
shares, parts or quotas in the other of at least 33%, estimated on the basis of total value or number, or
equivalent prot participation rights or voting rights, ii) another person participates directly or indirectly in them
in any of the aforementioned ways, or iii) there is between them, direct or indirect management dependence or
control or the possibility for the one person to exercise decisive inuence to the other or of a third person to do
so in both of them.
The old provisions, regarding the documentation of intercompany transactions have been replaced in the new
Code by a mere reference to the arms length rule governing transactions between associated persons. The
procedure for the documentation of such transactions will be included in the Tax Procedures Code.
Furthermore, the concept of business restructurings is introduced. Specically, a business restructuring must
be effected in accordance with the arms length principle. It is stated that in the case of an intercompany business
restructuring, either local or cross-border, in which there is transferred goodwill or intangible assets or assigned
their use, then such transfer should be performed at a price which shall be in compliance with the arms length
principle. Moreover, the reallocation of risks and functions in the context of this restructuring should be
performed in accordance with the arms length principle by taking into account other comparable cases.

Preparation of the transfer pricing documentation le and submission of the summary information table
With regards to the scal year ending 31.12.2012 the transfer pricing documentation le must be prepared and
the summary information table should be submitted until August 16, 2013.

Non-cooperative countries and countries with a preferential tax regime
The provisions relating to the disallowance of business expenses paid to suppliers tax resident in non-cooperative
or countries with a preferential tax regime remain in force.

Controlled Foreign Companies (CFC)
CFC rules are introduced for the rst time in the Greek tax legislation with the aim to deal with tax avoidance of
Greek companies through shifting revenues to subsidiaries in low tax jurisdictions. Basically, these rules provide
for the inclusion in the taxable income of the Greek companies of undistributed passive income (e.g. interest,
dividends, royalties etc.) of foreign subsidiaries under the conditions stipulated in the law.

Taxation of reserves
Non-distributed or non-capitalised reserves of companies as depicted in their last balance sheet before 1.1.2014
deriving from prots that have not been subject to taxation according to an exemption as per Law 2238/1994 or
circulars or decisions issued under this law, in case of distribution or capitalization until 31st December 2013 are
subject to tax at 15% exhausting the respective obligation of the company, as well as its shareholders or partners.
Effective 1st January 2014, the above reserves are obligatorily set-off at the end of each tax year with losses of
whichever nature of the last 5 years until exhaustion, unless they are distributed or capitalised in which case they
are subject to taxation at 19% exhausting the tax liability of the company, as well as of its shareholders or
partners
Effective 1st January 2015, it is not allowed to maintain special tax-free reserve accounts.


Income tax for individuals

Salary income and pension income
The new law introduces a denition for salary and pension income according to which oral agreements for the
provision of employment services are recognized for tax purposes as employment contracts by means of which
the individual employee earns taxable salary income.
The new law attempts to introduce a general rule about the requirement to include in the employees taxable
income (as a salary payment in kind) benets in kind paid to the respective employee or to their relatives. In
particular, the market value of benets in kind received by an employee is included in his taxable salary income,
provided that their total value exceeds EUR 300 per year.
Salary in kind contains the following indicative examples:
30% of the expenses recorded in the employers accounting books incurred for the granting of a company car
to employees, are considered as taxable salary income of the employee having the right to use such company
car for any period during a scal year.
benets in kind granted in the form of a loan provided to an employee or shareholder or partner in a partnership
(prepayments of salaries exceeding the amount of 3 monthly salaries are considered to be a loan granted by the
employer to the employee).
rental payments for the employee or 3% of the objective value of a company owned home that is made
available by the employer to the employee for housing purposes.
Insurance premiums paid on behalf of the employee in the course of group insurance policies are exempt from
the calculation of total taxable salary income.
Accumulated capital reecting insurance premiums of the employee paid until 31.12.2013 is exempt from the
nal withholding income tax imposed on insurance indemnities, which are withheld by an insurance company in
the course of group insurance policies (private pension schemes).
Meal coupons of a value up to EUR 6 per workday are not considered as taxable salary income.
Unemployment benets paid by OAED to unemployed individuals are exempt from income tax, provided that
the other income of the taxpayer does not exceed the EUR 10,000 threshold annually.
The currently applicable provision according to which withholding tax on salary income and pension income is
reduced by 1.5% remains in force.

Taxable income from salaries or pensions is subject to income tax according to the following tax scale:

Taxable income (EUR) Tax rate (%)
25.000 22%
25.000,01 up to 42.000 32%
42.000 42%

Alternative ways to assess minimum income tax payable (deemed income tax provisions)
Under the new provisions the difference between deemed income and total actual income is subject to income
tax:
a) according to the tax, progressive scale applicable for salaried employees, provided that the taxpayer earns
exclusively or mainly salary income and or pension income or
b) according to the tax progressive scale applicable for business income, provided that the taxpayer earns
exclusively or mainly business income.
In case of a difference between deemed income and real income of the taxpayer, losses of the respective scal
year or of previous scal years are not deducted from taxable income and cannot be carried forward for offsetting
purposes.
The following are classied as deemed income under the provisions of the new law: acquisition of a single
proprietorship or unlimited liability partnership or limited liability partnership or corporation or limited liability
company or private corporation or society of civil law or joint venture, or purchase of company parts or securities.
It is conrmed that the deemed income provisions are not applicable in the case of a foreign tax resident who
does not earn income from Greek sources.
Finally, it is claried that the deemed income tax provisions of the new law are not applicable in the case of
individuals who are representatives of foreign diplomatic missions or individuals employed by institutional organi-
sations of the European Union or International Organizations who have been stationed in Greece according to an
international treaty.
The provisions of article 10 of law 2019/1992 with regard to expenses made as of 1.1.1994 are not applicable to
cover the difference between actual income and deemed income. Funds that have been taken into account for
the purposes of covering the difference between real income and deemed income, are deducted from the capital
that is accumulated from earlier years.

Business prot
Business prot is dened as the total revenues from business transactions after deduction of business expenses,
depreciation and bad debt provisions taxed according to the following scale:


Taxable income () Rate (%)
50.000 26%
50.000 33%

Any fortune increase deriving from an illegal, unjustied or unknown source or cause is considered as business
prot subject to tax at 33%.

Income from capital
Income from capital received either in cash or in kind, is introduced as a distinct income category for individuals
and includes:
Dividends, subject to withholding tax at the rate of 10%, exhausting any further tax liability for individuals. The
tax is withheld by the person paying the dividends. The concept of dividends is extended in accordance with the
OECD guidelines and includes all distributable prots irrespective of the legal form of the distributing entity.
Interest, subject to withholding tax at the rate of 15%, exhausting any further tax liability for individuals. The tax
is withheld by the person paying the interest. Interest deriving from Greek States bond loans and Treasury Bills
acquired by individuals and interest deriving from bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility within
the context of PSI are exempt.
Royalties, subject to withholding tax at the rate of 20%, exhausting any further tax liability for individuals. The
tax is withheld by the person paying the royalties.
Income from immovable property, subject to tax as per the following tax scale:


Rents (euro) Rate (%)
12.000 11%
12.000 33%

The term income from immovable property has the meaning of income in cash or in kind, deriving from the
leasing or self-use or the free of charge grant of use of real estate.
Income in kind is computed at market value whereas imputed income from self-use or free of charge grant of use
is computed at 3% of the objective value of the real estate. The free of charge grant of residence with surface up
to 200 sq.m. to ascendants or descendants, for the purpose of being used as a primary residence, is exempt.

The above apply for income acquired in scal years commencing as of 1.1.2014; the tax withholding obligation
applies for payments to be made from 1.1.2014 onwards.

Income from capital gains
Capital gain deriving from transfer of capital is taxed at the rate of 15% and refers to:
Capital gains from the transfer against consideration of real estate or part thereof or encumbrance on real
estate or part thereof or holding attracting more than 50% of its value directly or indirectly from real estate.
Capital gains from the transfer of securities provided that such transfers are not classied as business
activities. The above does not apply to capital gains arising from corporate restructuring / transformations.
The new provisions apply to capital gains from transfers of real estate and transfers of securities taking place
from 1.1.2014 onwards. In the meantime, the 5% tax on the real transfer value of non-listed shares of domestic
or foreign corporations acquired until 31 December 2013, still applies. The 20% taxation of capital gains from
trans- fer of shares listed on the Athens Stock Exchange and acquired from 01.07.2013 onwards, is abolished.
Capital gains tax from the transfer of real estate is withheld by the Notary Public, whereas an exemption applies
for capital gains up to Euro 25,000, provided that the respective property has been retained for at least ve years
and no other transfer of real estate has been effected within the retention period.
The exemption of capital gains arising from the exchange of Greek State Bonds or corporate bonds guaranteed
by the Greek State with other securities in the context of PSI remains in force.
Loss deriving from the transfer of real estate and transfer of securities can be carried forward indenitely,
whereas such loss can only be set off against prots deriving from transfer of real estate and transfer of securities,
respectively.
The above categories of income are included in income from business activity of legal persons and legal entities and
are taxed according to the relevant rates.

Special provisions regarding capital gains from the transfer of real estate
Transfer of real estate has the meaning of transfer of ownership or bare ownership, of usufructs constitution,
habitation or other easements constitution, waiver of ownership or of other rights on real estate, expropriation
of real estate, the sale of real estate as a result of voluntary or judicial auction, the transfer of a right related to
building coefcient ratio. The law recognizes limited exceptions to the concept of transfer.
Capital gain has the meaning of the difference between the acquisition price paid by the taxpayer and the
deated transfer price paid to him. The acquisition price is considered to be the price as stated in the notarial
deed or the actual purchase price as evidenced or, in absence thereof, the value upon which the real estate
transfer tax was calculated. In case that the acquisition price cannot be calculated, it is considered as nil. The
transfer price is considered to be the consideration as stated in the notarial deed.
The :
i) capital gain from a building constructed with expenses of the lessee and
ii) capital gain from bare ownership of real estate are determined in a special manner.






The resulting capital gains are adjusted by applying an age coefcient determined as follows:

Years of retention Age coefcient
From 1 to 5 0,95
More than 5 and up to 10 0,87
More than 10 and up to 15 0,79
More than 15 and up to 20 0,73
More than 20 and up to 25 0,66
More than 25 0,61


Special provisions regarding capital gains from the transfer of securities
Capital gains deriving from the transfer of securities include:
i) the transfer of the business as a going concern,
ii) shares in listed or non-listed companies,
iii) parts in partnerships,
iv) Greek State and corporate bonds, Greek Treasury Bills and
v) derivatives of nancial instruments which are listed indicatively.
Capital gain has the meaning of the difference between the acquisition price paid and the transfer price
received, including any expenses directly connected with the acquisition and sale of securities which are not
added or deducted, respectively. As per listed shares, their acquisition and transfer price derive from
documentation issued by the intermediary broker or bank or documentation notied to Hellenic Exchanges S.A. As
per non-listed shares, the transfer price is the higher price between the contractual price and the net equity
(upon transfer) of the company that issues the shares. The purchase price is the lower price between the
contractual price and the net equity (upon transfer) of the company that issues the shares. In the case that the
acquisition price cannot be calculated, it is considered as nil.

Submission of tax returns
Income tax returns are led in the period from 1st February to 30 June of the year following the tax year to
which they relate.
As a rule, individuals le their returns through electronic means, while hard copy submission is allowed in
exceptional situations
A decision of the Minister of Finance will further regulate the manner, timing, format and content of the
income tax returns, as well as the documents and other information to accompany the submission.

Income tax prepayment
For individuals, an amount of 55% of the tax due is assessed against the tax corresponding to the revenues from
business activities of the current year.
No tax prepayment is assessed in case the amount to be assessed does not exceed 30 or the tax return
includes only income from salaries and pensions, as well as residence self-occupation.
Special provisions apply with respect to architects, engineers and lawyers.
For legal persons and entities, the tax prepayment equals to 80% of the tax corresponding to the revenues of
the tax year for which the return is led. For domestic as well as foreign banks operating in Greece through
branches, the tax prepayment is 100%, while for partnerships, non-prot legal persons of public or private law as
well as joint ventures of partnerships the tax prepayment is 55%.
There are certain cases where a tax prepayment is not assessed on companies transformed or merged under the
provisions of L.D. 1297/1972, L. 2166/1993, L.2190/1920 or L. 3190/1955 or special rules, as well as for distributed
or capitalised prots of corporations exempt from taxation according to special law provisions.

Luxury tax
The provisions for the application of luxury tax on the deemed income value of cars, airplanes, helicopters, gliders
and swimming pools take effect for revenues declared on tax returns of scal year 2013 onwards, as opposed to
the original entry into effect envisaged as of scal year 2014 according to article 44 of L. 4111/2013.

Tax assessment
The option to pay taxes in installments is now abolished in case of nalization of the tax assessment due to non
ling or late ling of an appeal, or settlement agreement with the tax authorities or administrative court decision
and the tax due is paid in an lump sum until the last business day for the public sector of the month following
the one when the assessment or signature of the settlement agreement took place.
In case of a settlement agreement with the tax authorities or provisional tax audit, it is necessary to pay 1/5 of
the assessed taxes, duties and charges upon acceptance of the settlement.
The above provisions apply as of 1.8.2013 and relate to assessments and decisions issued after of 1.8.2013.

Penalty reduction
Penalties under articles 4, 5 and 6 of L. 2523/1997, in the case of an administrative or court settlement are
reduced to 1/3 or 1/2 depending on the case, provided that 20% or 30% thereof is paid immediately while the
residual amount is assessed in a lumpsum until the last business day for the public sector of the same or the
following month from when the administrative or court settlement takes place.
This provision applies for penalty assessments issued as of the publication of the Law, i.e. 23 July 2013.

Reduction of VAT on restaurant services
From 1.8.2013, VAT on restaurant services is reduced to 13%.

Other provisions
The provisions of L. 2778/1999 regarding the taxation of real estate investment companies remain in force.
The provisions of L. 3371/2005 and L. 2992/2002 regarding the taxation of venture capital companies as well as
venture capital funds remain in force.
The provisions regarding the taxation of shipping businesses as well as related individuals for their income
deriving there from remain in force.