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Legal restrictions on the purchase of real estate due to its designation as forest land

in Real Estate, Special topics

Forests and forest areas in Greece are protected and defined by the provisions of the Constitution and by the current Forest Law, including but not limited to: a) Law 998/79, as amended and in force today, according to the provisions that this law replaced the Decree Law 86/1969 (Forest Code), b) Law 3208 /2003, c) Law 3818/2010, d) Law 3889/2010, e) Law 4280/2014, f) Law 4315/2014, g) Law 4351/2015, h) Law 4389/2016, i) Law 4409/2016 [amendment of No. 45], j) Law 4462/2017, k) Law 4467/2017, l) Law 4483/2017 (Article 142), m) Law 4546/2018 (Article 44) and n) Presidential Decree 32/2016....

03 Jul 2023

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Greek tax treatment of interest payments made by a Greek company to a foreign lender company

According to the Greek tax legislation, any interest amount paid by a Greek company to an entity established abroad is subject to a withholding tax at a rate of 15%. The paid withholding tax exhausts the Greek tax liability in the event that the recipient of the above payment, which is subject to withholding tax, is a legal entity that does not have its tax residence and does not maintain a permanent establishment in Greece (par. 4 of article 37 and par. 3 of article 64 of Law 4172/2013, Circular POL.1042/2015). The above applies based on the domestic legislation and is...

03 Jul 2023

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Brief overview of the Greek VAT regime

Main types of supplies subject to VAT in Greece The main types of supplies subject to VAT in Greece are, among others: a) the supply of goods and services carried out within Greece for consideration by a taxable person acting as such in the course of his business; b) the intra-Community acquisitions of goods in Greece for consideration by a taxable person acting in his capacity as such (or by a non-taxable legal entity on the condition that the supplier is subject to VAT in another EU Member State and the non-taxable acquirer has exceeded the IC threshold of Euro 10,000 annually). Especially,...

03 Jul 2023

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Requirements and procedure for the establishment of an office/branch in Greece under article 25 of Law 27/1975

Foreign shipping companies interested in establishing an office or branch in Greece under the provisions of Article 25 of Law 27/1975, are required to submit the following documentation to the Directorate of Maritime Policy and Development of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs: a. An application including the name, type, registered office and nationality of the foreign management company as well as its activity and the specific activities of its office in Greece as well as its representative. The above application will also state that: The company undertakes the obligation to import into Greece an annual foreign exchange, not compulsorily assignable, or...

03 Jul 2023

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Overview of the shipping tax regime in Greece

Tonnage Tax Regime The Greek tonnage tax regime has been established as a favorable system of taxation of shipping activities. This tax system enables ship owners to plan their business activity in the long term without increased tax burdens, while it also contributes to keeping the cost of operating ships at a competitive level. In general terms, according to the tax provisions of Law 27/1975, the tonnage tax is payable by shipowners or ship-owning companies of ships under Greek flag and exhausts the tax liability of the shipowner, as well as their ultimate shareholders, up to the level of the private...

20 Jun 2023

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Greek residence permit for investors-Eligible investments and monetary thresholds of investments according to Immigration Code

in Immigration Law, Special topics

The current legal framework for granting residence permit to third country citizens for investment activities is provided in article 16 of Law 4251/2014, according to which the limits of investment activities are as follows: Α.INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES, WHICH GRANT RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY ARTICLE 16 OF LAW 4251/2014: According to paragraph 1 of Article 16 "The entry and residence of third country nationals in Greece, as investors, is permitted in order to make an investment that will have a positive impact on the national development and economy", under the specific terms and conditions set out in this provision. In the residence permit...

20 Jun 2023

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Golden Visa – Guide for residence permit to owners of property

in Immigration Law, Special topics

Citizenship by investment in real estate in Greece Foreign citizens who invest in real estate property in Greece can be granted a five-year residence permit for themselves and their family members. This is a permanent residence permit which can be renewed every five years, provided that the investor retains ownership of the property. According to the new legislative framework on monetary thresholds, for the purchase of property, for areas of the Northern, Central and Southern sector of Athens and the municipality of Vari – Voula - Vouliagmeni of the Region of Attica, the Municipality of Thessaloniki and for islands of Mykonos and...

30 May 2023

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The duration and termination of a lease contract

in Real Estate, Special topics

Renting a house may be the most common way of satisfying one’s residence needs, however there are some details lurking in the contract or in the law that both the lessor and the lessee should watch out to avoid any unpleasant disputes. For this reason, some basic principles are set out below, specified on the termination of the lease. The most likely scenario is that the tenants use the leased premises as their main residence. In this case, the provisions of Greek Law 1703/1987 are applied, in conjunction with the articles of the Greek Civil Code. More specifically, the parties are...

19 May 2023

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Working remotely from Greece – Risk of a permanent establishment for the foreign employer