Decision A.1043/2022 setting out the scope and services provided by “family offices” in Greece
Legal form
Decision Α. 1043/2022 issued by the Secretary of Finance and the Director of Independent Authority of Public Revenue sets out the scope and the services provided by family offices which are established in Greece based on Article 71H of the Greek Income Tax Code for the management of the family wealth and assets of HNWI residing in Greece.
Family offices can be established under any legal form, except that of a non-profit nature, either in Greece or abroad.
The Family office which is established in Greece as a capital company or private company or branch of a foreign family office established abroad must be registered in the General Commercial Registry (GEMI) and comply with the applicable legislation of GEMI.
The competent tax authority of family offices is the Tax Office of Commercial Companies in Athens (FAE Tax office).
Purpose
The exclusive purpose of family offices is the management of assets and investments, owned either directly or indirectly, through legal entities, by individuals who are Greek tax residents and their family members, as well as the management of expenses incurred by them for the purpose of their needs, including the cost of their living and of their charitable and cultural activities.
The assets and investments under management can be located in Greece or abroad.
Qualifying members
The individual whose wealth is managed by the family office must be a Greek tax resident either based on the general provisions of tax residence or based on the special tax regimes of articles 5A, 5B and 5C of the Greek Income Tax Code regarding alternative taxation of individuals who transfer their tax residence in Greece.
Shareholders, partners or members of a family office can only be the abovementioned individuals and their family members, as defined in par. 2 of article 71H, as well as Greek or foreign legal entities in which said individuals and family members have the majority shareholding.
All participants in a family office are notified to the Administrative and IT Support Department of the competent tax office upon the establishment of the family office and any subsequent change, within the deadlines set out by the law.
Individuals participating in a family office cannot be also its employees.
Qualifying services
Services that a family office can provide are, indicatively, the following:
a) services related to the personal and social life of family members, i.e. services of public relations, security services, guards, cooks, housekeepers, teachers, educators and babysitters, drivers, technicians, gardeners, cleaning services, supply of goods and management of charity work,
b) administrative support services, namely secretarial support, management of human resources working on behalf of the individual and family members, accounting and payment of expenses, management of bank accounts, technical support for the management and maintenance of real estate and surrounding areas and organization of business trips,
c) financial management services, namely investment management and management of the transfer of wealth,
d) strategic planning services, including business consulting, real estate planning, succession planning and educational planning,
e) other advisory services, including tax consulting and legal services, engineering and medical services, compliance advice and risk management support and cyber security services.
The family office must be registered with the tax authorities under the activity code “66301102-Management services of family property” and cannot provide other services or incur expenses that are not related to the achievement of its purpose.
Determination of the taxable income
The gross income is determined by a cost-plus method, based on which a 7% margin is applied on the expenses incurred by the family offices, including depreciation, unless the revenues deriving from their accounting books are higher than those under the cost-plus method.
Expenses must have been made through the company’s bank account and be documented by corresponding legal tax records.
Qualification procedure
In order to qualify, the family offices must submit, until the end of the month following the submission of the income tax returns, namely at the end of July of the relevant year, before the competent FAE Tax office of Athens the following supporting documentation:
- documents evidencing the employment data of their employees for a 12-month period;
- copy of the financial statements;
- solemn declaration of the legal representative of the family office stating its members (partners/shareholders);
- solemn declaration of the legal representative of the family office stating that the company provides services exclusively to the individual and their family members and has not carried out any other activity beyond its exclusive purpose;
- documents regarding any change on the status of the family members (i.e. marital status, child status);
- proof that expenses and income have been incurred through bank accounts;
The competent authority must issue a decision within one (1) month from the submission of the supporting documentation.
In case the above supporting documentation is not complete or sufficient, an invitation is posted on the taxpayer’s TaxisNet account, at the latest within three (3) working days from the expiry of the above deadline.
In case the taxpayer does not respond within thirty (30) days from the above invitation or in case the tax authority considers from the examination of the documentation that the conditions are not met, an audit order is issued by the competent tax audit authorities.
* The information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as at the time of writing. We have no obligation to update it. We accept no responsibility against any third party who is not a client of the firm and has not signed the terms of our engagement.