Greece

7% flat tax regime for foreign pensioners. Retirees who move their tax residence to Greece can elect a flat 7% rate on all foreign income for up to 15 years.

Free, with the law behind every answer

7% flat tax regime for foreign pensioners

Not a residence permit — a tax election available to anyone who becomes a Greek tax resident, most commonly retirees using the FIP visa or an EU-citizen’s free-movement right.

Who qualifies

Recipient of a foreign pension who was not a Greek tax resident for 5 of the preceding 6 years.
Law 4172/2013, Art. 5B, added by Law 4738/2020
Must transfer tax residence from a country that has a tax treaty or administrative-cooperation agreement with Greece.
Law 4172/2013, Art. 5B
Application must be filed with the Greek tax authority (AADE) by 31 March of the relevant tax year; AADE must decide within 60 days.
Law 4172/2013, Art. 5B

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

It could fit.

Retirees who move their tax residence to Greece can elect a flat 7% rate on all foreign income for up to 15 years.

Every option that fits your family

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Time: Filed by 31 March of the year residence begins; decided within 60 days.
Cost: The 7% flat tax itself, plus advisory fees of roughly $2,000–5,000 to file correctly.
The hard part: Proving genuine non-Greek tax residence for 5 of the prior 6 years.

Citizens by 2035.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
Residence begins
No permit term of its own; the clock runs on legal residence.
2032
Permanent residence
Five years of legal, continuous residence (absences under 6 months in a row and 10 months in total are allowed), enough income, full health insurance, and integration: Greek schooling, a B1 language certificate, or the special state certificate based on an A2 Greek plus Greek history and culture exam.
2034
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2035
Citizenship

Language: Greek at about B1, tested in the written part of the naturalisation exam (the PEGP).
Civics: The PEGP exam (Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation), run twice a year: Greek language plus Greek geography, history, culture and political institutions. Pass mark 70%.
Time away: Seven years of lawful residence in a row immediately before applying. The law sets no day count, but the years must be real residence under a permit type the Citizenship Code accepts; long stays abroad can lead to refusal.
Two passports: Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.

A tax election, not a permit; it does not change the citizenship clock, which runs on whatever residence permit you hold.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.

The law behind these dates

Living there.

Time you must spend there: The program sets no minimum number of days. Renewal still expects it to be your home.
Tax: This is the tax regime itself: a flat 7% on all foreign-source income, including the pension, for up to 15 consecutive tax years, instead of ordinary progressive Greek tax.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

File the Art. 5B application with AADE, Greece’s independent tax authority.Open aade.gr ↗
Gather these documents.
- Become resident in Greece under a residence program

Postern can run this for you.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.One membership, the whole family. Bank accounts and help putting your plan into action are included.

Postern runs it for one adult US foreign-pension recipient transferring tax residence from the US to Greece, with an existing AFM and TAXISnet access, not Greek tax resident in five of the previous six years and outside Article 5A: Greek professional review, Article 5B election, decision, fifteen annual declarations and assessed-tax payments; residence permission and US tax returns are separate.

6 steps, from the first paper to every renewal. You do 1 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Opening your bank accounts there is included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Government fees, record fees and other costs you approve are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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