The recent law 5222/2025 introduces certain amendments aiming to enhance the alternative taxation regimes of high net worth individuals investing in Greece as per article 5A ITC (“HNWI regime”) as well as for employees and freelancers wishing to relocate to Greece as per article 5C ITC (“brain gain regime”).
Possibility to add relatives to the regime via an application at a later stage
Individuals subject to the special tax regime of art. 5A ITC may request the extension of this regime to their relatives (spouse, children and parents), not only at the time of the individuals’ own application, as the law provided until now, but also at a later stage. If relatives are added to the regime at a later stage, the beneficial provisions of art. 5A ITC shall apply to them from the first tax year in which the extension was approved and for the remaining period until the completion of fifteen (15) tax years from the date the initial HNWI applicant was subjected to the regime.
It is worth noting that this newly introduced option to add relatives to the non-dom regime by virtue of a subsequent application applies retroactively to all HNWI who have already been included in the 5A tax regime since its entry into force, i.e. since 12 December 2019.
Extension of the donation and inheritance tax exemption granted by the 5A ITC regime
The new law further introduces another improvement to the 5A tax regime which refers to the donation and inheritance tax exemption granted within the context of the regime. Specifically, until now the exemption from donation and inheritance tax in Greece applied to movable assets located outside Greece, which were received by (i.e. inherited by or donated to) the individual who was subject to the 5A regime. By virtue of the newly adopted provisions, the exemption is now extended to apply also to foreign movable assets that the individual, who is subject to the 5A regime, transfers to other individuals outside the regime by means of a donation or inheritance. It is also explicitly provided that the said inheritance tax exemption will have retroactive effect, covering inheritances left by individuals of the 5A regime who died as of 1 January 2020.
Until now, a necessary prerequisite for an individual to be eligible for the 5C ITC tax regime regarding the special taxation of income from employment or business activity in Greece was the creation of a new employment position in Greece. By virtue of the new Law 5222/2025, this prerequisite has now been eliminated, thus facilitating the smooth application to the regime whilst also aiming to attract more foreign tax residents. Moreover, it is explicitly stated in the law that the abolition of the said prerequisite applies not only to new applications submitted from now onwards by individuals wishing to be covered by the 5C ITC regime, but also to applications whose examination is already pending before the Greek Tax Administration as of 28 July 2025.
The recent law 5222/2025 introduces an additional exemption from the calculation of the employee’s income from employment by amending Article 14(1) ITC. As per the new provision, employers may cover medical expenses of their employees or of the employees’ relatives and this benefit is not included in the calculation of the employee’s income from employment. As a condition for the above exemption, payment of the medical expenses must be effected by the employer either directly to the third-party service provider (e.g. hospital/medical center etc.) or in cash to the employees themselves on condition that the employees subsequently pay that sum to the hospital, medical center etc. and submit the relevant tax document to the employer.
This new provision is effective from tax year 2025 and onwards.
The new law 5222/2025 introduced a significant amendment regarding inheritance tax in Greece. More specifically, according to the new provisions, movable assets located outside Greece that belong to Greek citizen, who have been residing abroad for at least five (5) consecutive years (instead of ten (10) consecutive years, as the law provided until now), are exempt from inheritance tax in Greece. Moreover, said inheritance tax exemption will have retroactive effect, covering inheritances of Greek individuals who died as of 1 January 2020.
