Retirement abroad: Greece tempts with tax advantages – what needs to be considered
Created: 06/16/2022, 05:07
By: Patricia Huber
More and more pensioners are moving abroad.
Greece even lures with a tax advantage - but there are a few details to consider.
Crete - To spend the old age by the sea under palm trees - that is a dream of many German pensioners.
According to the association “Germans Abroad”, there are already 230,000 pensions being transferred abroad by the German pension insurance – and the trend is rising.
"I want to live in a country with sun, fish and sea," explains 63-year-old Norbert to
BR24
.
Pension: Greece attracts with low taxes
Norbert would like to emigrate to Greece with his partner and retire there.
But why Greece?
In fact, the popular holiday destination of Germans also offers a decent tax incentive for potential emigrants.
Because if you move to Greece, you only have to pay an income tax flat rate of seven percent for 15 years.
This applies not only to the pension, but also to all other income earned abroad.
But not only the emigrants benefit.
The entire country is happy about wealthy, new citizens.
Claudia Marenbach-Fountoulaki is a real estate agent on the island of Crete.
She also notices how great the demand for living space is there.
"It's not just the pensioners who come here, but also the digital nomads and they all spend their money here, for example in the taverns or for leisure activities," she says to
BR24
.
Pension: Beware of pitfalls when emigrating
But when dreaming of life in the sunny south, there are also a few things to consider.
Marenbach-Fountoulaki reports that many clients expect construction projects and real estate in Greece to cost next to nothing.
But it's not that easy.
Crete, for example, is an earthquake area.
This means that houses on the island need extra strong steel framework - and steel is expensive.
Anyone planning to emigrate should definitely find out about the costs beforehand.
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The bureaucracy can also take a little time.
It can take some time before emigrants receive the tax break in the country.
After all, a lot of documents are required for this – also from Germany.
It can take at least a year for the Greek authorities to process the application.
A timely and good preparation for the future home country is therefore the be -all and end-all.
(ph)