News brief · Taxation
Greece: the 7% retiree regime attracts northern French retirees
Greece's flat tax on retirees' foreign income attracts French nationals, and it is one of the few regimes to cover all foreign income, not just pensions. Two points nonetheless determine its real value.
By Editorial team · on July 11, 2026
What the flat tax covers
The Greek regime for foreign retirees applies a flat rate of 7%1 to all foreign-source income of a person who transfers their tax residency to Greece.
The base is broad: pensions, dividends, interest, rents received outside Greece, foreign-source capital gains. Most competing schemes cover only pensions.
The duration is 15 years2, among the longest in Europe, and the tax is paid in a single payment each year.
The entry conditions are accessible: not having been a Greek tax resident in five of the previous six years, and coming from a state linked to Greece by an administrative cooperation agreement on tax matters — which is the case for France.
The regime requires a formal application within the prescribed deadlines. It does not apply automatically, and this is the leading cause of failed applications.
A comparison highlights what is distinctive about the Greek scheme. Italy offers foreign retirees an identical flat rate, but limited to ten years and conditional on settling in a municipality of fewer than twenty thousand inhabitants in the south of the country. Greece imposes no location constraint, and its duration is half as long again.
The two points that determine its value
The first concerns the nature of the pension. The France–Greece tax treaty, like most tax treaties, distinguishes public-sector pensions from private-sector pensions, and the former may remain taxable in France.
A former French civil servant is therefore not in the same situation as a former private-sector employee. The Greek flat tax then has no effect on the share of the pension that France retains the right to tax, and the benefit of the regime is reduced accordingly.
The second concerns Greek-source income, which remains taxed under the ordinary scale. It starts at 9%3 and its top marginal rate stood at 44%4 in the scale applicable until 2025.
A retiree who let out a property in Greece, or held Greek securities there, would fall under the ordinary rules for that portion. Greek dividends bear a withholding tax of 5%5 and capital gains are taxed at 15%6.
A Greek project that generates no local-source income is therefore much more predictable than one involving a rental investment there.
What to do
- Have each pension classified under the France–Greece tax treaty, public or private.
- Check the Greek non-residence condition for the years preceding the transfer.
- File the application within the deadlines: the regime does not apply automatically.
- Keep an eye on the more than 183 days7 threshold, which establishes Greek tax residency.
- Separate foreign-source income from Greek-source income.
A frequently overlooked practical point should be added: health cover. A French retiree receiving a French pension retains entitlements whose interaction with the Greek system must be checked separately, and the Greek public system is uneven.
What remains uncertain
We do not publish the thresholds of the Greek tax scale in euros or the details of the reform that came into force in 2026: we were unable to verify them in an up-to-date official source. They must be established with the Greek tax administration.
Greece also offers two other regimes that are often confused with this one: the regime for high-net-worth individuals, based on a flat tax of €100,0008 and an investment of €500,0009, and the regime for workers coming from abroad.
None of the three can be combined with another. The choice depends on the nature of the income — pension, wealth or work — not on the headline duration or rate.
Finally, the Greek cost of living remains moderate compared with French levels, but energy and housing in sought-after areas come close to them, and older buildings are poorly insulated. This item must be costed before counting on any savings.
Please note
Sources and verification dates
- 1.
Greece, regime for foreign retirees: flat rate on foreign-source income : 7%
« Annual flat tax rate of 7% on total foreign source income. »
enterprisegreece.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 2.
Greece, regime for foreign retirees: period of application : 15 years
« Duration of regime's applicability • Fifteen (15) tax years. »
enterprisegreece.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 3.
Greece: rate of the first bracket of the salaries and pensions scale (from 2026) : 9%
« For tax years 2026 onwards, taxable income from employment and pension is taxed according to the following scale — Income (€) / Tax Rate : 0 – 10.000 : 9% ; 10.001 – 20.000 : 20% ; 20.001 – 30.000 : 26% ; 30.001 – 40.000 : 34% ; 40.000,01 – 60.000 : 39% ; > 60.000 : 44% [taux réduits selon le nombre d'enfants à charge]. — Ministry of Economy and Finance, « Tax Guide – Income Taxation » (Law 4172/2013, Income Tax Code). »
minfin.gov.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 4.
Greece: top marginal rate of the scale applicable until 2025 : 44%
« For tax years up to and including 2025 […] : 0 – 10.000 : 9% ; 10.001 – 20.000 : 22% ; 20.001 – 30.000 : 28% ; 30.001 – 40.000 : 36% ; 40.001 – : 44%. For tax years 2026 onwards […] : 0 – 10.000 : 9% ; 10.001 – 20.000 : 20% ; 20.001 – 30.000 : 26% ; 30.001 – 40.000 : 34% ; 40.000,01 – 60.000 : 39% ; > 60.000 : 44%. — Ministry of Economy and Finance, « Tax Guide – Income Taxation ». »
- 5.
Greece: withholding tax on dividends : 5%
« Dividends are subject to a withholding tax of five percent (5%). […] If the distribution of dividends is subject to withholding tax, the withholding tax exhausts the tax liability only for individuals and for the specific type of income of the taxpayer. »
minfin.gov.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 6.
Greece: tax rate on capital gains from disposals : 15%
« Income from capital transfer gains is taxed at a rate of fifteen percent (15%). »
minfin.gov.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 7.
Greece: annual presence above which tax residency is acquired : 183 days
« An individual is considered Greek tax resident if she/he maintains permanent or main residence or usual abode or center of vital interests in Greece […]. Furthermore, subject to the above provisions, any individual who is present in Greece for a period exceeding 183 days, cumulatively during any twelve (12) month period, is considered to be a Greek tax resident as of her/his first day of arrival in Greece. However, respective provisions are not applicable in case of individuals who are present in Greece only for tourism, medical, medicinal or equivalent personal purposes on condition that their presence does not exceed the 365 days threshold. — Enterprise Greece (agence publique d'investissement, ministère des Affaires étrangères), « Brief Tax Guide Greece 2026 » (Code des impôts sur le revenu, loi 4172/2013, art. 4). »
enterprisegreece.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 8.
Greece, regime for high-net-worth individuals: annual flat tax on foreign income : €100,000
« 1.2 Special tax regimes at a glance — HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUAL (HNWI) REGIME : Not a Greek tax resident for the seven (7) out of eight (8) years preceding the transfer to Greece. […] Minimum investment of EUR 500 000 within a period of three (3) years. […] Preferential alternative taxation : A lump sum tax of EUR 100 000 on an annual basis (extinguishing tax liability on global foreign source income). Plus a lump sum tax of EUR 20 000 on an annual basis, in case a relative (spouse, children, parents) utilizes respective provisions. Duration of regime's applicability : Fifteen (15) tax years. — Enterprise Greece, « Brief Tax Guide Greece 2026 » (art. 5A du Code des impôts sur le revenu). »
enterprisegreece.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 9.
Greece, regime for high-net-worth individuals: investment required in Greece : €500,000
« HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUAL (HNWI) REGIME : […] Can prove that they or their relatives or a legal entity in which they hold the majority of the shares, invests in real estate or moveable assets or shares of legal entities based in Greece. Minimum investment of EUR 500 000 within a period of three (3) years. — Enterprise Greece, « Brief Tax Guide Greece 2026 » (art. 5A). »
enterprisegreece.grVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source