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How investments are taxed in Greece

Greek investment tax is flat and light: dividends 5%, interest 15%, capital gains on securities 15% — but listed Athens shares are exempt from the gain if you hold under 0.5% (just a 0.1% transaction duty), and EU fund (UCITS) gains are exempt. The catches: funds from outside the EU/EEA are taxed, and income from a foreign broker isn’t withheld for you — you must declare it.

The headline rates

  • Dividends — 5% withholding (among the lowest in the eurozone).
  • Interest — 15% (deposits and bonds; corporate bonds bought by residents can be 5%).
  • Capital gains on securities — 15% (unlisted shares, bonds, derivatives, and so on).
  • Royalties — 20%.

The two big exemptions

  • Listed ATHEX shares — the 15% gain is exempt if you hold under 0.5% of the company (taxed only at 0.5%+); you pay just a 0.1% transaction duty on sale. See ATHEX.
  • UCITS funds (mutual funds/ETFs) — gains exempt, but conditionally on where the fund is based: gains from Greek and EU/EEA UCITS are exempt; gains from third-country (non-EU/EEA) UCITS are taxed. So a US-domiciled fund is treated differently from an EU-domiciled one — a real trap if you buy global funds through an international broker.

Two items to read carefully

  • Property capital gains — the tax on gains from selling property is suspended (0%) until 31 December 2026. (Some official pages still show an older date; the suspension currently runs to end-2026 — confirm before relying on it.)
  • Crypto — Greece has no separate, official crypto-tax regime. Don’t assume a specific rate; general principles may apply, so verify the current treatment with an accountant rather than acting on a number you saw online.

The “no wrapper” point

Greece has no mass-market tax-advantaged investment account (no ISA-style or IKE/IKZE-style wrapper). Instead, tax efficiency comes from what you hold — listed ATHEX shares (CGT-exempt under 0.5%) and EU UCITS funds (exempt) are already lightly taxed, so instrument choice does the work a wrapper does elsewhere. The old solidarity surcharge on private income was abolished (from 2023), so it no longer adds to this.

The foreign-income catch (the main “don’t get cheated”)

income from a foreign broker is not automatically withheld in Greece — you must self-declare it on your annual return. Under the international CRS exchange, AADE very likely already receives the data, so “quiet” foreign income is not invisible. A Greek tax resident is taxed on worldwide investment income (see tax residency and investing) and can usually credit foreign withholding tax under a double-tax treaty to avoid being taxed twice.

How not to get cheated

three things people get wrong — (1) assume all funds are exempt (only EU/EEA UCITS are; third-country funds are taxed); (2) assume a foreign broker handles their Greek tax (it doesn’t — you declare); (3) use an out-of-date 0.2% figure for the ATHEX duty (it’s 0.1%). When in doubt on a specific instrument, confirm with AADE or an accountant.

Related

tax residency & investing · Athens Stock Exchange · brokerage access · overview

This is general information, not tax or investment advice. Tax rules and dates change and depend on your situation — confirm with AADE (aade.gr) or an accountant. WTP Finance is informational only.