Austrians moving to Greece are mostly freelancers with Austrian clients, remote employees, GmbH owners and retirees. This guide covers the Austrian exit and points you to the right Greek setup.
The short answer
- Deregister within three days of moving out, but a flat you keep can still make you Austrian tax resident.
- The year you leave is assessed in Austria only for the months you were resident; employees often get a refund.
- Exit tax hits shares, funds and crypto bought as new assets; for a move to Greece you can defer it until you sell.
- The 2007 treaty: freelance income and most pensions are taxed in Greece; Austrian rent and civil service pensions are taxed in Austria.
- Social security follows your work: freelancers working from Greece join EFKA.
- Article 5C (50% exemption for 7 years) and Article 5B (7% on all foreign income for 15 years) are open to Austrian movers who qualify.
1. Ending Austrian tax residency
Under §1 EStG, you are fully taxable in Austria while you have a residence (Wohnsitz) or habitual abode there. You deregister your main residence within three days of giving it up; naming Greece as the destination is enough.
The Meldezettel is not the tax test, though. A flat that stays available to you can keep you fully taxable. The second-home relief only helps people whose centre of life has been abroad for more than five years and who use the Austrian flat on no more than 70 days a year.
If both countries treat you as resident, the Austria–Greece treaty (signed in Athens on 18 July 2007, BGBl. III Nr. 16/2009) decides: permanent home, then centre of vital interests, then habitual abode, then nationality. In Greece, you become tax resident with your main home or centre of life here, or after 183 days in 12 months.
2. The year you leave
When you move during the year, Austria makes two separate assessments: one for the resident period, covering the income you received then, and one for Austrian income afterwards. Employees had wage tax withheld as if they would earn all year, so the Arbeitnehmerveranlagung for that year often brings money back.
From the next year, Austria only taxes Austrian-source income, such as rent. Tell your Austrian bank you now live in Greece.
3. Exit tax on shares, funds and crypto
This is what most Austrian movers miss. Under §27 (6) no. 1 EStG, anything that restricts Austria’s right to tax a capital asset counts as a sale: shares, fund units, derivatives and cryptocurrencies. Moving to Greece does exactly that, because Article 13 of the treaty gives future gains to Greece.
The gain up to your departure is taxed at 27.5%. Mostly new assets are caught: shares and funds bought from 2011 and crypto bought after February 2021. Company stakes of 1% or more are caught whenever they were bought, so long-held GmbH shares are not safe.
For a move within the EU/EEA there is relief:
- Private assets: on application, the tax is assessed but not collected until you actually sell; you apply in the Austrian return for the year you leave. A later move outside the EU/EEA counts as a sale.
- Business assets: the exit tax is paid in instalments, over five years for fixed assets and two for current assets (§6 Z 6 EStG, on application).
If you run your GmbH alone from Greece, its place of management, and with it its tax residence, can move as well. That triggers exit tax on the company’s hidden reserves (payable in instalments within the EU) and Greek corporate tax from then on. A managing director working from Greece is insured with EFKA, not the SVS. Talk to your Steuerberater before you deregister. For a new Greek company, see setting up an IKE.
4. The double tax treaty
| Income | Taxed in |
|---|---|
| Freelance work done from Greece | Greece, unless you keep a fixed base in Austria |
| Employment | Where the work is physically done |
| Rent from Austrian property | Austria; Greece credits |
| Statutory (PVA, SVS), company and private pensions | Greece only |
| Civil service pensions | Austria, unless you are a Greek national living in Greece |
| Austrian dividends | Austria may keep 15% (27.5% withheld, the rest reclaimable); Greece credits only up to its own 5% dividend tax |
| Gains on shares after the move | Greece (deferred Austrian exit tax still falls due on sale) |
5. Freelancers and remote workers
You close or suspend your Austrian Gewerbe (or inform the Finanzamt and SVS as a Neuer Selbständiger), register as a sole trader in Greece and invoice from there.
- Austrian business clients are invoiced without VAT under the reverse charge; the Austrian small-business exemption no longer applies (VAT with foreign clients).
- Social security: under EU Regulation 883/2004 you are insured where you work, so with EFKA, from about €150 per month for new freelancers (EFKA guide). An Austrian A1 only helps for temporary postings or if you also work substantially in Austria.
- Greek routine: VAT returns monthly for the first 24 months for new businesses with simple books, then quarterly on request, myDATA for every invoice, e-invoicing for invoices to Greek and non-EU businesses from 2 November 2026, with a transition to 31 January 2027; invoices to Austrian clients are not covered (e-invoicing), and a tax advance halved only in your first year with business income.
Steps in order: AFM, freelancer setup, freelancer taxes 2026.
Employees who keep an Austrian contract and work permanently from Greece are taxed in Greece on those workdays and fall under EFKA, so the employer must register in Greece. Many switch to freelancing instead (5C for EU remote workers).
6. Retirees
- Tax: statutory and private pensions are taxed in Greece. The PVA keeps withholding Austrian tax until you send a Greek residence certificate on form ZS-QU1. Once a year you return a proof of life.
- Civil servants: a Beamtenpension is taxed only in Austria (treaty Art. 19), unless you are also a Greek national; Greece does not tax it.
- Health: with only an Austrian pension, you stay insured through Austria and get Greek care via form S1; a health contribution is deducted from the pension.
- Article 5B: if you receive a foreign pension and were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years, your foreign income is taxed at 7% for 15 years, unless a tax treaty exempts it. Move by 2 July and you can apply by 31 October of that year; move later and it starts the following year (A.1192/2026). Statutory, company and private pensions are taxed only in Greece, so the 7% applies to them in full. Income the treaty leaves to Austria alone (civil service pensions, unless you are also a Greek national) is not taxed in Greece, so the 7% does not reach it. Where both countries may tax, such as Austrian rent or dividends, Austrian tax is credited against the 7% up to the Greek tax on that income, and any excess is not refunded (A.1192/2026, art. 5). Whether 5B beats the normal 9–44% scale depends on your pension (7% flat tax).
Familienbeihilfe generally ends once the family lives in Greece, unless a parent still works in Austria or receives an Austrian pension. Austrian pension periods are kept and combined with Greek ones under EU rules.
7. Article 5C: the 50% exemption
If you were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years, Article 5C exempts 50% of Greek employment or business income for 7 years. You need a Greek employer, a Greek establishment of a foreign employer, or your own sole proprietorship in Greece (an IKE does not count, nor does a salary from your Austrian GmbH). Start by 2 July and you apply by 31 December of that year; later, by 31 December of the next. AADE allows it alongside 5A or 5B. Digital Nomad Visa holders are not eligible (5C vs DNV).
How we can help
We prepare and file the Greek side: tax and business registration, the 5C or 5B application, and your returns as part of our ongoing bookkeeping. The Austrian exit stays with your Steuerberater; we share the Greek documents they need. Send us a message for a free check.
Frequently asked questions
When does my Austrian tax liability end if I move to Greece?
When you no longer have a residence or habitual abode in Austria. Deregistering is the first step, but a flat you keep available can still count as a residence. If both countries claim you, the 2007 treaty decides: permanent home first, then centre of vital interests.
Does Austria charge exit tax when I move to Greece?
Yes, on shares and funds bought from 2011, crypto bought after February 2021 and company stakes of 1% or more, which Austria treats as sold when you leave. For a move to Greece, you can apply in your Austrian return for that year to have the tax assessed but not collected until you actually sell.
Is my Austrian pension taxed in Greece or in Austria?
Statutory pensions (PVA, SVS) and private or company pensions are taxed only in Greece once you live there. Civil service pensions are taxed only in Austria unless you are also a Greek national. To stop Austrian withholding, you give the PVA a Greek residence certificate on form ZS-QU1.
Do I keep paying SVS contributions if I freelance from Greece?
No. Under EU Regulation 883/2004 you are insured where you work, so a freelancer living and working in Greece joins EFKA. An Austrian A1 only helps for temporary postings or if you also work substantially in Austria.
Can I use the Greek 50% tax break (Article 5C) when moving from Austria?
Yes, if you were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years and take a job with a Greek employer or register as a sole trader in Greece. Digital Nomad Visa holders are not eligible.
Rules as of October 2026 (EStG §§1 and 27, Austria–Greece tax treaty 2007, EU Regulation 883/2004, Greek Income Tax Code art. 5B/5C, A.1192/2026).