French movers to Greece are mostly freelancers and micro-entrepreneurs with French clients, remote employees, SASU owners and retirees. This guide covers the French exit and points you to the right Greek setup.
The short answer
- Three tests decide: you stay French tax resident while your household, main activity or economic interests are in France. One is enough.
- The year you leave is split: worldwide income up to the departure date, French-source income after it, declared the following spring on the usual return plus form 2042-NR.
- Exit tax on shares: after six of the last ten years in France, holdings worth €800,000 or more, or 50% of a company’s profits, trigger tax on unrealised gains; for Greece, payment is deferred automatically.
- A new treaty applies since 2024: the 2022 convention replaced the 1963 one.
- French pensions: social security (CNAV) and private-sector pensions are taxed only in Greece; public-service pensions of French nationals stay in France.
- 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 French movers who qualify.
1. Ending French tax residency
Under article 4 B of the Code général des impôts, you are domiciled in France for tax purposes if you meet any one of three criteria:
- your household (spouse, PACS partner, children) or your main place of stay is in France;
- your main professional activity is in France;
- the centre of your economic interests is in France, for example your main investments or the seat of your business.
Spouses are assessed individually, so one can become non-resident while the other stays resident. A spouse and children who stay in France usually keep you resident under French law, whatever the dates on your Greek lease.
Before you leave, tell the tax office your new address, ideally through the secure messaging in your impots.gouv.fr account. From then on, the Service des impôts des particuliers non-résidents in Noisy-le-Grand is your point of contact; paper returns for the departure year still go to your former tax office.
In Greece, you become tax resident with your main home or centre of life here, or after 183 days in 12 months. If both countries claim you, Article 4 of the treaty decides along OECD lines: permanent home first, then centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality.
2. The year you leave and the exit tax
In the spring of your departure year, you file the usual return for the previous year. The spring after you leave, you declare the split year: worldwide income from 1 January to the departure date as a resident, and French-source income after that date on form 2042-NR. Foreign income from before departure goes on form 2047.
Exit tax. If you were French tax resident for at least six of the ten years before the move and your shareholdings are worth at least €800,000 in total, or give you at least 50% of a company’s profits, France taxes the unrealised gains when you transfer your tax residence (article 167 bis CGI). For a move to Greece, an EU country, payment is deferred automatically. The tax is cancelled if you still hold the shares two years after the move, or five years if they are worth more than €2.57 million; selling, buying back or cancelling them earlier triggers payment. You report on form 2074-ETD with the return for your departure year and file follow-up forms while the deferral runs.
If you close a micro-entreprise, you declare the cessation on the business formalities portal within 30 days, file your last turnover with URSSAF and report the turnover up to the closing date to the tax office within 60 days.
If you run a French SASU alone from Greece, Greece may treat it as resident because it is managed here; for companies, the treaty decides a dual claim by the place of effective management. Dividends from the SASU remain subject to French withholding within the treaty cap. Agree the structure with your French adviser before you leave. For a new Greek company, see setting up an IKE.
3. The 2022 tax treaty
France and Greece signed a new convention in Athens on 11 May 2022. France approved it by Law 2023-1232 and published it by Decree 2024-16 of 9 January 2024. It entered into force on 30 December 2023 and applies from 1 January 2024, replacing the convention of 21 August 1963. It includes a principal purpose test (Article 27) that denies treaty benefits where obtaining them was one of the principal purposes of an arrangement. As of October 2026 it is in force.
The text of the convention splits pensions in two:
- Article 17: pensions for past employment are taxed only in the country where you live. The French tax administration confirms this includes pensions paid under social security legislation.
- Article 18: pensions paid for services to the French state are taxed only in France, unless you are resident in Greece and a Greek national without French nationality; then only Greece taxes them.
Greece relieves double taxation under Article 21 by crediting French tax, capped at the Greek tax on that income.
4. How your income is taxed
| Income | Taxed in |
|---|---|
| Freelance work done from Greece | Greece, unless you have a permanent establishment in France |
| Employment | Greece for work done from Greece; France can tax days worked in France |
| Rent from French property | France, generally at a minimum rate of 20% (30% above €29,579) unless your average rate is lower; Greece credits |
| French social security (CNAV) and private-sector pensions | Greece only |
| Public-service pensions | France only, unless you are a Greek national without French nationality |
| French dividends | France, capped at 15% under the treaty; Greece credits only up to its own 5% dividend tax |
| French interest | Greece; the treaty caps any French tax at 5% |
| Sale of French property | France; Greece credits |
| Gains on shares after the move | Greece, unless the company is mainly French real estate; deferred exit tax falls due on an early sale |
5. Freelancers and remote workers
You close your micro-entreprise or entreprise individuelle, register as a sole trader in Greece and invoice from there.
- French business clients are invoiced without VAT under the reverse charge, private clients with Greek VAT; the French franchise en base 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 A1 from the URSSAF international mobility service only covers temporary work abroad of up to 24 months, or work in several EU countries.
- 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 French 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 a French 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: your CNAV state pension and private-sector pensions are taxed only in Greece. A civil servant’s pension stays taxed only in France if you are a French national. The French tax office advises asking each pension body which type of pension it pays (private, social security or public) before applying the treaty.
- Health: you request form S1 from your basic pension fund (CNAV, CARSAT, MSA) or, for state civil and military pensions, from the Centre de gestion des retraites, ideally before you leave, and register it with EFKA for Greek care. With a French S1 and tax residence abroad, France deducts a health contribution of 3.2% on basic pensions and 4.2% on supplementary pensions (7.1% on self-employed pensions).
- 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. 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). Your CNAV and private-sector pensions are taxed only in Greece, so they fall fully under the 7%, with no French tax to credit. Income the treaty leaves to France alone, such as a French national’s public-service pension, falls outside the 7%. Where both countries may tax, such as French rent or dividends, French 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). 5B pays off most for private-sector retirees (7% flat tax).
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 French SASU). 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 French exit stays with your French adviser; we share the Greek documents they need. Send us a message for a free check.
Frequently asked questions
When does my French tax residency end if I move to Greece?
When you no longer meet any of the three criteria of article 4 B of the French tax code: your household or main place of stay is in France, your main professional activity is in France, or the centre of your economic interests is in France. One criterion is enough to keep you resident. If both countries claim you, the treaty decides, starting with your permanent home.
Is there a tax treaty between France and Greece?
Yes. A new convention signed in Athens on 11 May 2022 entered into force on 30 December 2023 and applies from 1 January 2024. It replaced the 1963 convention and includes a principal purpose test against treaty abuse. As of October 2026 it is in force.
Is my French pension taxed in Greece or in France?
Private-sector and social security pensions, such as the state pension paid by the CNAV, are taxed only in Greece under Article 17 of the 2022 treaty. Pensions for public service, such as a former civil servant’s pension, are taxed only in France, unless you are a Greek national resident in Greece without French nationality.
Do I stay in the French social security system if I freelance from Greece?
Generally no. Under EU Regulation 883/2004 you are insured where you work, so a freelancer living and working in Greece joins EFKA. An A1 from the URSSAF international mobility service only helps for temporary work abroad of up to 24 months, or if you work in several EU countries.
Can I use the Greek 50% tax break (Article 5C) when moving from France?
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 (CGI art. 4 B and 167 bis, France–Greece tax treaty 2022, EU Regulation 883/2004, Greek Income Tax Code art. 5B/5C, A.1192/2026).