Moving to Greece from Sweden: Tax and Setup Guide (2026)

Swedes moving to Greece are mostly freelancers with Swedish clients, remote employees, AB owners and retirees. This guide covers the Swedish exit and points you to the right Greek setup.

The short answer

• Report your move to Skatteverket at least a week before you leave, but deregistering alone does not end Swedish tax residency.
• The five-year rule: Swedish citizens and anyone who lived in Sweden for ten years or more must prove they have no essential connection to Sweden for five years after leaving.
• No tax treaty since 2022: Sweden terminated the 1961 convention because of the Greek 7% regime for pensioners.
• Swedish pensions are taxed in Sweden under SINK (22.5% in 2026, 20% from 2027); Greece credits.
• The 10-year rule lets Sweden tax certain share sales for ten years after you leave.
• 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 Swedish movers who qualify.

1. Ending Swedish tax residency

You are fully taxable (obegränsat skattskyldig) in Sweden while you live or stay permanently there, and also after you leave if you keep an essential connection (väsentlig anknytning). Skatteverket weighs factors such as a year-round home in Sweden, family staying behind, a business or significant economic interests in Sweden, and not having settled permanently anywhere abroad.

If you are a Swedish citizen or lived in Sweden for at least ten years, you carry the burden of proof for five years from the day you leave. After that, Skatteverket has to show that the connection remains.

If you will live abroad for a year or more, you report the move no later than one week before you leave, through the e-service or form SKV 7665.

In Greece, you become tax resident with your main home or centre of life here, or after 183 days in 12 months. Because there is no treaty, no tie-breaker settles a dual claim.

2. The year you leave

You still file a Swedish return for the year you leave, and later whenever you have Swedish income outside SINK, such as rent.

Tell Försäkringskassan about the move on Mina sidor; it decides whether you remain insured in Sweden.

If you close an enskild firma, you withdraw your F-tax and VAT registration on verksamt.se, file a final NE schedule and reverse untaxed reserves such as periodiseringsfond and expansionsfond, which become taxable that year.

3. No tax treaty since 2022

The Sweden–Greece convention signed in Athens on 6 October 1961 stopped applying after 31 December 2021; the Swedish law giving it effect was repealed from 1 January 2022 (SFS 2021:573). Sweden ended it because, combined with the Greek 7% regime, the treaty stopped Sweden taxing pensions, dividends and capital gains of people who moved to Greece. As of October 2026, no replacement treaty is in force.

Without a treaty, both countries apply their domestic rules:

• Pensions: Sweden taxes pensions paid to people abroad under the SINK Act (1991:586, särskild inkomstskatt för utomlands bosatta); the bill ending the treaty notes that nothing now stops Sweden taxing them.
• Shares: under the 10-year rule (chapter 3, section 19 of the Income Tax Act), Sweden can tax gains on shares in Swedish companies, including your own AB, and on foreign shares you bought while living in Sweden, if you were resident in Sweden in the year of sale or any of the ten years before. The old treaty had no such clause and gave the gain to Greece; that protection is gone.
• Dividends: Swedish kupongskatt of 30% applies in full, with no treaty reduction.
• Double taxation: Greece credits foreign tax up to the Greek tax on the same income. If Sweden still treats you as resident, it credits Greek tax under its own credit act.

Owning an AB with significant influence is itself a factor that can keep your essential connection to Sweden. If you run your AB alone from Greece, it stays fully taxable in Sweden, but Greece may treat it as tax resident because it is managed here, so the company can be taxed in both countries with no treaty to decide. Once you are non-resident, dividends from the AB carry 30% kupongskatt, and a sale or liquidation within ten years of leaving stays taxable in Sweden. Salary for work done in Greece is taxed in Greece and insured with EFKA. Talk to your adviser before you deregister. For a new Greek company, see setting up an IKE.

4. How your income is taxed

5. Freelancers and remote workers

You close your enskild firma (F-tax, VAT, NE schedule), register as a sole trader in Greece and invoice from there.

• Swedish business clients are invoiced without VAT under the reverse charge, private clients with Greek VAT; the Swedish small-business VAT 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), not through Swedish egenavgifter. A Swedish A1 only helps for temporary postings or if you also work substantially in Sweden.
• 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 Swedish 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 Swedish 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: Pensionsmyndigheten and other Swedish payers withhold Swedish tax until Skatteverket issues a SINK decision. SINK is a final tax of 22.5% in 2026, falling to 20% from 1 January 2027, with a monthly exempt amount on the state pension. You can choose ordinary Swedish taxation instead, year by year; the basic deduction then applies only if at least 90% of your earned income is taxed in Sweden.
• Greek side: you declare the pension in Greece as well, and Greece credits the Swedish tax up to the Greek tax on it. In practice you pay the higher of the two: SINK, or Greek tax on the pension.
• Payment: income pension, premium pension and supplementary pension are paid wherever you live; the guarantee pension is not. Send the yearly life certificate on time.
• Health: with a Swedish public pension, you can keep Swedish health cover and apply for form S1 on Mina sidor at Försäkringskassan to register for Greek care. An occupational pension alone does not qualify.
• 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. Apply by 31 October of the year you want it for (A.1192/2026); if you arrive after 2 July, it starts the following year. Sweden still withholds SINK on Swedish pensions. With no treaty, that tax is credited against the Greek 7% up to the 7% (A.1192/2026, art. 5), so no Greek tax remains on those pensions, but the higher SINK is not refunded. 5B pays off mainly when most of your income is not Swedish (7% flat tax).

Barnbidrag usually ends when the family moves abroad; Försäkringskassan checks each case.

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 Swedish AB). 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 Swedish exit stays with your Swedish adviser; we share the Greek documents they need. Send us a message for a free check.

Frequently asked questions

When does my Swedish tax residency end if I move to Greece?

When you no longer live or stay permanently in Sweden and have no essential connection (väsentlig anknytning) to it. Swedish citizens and anyone who lived in Sweden for at least ten years must prove the lack of connection for five years after leaving. With no tax treaty, there is no tie-breaker if both countries claim you.

Is there a tax treaty between Sweden and Greece?

No. Sweden terminated the 1961 convention, and it stopped applying after 31 December 2021. As of October 2026 no new treaty is in force, so each country applies its own rules and double taxation is relieved only through domestic tax credits.

Is my Swedish pension taxed in Greece or in Sweden?

In both. Sweden withholds SINK, 22.5% in 2026 and 20% from 2027, on pensions paid from Sweden. As a Greek resident you declare the pension in Greece too, and Greece credits the Swedish tax up to the Greek tax on it. In practice you pay the higher of the two.

Do I keep paying Swedish self-employed 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. A Swedish A1 only helps for temporary postings or if you also work substantially in Sweden.

Can I use the Greek 50% tax break (Article 5C) when moving from Sweden?

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 (Swedish Income Tax Act chapter 3, SINK Act 1991:586, SFS 2021:573 ending the Sweden–Greece tax treaty, EU Regulation 883/2004, Greek Income Tax Code art. 5B/5C, A.1192/2026).