Moving from the UK to Greece is the second most common case we see, after Germany: remote workers and freelancers, directors of a UK Ltd, and retirees. Since Brexit, the immigration side is the first hurdle; the tax side has its own quirks because the UK–Greece treaty dates from 1953. This guide covers the UK exit and points you to the right Greek setup. Rules as of October 2026.
The short answer
- Leave UK residency cleanly under the Statutory Residence Test and claim split-year treatment for the year you move. P85 is a refund form, not a residence decision.
- The 1953 treaty has no modern tie-breaker: if you are resident in both countries, you get no treaty relief, so make the UK exit clean.
- Pensions: State Pension and private pensions are taxed in Greece only; UK government pensions stay UK-taxed. Retirees can apply for the Greek 7% flat rate.
- UK property and ISAs: rent and gains stay UK-taxed with credit in Greece; ISAs keep UK status but are fully taxable in Greece.
- Immigration: 90 days in 180 without a visa; longer stays need a national visa, for example the Digital Nomad Visa or a work route.
- Article 5C (50% off income tax for seven years) is open to UK movers with a Greek job or Greek business; not to DNV holders.
1. Before you leave: the Statutory Residence Test
HMRC decides your residence through the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). The simplest way to become non-resident is one of the automatic overseas tests:
- You were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years and spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year; or
- You work full-time overseas, spend fewer than 91 days in the UK and work more than three hours in the UK on fewer than 31 days.
Spend 183 days or more in the UK and you are automatically resident. Everything in between runs through the sufficient-ties test, which is where people who keep a UK home and visit often get caught.
Split-year treatment. In the tax year you leave, you can usually split the year: non-resident from the day your overseas work starts (Case 1) or from the day you stop having a UK home (Case 3, with at most 15 UK days afterwards and, within six months, Greek tax residence or your only home being in Greece). You claim it on the residence pages of your Self Assessment return.
P85 only reclaims PAYE tax for the part of the year after you left; it does not make you non-resident, and Self Assessment filers skip it.
The five-year rule: leave for five years or less, after at least four of the previous seven years as UK resident, and gains realised while abroad are taxed on your return. Time any share or business sale accordingly.
2. The 1953 treaty: what it does and does not do
The UK–Greece convention is one of the UK’s oldest treaties still in force. Three consequences for movers:
- No tie-breaker. The treaty defines a UK resident as someone resident in the UK and not resident in Greece. If both countries treat you as resident, the treaty does not help; you are taxed twice with whatever domestic credit applies.
- No property or capital gains articles. Greek rental income is taxed under Greek law and the UK gives credit; UK property stays UK-taxed; each side credits the other’s tax on the same income (HS263).
- Pensions and government pay are covered. See section 5.
3. Immigration: the post-Brexit reality
UK citizens can stay in the Schengen area for 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. Anything longer needs a national (type D) visa from a Greek consulate, followed by a residence permit in Greece. Since a February 2026 amendment to the Migration Code (Law 5275/2026), the type D visa is the first step for the Digital Nomad Visa as well; in-country applications on a tourist stay have been closed.
The routes that matter for tax:
- Digital Nomad Visa: €3,500 net per month (plus 20% for a spouse and 15% per child), work only for employers and clients outside Greece. Tax residency still follows the normal rules. See the DNV guide and 5C vs the Digital Nomad Visa.
- Work or self-employment routes via a Greek employer or your own Greek business, which are also the routes into Article 5C (section 4).
- Financially independent person permit for non-working movers with sufficient stable foreign income.
- Golden Visa: €250,000 to €800,000 property investment depending on location; a residence permit does not by itself make you tax resident.
4. Tax residency and the Greek regimes
You become Greek tax resident with your main home or centre of life here, or once you exceed 183 days in any 12-month period, counted from the first day (183-day guide).
Article 5C, the 50% break. For seven years, half your Greek employment or business income is exempt from income tax, if you were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the last 6 years, take a job with a Greek entity or register a business here, and move from an EU/EEA state or a state with an administrative cooperation agreement with Greece. The UK meets that condition: it is party to the OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance (in force for the UK since 2008, for Greece since 2013), and Article XV of the 1953 treaty provides for exchange of information. Deadlines and the employee side are in 5C for employees and remote workers, the basics in how the 50% tax break works, the numbers in the 5C calculator.
Article 5B, the 7% retiree rate. Foreign-source income taxed at a flat 7% for 15 years, for pensioners who were non-resident in 5 of the last 6 years and move from a cooperation state. Since Law 5313/2026 and AADE decision A.1192/2026, you apply by 31 October of the year you want the regime for and pay the 7% once a year by the end of December; details in retiring to Greece: the 7% flat tax. Greek-source income is taxed normally.
Article 5A (€100,000 lump sum on all foreign income, with a €500,000 investment) only matters for high-net-worth movers; see 5C vs the non-dom regime.
5. Pensions, ISAs and UK property
State Pension and private pensions. Under Article X of the treaty, pensions paid to a Greek resident are exempt from UK tax if they are taxed in Greece. You claim the exemption with HMRC’s DT-Individual form, certified by the Greek tax office. In Greece they are taxed on the normal scale, or at 7% under Article 5B.
UK government pensions. Pensions paid by the UK government or out of funds it created (civil service, armed forces) remain taxable only in the UK. NHS, teachers’, police and local-government pensions need a scheme-by-scheme check.
ISAs. You can keep an ISA open but cannot pay in while non-resident, and you must tell your provider. Greece taxes the interest, dividends and gains like any other investment income.
UK property. Rent stays taxable in the UK, with the personal allowance that British citizens can still claim as non-residents, and is declared again in Greece with credit. If you sell a UK home as a non-resident, non-resident CGT applies on the gain since April 2015, reported and paid within 60 days; treaties do not shelter it.
Buying in Greece: you need a Greek tax number before the deed, and a 15% transfer tax for non-EU buyers has been announced from 2027 (details).
6. Freelancers and remote workers
If you work for clients, the Greek setup is a sole proprietorship: AFM (Greek tax number), business start declaration, EFKA (social security) registration and myDATA (AADE’s e-books, where every invoice is reported). The steps are in how to register as a freelancer in Greece, the taxes in freelancer taxes 2026.
Three UK-specific points:
- EFKA for new freelancers is €150.46 per month plus €10 unemployment contribution for the first five years, then from €250.77 (EFKA guide). Your UK National Insurance record stops building unless you pay voluntary Class 3; see section 9.
- VAT. Services to UK businesses are outside Greek VAT; services to EU businesses are reverse-charged. New businesses file VAT monthly for the first 24 months (VAT for freelancers with foreign clients).
- E-invoicing. From 2 November 2026 (transition period to 31 January 2027), invoices to Greek and non-EU businesses, which now includes UK clients, go through an approved channel; AADE’s free timologio app counts (e-invoicing guide).
7. Employees of a UK employer
The case that causes the most trouble. Once you are Greek tax resident, your UK salary is taxed in Greece; the treaty’s short-stay exemption only protects someone present in Greece for 183 days or less whose pay is borne by a UK employer with no Greek establishment. Three things follow:
- 5C as an employee needs a Greek entity or branch. A purely UK employer does not qualify; the usual workaround is to become a Greek sole trader and invoice the company, which carries disguised-employment risk if it is your only client.
- Social security moves to Greece. Under the UK–EU Protocol on Social Security Coordination, a UK employer can keep you in UK National Insurance only for a temporary posting of up to 24 months with an A1 certificate (proof you stay in UK National Insurance). A permanent move means EFKA, which your employer must register for or handle through an Employer of Record.
- Permanent establishment. A UK Ltd whose director runs it from a Greek home office risks creating a Greek permanent establishment, with Greek corporate tax on the attributable profit. Directors’ pay is employment income in Greece; UK dividends are taxed in Greece at 5%, and the UK normally takes no tax on dividends paid to a non-resident. If the business should live in Greece, see setting up an IKE.
8. Retirees
Register tax residency in Greece, apply for the 7% regime if eligible, and claim UK exemption on the pensions that Article X covers. For healthcare, UK State Pensioners can request an S1 form from NHS Overseas Healthcare Services, get an AMKA (social security number) at a KEP (citizens’ service centre) and register the S1 with EOPYY (the state health insurer); the UK then pays for your Greek state healthcare. Everyone else needs private cover until they contribute to EFKA.
9. National Insurance and healthcare for working-age movers
From 6 April 2026, voluntary Class 2 contributions for periods abroad are closed to new applicants. Class 3 remains (form CF83), if you have ten years of UK residence or contributions, at roughly £767 a year more than Class 2. Existing Class 3 payers continue unchanged; existing Class 2 payers can apply to move to Class 3 under the old rules until 6 April 2027.
Working-age movers get Greek state healthcare through EFKA once they contribute. Until then, and for DNV holders throughout, private insurance is required.
Already in Greece without a setup?
Many UK movers arrive on the 90-day rule, stay, and only ask about tax when a bank or landlord asks for an AFM. The longer the gap, the more it costs: living in Greece without a tax setup.
What we charge
taxomade handles the Greek side: we prepare and file your tax residency registration, the 5C or 7% application, the freelancer or company setup, and the monthly bookkeeping from €89 per month with myDATA, VAT returns and the annual tax return included. The UK exit (SRT, split year, DT-Individual) is coordinated with your UK adviser or HMRC directly. Message us on WhatsApp for a free check of your situation, or see our bookkeeping service.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop being UK tax resident when I move to Greece?
Through HMRC’s Statutory Residence Test. The clean routes are the automatic overseas tests: fewer than 16 UK days in the tax year (if you were UK resident in any of the last three years), or full-time work abroad with fewer than 91 UK days and fewer than 31 UK workdays. In the year you leave, split-year treatment can make you non-resident from the day you start working abroad or stop having a UK home. The P85 form only reclaims PAYE tax; it does not decide your residence.
Is my UK pension taxed in Greece or in the UK?
Under the 1953 UK–Greece convention, the UK State Pension and private or occupational pensions are taxable only in Greece once you are Greek tax resident; you claim UK exemption with HMRC’s DT-Individual form. Pensions paid by the UK government or out of funds it created (civil service, armed forces) stay taxable in the UK. Eligible retirees can apply for the Greek 7% flat rate on foreign income for 15 years.
Do UK citizens qualify for Greece’s 50% tax break (Article 5C)?
Yes, by the wording of the law. Article 5C requires moving from an EU/EEA state or a state with an administrative cooperation agreement with Greece; the UK meets that condition through the OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance and the exchange-of-information article of the UK–Greece treaty. You also need 5 of the last 6 years outside Greek tax residency and either a job with a Greek entity or a business registered here. Digital Nomad Visa holders are not eligible.
Can I keep working for my UK employer from Greece?
Immigration-wise, only with a residence permit, for example the Digital Nomad Visa (€3,500 net per month, applied for at a Greek consulate since the February 2026 law change). Tax-wise, once you are Greek tax resident your salary is taxed in Greece, and after any temporary posting period you fall under Greek social security (EFKA), which your employer would have to handle. The common alternative is to register as self-employed in Greece and invoice the UK company.
What happens to my ISA when I move to Greece?
You can keep it but you cannot pay in while you are non-UK resident, and you must tell your provider. Greece does not recognise the ISA wrapper: as a Greek tax resident you declare the interest, dividends and gains in Greece.
Can I still pay UK National Insurance from Greece?
From 6 April 2026, voluntary Class 2 contributions for periods abroad are no longer available to new applicants. Class 3 is possible if you have ten years of UK residence or contributions, at a higher rate. Existing Class 3 payers continue unchanged; if you were already paying Class 2 from abroad, you can apply to move to Class 3 under the old eligibility rules until 6 April 2027.
Rules reflect UK and Greek law as of October 2026. The 15% transfer tax for non-EU buyers is an announced measure, not legislation.