Greece’s Article 5C exempts 50% of your Greek employment or business income from income tax for seven years if you move your tax residence here. For higher earners the saving can reach tens of thousands of euros a year.
The rules are strict, but more forgiving than their reputation: a late application usually shifts your first year, and missing documents can often be supplied later. The expensive mistakes are made before you apply, in how and when you set up. Here are the five most common.
The short answer
- Deadline: start by 2 July → apply by 31 December that year; start later → by 31 December of the following year.
- Proof: foreign tax residence evidence for the years Greek records don’t cover.
- Structure: a job with a Greek employer (or Greek branch) or your own sole proprietorship; IKE profits don’t count.
- Status: the Digital Nomad Visa does not qualify.
- EFKA contributions are not reduced.
1. Applying in the wrong year
You can’t apply before you have an AFM and have registered your job or business. After that, the deadline depends on when the job or business starts (AADE):
- Start on or before 2 July: apply by 31 December of the same year; the regime covers that year.
- Start after 2 July: apply by 31 December of the following year; the regime then starts in that following year.
If you register your sole proprietorship on 15 March, you have until 31 December to apply for that year. Register on 10 July and your first 5C year is the next one. Plan the start date with this in mind.
2. Proving non-residence with the wrong paperwork
You must not have been Greek tax resident in 5 of the 6 years before the move. A foreign passport proves nothing here.
For each year that Greek tax records don’t already show you as non-resident, you need proof from abroad: a certificate of tax residence from the foreign tax authority, or the residence form under the double tax treaty. If a country doesn’t issue such certificates, your tax assessment or the return you filed there as a resident can be used instead. Order them early; some tax offices take weeks.
Treaty residence forms are accepted without an apostille; other foreign documents may need one, plus a Greek translation. And if an application is rejected for missing documents, it is not over: submit them by 31 March of the following year and the rejection is revoked for the original year.
3. Setting up an IKE instead of a sole proprietorship
The business route covers an individual business: a sole proprietorship (ατομική επιχείρηση) registered with the tax office. A company such as an IKE does not count as your own business for 5C. A salary from a Greek company, including one you own, falls under the employment route instead, with its own conditions.
Remote employment for a foreign company with no Greek entity or branch doesn’t qualify either. If you want an IKE later, see IKE setup and annual costs, but get the 5C structure right first.
4. Applying while on a Digital Nomad Visa
Article 5C requires a job with a Greek employer or your own business in Greece. Under the Digital Nomad Visa you declare that you will not work for an employer based in Greece, and the permit gives no right to business activity here. You therefore cannot meet the 5C condition, and the application fails.
You need a residence status that permits Greek employment or self-employment. EU citizens need no visa at all. More in why the DNV rules out Article 5C.
5. Billing your former employer without thinking it through
Many EU remote workers claim 5C by leaving their foreign job, registering a Greek sole proprietorship and invoicing their old employer as a client (see 5C for EU remote workers). It works, but two things go wrong.
If your former employer stays your only client under the same working conditions, the arrangement can be challenged as disguised employment, in Greece or in the client’s country. And the 50% applies to income tax only: EFKA contributions are paid in full, and VAT returns, myDATA invoicing and the annual return still apply.
Keeping the break once you have it
The regime ends from the year you move your tax residence abroad, or if your Greek job or sole proprietorship stops for more than 12 months without a new one. You also commit to staying at least two years, counted from 1 January of your first 5C year.
Frequently asked questions
What is the deadline to apply for Article 5C?
If your job or business starts on or before 2 July, apply by 31 December of the same year. If it starts after 2 July, apply by 31 December of the following year. A later application usually shifts the first year of the regime rather than losing it.
What documents prove I was not a Greek tax resident?
Only for the years Greek records don’t already show you as non-resident: a certificate of tax residence from the foreign tax authority (or the residence form under the double tax treaty), otherwise your foreign tax assessment or return. Treaty forms are exempt from the apostille.
Can I get the 5C tax break through an IKE?
Not through the business route. It requires an individual business (sole proprietorship); a company such as an IKE does not count as your own business for 5C.
Can Digital Nomad Visa holders apply for 5C?
No. The Digital Nomad Visa does not allow work for Greek employers or Greek business activity, so its holders cannot meet the employment or business condition of 5C.
What if my 5C application is rejected for missing documents?
You can submit the missing documents by 31 March of the following year; the tax office then revokes the rejection and issues a new decision for the original year.
Does Article 5C reduce EFKA social security contributions?
No. The 50% exemption applies to income tax only. EFKA contributions are paid in full.
Get the setup right first
Most 5C problems start before the application: the wrong start date, the wrong vehicle, or missing proof. The 5C tax calculator shows what is at stake. We prepare and file the 5C application and the ongoing VAT, myDATA and annual returns as part of our ongoing bookkeeping; send us a message for a free check of your setup.
Rules as of October 2026 (Income Tax Code art. 5C, A.1087/2021 as amended by A.1138/2025).