Analysis, Law & Tax, Uncategorized

Why the wealthy move to Athens: the €100,000 non-dom tax and Riviera prices

Greece taxes the foreign income of wealthy new residents at a flat €100,000 a year, whatever that income is, under its non-dom regime. With a 7% regime for pensioners, a 50% income break for people who move to work and a 5% rate on carried interest, these are the tax rules wealthy buyers moving to Athens work with, alongside the Golden Visa and Riviera prices.

Between 1 January 2020 and 23 December 2024, 4,566 people were placed under the non-dom, pensioner and work regimes (Articles 5A, 5B and 5C of the Income Tax Code), according to an AADE reply to the Hellenic Parliament (AADE is the Greek tax authority). Of them, 703 bought homes in Greece in 2020–2023 and 1,830 rented under leases starting in 2021–2023.

The numbers

Regime	What it gives	Main condition	Duration (tax years)
Non-dom, Article 5A Income Tax Code	€100,000 a year flat tax on all foreign income; €20,000 for each family member added	Investment of at least €500,000 in Greece within three years; not a Greek tax resident in 7 of the previous 8 years	Up to 15
Foreign pensioners, Article 5B	7% flat tax on all foreign income	Foreign pension; not a Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years; move from a state with a tax cooperation agreement with Greece	Up to 15
People who move to work, Article 5C	50% of Greek employment or business income exempt from income tax	Not a Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years; work for a Greek employer or start a business in Greece; declare a stay of at least two years	7
Fund managers, Article 43(2)	5% tax on carried interest	Relocation under Article 5C; the Greek entity spends at least €3 million a year in Greece	7

All four are in force. The 5% carried interest rate applies to tax years starting on or after 1 January 2026, under Article 96 of Law 5313/2026 (Government Gazette A’ 102/25.06.2026).

The non-dom €500,000 investment can go into Greek property, businesses, securities or companies based in Greece. Article 5A waives it for holders of an investor residence permit issued under the earlier migration code, Law 4251/2014.

Law 5313/2026 moved payment of the €100,000 and 7% taxes to the last working day of December, in one instalment. It removed the fixed 31 March application date from the law; AADE now sets the deadlines. For the non-dom regime, AADE decision A.1147/2026 (Government Gazette B’ 4431/20.07.2026) sets 30 September of the year of arrival or of the following tax year. For pensioners, AADE decision A.1192/2026 (Government Gazette B’ 5767/24.09.2026) sets 31 October of the year of arrival or of the following tax year.

What is driving it

The tax regimes are only part of the picture. Wealthy movers who buy rather than rent also face Greece’s Golden Visa rules and Athens prices.

The Golden Visa. A residence permit through property now needs €800,000 in Attica, the Thessaloniki regional unit, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with more than 3,100 residents, and €400,000 elsewhere, for a single property of at least 120 m², under Article 100 of Law 5038/2023. A €250,000 route remains for converting commercial buildings to homes and for restoring listed buildings. Golden Visa homes cannot be let short term.

China accounts for most investor permits. At the end of July 2026, Chinese nationals held 12,485 of the 26,310 active initial investor permits, or 47.5%, according to Ministry of Migration and Asylum data. Turkey followed with 4,975, then Lebanon with 1,172 and Iran with 1,000. By September the total of active investor permits had reached 35,857, initial and renewed, as we reported.

Prices. Athens apartment prices rose 5.0% a year in the second quarter of 2026, against 5.5% for Greece as a whole, according to the Bank of Greece (the central bank). The Athens Riviera, the coast south of the city, is the most expensive part of the market.

Area	Average asking price, Q2 2026 (€ per m²)
Vouliagmeni	7,364
Voula	6,250
Elliniko	5,688
Glyfada	5,669

Source: Spitogatos, Q2 2026. Asking prices are not final sale prices. Full figures for the coast, with rents and official zone prices, are on our Athens Riviera prices page.

At The Ellinikon, the former airport site next to Glyfada, about 1,000 homes have been sold since 2021, executives of the developer, Lamda Development, said on 14 October 2026. The average price was about €1.3 million, excluding the beachfront villas and the Riviera Tower flats. Greeks living in Greece made up 55% of buyers and the Greek diaspora 20–25%; foreign buyers living abroad were about 15% and foreigners living in Greece about 5%. Details are in our report.

What it means for buyers

Wealthy movers. The non-dom regime is about tax residence, not property. A home purchase in Greece can count towards the €500,000 investment. The €100,000 a year is due whatever the foreign income, so the regime is worth more the higher that income is. Buyers should confirm how this applies to them with a Greek lawyer or accountant.

Golden Visa buyers. The whole Athens Riviera is in Attica, so the €800,000 minimum applies, for one property of at least 120 m². At Vouliagmeni’s average asking price, €800,000 buys about 109 m², below the 120 m² minimum, so the threshold in practice means a larger budget there. See the Golden Visa hub.

Families and pensioners. The 7% regime and the 50% work break have lower entry costs than the non-dom route. Schools are part of the decision for families; our guide to international schools in Athens compares curricula and fees. The full rules for moving are in Moving to Greece.

Rental investors. Demand from new residents who rent is real: 1,830 of the 4,566 beneficiaries rented homes in 2021–2023, the AADE reply shows. Golden Visa homes cannot be let short term, so long lets are the option there.

How we got these numbers

Tax rules come from the Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013), Articles 5A, 5B, 5C and 43, as amended by Law 5313/2026, and from AADE decisions A.1147/2026 and A.1192/2026. The count of 4,566 beneficiaries is AADE’s reply of 23 January 2025 to a parliamentary question; it covers all three regimes together, without a split by regime, and no later official count has been published that we could find. Golden Visa figures are from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum July and September 2026 reports. Prices are from the Bank of Greece index for Q2 2026 (provisional) and the Spitogatos Q2 2026 release. The Vouliagmeni floor area is our calculation.

Sources

See GreekProps first on Google

Add us as a preferred source and our stories show up more often in Google's Top Stories.

Independent buyer's agency

Looking to buy property in Greece?

Submit a request to Atalos Estate, an independent buyer's agency focused on international buyers. Its consultants and real estate agents search the entire market for you, to find the property that fits your brief.

Submit your request