GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Maria Zoupa, Daphne Cozonis, Ioanna Tapeinou and Diana Tsourapa, Zepos & Yannopoulos
EUR0.0037 to EUR16.20 per square metre, depending on the type of property (buildings or land plots). The supplementary standard tax rate is set at 0.55%, although properties that are used by the taxpayer for their business activities are subject to a supple - mentary tax of 0.1%. Reduced rates or a number of exemptions are available for specific categories of properties and/or taxpayers (eg, real estate invest - ment companies). Special Real Estate Tax A Special Real Estate Tax ( Ειδικός Φόρος Ακινήτων ) on real estate owned as of 1 January of each calen - dar year is imposed for the purposes of tackling the ownership of Greek real estate by non-transparent structures. It is imposed at a rate of 15% of the value of the real estate imputed for tax purposes. It is, in practice, not applicable to a great number of incor - porated businesses owning Greek real estate, owing to a number of exemptions which are based either on the status of the legal person holding it (eg, listed companies) or on the type of services performed by the entities owning Greek real estate property – eg, legislative amendments extend explicitly the regulated investment vehicle exemption to EU alternative invest - ment funds that fall under the AIFM Directive or on the basis of the disclosure of the ultimate beneficial own - ers (ie, owners possessing a Greek tax identification). Capital Accumulation Tax A special tax is imposed on capital accumulation ( φόρος συγκέντρωσης κεφαλαίων ) at a rate of 0.2%. This applies to capital in cash or in kind contributed to legal entities of any form in the context of a capi - tal increase. Such tax is not imposed on the capital accumulated upon the establishment of an entity. A duty of 0.1% on share capital is additionally imposed on companies taking the form of an AE in favour of the Hellenic Competition Committee. Municipal Taxes and Taxes in Favour of Third Parties Corporations holding or renting real estate may be lia - ble to various municipal taxes/duties, such as clean - ing and lighting duties which are collected through electricity utility bills. A property duty is levied by each municipality at a rate ranging from 0.025% to 0.035%
on the objective value of immovable property located in the territory of the relevant municipality. Municipality duties are also imposed on specific types of advertisements and advertising material. A number of taxes in favour of third parties (such as the Lawyers’ Pension Fund, universities, other funds and non-profit organisations) are applicable to incor - porated businesses and other taxpayers, as the case may be. Entrepreneur’s Duty Corporations and individuals operating a sole propri - etorship have an annual entrepreneur’s duty obliga - tion according to the provisions of Law 3986/2011 which depends on the place of the registered seat, number of business premises maintained and months of operation in the year (around EUR1,000 for the reg - istered seat only). The entrepreneur’s duty is assessed and rendered payable to the Greek tax authorities upon submission of the annual corporate income tax return. 3. Corporations and Non-Corporate Businesses 3.1 Form of Closely Held Local Businesses Closely held local businesses usually operate in cor - porate forms, as companies with legal personality. SMEs and family businesses often take the form of a general partnership or limited partnership. Opera - tion as a sole proprietorship, with a minimum level of imputed taxable profits annually, is preferred only for very small-scale businesses. 3.2 Individual and Corporate Rates An individual professional is taxed at progressive tax rates, which – depending on the level of the income – may or may not lead to an effective rate that is lower than the combined effective rate of corporate taxation and tax imposed on profit distributions (where appli - cable). See 3.4 Taxation of Individuals on Shares in Closely Held Corporations for further details.
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