GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Fotodotis Malamas, Bernitsas Law
ship, which aims to protect the closest relatives of the deceased and, more specifically, descendants, par - ents and the surviving spouse (“forced heirs”). Forced heirs are always entitled to a certain percentage of the estate despite the will of the deceased, and they have all the duties and rights of heirs. However, the deceased may exclude a forced heir if a reason for Future spouses can enter into an agreement regulating their choice of system for the community of property and can even stipulate which assets will be included in the common property, if they so wish. If the spouses are unable to reach an agreement, the property self-sufficiency system with a claim for par - ticipation in acquisitions will come into force. In prac - tice, future spouses do not enter into any agreement except one regarding the family name of their children, for which the law requires an explicit declaration. If the spouses fail to make such a declaration, or in the case of a possible disagreement, the Greek Civil Code states that the children shall bear the family name of their father. disinheritance exists. 2.4 Marital Property Only when one spouse mandates the other to admin - ister their communal assets must both spouses cat - egorically agree that the rules of the Greek Civil Code will not come into force. Consequently, the adminis - trator is obliged to provide information to their spouse on the administration of their assets, and to repay any income that they have collected. However, it is under - stood that they cannot waive their right to withdraw the power of administration, as the relevant rule of the Greek Civil Code is mandatory. 2.5 Transfer of Property The value of transferred property must be assessed by either an independent asset valuer or the tax authori - ties. This valuation may be used in the future as the cost basis of the property being transferred. 2.6 Transfer of Assets: Vehicle and Planning Mechanisms There are no favourable tax provisions for the transfer of assets to the next generation that facilitate tax-free transactions. However, for assets valued at less than
EUR800,000, a donation (gift) to first-class relatives (spouse, children or grandchildren) does not give rise to tax implications. Tax incentive laws for the transfor - mation or merger of legal persons or entities may also be used for the transition of assets from one genera - tion to the next. 2.7 Transfer of Assets: Digital Assets The Inheritance and Gift Tax Law (IGTL) does not regu - late the taxation of digital assets for the purposes of succession. Nevertheless, it appears that cryptocur - rencies such as Bitcoin may be treated as deposits in foreign currency subject to inheritance tax, or as investments in foreign currency. Their value will be assessed by the applicable foreign exchange rate on the date the inheritance tax liability arose. The Dispute Resolution Committee (an Administra - tive Committee examining the quasi-judicial recours - es filed by taxpayers) recently decided (Decision 417/2023) that: “income from the transfer of crypto - currencies abroad does not fall under the provisions of the Income Tax Code which provide for and exhaus - tively list the securities from the transfer of which goodwill derives.” Furthermore, the same Committee decided (Deci - sion 1699/2023) in the context of a VAT case that the cryptocurrencies for which the taxpayer stated that it provides exchange services were not legal means of payment. In this regard, any commission fees paid to the bureau de change are subject to VAT at the ordi - nary rate (currently 24%). Moreover, websites or domain names may be treated as movable assets subject to inheritance tax, and their market value may be assessed by an independent valuer in order to provide supportive documentation to the tax authorities for their tax base. By way of Law 5193/2025, the provisions supplement - ing Regulation 2023/1114 (the Markets in Crypt-Assets Regulation (MiCAR)) and Regulation 2023/1113 (the Transfer of Funds Regulation II (TFR II)) were intro - duced into domestic legislation. The enactment of Law 5193/2025 entails that crypto-asset service pro - viders may validly offer their services in Greece under MiCAR.
204 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook