Expert Info
on 5 Nov 2018
Hello.
I work as a freelancer through a co-operative and I'm considering of moving to Greece (namely Thessaloniki as I've spent time there already and got to know the city) for at least a few months, if not half a year to a year to work remotely. I have some doubts about it as I've never done this kind of a thing before though.
1) how will my taxation, insurances and other paperwork go? I'd be living in Greece, but all my billing would still go through a Finnish company that is physically located in Finland. It seems taxation-wise it wouldn't make much a difference in my net earnings whether or not I'd have to pay all expenses to either country, but I'd obviously prefer to continue paying my side-expenses to Finland as I'm familiar with that bureaucracy.
2) Apartment search. It seems there are a lot of cheap apartments available on the internet, but some of them look just way too good to be true. Are apartments like this legitimate?
I'm inclined to believe, regardless of the economic situation, that a good apartment will still cost me a few hundred euros a month so anything below hundred just seems insanity, but there seems to be a lot of those available too in fairly good areas. Anything else I should keep an eye out on when scouting for a place to live in? Caveats or needed features and such?
Well, I guess those are my biggest concerns right now. I'd be only taking my computer and cat with me, so moving itself isn't an issue.
Thanks in advance!
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Hi there
Hopefully, some local expats will be able to help you with the specifics of your questions. Our overviews of banking, money and taxes in Greece and accommodation in Greece might be good starting points for your research. When are you planning to make the move?
Hope these help!
- Daniela
I haven't moved to Greece but i recently moved to another EU country as a freelancer with my laptop and i work remotely so i've done my meetings with tax advisors prior to that.
Basic rule that sems to apply almost everywhere is - you don't control where you pay taxes.
If you stay at a country more than 182 days a year, you pay all your taxes there (including work that you do when you return to your own country).
If you stay in greece more than 182 days, your country might still give you trouble trying to collect taxes in addition to the one's you pay in Greece (thus create a situation of double taxation). This depens on how aggressive the tax authorities in your country are.
If you stay less but still do some work from that country, you pay taxes to that country only for the work done there.
But it's definately a good idea to consult a tax advisor specializing with relocation and global taxation at least a few months before you do that.
Whether or not you need to create a tax account in the country you're moving to and stop working with your own is another question you should be asking (although if you come from an EU country it might have a simple solution that i don't know about.)