New law 4778/2021 introduces the concept of Family Offices in Greece: New Family Offices law, establishes the possibility of managing the cash flows and family property of natural persons with tax residence in Greece by special purpose companies. It also regulates their business purpose, the nature of their services and details for their operation as well as various tax matters.
The objective of the new law: Based on the new law, the wealth and family assets of individuals who are tax residents of Greece may be managed by family offices which takes up a legal form of one of the legal types of entities acknowledged within the Greek Income Tax Code. These family offices will have as their exclusive objective the provision of support to Greek tax resident individuals and to their close family members with regard to the administration of their assets and investments that they hold either directly or indirectly through legal persons or legal entities. The close family members, as well as legal persons and entities where these Greek tax resident individuals and/ or their family members participate, may participate in the family office but not as an employee.
Operation: The above entities may employee personnel or assign to third parties the provision of the respective services regardless of the country of establishment of such service providers
The Family Office company must employ at least five people in Greece within the first 12 months of its establishment.
Its operating expenses in Greece must be at least 1,000,000 euros.
A 7% profit margin will be added to the gross income of the company that will only be collected through bank transfers.
Calculation of the taxable income: For the determination of the taxable income of the offices, the expenses are deducted from their gross income, provided that they are evidenced by supporting documentation in accordance with the provisions of Law 4308/2014. If for any reason the company’s revenue, as shown in their accounting books, is higher than the revenue, the revenue shown in the accounting books is taken into account. The income tax of the above offices is calculated with the income tax rate of legal entities (24%). The above family offices are required to withhold income tax for payments they effect as per the general rules.
VAT : Internal services, provided between the family office and the individuals who participate therein, are outside the scope of Greek VAT. For further information click here to see the law.