Greece Tax Residence: the rule, how days are counted, examples

Summary

You become tax resident in Greece when you are in Greece for more than 183 days in total during any period of 12 months. The period does not follow the calendar year, and once you pass the limit you are resident from your first day in Greece. You are also resident, with any number of days, if your permanent or main home, your habitual abode or the centre of your vital interests is in Greece. A resident pays Greek tax on worldwide income. The tax authority, AADE, decides.

Limit: More than 183 days in Greece
Period: Any 12 months in a row, not the calendar year
Resident from: The first day of your presence in Greece
A day counts when: The law does not say. Countr counts any day with time in Greece
Law: Income Tax Code, Law 4172/2013, article 4
Run by: Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE)

Who it applies to

People who spend autumn, winter and spring in Greece across two calendar years.
Remote workers who settle on a Greek island for several months at a time.
Greeks who work abroad while their family and home stay in Greece.
Retired people who own a house in Greece and stay for most of the year.
People who leave Greece and need the tax office to accept that they are no longer resident.

The rule

Article 4 of the Greek Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013) sets the tests. AADE states them like this. A person is a Greek tax resident if he or she has a permanent or main residence, a habitual abode or the centre of vital interests in Greece. The centre of vital interests means your personal and economic relations. Greek nationals who serve abroad as consular, diplomatic or similar public officials, or as civil servants, are also resident.

Then comes the day test. A person who is in Greece for a period of more than 183 days in total, during any twelve-month period, is treated as a Greek tax resident from the first day of his or her presence in Greece. Two points make this stricter than a calendar-year rule. The 12 months can start on any date, so a long stay across the new year is caught. And the result reaches back to the first day, not to the 184th.

The law gives one exception to the day test. It is not applied to people who are in Greece only for tourism, medical treatment, therapy or similar private reasons, when their stay is not longer than 365 days, including short periods abroad. The exception covers the day test only. A main home or the centre of your vital interests in Greece still makes you resident.

Leaving has its own procedure. AADE says that a Greek tax resident who moves tax residence abroad must file an application by the last working day of the first ten days of March of the year after the year of departure, and send the supporting documents by the last working day of the first ten days of September of that year. If two countries both treat you as resident, the tax treaty between them decides with its tie-breaker tests.

Why it exists

Greece taxes its residents on income from the whole world and non-residents only on Greek income, so it needs a test that is hard to plan around. A calendar-year count lets a person stay 180 days at the end of one year and 180 days at the start of the next without ever being resident. Counting over any 12 months closes that gap. The exception for tourists and patients keeps long holidays and medical stays out of the tax net when there is no other tie.

Counting the days

You count the days you were in Greece inside a period of 12 months in a row. You must test every possible 12-month period, not only January to December. The law does not define a day, so the safe way is to count every day with any time in Greece.

List all your stays in Greece over the last two years with arrival and departure dates.
Pick a date and look back 12 months from it. Add the days in Greece inside that period, counting arrival and departure days.
Repeat for other end dates, most of all the last day of each long stay. If any 12-month period holds more than 183 days, the test is met.
Find the first day of presence in Greece in that period. Residence starts on that day.
Check the other tests too: a main home, habitual abode or centre of vital interests in Greece make you resident with any number of days.
If another country also treats you as resident, read its tax treaty with Greece.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts every day on which you were in Greece for any part of the day, over the 12 months that end today. It warns you 14 days before you reach 183 days. This matches the rule's period, which is any 12 months and not the calendar year. The card shows the last 12 months only. If you went over the limit in an earlier period, that still stays on your record, so open the tracker to see past periods. Countr cannot see your home, family or economic ties, which can make you resident with any number of days, and it does not apply the exception for tourism or medical stays.

Track Greece Tax Residence on your phone.

Countr finds your past trips in your photos and keeps counting from there.

Download on the App Store

Examples

A winter stay across two years

Nora arrives in Athens on 1 September 2025 and leaves on 15 March 2026. She counts 30 days in September, 31 in October, 30 in November and 31 in December, which is 122 days in 2025. In 2026 she counts 31, 28 and 15 days, which is 74. Neither calendar year reaches 183 days. But the 12 months that start on 1 September 2025 hold 196 days. She works remotely during the stay, so the tourism exception does not apply, and she is Greek tax resident from 1 September 2025.

Family in Thessaloniki, 40 days in Greece

Petros works on contract in Germany and is in Greece for only 40 days in 2026. His wife and children live in the family home in Thessaloniki, and his savings and property are in Greece. His day count is far below 183, but his permanent home and the centre of his vital interests are in Greece. Under article 4 he is Greek tax resident. The treaty between Greece and Germany then decides how the two countries share the right to tax.

A long holiday with no work

Anne and Jon are retired and live in Norway. They rent a house on Crete from 1 April to 31 October 2026, which is 214 days, and do nothing in Greece except holiday. Their stay is only for tourism and is shorter than 365 days, so the day test is not applied to them. If they bought the house and made it their main home, the first test would apply and the exception would not help.

Exceptions

People in Greece only for tourism, medical treatment, therapy or similar private reasons are outside the day test when the stay is not longer than 365 days, including short periods abroad.
Greek nationals who serve abroad as diplomats, consular staff, similar public officials or civil servants stay Greek tax resident with no days in Greece.
A tax treaty can place your residence in the other country through its tie-breaker tests, even when a Greek test is met.
A main home, habitual abode or centre of vital interests in Greece makes you resident without any day count.
People who leave Greece must follow the AADE procedure with its March and September deadlines for the tax office to record the change of residence.

Common misconceptions

“Greece counts 183 days per calendar year.”: The law says any twelve-month period. A stay from autumn to spring can pass 183 days even when each calendar year stays below it.
“I become resident on day 184.”: Once you are over 183 days, you are treated as resident from the first day of your presence in Greece.
“Under 183 days I am safe.”: The home and vital-interests tests have no day count. A family home or your main economic ties in Greece are enough.
“I moved abroad, so Greece knows I am no longer resident.”: The tax office keeps you as a resident until you apply to change your status and give proof of residence in the new country, within the set deadlines.

Questions and answers

Does the day I arrive in Greece count?

The law does not define how a day is counted. The safe way is to count both the arrival day and the departure day as days in Greece. Countr counts any day with some time in Greece.

Does leaving Greece for a weekend reset the 183 days?

No. The days are added up in total inside the 12-month period, so separate stays are counted together and a short trip out only removes the days you were away.

What happens if I pass 183 days in Greece?

You are treated as a Greek tax resident from your first day of presence, and Greece can tax your worldwide income. A tax treaty with your other country may limit this, and AADE looks at your whole situation.

I stay in Greece only on holiday. Can I stay more than 183 days?

The day test is not applied to stays only for tourism or similar private reasons that are not longer than 365 days. Working remotely from Greece is not tourism, so the exception may not cover you if you work during the stay.

Can I be tax resident in Greece and another country at once?

Yes, under each country's own rules. When Greece has a tax treaty with the other country, the treaty's tie-breaker tests give you one country of residence for treaty purposes.

By when must I tell AADE that I moved abroad?

AADE says the application must be filed by the last working day of the first ten days of March of the year after you left, with supporting documents by the last working day of the first ten days of September.

Sources

Other rules for Greece

Greece Military Service Deferral 180 days in each calendar year

See all trackers

This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.