The Short Version
Greece offers the same headline deal as Italy's southern towns: a flat 7% tax on all foreign income for retirees who move there. But Greece's version lasts 15 years instead of 10, and you can live anywhere in the country, from Athens to the islands. For a single American retiree living on $31,000 of Social Security and an $8,400 private pension, that's roughly $2,750 a year in Greek tax, the same as an Italian 7% town.
There are two catches. First, Greece's retiree visa requires about €3,500 a month of income, and our example retiree falls short, so they'd need to qualify through savings instead. Second, the US–Greece tax treaty dates from 1950 and is far thinner than the Italian and French treaties. For retirees with large IRAs, that creates a real risk of paying more than the headline 7% suggests.
This page uses the same example retiree as our Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal examples, so the figures compare directly.
The Example Retiree
- Single US citizen, age 65 or older, not a Greek citizen
- US Social Security: $31,000 a year
- Private-employer pension: $8,400 a year
- Total income: $39,400, or about €34,560 at an assumed rate of $1.14 per euro
- No withdrawals from a Traditional or Roth IRA (the second half of this page adds them)
- Tax year 2026 rules in both countries
Getting In: The Visa Hurdle (Settled)
Greece's usual route for retirees, the Financially Independent Person (FIP) visa, requires passive income of at least €3,500 a month for a single applicant (€42,000 a year), a threshold raised from €2,000 in 2023. Our example retiree has about €2,880 a month, so they don't qualify on income alone.
The alternative is to show savings covering the full three-year permit, commonly cited as €126,000. Some retirees instead use Greece's Golden Visa, which requires a property investment. Either way, this is a real barrier that Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal don't impose at this income level. FIP holders must live in Greece at least 183 days a year and can't work there.
The 7% Regime (Settled)
Under Article 5B of the Greek income tax code, retirees who move their tax residence to Greece can pay a flat 7% on all their foreign-source income, including pensions, Social Security, IRA withdrawals, dividends, and rental income from abroad.
- Who qualifies: people receiving a foreign pension who weren't Greek tax residents in five of the previous six years, moving from a country that has a tax-cooperation agreement with Greece. The US qualifies.
- How long: 15 years.
- Where: anywhere in Greece. There's no small-town requirement.
- How it's paid: you apply in your first year of residence, and the tax is paid in one lump sum by the end of July each year.
The US Side: $0 (Settled)
For this retiree, the US tax bill is zero. Half of the Social Security ($15,500) plus the pension ($8,400) comes to $23,900, under the $25,000 threshold at which Social Security becomes federally taxable for a single filer, and the pension falls below the 2026 standard deduction.
Who Taxes the Social Security? (Contested)
The 1950 treaty predates modern Social Security clauses and doesn't address it directly. It exempts government pensions paid for government service from tax in the other country, and it exempts private pensions from tax in the source country. US Social Security fits neither category cleanly, which leaves Greece free to tax it as the country of residence. Most practitioners treat it that way, and the Greek government describes the 7% regime as covering foreign pensions of all kinds. Some sources claim Greece doesn't tax US Social Security at all, usually citing the US–Greece Social Security agreement; that agreement covers contributions and benefits, not income tax.
We treat Social Security as taxable in Greece. If the other view were right, this retiree's Greek tax would drop to roughly $590 a year under the 7% regime.
The Greek Tax Calculation
Under the 7% regime:
| Step | Euros |
|---|---|
| 7% of €34,560, with no brackets or deductions | ≈ €2,420 (≈ $2,760) |
Under the regular rules, for comparison: Greece's 2026 brackets (Law 5246/2025) are 9% up to €10,000, 20% to €20,000, 26% to €30,000, 34% to €40,000, 39% to €60,000, and 44% above that, with a €777 tax credit that phases down as income rises.
| Step | Euros |
|---|---|
| 9% on the first €10,000 | €900 |
| 20% on the next €10,000 | €2,000 |
| 26% on the next €10,000 | €2,600 |
| 34% on the remaining €4,560 | €1,550 |
| Minus the tax credit, reduced at this income (approx.) | −€326 |
| Total under regular rules | ≈ €6,720 (≈ $7,670) |
The 7% regime saves this retiree about $4,900 a year, or roughly $74,000 over its 15 years.
Greece vs. the Other Four
| Greece, 7% regime | Italy, 7% town | France | Portugal | Spain | Italy, regular region | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local tax on $39,400 | ≈ $2,760 | ≈ $2,760 | ≈ $0 | ≈ $6,840 | ≈ $7,590 | ≈ $10,240 |
| How long it lasts | 15 years | 10 years | No limit | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Where you can live | Anywhere | Small southern towns | Anywhere | Anywhere | Anywhere | Anywhere |
| Qualifies for the usual retiree visa on this income? | No (needs savings) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What Changes With a $1 Million IRA and a $130,000 Roth (Unclear)
Now give the same retiree a $1 million Traditional IRA and a $130,000 Roth IRA, and have them withdraw $60,000 a year from the Traditional IRA. Total income rises to about $99,400 (roughly €87,200), which also clears the visa's income requirement.
Under the 7% regime, Greek tax on that income is about €6,100 (≈ $6,960), and the US tax is about $10,500. What you actually pay depends on whether the two credit against each other, and this is where the old treaty shows its age:
- The best case, about $10,500 in total. The treaty lets Greece credit US tax on US-source income against Greek tax. If Greece applies that credit, the US tax more than covers the 7%, and the retiree pays roughly the US tax alone, the same as an Italian 7% town or France.
- The worst case, about $17,500 in total. Some sources say the 7% can't be offset by any credit. And modern US treaties include a rule letting US citizens abroad claim a US credit for foreign tax on US-source income like IRA withdrawals; the 1950 Greek treaty doesn't. If neither country gives a credit, both taxes apply in full.
| Greece, 7% regime | Italy, 7% town | France | Portugal | Spain | Italy, regular region | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roughly what you actually pay | ≈ $10,500 to $17,500 | ≈ $10,500 | ≈ $10,500 | ≈ $32,200 | ≈ $31,900 | ≈ $36,300 |
| Annual tax on the IRA balances | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 to ≈ €1,750 | ≈ $2,250 |
Even in the worst case, Greece's 7% regime beats Portugal, Spain, and regular Italy for this retiree by a wide margin. But for large IRA withdrawals, Italy's 7% towns and France offer the more predictable result.
No wealth tax (Settled). Greece has no wealth tax on financial accounts. ENFIA, the annual property tax, applies only to Greek real estate.
The Roth IRA (Unclear). Greece has no concept of a Roth. Under the 7% regime, Roth withdrawals are foreign-source income and would fall under the flat 7%; outside it, they would likely be taxed at regular rates.
What People in This Situation Commonly Do
- Plan the visa first. Retirees below the income threshold typically qualify through savings, or wait until IRA withdrawals or other income raise their monthly figure.
- Get the credit question answered before drawing down an IRA. Because the treaty is old, a Greek tax adviser's written view on how Greece will credit US tax is worth having before large withdrawals.
- Use the 15 years deliberately. As with Italy's regime, some retirees time larger IRA withdrawals within the window, once the credit question is settled.
- Choose any region. Unlike Italy's version, the 7% regime isn't tied to small towns, so Athens, Crete, and the islands are all open.
What This Example Doesn't Cover
- Government pensions. US federal, state, and local government pensions paid for government service are exempt from Greek tax under Article XI of the treaty.
- Healthcare. FIP applicants need private health insurance. Compare international health plans
- Currency moves the numbers. Your income is paid in dollars and taxed in euros. See what converting your Social Security with Wise would cost
- Inheritance tax. Greece taxes inheritances, with spouses and children exempt on the first €150,000 each and low rates above that.
How We Built These Numbers
Greek figures use the 7% rate under Article 5B of the Greek income tax code, and for comparison the 2026 regular brackets from Law 5246/2025 with the standard tax credit. US figures use 2026 federal brackets, the standard deduction including the age-65 additions, and the Social Security taxability thresholds. Comparison figures come from our earlier examples. All conversions use $1.14 per euro. Figures are rounded and meant to show the size of the differences, not to serve as a tax quote.
Sources: US–Greece Income Tax Convention (1950) and Protocols, Articles XI and XIV; Article 5B of the Greek Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013); Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2026 income tax scale (Law 5246/2025); Law 5038/2023 (FIP visa income requirement); IRS 2026 inflation adjustments.
This is general information, not tax advice. How Greece and the US credit each other's taxes under the 1950 treaty is unsettled for large IRA withdrawals, and tax rules in both countries change. Confirm your situation with a US–Greece cross-border tax professional before making relocation decisions.