Where would you live? UK Passport & €500K Income....

[name]

They're great at luring the credulous in with compelling tax breaks

I wonder if thats why NHR exists

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Be very paranoid about any solution involving Italy. They're great at luring the credulous in with compelling tax breaks. Then they find a small piece of fine print which says it only works for EU citizens or [insert other restriction here]. And as any Italian will tell you, you don't win against the Italian tax office.

That’s right, you need to take your precautions.

 

[Martin Everson]

Be very paranoid about any solution involving Italy. They're great at luring the credulous in with compelling tax breaks. Then they find a small piece of fine print which says it only works for EU citizens or [insert other restriction here]. And as any Italian will tell you, you don't win against the Italian tax office.

I totally agree. That's always been at the back of my mind even with their 100k flat tax scheme. The tax advisor I spoke to when inquiring about the program advised me to keep my assets in US so they don't get reported. I asked why I need to do that if I won't be taxed on overseas assets and income and he told me it was for my own benefit. He didn't need to tell me twice or explain further and that was the end of that .

 

[European]

Greece has more holes in its tax system than a block of Swiss cheese, but I would never recommend living based on non-compliance/non-enforcement.

@Sols Would you care to elaborate on that? Thanks

 

[Sols]

@Sols Would you care to elaborate on that? Thanks

Do you have any specific questions? Tax avoidance is a national pastime in Greece. The tax authority is getting more aggressive and competent, but enforcement is still quite spotty.

 

[European]

Do you have any specific questions? Tax avoidance is a national pastime in Greece. The tax authority is getting more aggressive and competent, but enforcement is still quite spotty.

Yes. Where does that tax avoidance and/or lack of avoidance take place? You mean many business or professionals getting paid in cash with no invoice/VAT? Other examples?

 

[Sols]

Yes. Where does that tax avoidance and/or lack of avoidance take place? You mean many business or professionals getting paid in cash with no invoice/VAT? Other examples?

You earn 100,000 in a year but you find various ways to report less than that, so you only pay tax on for example 20,000. There are many different ways to do that, such as unreported sales (often cash), VAT fraud, issuing nonsense loans, and just good old fashioned cooking the books. Sometimes it's enough to just place money overseas and there's just no one at the tax authority with the time to go through all the reports.

Lack of enforcement means no one is looking at all the available data and connecting the dots, either wilfully or due to incompetence/lack of resources. Most of the tax fraud going on in Greece wouldn't be possible in countries with more efficient and more effective tax authorities. And Greece is catching up.

 

[European]

You earn 100,000 in a year but you find various ways to report less than that, so you only pay tax on for example 20,000. There are many different ways to do that, such as unreported sales (often cash), VAT fraud, issuing nonsense loans, and just good old fashioned cooking the books. Sometimes it's enough to just place money overseas and there's just no one at the tax authority with the time to go through all the reports.

Lack of enforcement means no one is looking at all the available data and connecting the dots, either wilfully or due to incompetence/lack of resources. Most of the tax fraud going on in Greece wouldn't be possible in countries with more efficient and more effective tax authorities. And Greece is catching up.

But if you are getting in 100K and only declare and pay tax on 20K, where are you going to keep that 80K difference building up year after year? Unless you keep it under the mattress, pretty soon the size of your bank accounts versus the declared amounts will draw the tax office attention I would guess?

 

[Sols]

But if you are getting in 100K and only declare and pay tax on 20K, where are you going to keep that 80K difference building up year after year? Unless you keep it under the mattress, pretty soon the size of your bank accounts versus the declared amounts will draw the tax office attention I would guess?

You wire to to another account (belonging to another company or another person, domestic or foreign), keep it in cash, buy assets with it. It's not exactly sophisticated stuff. As I wrote:

Lack of enforcement means no one is looking at all the available data and connecting the dots, either wilfully or due to incompetence/lack of resources. Most of the tax fraud going on in Greece wouldn't be possible in countries with more efficient and more effective tax authorities. And Greece is catching up.