In short: In Greece for 2026, investment income is taxed separately from your salary or pension, at flat rates that are usually final. Dividends are taxed at 5%, interest at 15% (just 5% on listed corporate bonds since April 2025, and Greek government bond interest is exempt), and capital gains on securities at 15%. But two structural exemptions matter most: gains on listed shares are tax-free if you hold under 0.5% of the company, and gains and distributions from Greek and EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt at the investor level. There is no general annual allowance and no ISA/PEA-style wrapper. The old solidarity contribution no longer applies.
Capital gains and investment taxation in Greece (2026)
If you invest as a private individual in Greece, the good news is that investment income mostly sits outside the steep progressive income scale. Dividends, interest and capital gains each have their own flat rate, usually collected once at source. This guide walks through the 2026 rules in plain language — including the structural exemptions that quietly do most of the heavy lifting for ordinary investors. It is general education, not tax advice, and rules can change.
Sort your income by type. Dividends, interest and capital gains are taxed separately at flat rates — not added to your salary or pension.
Check the 0.5% rule. Gains on listed shares are exempt if you hold under 0.5% of the company — which covers almost every retail investor.
Favour UCITS funds. Gains and distributions from Greek and EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt at your level.
Declare foreign income. Report worldwide dividends and interest on your annual return and claim treaty foreign-tax credits.
What matters
Investment income is taxed on its own. Greek tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, but investment income is not pooled into the progressive scale that runs from 9% up to 44%. Instead, dividends, interest and capital gains each have a flat rate, usually collected as a final withholding tax that "exhausts" your liability — meaning once it is withheld, you owe nothing further on that income. The special solidarity contribution, which once added up to 10% on higher incomes, was abolished for private-sector income from 1 January 2023, so it does not apply in 2026.
Dividends: 5%. Greek-source dividends are taxed at a flat 5% withheld at source, and that is final for individuals. Foreign dividends are also taxed at 5%, but you declare them yourself and claim a credit for any foreign withholding tax under the relevant treaty. (For context, combined with the 22% corporate tax, distributed profits bear roughly 25.9% in total.)
Interest: 15%, with notable exceptions. Bank deposits and most bonds are taxed at a flat, final 15%. Since 11 April 2025 — still in force in 2026 — interest on listed corporate bonds for Greek-resident individuals is taxed at a reduced 5%. Interest on Greek government bonds and treasury bills is fully exempt from income tax. Foreign interest is taxed at 15% (or 5% for qualifying listed corporate bonds) with treaty credit relief.
Capital gains: 15%, but mostly exempt in practice. The general rate on securities gains is a flat 15%. The decisive exemption is the 0.5% rule: gains on listed shares are exempt where the seller holds under 0.5% of the company's share capital. There is no holding-period requirement — it is participation-based. There is no general annual tax-free allowance; Greece relies on structural exemptions instead. A small securities transaction tax of 1‰ (0.1%) applies to sales on a Greek regulated market, separate from income tax.
Funds and ETFs. Gains and distributions from Greek and EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt at the investor level — the standout feature of the Greek system for long-term investors.
ExampleImagine a Greek resident in 2026 with three sources. Dividends of €4,000 from listed shares: taxed at 5% = €200, withheld and final. Bank interest of €1,000: taxed at 15% = €150. A €10,000 gain from selling units of an EU-domiciled UCITS ETF: €0 tax, thanks to the investor-level UCITS exemption. And a €6,000 gain on listed shares where the stake is well under 0.5%: €0, under the 0.5% rule. Total tax on the year's investment activity: €350 — versus far more if these had been pushed through the top 44% progressive bracket. The structural exemptions, not allowances, are what keep the bill low.
Because there is no annual capital-gains allowance in Greece, the real tax planning is structural: choosing Greek/EU-EEA UCITS funds and staying under the 0.5% listed-share threshold. To see how the exemption compounds over decades, try a compound-interest calculator with and without an annual tax drag.
In depth
Why the UCITS exemption matters so much
Most countries tax the investor when fund units are sold at a profit. Greece flips this: gains and distributions from Greek and EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt at the investor level, and the fund itself is taxed instead. The fund-level tax is deliberately light — set at 10% of the ECB main refinancing rate, applied to the semi-annual average of the fund's net assets, which works out to a low single-digit effective percentage. For a long-term investor this is powerful: gains can compound for decades without an annual or exit tax at your level. Crucially, Greece does not operate any deemed or notional annual taxation of unrealised fund gains — there is no German-style Vorabpauschale and no Dutch box-3-style deemed return. The clear, safe route for Greek residents is therefore Greek or EU/EEA UCITS products.
Accumulating vs distributing, and foreign funds
For an exempt UCITS, the accumulating-versus-distributing choice has limited Greek tax impact, because both the redemption gain and any fund distribution fall under the exemption. More generally, accumulating funds avoid an annual investor-level dividend charge because no cash is paid out, while distributing funds outside the UCITS exemption would expose you to the 5% dividend tax each year. The genuine grey area is foreign — especially non-EU — funds. The statutory exemption is anchored in Greek/EU-EEA UCITS law; some practitioners apply the 15% gains rate and 5% on distributions to US-domiciled ETFs. Those also suffer US dividend withholding (typically 15% under the treaty), creditable in Greece. Confirm any specific foreign ETF case-by-case.
No wrappers — so structure is everything
Greece has no tax-advantaged investment account — no ISA, no French PEA, no US 401(k) equivalent. That makes the structural exemptions your main tools. In practice this means three habits: keeping listed-share stakes under the 0.5% threshold so gains stay exempt; using Greek or EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs so fund gains and distributions are exempt at your level; and holding Greek government bonds where the interest is exempt outright. For everything else, the flat rates apply: 5% on dividends, 15% on interest (5% on listed corporate bonds), 15% on other securities gains. Foreign income is declared on the annual return with treaty credits to prevent double taxation. As always, this is general information for 2026 and the rules can change.
Checklist
You separated dividends (5%), interest (15%), and capital gains (15%) rather than adding them to salary
You confirmed your listed-share holding is under 0.5% before assuming the gain is exempt
You preferred Greek or EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs for the investor-level exemption
You declared foreign dividends and interest and claimed treaty foreign-tax credits
Common myths
Myth: Greece has a tax-free allowance for capital gains like the UK or Germany.
Reality: It does not. There is no general annual capital-gains allowance. Instead, relief is structural — the 0.5% listed-share exemption, the UCITS fund exemption, and the exemption for Greek government bond interest.
Myth: All ETFs are tax-free for Greek investors.
Reality: Only Greek and EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are clearly exempt at the investor level. Non-EU funds, such as US-domiciled ETFs, are treated more conservatively — practitioners often apply the 15% gains rate and 5% on distributions — so confirm those individually.
Do I pay tax when I sell a Greek or EU ETF at a profit?
Generally no, if it is a UCITS fund. Capital gains on redeeming or selling units of Greek and EU/EEA UCITS funds and ETFs are exempt at the investor level in 2026. Greece taxes the fund itself at a low rate instead. Non-EU funds (e.g. US-domiciled ETFs) are treated more conservatively — confirm those case-by-case.
Are my gains on listed shares taxable?
Usually not. Under the 0.5% rule, gains on the transfer of listed shares are exempt from capital gains tax if you hold less than 0.5% of the company's share capital — which is true for virtually all retail investors. There is no holding-period condition; it is based on the size of your stake.
How are foreign dividends taxed?
A Greek tax resident pays 5% on foreign dividends, declared on the annual return. Any foreign withholding tax already paid is credited against the Greek tax due under the relevant double-tax treaty, capped at the Greek tax on that income — so you are not taxed twice.
All lessons · Glossary · Editorial · Kontoo does the math and explains – this is general education, not tax, legal or financial advice.
Your data stays with you. Full stop.
Kontoo collects, sees and stores none of your personal financial data – no account, no cloud, everything runs on your device. The free version is funded by ads (Google AdSense, only with your consent); with Kontoo Premium it is ad- and tracking-free.
