According to the financial newspaper Handelsblatt, more and more German retirees are deciding to spend the autumn years of the their lives abroad, moving home in search of warmer weather, a better quality of life and, of course, tax and financial benefits. 

The report writes: “Greece, the ‘Florida’ of Europe. Perhaps the pure lovers of Greece will shudder at the thought, but the Greek government sees it as a viable business model. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis considers the country a retirement paradise, and is seeking to attract retirees from the cold north to the sunny south.”

The report continues: “The reason is not only the 3,000 hours of annual sunshine in Crete or Rhodes. Retirees who move their tax residence to Greece are taxed only 7 per cent of their income (…) Despite the low tax rate, the relocation of retirees is worthwhile for the Greek economy as they are expected to spend much of their income in Greece, and may even buy a house.” 

Furthermore, the report mentions an additional incentive: “Whoever buys a newly-built property in Greece by 2024 is except from VAT.”

“Greece is a major attraction thanks to its low cost of living. According to a study by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany in September 2021, the cost of living was 23 per cent lower than in Germany. Another study by the DiaNEOsis think tank, Greece could earn up to 5 billion euros a year and create 60,000 new jobs thanks to the so-called ‘silver economy,’ the settlement of elderly foreigners in the country,” the report concludes. 

Source: DW

This article was previously published in Greek at kathimerini.gr.