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Tax treatment of income from dividends and interest

With the Law 4172/2013 , Income Tax Code, the incomes of natural persons obtained in tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2014, in cash or in kind in the form of dividends and interest & nbsp; are considered & nbsp; general income from capital. Therefore they are taxed independently at a rate of 15% and are withheld by the legal entity making the payment.

Dividends & nbsp; include income arising & nbsp; from shares, founding securities, or other nonprofit profits, as well as income from other corporate rights, in including shares, stocks including dividends and mathematical reserves of insurance companies, participations in profits of personal enterprises, distributions of profits from any legal entity or legal entity (including trusts and offshore companies) domiciled or otherwise & nbsp; as well as any other related distributed amount, the temporary receipts of profits of the partners, as well as the remuneration paid in any form to the members of the Board of Directors, managers and employees from the profits of the legal entity or legal entity.

Especially for legal entities and legal entities that keep haplographic books, it appears that in case of distribution of profits by these taxpayers & nbsp; the & nbsp; above paragraph does not apply.

It is additionally pointed out that the concept of dividend includes, in principle, the distribution of profits from units of UCITS - Collective Investment Organizations in Securities - located in the country or in another EU Member State. or in an EEA / EFTA State or mutual funds established in third countries. Especially for the profits in the form of dividends or other benefits from the units or shares acquired by domestic UCITS or UCITS EU. or EEA / EFTA are exempt from income tax.

In all the above cases a solidarity contribution is required.

Especially in the case where a domestic tax resident - a natural person obtains income from dividends from abroad, regardless of whether they are imported in Greece or remain abroad, he must include it in the annual income tax return, which must list all his income.

When these incomes, regardless of whether they are imported in Greece or remain abroad, are acquired by local legal entities or legal entities or permanent establishments of foreign legal entities, they will be taxed together with their other incomes as income from business activity.

& nbsp; Income & nbsp; from interest

The term "interest" means income derived from receivables of any kind, & nbsp; and in particular income from deposits, government securities, securities and bonds, with or without collateral, and any kind of loan relationship, including premiums, repos / reverse repos and rewards arising from securities, bonds or securities.

It is pointed out that the concept of interest includes any kind of interest, domestic or foreign origin, including interest on loans, interest on arrears due to a contractual obligation, as well as interest awarded by a court decision, regardless of whether they relate to the business activity of the company .

It is clarified that the interest on bond loans and interest-bearing bills of the Greek State is exempt from income tax, as well as the interest arising from bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), under a program. participation in the redistribution of Greek debt acquired by natural persons.

In the case in which a domestic tax resident, a natural person, obtains income from foreign interest, includes them in his income tax return (E1). For interest on deposits in a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate for the conversion into euros shall be that of the date on which the interest is credited in foreign currency.

In particular, if they have been imported in Greece, the withholding tax is made on the gross amount of interest and the withholding tax is reimbursed by the domestic financial institution or custodian, as the case may be, which mediates and operates as a paying agency, while this withholding is exhausted. the tax liability of the natural person.

In case there is no payment agency or the interest is not imported in Greece, the tax (15%) is imposed with the annual income tax return of the natural person.