Taxation can be an extremely complex thing and the sooner you have all your ducks in a row regarding this rather complex issue, the better.

This will affect you both in terms of your money in the UK and any monies that you may have or earn in Greece. You should bear in mind when you move to Greece that you need to make arrangements about taxation before you move. The best case scenario would be to consult a reputable taxation expert in the UK before you go abroad and also to retain an accountant who knows their oats about taxation in Greece.

Fortunately, once you have been taxed on monies emanating from the UK, you will not be taxed again in Greece, but you need to make sure that the money is transferred from a UK bank to a bank in Greece and that you have what they call a ‘pink slip’. As it happens, this is no longer pink, or indeed even a slip, but it refers to an easily traceable paper trail through the banks so that there can be no money laundering. Always use a currency specialist, such as Smart Currency Exchange (www.smartcurrencyexchange.com), to transfer funds from the UK to Greece, as these offer better exchange rates than banks and have ways of fixing competitive rates for future transactions.

You are liable for tax on your income either as an employee or if you are self-employed. If your income is only from a salary you are not obliged to file an annual return provided your employer deducts tax from your salary/wage and transfers it to the tax authority every month, unless you own a property in Greece. In this case it is obligatory to submit an annual return. Your employer is also obliged to deduct security contributions from your salary and to submit this with their contribution of the salary.

It may interest you that from 2006 you have been able to use the QROPS (pronounced Crops) or Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme instead of leaving your pension in the UK. Many people are not happy with the performance of British pension schemes and this option enables you to increase the amount of overall income received and to leave all unused pension funds to their partner and/or children. However, the UK authorities will only allow you to transfer a pension abroad if the scheme meets certain criteria. 

Firstly you need to be living, or going to live, abroad and secondly you must remain living abroad. Whilst you don’t have to reside in the same country, the scheme needs to be registered with an authorised trustee within the legal jurisdiction of the country it’s based in. Also, it must be a true pension scheme, not a vehicle that simply allows pension holders to access all their funds immediately, tax free. 

The benefits of a QROPS can be extremely advantageous and would be well worth while looking into if you are moving abroad on a permanent basis. The not-so-good news is that it takes 5 years of being a non-resident and moving the pension for a QROPS to show real benefits. That’s why it’s important to consider your options earlier rather than later.

After your pension scheme has been transferred and you’ve been non-resident outside the UK for 5 years the QROPS Trustee no longer has to report any withdrawals or payments to the HMRC. This is when the relevant overseas jurisdiction takes over and UK laws such as the requirement to buy an annuity by age 75 (or be faced with an 82% tax charge) no longer apply. This means more flexibility, greater income potential and more investment potential than a UK pension. Furthermore, it’s amazing what can be done with regards to various tax benefits. 

Those who own property in Greece now have a new property tax, one that has been compared to Margaret Thatcher's poll tax. It will be levied on all property-owners in Greece for 2011 and 2012, and it is hoped that it will add more than two billion euros this year to the ailing Greek economy. The amount that each owner will pay will be based on the price zone of the property as recorded on electricity bills and on the age of the building. Price zone coefficients range from €3 per square metre to as much as €16 per square metre and coefficients on the age of the building range from 1 to 1.25.
 
There is a special provision for vulnerable groups such as the unemployed subsidised by OAED, families with 4 children or more and the disabled - for whom the price zone coefficient is set at €0.5 per square metre. Churches, foreign embassies and properties belonging to the state and local governments, public institutions, charities and non-profit organisations are exempted from this tax.

Please bear in mind that I am no tax expert. These are just a few thoughts and I recommend that you seek expert advice.