Inheritance and Gift Tax Issues with Joint Bank Accounts

Joint bank accounts – Inheritance tax and gift tax issues Based on law 4916/2022, the exemption from Greek inheritance tax that applied for deposits maintained in joint bank accounts held in Greece was extended also to joint bank accounts held abroad, with the exclusion of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. The exemption covers accounts in cash deposits and all kinds of securities. In order for the exemption to apply, the contract with the foreign bank should include a clause providing that after the death of any of the co-beneficiaries of the joint account the deposits are automatically transferred to the other living co-beneficiaries, i.e. without the operation of inheritance rules. It is reminded that the same clause needs to be included in the contract with a Greek bank. The law...

Joint bank account, gift tax, inheritance

Managing Family Assets: Trusts vs. Trust Foundations

If you have young heirs who cannot manage assets yet, you might want an independent professional to manage these for them, in their interest. If you wish to transfer wealth between living generations, you might need a special legal arrangement to achieve that with tax-savings. If you would like to donate funds to a charitable cause, you might want to include your wishes on how these should be managed. Whatever the case may be, should you wish to keep part of your wealth separate, safe and have it managed professionally, in the interest of a third party and under favorable tax conditions, setting up a trust or a trust foundation might be interesting to you. What is a trust? A trust is a special relationship in which you as a settlor give another person (a professional) the right to...

Managing Family Assets, Trusts vs Trust Foundations

Tax treatment of dividend in kind in Greece

Recently the dividend in kind has been introduced in the legislative framework of Greek law of Société Anonyme (SA), namely the option that the profits of a company may be distributed in the form of either shares of domestic or foreign listed companies or listed shares owned by the company or any other company asset, apart from cash.However, the Greek Income Tax Code (ITC) does not explicitly refer to the case of distribution of dividends in kind or its taxation. Greek tax perspective of dividend in kind The definition of “dividends”, as per article 36 of the Greek ITC includes any income deriving from shares, securities or other types of rights in the participation of profits that do not constitute claims from debts, as well as any income from other corporate rights such as parts,...

tax, dividend in kind