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@night_Swimmer Always visit your accountant who may do it for you or at least help you,if you use the same one for your tax returns each year they will have you on file and certainly guide you,we have had so much help from ours over the years,they do some of the jobs along with your lawyer when buying property,and dont forget the KEP office either.Your accountant can do for you much more than just your tax returns.

@night_Swimmer Sometimes mistakes with personal or property tax,Enfia, can only be rectified in your favor SOMETIMES by your accountant,for example your patio or your garage or stairs,hall which have lighting and are required by law to be taxed and have somehow slipped away from the tax office attention and yours, will require penalties and back dated payments to the time that property tax was introduced in Greece,so its your accountant who will have connections,friends shall we say in the local tax office where favors can be paid for between friends and your problem of a possible large scary humungusÌý bill can be reduced as long as a small gift is made available.If somehow your property is not entered onto your E9 by mistake a penalty will be issued to you and a lot of stress,only your accountant will seek out friends in the tax office which you dont have so learn to butter your accountant,the above situations have happened to me and my hair is only just growing back.

@sdefoucault I see it has been some time since this post but I am interested in Corfu for possible investment visa and really want to connect with people who have already experienced this first hand.Ìý ÌýWe are in Canada but keep traveling to Greece planning our next steps.Ìý I do not trust to follow the multitude of websites or the heavily advertised agents without some first person experience and referrals.

@davidelejeune I did the same move like you from the US to Greece. I just finish everything a month ago. I can write a book now.

You need an attorney you trust to do all the steps for you.

I can recommend you my own attorney without any hesitation.

@vchronis haha can I buy your book?Ìý It would be so very helpful to speak to someone who has gone through the motions.Ìý

Was your lawyer in Greece or the US?Ìý I would very much appreciate a referral to a trusted lawyer.Ìý

She is Greek (speaks perfect English) and she has a whole team behind her of accountants, notary, insuranceÌý and government officials.

Believe me, you are going to need all of them.

@night_Swimmer Hi, I hope you do not mind me asking, but here goes...

I plan to retire early to Corfu next year; I am arriving on an Irish passport but have a UK private pension. With this in mind, it would be ideal to have a Greek tax number before my arrival and draw down from it.

Can I apply before I actually live there? I plan to invest circa £350,000.00 on a property, so their tax rate versus an English one on drawing from my pension would be ideal.

Thank you

Tara

@vchronis Hey, can I grab her details, please? It's a minefield out there!

Thank you

Tara

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house in Greece.Ìý

Real estate transactions are automatically handled by a lawyer, and AFM numbers are best handled by an accountant.Ìý I was asked 80€ per AFM number

AFM: the process started after the signature of the pre-sale agreement.

Here's how it went:

What was supposed to be a "simple formality" turned out to be a bit more tedious.

A power of attorney drawn up in Greek and legalized by a Greek authority had to be provided to the accountant, so that he could carry out this procedure on our behalf.

However, as we were no longer physically in Greece, we had to sign this power of attorney at the Greek consulate.Ìý Ìý

The consulate initially refused to legalize the text sent by the accountant (deemed incomplete and not formal enough). They helped us fill in a "standard" power of attorney form. I must emphasize that they really helped us. As we neither spoke nor wrote Greek ourselves, the employee copied the text himself.

I then sent a scan of the power of attorney to my lawyer and a few weeks later we received our AFM (TIN) numbers.Ìý

Please note that we were never asked to translate the power of attorney, nor to hire an interpreter.Ìý

However, if you ever need to have a power of attorney for a notarial deed signed at a Greek consulate, bear in mind that if you don't read Greek, it will have to be done in the presence of an interpreter, by appointment, and after approval of the document by the Consul! It's not the kind of thing you can do in 2 days...

So yes, you will need a lawyer, an accountant and a public notary. They work all together, but the lawyer is the entry point.

@pikas888

Hi,

I too am applying for AFM now and have a problem with the M1 form.

One of the tabs is 'Related Tax identification number'.

What does it mean? I am not married and there is no incapacity mandate.

How did you (or anyone here who was applying online) get past it?

@ApprentiExpat

Thanks for this, it's helpful. Can it be obtained before signing? We are hoping to find a property when we visit soon and were hoping to do this beforehand, so was are as organised as we can be. I'm thinking though that it may not be possible until we are going through the purchase and like you said–signing. We're only there for 10 days in Jan.

@Sophiezadeh

I may be wrong, but i don't think you need a signed pre-sale agreement to be able to apply for an AFM number as an EU citizen.Ìý However, there are some non written "rules" in Greece.Ìý

As an non EU Citizens things may be different.

Rgds,

@ApprentiExpat

Thanks for your reply. I shall continue trying with the online application then. The online application, suggests it's possible, as they ask if you're abroad and for your address, it's just not working very well. I'm based in Australia. I'll keep trying. Many thanks.

@vchronis

Hi, would you be able to recommend your attorney?

Thank you