Bringing money to Crete

[annabanana]

Hi everybody

We are coming to Crete in June and bringing over 10000 euros torwards our house build. I know this is legal to do, but was wondering if I can get some proof that I have brought it with me at the airport. We have heard that in the future if we sell our house we need to prove that the money came from UK to avoid paying taxes.

Any ideas on this please reply.

Annabanana

[scooby]

Do you not have a Greek bank account? Then you simply transfer the money then you have proof.

[Kathleen]

You are no longer permitted to declare cash imports at the Airports. As Scooby says, better to make a bank transfer and obtain a 'Pink Slip' or you could be in trouble.

You do not say where you live Anna, but carrying 10000€ in cash could also cause you problems if you are picked up as an outward passenger carrying it from UK. You would be detained for questioning and required to prove the legitimate origin of the money under the terms of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which was set up to identify money laundering and tax evasion activities.

Kathleen

[allan]

She could always put it here>>>>>>>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/wales/north_ ... 190055.stm

[filippos]

We have heard that in the future if we sell our house we need to prove that the money came from UK to avoid paying taxes.

If you cannot prove to the Greek tax authorities that the money originated outside Greece they will assume that you earned the money here and will demand income tax on the full amount. The generally accepted proof is a "pink" slip issued by a Greek bank and you will be hard pressed to persuade them to accept anything else.

It's not really a question of avoiding taxes when you sell your house in future but, if the taxman hasn't found out about the money before then, that's when he will find out. To sell a property one of the documents needed is one stating you have no outstanding tax liabilities. Without it you can't sell and the only way to get it is to pay the tax and probably surcharges/fines for non-payment. In any case, as a property owner, you'll need to submit a tax return.

If you sell your house at a profit you will, in any case, have to pay capital gains tax, currently starting at 25% and reducing in steps to zero after 25 years. [That's right in principle but I may be wrong about the percentage and timescale which may be 20 years].

If, before your house is complete, the taxman decides you should pay tax [because you can't prove you brought the money into Greece] you may find you can't get electricity connected.

[Kilkis]

To purchase any property you must have a tax number, AFM. The notary will require this to put it in the contract. No AFM - no purchase.

If you have a tax number you have to make a tax return.

Say you buy a property in 2010, in 2011 you must submit a tax form E9, which describes the property you own and exactly who owns it, if ownership is split. You also have to submit a tax form E1 which will specify how much you "paid" for the property plus some of the fees, e.g. to the notary. These are taken from the purchase contract. On the same E1 you will need to account for where the money came from, e.g. transfer from the UK, and be able to support this with documentation, i.e. "pink slips". If you cannot do this you will be assumed to have earned that amount in Greece and be taxed on it.

Not a lot of leeway to get round the law in this case.

Warwick

PS "Paid" is in quotes since it is the price on the contract which may or may not be the actual amount paid.

PPS Some people have had problems where they transferred the money to someone else's account, e.g. the developer/estate agent. The pink slip is then in that person's name not yours so you cannot use it to support source of money. Far better to have your own account and transfer it directly to it.

[Kathleen]

She could always put it here>>>>>>>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/wales/north_ ... 190055.stm

But it didn't work did it Allan....neither did it work for a punter who stuffed half a million in his trainers in a checked in case! Very trusting I thought!

Kathleen

[Eleni13]

"Very trusting I thought! "


Stupid, I think. Our last flight from Chania to Athens was worrying enough when we realised that neither of us had locked the cases.
That was with nothing valuable in them. Just imagine......

[karpathoskate]

We've lived in Greece for a few years, and had a fair amount of money transferred from UK to our National Bank of Greece account. However, we have never received any "pink slips". We have kept 90% or so of the "order froms" to our UK bank asking for the money to be transferred. So we are now worrying about the lack of pink slips!!

[rampanthorse]

dont know if you realise this but the bank does not just give you a pink slip, you have to go to the bank and ask for it each year.
Barry

[paulh]

if you think about it it is easy to move money out of this country then bring it back into the country and get a pink slip. In actual fact the pink slip proves nothing except that it came into the country via a bank. I am sure there are tax officials who realise that too so alternative proof of where the money came from must also be acceptable.

[Kilkis]

dont know if you realise this but the bank does not just give you a pink slip, you have to go to the bank and ask for it each year.
Barry

To make it worse you have to ask at the branch where you opened the account. We opened an account with Alpha when we lived in Kilkis in northern Greece. Whenever we transfer money to Alpha bank from the UK the records are in Kilkis. We have to write to Kilkis to get them to send us the pink slips. A local branch knows that we now live in Crete but cannot process this document.

Warwick

[filippos]

.... so alternative proof of where the money came from must also be acceptable.

I'd be inclined to substitute "might" or "ought" for "must".

Bank of Cyprus gives ours direct to our accountant when he asks for them which is usually just before our tax return is due. I have never seen a "pink" slip [of any colour].

[moggieman]

You can always put it into my bank i will be only two pleased to look after it

[SatCure]

Bank of Cyprus gives ours direct to our accountant when he asks for them which is usually just before our tax return is due. I have never seen a "pink" slip [of any colour].

Likewise. On that basis I would recommend Bank of Cyprus and our accountant George Atsalakis in Hania. George even gets our annual car tax sticker and delivers it via the kiosk at Kalyves!

You can always put it into my bank i will be only two pleased to look after it

Or even three pleased.