The Ministry of Finance issued guidelines on the proof required by non tax residents in Greece, in order to support their status as non tax residents in Greece (Circular 1145/2012). 

In brief the Ministry requires that non-residents produce within the deadline for the filing of the annual individual income tax return the following documents:
- a valid certificate of tax residence, in case the person is a resident in a state with which Greece has signed a double tax convention or
- the tax return filed in his state of residence (i.e. the state in which the person is subject to taxation for his worldwide income).

The publication of the circular comes with a 14-month delay (the law establishing the obligation was passed in March 2011) and it creates more problems that the one it is supposed to solve. In particular, the circular fails to take into account all the cases of foreign tax residents and it imposes a considerable burden on all non-residents, without specifically attacking tax fraud or insincere taxpayers. 
In addition, the timing is also problematic, as the deadline for the submission of the required documents is very short whereas the administrative burden on both the individuals and the foreign tax administrations who will issue the certificates of residence is quite heavy; this is aggravated by the fact that in some cases the documents are required to bear an Apostille and in all cases they must be accompanied by an official translation in Greek.

It is expected that the relevant legislation and the accompanying guidelines will need to be reformed in the near future, in order to better serve their anti-avoidance purpose without excessively burdening sincere taxpayers.  

The Ministry of Finance published today guidelines on the application of Article 12 of Law 3943/2012 on the definition of 'tax residence" and the rules on the change of tax residence (Circular 1142/2012).
The circular with the guidelines comes with a 14-month delay (the provisions it deals with were approved by the Parliament in March 2011) and it is very much welcome. It provides insight on the approach the Ministry is going to take in the application of  the relevant provisions but it does not solve any of the hermeneutical or practical problems that have been identified by practitioners. 

The Ministry of Finance issued today a circular (Circular 1144/2012) providing guidance on the interpretation and application of the Royalties article of the double tax conventions that Greece has entered into with Hungary and the Czech Republic. The Ministry essentially extends the application of Circular 1024/2011 on the interpretation and application of Article 12 of the DTC between Greece and Finland to the corresponding provisions of the DTCs with Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law of WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business)is organizing a Conference on “Beneficial Ownership”.

The Conference aims at discussing recent developments of the term Beneficial Ownership by presenting the most interesting cases, which have been decided all over the world, and discussing the recently published OECD Discussion Draft on the meaning of the term Beneficial Owner. Outstanding experts of 14 jurisdictions will present the most relevant decisions from their countries. Furthermore, the meaning of the term Beneficial Owner used in European Tax Law in comparison to its meaning in Tax Treaty law will be assessed. The main topics identified have been clustered into eight “baskets”, which will be dealt with in eight conference sessions:

Session 1: Beneficial Ownership – Broad vs. Narrow Interpretation I
Session 2: Beneficial Ownership – Broad vs. Narrow Interpretation II
Session 3: Beneficial Ownership without Specific Beneficial Ownership Provision
Session 4: Beneficial Ownership as Anti Abuse Provision
Session 5: Beneficial Ownership and Domestic Law
Session 6: Beneficial Ownership as Allocation of Income Rule
Session 7 : Beneficial Ownership and EU Law
Session 8: Beneficial Ownership: OECD Discussion Draft

Detailed information on the speakers, the particular cases that will be presented and on how to participate are included in the conference programme.