The Ministry of Finance has issued a decision according to which all non-residents that have the obligation to file income tax returns in Greece are obliged to submit certain documents to the competent tax office by which their status as non-tax-residents is certified (Circular 1145/2012). The initial deadline for producing the required documentation was the 16th of July.
The Ministry of Finance announced today (Circular 1161/2012) that the deadline for the submission of the required documentation is extended up to the end of the year (31-12-2012). The Ministry also clarified certain cases of non-residents that are not covered by the obligation of producing the required documentation.
The extension of the deadline was considered as necessary since the new legislation imposed a considerable administrative burden on non-tax residents and  foreign tax administrations which was not possible to be carried out in the initial short deadline.  

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 a circular (Pol. 1156/21-7-2011) providing guidance on the form that is to be used for the 2011 declaration of the Special Tax on Real Property and the list of documents that the non-resident legal entities owning real property in Greece must file.   

The provisions of the income tax code that impose an obligation on the buyer of real property in Greece to justify the amount spent in purchasing the property and, in case of failure to do so, to pay income taxes on the amount that is considered as unreported income, are temporarily suspended. By a recent provision included in Law 3986/2011, the parliament, in an effort to support the real estate market in Greece, adopted the suspension of the application of these provisions, not only for the acquisition of first residential property, but for the acquisition of any kind of real property in Greece. The suspension applies as from 17-12-2010 and it will last until 31-12-2013.

By a recent circular (Pol. 1155/21-7-2011) the Ministry of Finance provides guidance on the tax treatment of foreign individuals that are employed in Greece by a company established in Greece according to the provisions of Law 89/1967. The circular clarifies that such foreign employees are subject to Greek income tax only for their Greek sourced income and not for their global income.

By Circular 1141/23-6-2011 the Ministry of Finance provides guidance for the application of the new regime on the taxation of dividends distributed by Greek companies, in respect to recipients that reside in a state with which Greece has signed a Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation on Income and on capital. The withholdong tax rates provided in the DTCs are in general lower than the current withholding tax rate on dividend payments enacted by Law 3943/2011 (21% for distributions that take place in 2011; 25% for distributions that take place from 2012 on). 

An amendment to the Greek Income Tax Code abolishes the application to non-residents of assumptions on the acquisition of income in Greece; the new regime applies as from 1-1-2011.