nomadr
Go Back

Business Permits & Incorporation for Foreigners in Corfu

Good to know

Good to Know

  • There is no local-partner or local-sponsor requirement to incorporate in Greece as a foreigner — 100% foreign ownership is permitted in almost all sectors, and one person can be sole shareholder and sole director.
  • The real bottleneck for most foreign founders isn't the company filing itself (which can clear GEMI in a few days) — it's getting a Greek AFM tax number and getting through corporate bank KYC/AML checks, which can each take days to a few weeks.
  • If you're a non-EU national planning to physically live on Corfu and run the business day-to-day, budget separate time and paperwork for a residence/work permit — owning a Greek company does not by itself grant you the right to live in Greece.
  • Using the standard 'Model Articles of Association' template for an IKE (rather than a custom-drafted statute) is what avoids the notary requirement entirely and keeps costs to a minimum — customizing the articles or contributing non-cash assets brings the notary (and its cost) back into play.
  • These tax rules and rates are set at the national Greek level — Corfu does not have any island-specific tax break or lighter-touch incorporation process compared with Athens or elsewhere in Greece.
  • Most foreign owners hire a local Greek accountant (λογιστής) from day one, since GEMI filings, advance-tax prepayments, and VAT compliance are administratively heavy even for a small IKE.
  • If you're just invoicing a few overseas clients as an individual, registering as a freelancer with an AFM is usually far simpler than forming a company — many nomads only move to an IKE once turnover or client contracts require a proper corporate entity.
  • A Greek business bank account is often the slowest practical bottleneck for a foreign-owned company, sometimes taking longer than the company registration itself.

Corporate Tax Company Route

Dividend Withholding Tax Percent
5
Tax Base Scope
Residency-based: applies to worldwide income for Greek tax-resident companies (incorporated in Greece or with place of effective management in Greece), and to Greek-source income only for non-resident entities/branches with a permanent establishment.
Foreign Ownership
Foreign investors can own 100% of a Greek company in most sectors; no mandatory Greek-resident director, though one legal representative must be appointed, and banks may in practice want a local resident director or contact for account opening.

VAT

Standard Rate Percent
24
Note
VAT registration is separate from company registration and applies once turnover/activity thresholds are met; input VAT is generally recoverable for VAT-registered businesses.

Reduced Rates Percent

  • 13
  • 6

Structures Available

  • IKE (Ιδιωτική Κεφαλαιουχική Εταιρεία / private company)
  • EPE (Εταιρεία Περιορισμένης Ευθύνης / limited liability company)
  • AE (Ανώνυμη Εταιρεία / société anonyme)

Minimum Share Capital

  • IKE
    Minimum Capital
    €1.00
    Note
    Effectively nominal; IKE is the structure most foreign owners choose.
  • EPE
    Minimum Capital
    €4,500
  • AE
    Minimum Capital
    €25,000

Corporate Income Tax Rate

Rate Percent
22
Note
Flat rate on net profits, unchanged since 2022.

Filing And Registration Obligations

  • Register through GEMI (General Commercial Registry) and obtain a Tax Identification Number (AFM) from AADE — this can be done via the digital one-stop shop (e-YMS), often without needing to be physically present in Greece.
  • Maintain double-entry books and file annual financial statements under Greek Accounting Standards (ELP), filed with GEMI.
  • Greek companies must prepay a portion of the following year's corporate tax based on current-year profits (an advance-tax mechanism), reconciled once the annual return is filed.
  • Any change to directors/shareholders must be filed with GEMI within statutory deadlines.
  • Small IKEs typically file abbreviated accounts; medium/large entities face fuller local audit requirements based on balance-sheet, turnover and headcount thresholds.
  • Beneficial-ownership registration is required alongside the GEMI company record.

Freelancer Sole Proprietor Route

Liability
Unlike an IKE/EPE/AE, a sole proprietor/freelancer has unlimited personal liability for business debts — there is no legal separation between personal and business assets.
How It Works
A foreigner can register as an individual business ("ατομική επιχείρηση") / freelancer rather than forming a company. This requires an AFM (Greek tax number) and registration of the activity with the tax authority, but has no share-capital requirement and a simpler setup process than an IKE/EPE/AE.
Social Security Efka
Self-employed professionals and freelancers registered in Greece pay fixed monthly EFKA contribution categories rather than a percentage of income, unlike salaried employees whose contributions (about 35.16% combined employer/employee) are wage-based.

Personal Income Tax On Business Profits

Rate Range Percent
9% to 44%
Structure
Progressive personal income tax, not a flat corporate rate.
Note
Business income for sole proprietors/freelancers is taxed on this progressive scale rather than the flat 22% company rate, and — where the person is Greek tax-resident — is aggregated with any employment or pension income for the year.

Typical Cost

State Registry Fees Ike

Currency Local
EUR
Amount USD Range
19–212
Amount Local Range
18–200
Note
This range covers e-YMS online constitution fees plus small fixed GEMI (~€10) and Chamber registration charges (~€10) and an annual Chamber subscription (~€80–150); it excludes professional/legal help.
Description
Bare-minimum government/GEMI/Chamber fees for a straightforward IKE using the model statute (no notary, no in-kind contributions)

Ae Public Limited Company Cost

Currency Local
EUR
Amount USD Range
29580–34240
Amount Local Range
27900–32300
Note
Includes notary fees (~€800–2,000) and heavier legal/advisory costs (~€2,000–5,000+); figure includes the founder's own €25,000 capital commitment, not just fees.
Description
AE requires a notary and the full €25,000 capital (at least one quarter paid in at incorporation), plus a Hellenic Competition Commission duty of 0.1% of capital

Realistic All In Cost Foreign Founder Ike

Currency Local
EUR
Amount USD Range
1060–3180
Amount Local Range
1000–3000
Note
This is professional-service cost on top of the minimal state fees; it does not include the €1 nominal IKE share capital, which has no paid-up requirement.
Description
Most foreign founders still pay a lawyer/accountant for AFM procurement, KYC support, translations and registered-office/accounting setup

Common Entity Type For Foreigners

Name
IKE (Private Capital Company / Ιδιωτική Κεφαλαιουχική Εταιρεία)
Why Preferred
The IKE is the entity foreign founders and small businesses overwhelmingly use because it requires only €1 in minimum share capital and, if a standard 'Model Articles of Association' template is used with no in-kind contributions, no notary is required at all, unlike the AE or EPE.

Other Entity Types

  • EPE (Older-style Limited Liability Company)
    Minimum Capital
    €4,800
    Note
    Largely superseded by the IKE; requires a notarial deed.
  • AE (Société Anonyme / Public Limited Company)
    Minimum Capital
    €25,000
    Note
    One quarter of capital must be paid in at incorporation; notarial deed mandatory; used for larger operations.

Scope Note

These are national Greek tax and company-law rules applied uniformly across Greece, including Corfu — there is no Corfu-specific tax regime or local business incentive distinct from the rest of the country.

Loss Carryforward

Tax losses may be carried forward for five fiscal years to offset future profits; Greece does not permit loss carry-back.

Practical Company Vs Freelancer Tradeoff

Practical Company Vs Freelancer Tradeoff

  • Freelancer/sole-proprietor registration is faster and cheaper to set up (no minimum capital, lighter GEMI-style formalities) but exposes personal assets to business liability and taxes profits on the progressive 9%–44% personal scale, which can exceed the flat 22% company rate once profits grow.
  • Forming an IKE (the standard choice for foreign-owned SMEs in Greece) gives limited liability and a flat 22% corporate rate on profits, but adds incorporation steps (GEMI registration, AFM, accounting/bookkeeping obligations, annual financial statements) and generally requires an ongoing local accountant.
  • Extracting profit from a company as owner salary is deductible at the company level but taxed progressively (up to 44%) on the individual; extracting it as dividends is not deductible at company level but is taxed at a flat 5% withholding as a final tax — many owner-operators split between the two.
  • Non-EU citizens do not need a residence/work permit merely to register a company on paper, but do need a long-stay (D-type) visa or residence permit to actually live in Greece and personally run/work in the business day-to-day.

Official Links

Realistic Timeline

Ike Registry Step Only
GEMI clearance for an IKE via the e-YMS one-stop-shop typically takes 1–3 business days once documents are filed.
Non EU Founder Needing To Relocate
For a non-EU founder who also needs a residence/work permit to live in Greece and manage the business locally, realistic end-to-end timelines commonly cited are approximately 2–3 months, since immigration processing (not the company filing itself) is the bottleneck.
Ike End To End EU National Or Remote Owner
For an EU national or a non-EU founder who can operate remotely, a straightforward IKE formation with all documents prepared in advance can realistically be completed in about 1–3 weeks, once AFM procurement, bank KYC and document/translation steps are included.

Tax ID Requirement

The one real personal prerequisite for a foreign founder (not a local-partner requirement) is obtaining a Greek tax number (AFM) for every foreign shareholder and director before or during formation; this is typically obtained through a Greek consulate or the AADE tax authority, or via a Greek tax representative.

Incorporation Steps

Incorporation Steps

  • Obtain a Greek Tax Identification Number (AFM) for each foreign shareholder/director, via a Greek consulate abroad or the AADE tax office/a tax representative.
  • Reserve the company name and check availability through the GEMI (General Commercial Registry) online system.
  • Draft the Articles of Association (Katastatikó): for an IKE this can be a private document using the standard Model AoA template (no notary needed); for an AE, or an EPE/IKE involving in-kind (non-cash) contributions, a notarial deed is mandatory.
  • File the registration application electronically through the e-YMS one-stop-shop / GEMI portal (businessportal.gr), including the statute, founder ID documents, and proof of a registered business address.
  • Company automatically receives its GEMI registration number and legal personality, and is cross-registered for an AFM (company tax number) with AADE.
  • Register for VAT (if applicable) and activate myDATA e-Books (Greece's mandatory digital bookkeeping/e-invoicing system) with AADE, typically within 1–2 business days of GEMI registration.
  • Open a corporate bank account and deposit share capital — this step is usually the slowest for foreign founders due to bank KYC/AML checks, often taking 1–4 weeks and requiring apostilled ID documents.
  • Register the company's legal representative with EFKA (Greek social security).
  • File beneficial-ownership (UBO) information in the GEMI UBO register, generally required within 60 days of incorporation.
  • Non-EU founders who intend to live in Greece to run the business (rather than owning remotely) must separately apply for a residence/work permit; company ownership itself does not require this, but hands-on management from within Greece does.

Corporate Tax Context

Corporate income tax in Greece is a flat 22% rate on profits, applied uniformly across IKE, EPE, AE and partnership entities.

Geographic Scope Note

Company incorporation in Greece is a national (not Corfu-specific) process — all filings go through the national GEMI registry and gov.gr portals, regardless of which city a business will physically operate in on Corfu.

Local Partner Or Sponsor Mandate

Details
Greece imposes no local-partner or local-sponsor mandate for foreign founders. Sources confirm this consistently: "A non-resident individual or foreign company can hold 100% of the shares in a Greek IKE, EPE, or AE and can sit as the sole director." There is also no mandatory Greek-resident director requirement, though one director or legal representative must be appointed and a lack of a Greek-resident director can complicate bank account opening in practice.
Required
No
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026

This section has no cited sources.

More About Corfu

Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.