Tax, Brexit, and all that!

Hello Harehound,well now,Im a little confused..did you make a very simple residency card here at the police station or at your local council which will show the date you began living here for future use as evidence of the time you have been residing here to perhaps obtain a permit to stay here when Brexit happens because there will be a reciprocal agreement on allowing EU people to stay in the UK if they have been there living for some time and for British citizens to stay in EU countries if they have been living there for x amount of time.Your tax papers...you must find a normal simple accountant as we have who works from an office in our road in the evenings.My husband didnt know that he had to put his inherited apartment on his tax paper,two years went by and it came to light,now that was a bit of trouble but our accountant said...leave this mistake with me and I will seek help from my connections in the tax office,after a while she said,a small fine will be imposed and thats that,no stress.I have spoken with my Greek husband just these moments about your case and he says..the man had nothing to declare although technically papers should be done,I had a tax number from 22 and when in UK I did not return tax papers,Greeks living on the street with tax numbers dont give in tax returns as they have  only homelessness to declare so this man is not in trouble,he was not hiding some income or property ownership etc..I presume you have your Taxisnet user codes.If you were here in Athens we would run you up to our accountant,find one that speaks English,not some money grabbing up start,a simple office near you,they hold their hands in the air my husband says because they are too lazy to help you and theres not rich pickings,you have done nothing wrong,a small fine may be imposed,50 euro or so or perhaps not.Surely your Greek partner has an accountant she uses for her tax returns every year.When Brexit happens you will be I believe be entitled to a resident permit which may need renewing every so many years but you will need to prove the length of time you have lived here,thats why I ask you..did you declare your residency here which is a very simple task costing very little,it will prove a date for future use so as to stay here after Brexit.The UK government are not throwing out EU citizens after Brexit if they have lived there x amount of time and that time includes the closing period of the UKs membership.Other EU countries will also not throw out UK citizens I think,Greece will do as the UK will do,help each others citizens.Do not worry,find a helpful accountant and all will be sorted,an extension is in place for tax returns this year so you need to get on with this,it may be that an accountant will tell you..dont bother about the other four years as you had nothing to declare,lets start filling in returns from now because of your car.Go find your accountant,and dont worry,this is the land of topsy turvy but it gets sorted in the end.You will not be taxed here if your income is already taxed in the UK I believe but again your accountant will advise you

Thanks Concertina, I appreciate your taking the trouble to respond in detail.
I got a βεβαιωση Εγγραφης Πολιτη Κρατουσ Μελους in 2015 as I understood it was necessary if I was spending more than 90 days in Greece. Of course it is indeed helpful now as proof of residing here - as I suppose are the several apartment leases that I have had since 2013. I do however wish to keep my residential status in the UK, where I have a house, a GP (and an accountant!!!). I vaguely thing there is a difference between being a resident in a country and being domiciled there - I will look into this, it may be of help.
Your recounting of your husband's minor problem is interesting - although I wonder if I will get fined as, presumably unlike him, I have never had an income from Greece. I did indeed set my partner's accountant onto this but she had never encountered the problem before. She has had lots of Greek nationals wanting to know how to treat UK income, but not my way round! It was also a disadvantage that she does not speak English, and my Greek is not up to financial stuff!
As you suggest I will go and find an English speaking accountant locally and make sure that he can deal with my problem before setting him or her to work on it.
Your remarks about Brexit are encouraging, and whilst I agree that Greece will try to be accommodating I am not sure that I trust the UK government to conclude a satisfactory negotiation regarding us expats.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

With regards to taxation and in general terms; where you pay taxes will be decided by where you are deemed as being resident (i.e. where you live for >183 days in any tax year, including short-term stay outside that country) and if more than one country is involved, whether any agreements exist between the 2 countries.  So, for example, if you are deemed as being resident in Greece, then all of your worldwide income will be assessed there.  If there is a double-taxation agreement in place between UK/GR, then you shouldn't pay income taxes twice on the same income; you should note that in general (so unless specifically excluded) pensions are classed as income for tax purposes.  Also, UK Government employment pensions (i.e. police. armed services, civil service etc) will always be taxed at source in the UK.

Where it becomes difficult is that the UK has only one source of direct taxation (National Insurance in the UK is not classed as a tax for these purposes), whereas many European countries also have social taxes of which are not part of any double-taxation agreements and they can assess your worldwide income for these social taxes.

I'd strongly suggest you get a local Greek tax accountant who is experienced in dealing with UK expats.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you, Cynic. What you tell me corresponds with the information that HMRC say on their extensive website, but I do, as you say, need to discuss these matters with a Greek tax accountant. In particular I understand that it is possible to be tax resident in more than one country, and secondly I need to tie up the matter of not having submitted returns in Greece these past four years.
I am grateful for your advice