{"id":2090,"date":"2022-11-09T16:56:03","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T14:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/?p=2090"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:58:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:58:55","slug":"establishing-a-company-in-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/establishing-a-company-in-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"ESTABLISHING A COMPANY IN GREECE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Types of companies and the process of the registration<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong>Today, the legal framework as well as the digital reformation of the bureaucratic procedures has led to new, easier ways, of company establishment and companies\u2019 registration in Greece. The procedure of incorporation can even last only one to two business days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Forms of Companies\/Enterprises<\/strong>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Individual Enterprise<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;This form of enterprise is easy to set up and gives high flexibility and initiative to the entrepreneur as regards the enterprise decisions. On the other hand, the entrepreneur is wholly responsible for any liability for taxes and debts in general. There is no minimum capital requirement. An individual company requires a pre-approval of the company name and the distinctive title by a relevant confirmation of the competent, depending on the type of the business activity, chamber of commerce. Moreover, it requires insurance with the competent obligatory insurer for all self-employed professionals. The next stage includes the declaration of the commencement of the business activity at the competent tax office, where the company is registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>General Partnership (G.P., in Greek as O.E.)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The partners of this type of company are jointly responsible against third parties for the company\u2019s obligations. Such responsibility is considered as personal, direct and unlimited. The liability of the partners for the company\u2019s debts is unlimited meaning that partners are liable not only up to their contributions, but also with their individual property. There is no minimum capital requirement for the establishment of a general partnership, since the assets of the company are not distinguished from the partner\u2019s asset and partners are liable with their personal assets for all of the partnership\u2019s obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A general partnership is established digitally at the one-stop shop services, after filling in the standard model Statute with all the basic details of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Limited Partnership (L.P., in Greek as E.E.)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A limited partnership has the same characteristics with a general partnership, since it is a variant of it. The main difference between a limited partnership and a general partnership is within the scope of responsibility meaning the existence of partners with or without limited personal responsibility and the limitation of the management of the limited partners. A limited partner who has paid out its contribution to the company is not responsible for the partnership\u2019s debt. In the opposite case the partner is responsible up to the amount of their contribution. The same general rules applying to a general partnership must also hold for a limited partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Private Capital Company (in Greek as IKE)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A simpler and more flexible corporate form, namely the Private Company (IKE), has been introduced by Law 4072\/2012, which is also the most usual type of corporation in Greece. IKE is a private capital company which has capital and the liability of its members for the company debts, except for those with guarantee contribution, is limited. Participation to a private capital company requires the acquisition of one or more company shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The private capital company has capital of at least one (1) Euro. Partners may participate with capital, non-capital or with guarantee contributions. Capital contributions are contributions in cash or in kind. Capital contributions in kind are only allowed when they refer to assets which can be evaluated in cash. There must be at least one company share representing a capital contribution. Non-capital contributions refer to benefits, which cannot be the subject of a capital contribution. These benefits must be specified in the company\u2019s statutes and must be executed for some time or indefinitely. Guarantee contributions are contributions which consist of taking responsibility against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u0399\u039a\u0395 can be easily established digitally at the one-stop shop services, after filling in the standard model Statute with all the basic details of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Anonyme (S.A., in Greek as A.E.)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A Company Limited by Shares, namely the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Anonyme, is a capital company with legal personality, which is responsible for its debts with its assets. The company\u2019s capital is divided into shares. Businesses organized as companies limited by shares are typically more significant in financial terms. Shareholders own shares of the company which are either registered or bearer shares. Shareholders are not personally liable and their liability is limited to the amount of their investment. A minimum initial capital of 25,000 Euro is required for the formation of a company limited by shares to be paid entirely or partially. Shareholders\u2019 contributions may be in cash or in kind. The company\u2019s capital is divided into shares, which can be incorporated into equity securities of one or more shares or, with the preconditions of the law, to be intangible. The nominal value of each share cannot be defined to an amount less than four euro cents (0.04) nor more than one hundred (100) Euro. The nominal value must be equal for all shares. All rights deriving from the company\u2019s share must correspond to the percentage of the company\u2019s share capital each share represents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The S.A. can be easily established digitally at the one-stop shop services, after filling in the standard model Statute with all the basic details of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Registration Fees<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>At the process of registration the digital system requires the payment of the relative fee, depending on the type of company. There is also a yearly fee to the Business Registry according to the type of company, between 20 and 300 euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the establishment is done exclusively through the e-One stop shop service, then the cost of establishment is set at 30% of the Unified Fee Note, i.e. \u20ac18.00 for S.A. and I.K.E. and \u20ac15,00 for O.E. and E.E. and there is no extra amount for each additional founder irrespective of the total number of founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prices may change according to the regulations, although they are more or less the ones mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Details and documentation needed for the company establishment in Greece<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u0392efore initiating the registration process the interested parties must accumulate all the partners\u2019 and administrators\u2019 details (identification information) as well as the company\u2019s details (e.g. capital, shareholders\u2019 percentages, company\u2019s official seat, official activities).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, a foreign person to become partner or shareholder of a Greek company they shall issue a Greek Tax number, although they cannot be administrator or part of the Board of Directors if they are not Greek or European citizens (holding a Greek ID or a European passport).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, when someone is willing to establish a Greek company, they have to proceed with the issuance of a power of attorney giving the order to a proxy in Greece including all the needed actions of the incorporation. This power of attorney can be either before a foreign notary, bearing the Apostille stamp, or at a Consular office of Greece in their home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the registration of the company is completed the first required actions are the opening of a bank account, as well as the bookkeeping assignment to a CPA (accountant). The bank account is required in order for the company members to deposit the company capital and certify its deposit to the Business Registry. The assignment to a CPA is required in order for the company to file the company in the tax office, as well as to proceed with all the VAT declarations, tax payments etc.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Companies and taxation in Greece<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Corporation tax is a tax levied by the government on the profits of companies. Corporate tax varies from country to country, with some even having zero rates as a result of which they are considered tax heavens. In Greece, however, things are not exactly like that, so every investor must know what tax they must pay to the state at the end of the tax year. Here, it is important to clarify that corporate tax is levied on business profits and not on revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The taxation of all the above types of Companies is the one where the profits are taxed at a rate of 22% and 5% on the distribution of its profits with an advance tax rate of 80% for the following year (40% for the first 3 years).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Individual enterprise is a different case and possibly the simplest type of business in Greece. However, the entrepreneur has unlimited liability, in which case he fully undertakes all the risk of the business with their personal property. Regarding the taxation of individual companies, the tax scale is as follows: 0-10.000\u00e0 9%, 10.001- 20,000 \u00e0 22%, 20,001-30,000 \u00e0 28%, and 30,001- 40,000 \u00e0 36%, more than 40,001 \u00e0 44%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Nexus law firm is highly experienced in the incorporation of any kind of company in Greece. Our team has completed successfully the establishment of numerous Greek companies with foreign investors as company members or administrators; As a result our clients have undertaken important projects through their newly established enterprises all over Greece, as well as bank or state financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><u>Disclaimer:<\/u> This guide is prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to impart legal advice; readers are advised to seek independent legal advice prior to acting on any statements contained herein. The information contained is in no way a substitute for the relevant Laws, which are binding only in the original Greek texts<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Types of companies and the process of the registration &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Today, the legal framework as well as the digital reformation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nea"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2092,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions\/2092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexuslaw.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}