If you are genuinely moving your home to Greece, your furniture, appliances, clothes, books and personal effects can come in free of customs duty, VAT and, for a car, registration tax. It is not automatic. You have to qualify and you have to prove it.
The Greek tax authority, AADE, issued a circular in 2026 (reference E.2027/2026) setting out eligibility, the supporting documents and the procedure, with the aim of customs offices handling applications the same way. The relief itself is not new. The clarity is.
This page explains what the rules ask of you. It is a guide to what to prepare, not legal or tax advice, and the position at your own customs office is the one that counts.
Greek customs do not go by where your post arrives. Habitual residence means the place where you normally live, defined as at least 185 days, continuous or not, in any twelve month period, because of personal or professional ties that show a genuine link to that place.
To establish the right to transfer it, that residence has to have been outside Greece for at least two years running before the move. That is the test, and it is the one worth checking honestly before you spend money on shipping.
Inside the EU, goods already cross borders without customs duty, and VAT rarely arises on a personal move between member states. There is nothing much to waive. Someone moving from Munich to Athens gets little from the duty and VAT side of this relief.
Britain is now outside the EU, so a UK to Greece household shipment is a genuine import. Duty and VAT would otherwise apply on the value of your own furniture. For British movers this relief is the difference between a normal removal cost and a substantially larger bill.
The vehicle registration tax side works the other way round. Greek registration tax applies when a car is first registered in Greece, wherever it came from, so relief on that is worth having even for someone arriving from inside the EU.
Most guides to this topic skip the restrictions. They are the part that actually changes what you should put on the boat.
The right can be exercised once, as a whole, for a family. You cannot claim, settle, leave and claim again on a later move.
Furnishing a secondary residence in Greece has its own, much more limited relief covering household furnishing items only, and it is aimed at people whose habitual residence stays outside the EU.
Belongings brought in under these provisions cannot be sold, leased, pledged or lent for one year from the date the customs document is accepted. Shipping something in order to sell it on arrival is not what this is for.
The relief is for possessions you have owned and used. Buying a new sofa in Britain the month before you sail is not what this is for, and it can undermine the rest of the claim.
Some vehicles cannot be brought in and registered at all, regardless of relief. That deserves its own explanation. Read the vehicle rules
Your mover handles the shipping documents. The residence side is yours, and having it straight before you book saves the most money.
Plain answers, including the ones where the answer is no.
At least twenty four consecutive months of habitual residence abroad, immediately before you transfer it to Greece. Habitual residence means the place you normally live, taken as at least 185 days, continuous or not, in any twelve month period, on the basis of personal or professional ties. Long stays in Greece during that period can break the test.
No. It is for personal property you have owned and used, not for new purchases made to furnish a Greek home. Buying items shortly before shipping does not become eligible by being packed alongside genuine belongings, and it can weaken the wider claim. Buy after you arrive instead.
No. The right can be exercised once, as a whole, for a family. If you move to Greece, claim it, later leave and then return, you should not expect a second grant. Plan the single move carefully rather than shipping in stages across different residence transfers.
Yes, with a condition attached. You can import personal belongings before you actually transfer your residence, provided you commit to transferring it within six months and lodge a deposit or bank guarantee for the duties and taxes. If you do not move within that window, the guarantee is taken and the charges become due from the original import date.
Yes. All personal belongings must be cleared, either together or in parts, within twelve months starting from the date the certificate is issued. Splitting a move over a longer period than that puts the later consignments outside the relief.
Domestic animals sit within the personal effects that can be imported under these provisions, alongside household goods and a means of transport. That is a customs point rather than a travel one. The animal health and documentation rules for actually moving a pet are separate, and they need starting earlier than the shipping does.
That is a different and much narrower relief. Furnishing a secondary residence has its own provisions covering household furnishing items, aimed at people whose habitual abode stays outside the EU. It is not the transfer of residence relief on this page, and applying under the wrong one wastes the single claim you get.
Only partly. Within the EU there is no customs duty to waive and VAT rarely arises on a personal move, so those parts do little. The vehicle registration tax relief is the exception, because Greek registration tax applies when a car is first registered here regardless of where it came from, and that can be worth a substantial sum.
Tell us where you are moving from, your Greek destination, your dates and roughly what is coming, including any vehicle. A vetted moving company from our network handles the shipment documents and tells you what it needs from your side.
Get your free quoteWe are a free enquiry service and a Working Member of AGM Group. We connect people moving to Greece with vetted international moving companies from that network. We are not customs agents or tax advisers, and we do not carry out removals ourselves.
Treat this page as preparation. Confirm your own position with AADE or your consulate before committing to a shipping date.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder, International Removals Companies.