Don’t take the self-righteous attitude of “I pay UK tax so the Greek system has nothing to do with me.” That will not hold water. Exactly as you are obliged to do in the UK, anyone with a Greek tax number is legally charged to file a declaration each year. As you need a Greek tax number in order to own a property in Crete that means you. Relax, don’t worry, there’s nothing to it, providing you follow simple instruction – but don’t do the ostrich thing, or it’ll come back later to bite you in the bum and cost you money.
You can’t get away from filing a tax return. On selling a home in Greece, the lawyer will check there are no outstanding loans or unsettled tax owed on the property. If you’ve not filed annual tax returns against the period of ownership, you will be fined for every year missed. Even worse, if you haven’t filed tax returns AND haven’t been clear where funds originally came from to purchase your house, the revenue will presume the money was derived from earnings in Greece and you will be taxed accordingly. This will invariably mean having to shell out thousands in fines and outstanding tax.
Just follow the simple rules and you won’t get into a pickle.
The tax year runs from January 1st until 31st December and while all Greeks have to file their return within a couple of months into the New Year, foreigners invariably have a couple of months more. The tax return shows whether you own a property, land, a swimming pool, a car, or a boat, and documents authenticating these purchases are all forwarded to the revenue to support your tax declaration.
It sounds daunting, but just relax and with the right advice it’s easy-peasey.
If you generate an income in Greece there must be sufficient earnings shown to meet these purchases. If money was sent over to Crete from the UK, then this has to be proved, or it will be presumed you generated the money in Greece and you will be taxed accordingly.
THE RIGHT WAY TO GO
Greeks expect to pay an accountant around 50€ for their annual tax return. As you don’t understand the system I believe it’s much safer to find an accountant who speaks good English and has at least a working knowledge of UK tax law, to best advise you. It may cost you more, but you’re also paying for peace of mind, someone who will do all the running around on your behalf and you can be secure in the knowledge that you will not be hit by any hidden tax bill, now, or in the future.
REMEMBER
When buying a house or a car, you should NEVER pay money to a third party in Crete, direct from the UK. Money should ALWAYS be transferred from the UK directly into your own Greek bank account. If you cannot be there to withdraw it, then authorize your lawyer to withdraw specific funds on your behalf.
When in Crete you should go to your bank and ask for copies of the ‘Pink Slips’. This is a legal record confirming you brought funds into Greece from the UK and therefore these sums are not taxable. Never bring spending money over. Always transfer money from the UK into Crete to maximize your ‘Pink Slips’.
Your accountant will need these to enter on your Greek tax return and the total amount should exceed the purchase costs of your house, land, car or boat. If you have taken out a Greek mortgage to fund any of these, then you will need sufficient ‘Pink Slips’ to cover the loan repayments each year.
TAX CHANGES
The Greek revenue are now saying if your house is only used for holidays, or part of a year, then there are various costs associated with that, such as utility bills etc. Consequently, dependant upon the square meterage of your house, the size of pool and type of car, the revenue will estimate how much money you need to bring into Greece each year to cover these running costs.
For example, if you have a two bedroom Snobby, then you need to introduce funds from the UK amounting to approximately 2,000€ each year. If you have a Greek mortgage of, say 450€ per month, then you need ‘Pink Slips’ of around 7,500€ to cover everything.
FINAL ADVICE
Appreciate that Greece has a different system. Don’t take chances just because you know something about taxation in the UK. Find a good accountant used to dealing with property owners from the UK. We can recommend an excellent one in Chania who speaks good English and takes care of everything, without you having to run around Chania and queuing in all the various governmental departments. Everything will be taken care of and you won’t have to pay a penny in tax.
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( 3 / 562 )Many of those buying a property in the sun yearn for land and plenty of it - vast acres of the stuff - but why? For a start more land costs more money and there’s a whole lot of difference between enjoying a spot of gardening and suddenly finding you’ve become a farmer by default. Can you afford hired help? If not you’ll work yourself into the ground, fighting 24/7 to prevent a withered wilderness in summer becoming an overrun jungle in winter. When you first consider buying a property with plenty of land you really do need to think things through, because size does matter and small is beautiful if you want to get a life.
Denise Gilbert, from Croydon is passionate about gardening. She and her family used to spend many holidays in Crete over the years and fell in love with the island. After her husband died she and her daughter Alison, who is a Park Ranger in Chelmsford, often discussed moving to Crete and starting a new life. They began to look for property and discovered a small development of five Snobbys being built in the village of Kamisiana in western Crete. Alison decided to buy a two bedroom Snobby while Denise bought the house next door - a three bedroom Snobby Posh Pad. Having sold her house in the UK, Denise moved over permanently in February 2010, while Alison plans to move into hers by the end of the year.
Denise says, “On my holidays I’d met people who had bought houses on large plots and now realised it was a mistake. As they got older what was difficult to maintain, became downright impossible to look after. I love gardening but the need to spend every waking minute of your time out in the heat just trying to keep on top of things was a pressure I could do without. I calculated what I wanted to grow - and the space needed - and discovered I could be self-sufficient and have a lovely garden without being chained to my fork and spade. I suppose people may want a large plot for privacy, but all Snobbys come with a walled garden - and therefore you get privacy, but pay less for the privilege.”
The Snobbys bought by Denise and Alison stand above the old village, surrounded by olive trees, with a panoramic sea view towards the picturesque fishing village of Kolimbari and the soaring Rotherpou Peninsular.
Says Denise, “While the cost of living in Crete is much lower than in the UK, I liked the fact I could make my money go even further by growing all my own vegetables. The whole of my garden is around 118 sq. m. yet you would not believe what can be grown.”
Denise buys plants and seeds from the local animal feed shop in nearby Tavronitis, and is often given cuttings by friendly neighbours. She has three tomato and two red pepper plants as well as a bed of huge red onions growing beside the garden path by the side of the house. A gravelled area in front of a sun terrace has now become a jungle of triffid-like leaves hiding melons, butter squash, cucumbers and courgettes. On the lower terrace she has a vegetable garden of just 20ft x 10ft and planted here are spinach, broccoli, aubergines and beans. “I’m still trying to get it right,” she says. “I planted three courgette plants and grew so many I had to give them away. As fast as I cut them so others grew in their place. It’s the same with the tomatoes too. Once I’ve planted a crop the only tending they need is watering, which I do in the evening, when it’s cooler and there’s less chance of evaporation. With plenty of water and the level of sun you get in Crete, it’s small wonder that everything does so well.”
But Denise’ garden is not just about vegetables. There’s an abundance of colour with geraniums, palms, bougainvilleas and a lemon tree and grape vine too - although these will take a couple of years before giving fruit.
Says Denise, “A garden like mine is perfect. It doesn’t rule my life, I can potter to my heart’s content and at the end of the day you cannot beat the taste of fresh organic produce you’ve grown yourself -without too much effort either. Alison is planning to see Yiannis, who owns the olive grove next door to see whether he will rent a small piece of land to keep chickens - and maybe even a goat!”
The good life isn’t about the size of plot you can afford. It’s all about the lifestyle you can afford by being Snobby.
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( 3 / 655 )Come the Budget, in October, the Chancellor will have little option but to squeeze the UK economy even tighter. What’s more there’s some bad news on the UK property front that could delay your dreams of moving to the sun. You really do need to sit down – now – and plan what you need to do, before it’s too late.
THE BAD NEWS
Leading accountants Pricewaterhouse Coopers, have published a report on the UK housing market claiming that house prices could remain below their peak levels for the next ten years. In other words there is a 50% chance your home will be worth less in 2020 than it was in 2007. They forecast house prices could plunge by 25% over the next three years.
Ed Stansfield – Chief Property Economist, of Capital Economics - goes one step further. He forecasts property prices will drop by 5% by the end of this year, followed by a 10% drop in 2011 and a further drop of 10% in 2012. In real terms that means the average home today, worth £162,000, will drop to £125,000 by the end of 2012! Take your time and money will just run through your fingers and be wasted.
Ray Clinn, Head of Pensions for Liverpool Victoria Insurance
says, “Britain’s over 50’s have already seen their pension pots damaged by the economic crisis in the UK and we estimate 28% of people aged over 50 will be forced to delay their retirement.” Do you want to spend the rest of your life having to work and then having to count the pennies just to live?
THE GOOD NEWS
We know there is a growing pent-up market desperate to leave the UK, as over the last two years Snobby has seen a positive upward rise in enquiries and number of appointments to view our properties. However, in most cases buyers are unable to make the move until they sell their house and generate the necessary equity.
Naturally everyone wants to get the best price they can for the sale of their house – but the question is can you afford to wait? Prices in Crete have remained relatively stable and are even likely to rise slightly in 2011. If you have a house in the UK with a market value of £162,000, by the end of next year you could have lost nearly £20,000 – and the year after that ANOTHER £17,000 – and that’s not to mention on-going expenses of council tax and TV license, and increase cost of living. The longer you stay in the UK the more money it’s going to cost you. The sooner you do something about it, the more you’ll save. Where would you rather be? Lying out in the sun enjoying a wonderful life – or sitting indoors worried about whether you can afford to turn the heating up?
WHAT TO DO?
Let’s say you’re coming up to retirement and your mortgage is paid up. Bite the bullet and put your house on the market for a quick sale. If you have an average priced house of £162,000, market it for £149,000 – that’s a huge drop of £13,000 – and makes a really attractive price for a fast sale. After the sale costs and legal expenses that would leave you with around £142,000 – on today’s rate that’s equivalent to 170,000 euros.
Move to Crete and as an example, take one of our Snobbys – a two double bedroom detached villa, standing in a spacious walled garden. That would cost you around 120,000 euros and that price includes all purchase costs, fixtures and fittings, so there’s nothing else you need budget for. You’d arrive in Crete, everything paid for, with a nice little nest egg of over 50,000 euros!
Factor in a UK state pension for a married couple of around 750 euros per month, plus a private pension of perhaps 500 euros and you’ll be living the life of Riley. A couple in Crete can live comfortably on 1,000 euros a month – and on top of that you have money behind you too.
Is it really worth losing out on the rest of your life because you want to squeeze that last penny out of your house – when likely as not you’ll lose money while waiting?
If you would like to receive accurate information on a property and living package in Crete just let us know and we’ll do our best to help.
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( 3 / 636 )If you’re to believe the UK media, I’m living in a country where its people have risen up in arms against the draconian economic measures thrust upon them and taken to the streets in protest to do battle with the authorities. Probably everything you hear about Greece has been written by journalists sat behind comfortable desks in London, inflating grains of truth into hard copy and disaster-grabbing headlines. The same thing happens in Greece. You wouldn’t believe all the unrest we hear that’s happening in the UK because the country is so badly in debt - a protestor killed by a policeman, union strikes, the collapse of the banking system, it’s not safe to walk out alone at night and the country is being overrun by immigrants.
Having seen what appears to be happening in Greece, people from the UK are apparently very frightened - but why?
ARE WE LIKELY TO BE CAUGHT UP IN STREET BATTLES?
Emphatically no! There are occasional protest marches, but these only take place in central Athens near the Greek parliament. There are no signs of any unrest in Crete. Mind you, you’ll find the old boys in kafenions chewing the cud over what the government should or should not be doing. It’s the same the whole world over. Anything bad is great, providing it only affects someone else!
However, there is an agreed consensus in Greece that something has to be done to bring down the national deficit, and it is understood this can only be achieved with a lot of social pain. There is also agreement that the fault of all these troubles lie with politicians and the rich! Bit like the UK then?
IS OUR MONEY SAFE IN GREECE?
Emphatically yes! Greek banks did not follow the UK banks laissez faire attitude along the yellow brick road to ruin - nor did they have to be bailed out by tax payers’ money either. In fact Greek banks were one of the first in the EU to protect savers should a bank default against their obligations.
The bankruptcy headlines which plagued Greece were brought about because the money markets smelt profit and began to levy inflated interest charges, making it impossible for Greece to raise money and repay its loans. With the pan-EU financial package now installed this threat by the money markets against countries such as Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal now affords protection and with it consolidation of the euro.
IS GREECE A DANGEROUS A PLACE TO LIVE?
Emphatically no! If you’re living in Newcastle and see on TV a demonstration happening in London, do you suppose the whole country is up in arms? Of course you don’t. Greece and its islands are just as safe as they ever were. Culturally Greeks are brought up to honour guests and there is a genuine friendliness extended towards UK holidaymakers and those who live in the country permanently.
SO WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?
The Greek government has announced severe austerity measures to dramatically reduce its deficit over GDP. The UK government has to do the same and the British public will have to swallow the same bitter pill. However, average Greek wages are only 800€ - 1,300€ per month, which is not even half the average UK salary. And out of that, typically, employees have to pay around 250€ a month towards the equivalent of the Greek NHI. The majority of employment - just as in the UK - is in the public sector which is taking the brunt of cut backs. Wages are being cut by up to 20%. How would you react if your earnings were being cut by a fifth?
That apart, there have been occasional protest marches - but only in Athens - where matters have occasionally got out of hand, just as they do in London. Various job sectors have also been holding one day strikes - lawyers, banks, doctors, taxi drivers, and teachers. These are well publicized and in typical laid back style, locals put up with losing a particular service as it’s only for one day.
VAT went up and is going up again to 23% from July 1st. Duty on petrol, tobacco and alcohol has also been increased. However, the cost of living is still way below that of the UK. You can still live in Crete comfortably on an income of 1,000€ per month - and enjoy eating out each week without having to watch the pennies.
SO WHAT IS IT REALLY LIKE TO LIVE IN CRETE?
Crete accounts for 85% of the overseas property market in Greece and is where most Brits opt for as the place to buy a home. Apart from 320 days of sunshine a year, winters without any frost or ice, little crime and a good healthcare system, the quality of life is unbeatable - it’s almost the same as living in the UK forty years ago, when life was slower, there wasn’t an immigration problem, children showed more respect, there wasn’t the fear of walking the streets at night and none of this political correctness or litigation mentality. If these values are your values, if a land of sunshine is your ideal, if an affordable lifestyle is what you would love to enjoy, then come on over. You won’t regret it.
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( 3 / 610 )With the Foreign Office’s research showing 42% of over 55’s wishing they could live anywhere else apart from the UK, it doesn’t take much to discover why. Bad weather – soaring crime – a despairing health service – what quality of life is that, when planning retirement?
The British media may be reveling in the traumas of the Greek economy – but at least the government here is doing something about it. Unlike the UK, where despite a deficit being just as dire, all parties remain like ostriches, heads firmly stuck in the sand, refusing to come clean and take the necessary drastic action to solve the problem. Before the taxing sword of Damocles falls and cuts your quality of life in the UK, isn’t it time to make the move and get out?
There is greener grass to be found in Crete. Brits who have taken the plunge now enjoy a lifestyle they couldn’t better in the UK.
Crete enjoys 320 days of sunshine every year – guaranteed! It has the lowest crime rate in Europe so you can rest easy, and a hospital system which is surprisingly good – with no MRSA or waiting lists. Housing too, is far cheaper. You get far more bricks for your pound in Crete.
COST OF LIVING IN CRETE
Sell up in the UK, buy a Snobby in Crete and chances are you’ll still have a nice nest egg left over. So you have a pension and investment income of around £12,000 per year. You can either stretch to make things meet in the UK – or live the life of Riley in Crete, where a pension goes a whole lot further. For a start there’s no council tax. Typically that’ll save you about £1,400 for a start.
What about everyday living? We did a little price comparison and took standard prices from ASDA and compared them with what you pay in Crete – using an exchange rate of 1.1€ to £1.00 and quoting all prices in sterling.
UK - ASDA ............................... Crete - AB Supermarket
£2.21 - Twinings Ceylon Tea - £1.38
£1.50 - Fairy Washing-up Liquid - £1.45
£6.78 - Persil Non-Bio - £4.05
£1.36 - Butter (250gm) - £1.29
£0.95 - Granulated Sugar (1 kilo) - £0.75
£0.64 - Tinned Tomatoes - £0.42
£4.10 - Premium Toilet Rolls 10 pack - £3.90
£5.98 - Pork chops (per kilo) - £4.08
£3.38 - Chicken thighs (per kilo) - £2.72
£0.76 - Potatoes (per kilo) - £0.63
On this basis our shopping basket, with a much wider range of products, cost 12% less in Crete. We did not factor in any special promotions, or own brands, at either supermarket, which would affect a true comparison.
Also, there is 21% VAT levied on food in Crete. How long will it be before the UK follows suit with the rest of Europe?
Typically a monthly supermarket shop of meat, fish, groceries and cleaning materials, for two people living in Crete, costs £200 - £400 depending how frugal you are.
A couple living in a two bedroom Snobby would be likely to spend the following each month. (Prices quoted in sterling)
Housekeeping - £400
Water and electric - £80
House insurance - £9
Telephone and broadband - £45
1.3cc Hatch back car – Car insurance and road tax - £40
Petrol - £45
TOTAL - £619
That leaves a disposable income of over £381 per month. Typically you can eat out, including wine, for around £20 - £25 per couple, so you can afford quite a few romantic dinners each month and still have money to spend.
LOWEST NEW BUILD DETACHED HOUSES IN CRETE
With the financial muscle of no bank borrowings, careful cost control and selling direct without the cost of agents, Snobbys are the best value you’ll find in Crete.
Our small developments of two and three bedroom Snobbys in the village of Drapanias in western Crete have sea views from roof terraces and are within walking distance of local amenities and the beach. Already three of the seven houses are sold. Prices start from 109,950€ - and that’s all-inclusive of purchase costs, legal fees and a high specification of features and luxuries other builders charge extra for.
Imagine that?
In the UK a two bedroom detached house would set you back around £180,000 plus!
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