Greece's Article 5C 'Brain Gain' Tax Incentive Amid a Historic Reversal of Brain Drain

In November 2020, Greece introduced Article 5C of its Income Tax Code, exempting 50% of relocating professionals' and business owners' Greek employment or business income from income tax and the special solidarity contribution for seven years, administered by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) via the myAADE portal. It was explicitly designed as a 'brain gain' tool to draw back some of the estimated 250,000+ highly skilled Greeks who emigrated during the 2010s debt crisis. An initial requirement to take up a newly created job position proved restrictive and was abolished under Law 5222/2025, broadening eligibility to existing roles and self-employment.

OECD-cited migration data show that during 2023-2024, roughly 98,000 people returned to Greece against 69,000 who left — the first two-year period since the 2009 crisis in which returns outnumbered departures, with Greece now ranking fourth among OECD countries for citizen return rates, and six in ten Greeks who emigrated between 2010 and 2025 having since returned. Critically, the OECD analysis behind these figures does not credit Article 5C specifically; it calls for broader, coordinated policies on labour-market reintegration, qualification recognition and diaspora engagement, of which the tax break is only one component alongside Greece's post-crisis economic recovery. AADE has not published applicant or beneficiary counts for Article 5C, so the measure's own direct take-up cannot be verified.