Law 89/67 companies : A hidden “Gem” ?

14/06/2019 Greece has a favorable regime for companies providing services offshore for more than fifty years originally in connection with shipping. Lately, this regime has been updated and extended to bring about considerable growth in the Shared Services centers sector (SSC/MKY/BSC).

More than 150 foreign companies currently operate such intra-group services centers under the regime of law 89/67 in the country, with about 2,500 employees. Taking into account the perceived strengths of this sector – able and educated workforce, pressure on wages because of the crisis, good infrastructure – as well as improvements to the regulatory landscape, it can be expected that growth will continue.

Changes introduced by the recent law 4605/2019 broaden the services which qualify for obtaining law 89 clearance and making use of favorable tax treatment, to include among others software development and coding, computer systems support, client and procurement management, call centers, human resources management and education, as well as accounting. Companies subject to this regime may obtain state support grants, as permitted by EU Regulations 651/2014 and 1407/2013. Some conditions apply for obtaining law 89 status, but these are not very restrictive, such as e.g. minimum employment of four persons or total office expenses of at least EUR 100,000. It can therefore be said that a group service center in Greece may well fit within a multinational’s strategy and should be considered as a very serious option.

In case you need more information about Law 89/67 companies, please contact Stefanos Ioannidis or Hara Kora.