AFM (Greek tax registration number)
Definition
The AFM (Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου, Tax Registration Number) is the personal tax number issued by Greece's Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). Health professionals moving to Greece need it to be paid, to sign a lease, to open accounts and to get their AMKA social security number.
Also called: AFM, AFM number, ΑΦΜ, Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου, Greek tax number, Greek TIN
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What is an AFM?
The AFM is your identity in the Greek tax system. AADE issues it together with a Kleidarithmos (key number) and access codes for its online services, often called TAXISnet codes. You use the AFM for your salary and tax return, for a lease declared to AADE and for almost every contract. It is also a precondition for the AMKA: the AMKA decision makes the AFM compulsory for adult applicants.
Who needs it and when
Any doctor, nurse or allied health professional who will work in Greece needs one, and it is usually the first number you get. You can apply while still living abroad or after you arrive. Getting it early helps, because your landlord, bank and employer will ask for it while your professional file is still moving through DOATAP and the certificate to practise process.
How to get an AFM
- Apply online. AADE's registry guide says applications for an AFM and key number, for residents of Greece or abroad, are made only electronically through a special application on the myAADE portal, under "AFM & Kleidarithmos".
- Upload your documents. Third-country nationals living in Greece attach a passport and, compulsorily, their residence permit. Residents abroad attach a passport or similar identity document. Marriage and other foreign civil documents need an apostille (or consular legalisation) and an official Greek translation.
- Prove your identity. Choose a video call with myAADElive, either straight away with the first available agent or at a booked time, or visit a tax office (DOY) in person. You show the original identity document on camera.
- Receive the AFM. After a successful call, AADE emails a digitally signed AFM certificate and sends your key number and access codes in an encrypted file.
Do you need a tax representative?
Not necessarily. AADE's guidance says that under decision A.1069 of 2 May 2024 appointing a tax representative is optional if you accept that AADE serves its documents and notices at the contact details you have declared. Residents abroad without a representative are assigned to KEFODE Attikis. If you do appoint one, the appointment document needs an apostille and translation when it is in another language, and the representative confirms by a solemn declaration.
Costs, timing and common problems
AADE's guidance on the AFM application does not mention a fee. The immediate video call service runs daily from 08:00 to 14:30 Athens time, except public holidays. The usual causes of delay are:
- Residence permit not verified. myAADElive cannot serve you if a permit is required and is missing, expired or cannot be checked against Ministry of Migration databases. If you have applied for renewal, show your passport, the expired permit and the renewal application certificate.
- Someone else applying for you. The video service only serves people acting for themselves. A representative or authorised person goes through the tax office route instead.
- No original document to hand. The call cannot be completed without the original, valid identity document.
Questions
Yes. AADE's online application covers residents of Greece and abroad, and residents abroad identify themselves with a passport. Without a tax representative, residents abroad are handled by KEFODE Attikis.
No. The AFM is your tax number from AADE, and the AMKA is your social security number from e-EFKA, a KEP or the Ministry of Migration. You need the AFM first, because the AMKA application asks for it.
AADE sends the signed AFM certificate by email after a successful video call within its service hours. Delays usually come from a missing document or a residence permit that cannot be verified.
Yes, through the tax office route with an authorisation, or as your tax representative. The myAADElive video service itself only serves people applying for themselves.
AADE says you show your passport, the expired permit and the certificate of your electronic renewal application, and the agent checks it against Ministry of Migration records.
Your passport is shown as it is. Foreign civil documents, such as a marriage certificate, need an apostille or consular legalisation and an official Greek translation, and so does a tax representative appointment written in another language.