Italy vs Spain.
Two countries' verified rules for an early retiree, side by side. There is no winner here — a lower cost, a wealth tax and an exit tax pull in different directions, and which ones matter is yours to weigh.
At a glance.
Price it in your money
Tell me where you live now and what you spend a month, and every cost here becomes your number — the same life, priced country by country, in your own currency.
A guide, not a quote. I move your monthly spend by each country’s official price level (Eurostat and the World Bank, whole-economy, EU-27 = 100) — no exchange rates, so it stays in your own currency. But averages hide rent and the city you pick, and changing country is rarely a straight swap. Read these as the right ballpark, then price the real thing.
| Measure | Italy | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 97 | 92 |
| A €2,500-a-month life | €2,430/mo | €2,290/mo |
| The ×30 number it implies | €875,000 | €824,000 |
| Housing — to buy | €2,741/m² | €3,739/m² |
| Housing — to rent | €17.4/m² · Rome | €27.1/m² · Madrid |
| Housing vs the EU | −7% | −3% |
| Getting in | ||
| The route in | Elective residence | The non-lucrative visa |
| Golden visa | Open | Closed |
| Years to a passport | 10 yrs | 10 yrs |
| The patterns each carries | ||
| Lower tax if you hold | no | no |
| Yearly tax on holdings | yes | yes |
| Taxes unsold gains | no | no |
| Exit tax | no | yes |
| Deals for new residents | yes | no |
| No wealth tax | no | no |
A “yes” is not a point scored: “no wealth tax” and “exit tax on leaving” pull opposite ways. Read the column against your own plan, not as a score.
The rules that matter, in full.
Italy
Nothing till you sell — but a 0.2% skim on the pot, every year.
A flat 26% on gains from shares and ETFs, paid when you sell — no holding-period relief, and nothing taxed annually on a fund you simply hold (the stamp duty aside).
Italy takes about 0.2% of your portfolio's value every year — called the imposta di bollo when it's held with an Italian intermediary, IVAFE when it's held abroad. Small print, wealth-tax-shaped effect: a permanent extra drag your plan has to fund.
None for ordinary portfolio investors — the first tax event on your shares is the actual sale, even after you've moved away. True as of 2026; the EU is actively studying exit taxes on wealth migration, so re-check before building a leaving plan on it.
Italy competes hard for wealthy movers: a lump-sum flat tax for new residents (the ticket has tripled since 2024 — €300,000 a year for arrivals from 2026, though the deal you enter on is grandfathered) and a 7% flat rate for foreign pensioners settling in small southern towns. Weather, not climate — confirm in writing, close to the move.
The PIR can zero the 26% on gains after five years held — but it forces most of the money into Italian and EU companies, which fights a global index strategy.
The 2026 budget doubled the financial-transaction tax and re-priced the newcomer flat tax — Italy moves something every budget round. Date-check any figure here before acting on it.
Spain
Cheap to live — but it taxes having.
Spain taxes wealth every year — the patrimonio — plus a separate state levy on large fortunes. A wealth tax is charged whether your portfolio went up, down or nowhere: in effect a permanent extra withdrawal happening before you've spent a cent, which raises the rate your plan must sustain, and so raises your number.
How hard it bites varies by region, and regional politics move it yearly. The state levy on large fortunes was extended indefinitely.
Spain has an exit tax for big portfolios — broadly €4 million, or a 25%+ company stake worth €1 million or more.
The regional politics are the moving part — what your region charges this year is a fact to re-check, not remember.
None of this is tax or investment advice — it's education, kept deliberately at the level that survives fact-checking. Rules shift with every budget round; the specifics of your situation belong with a licensed adviser in your country. I'm happily not one.
Italy verified 8 July 2026 · Spain verified 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Bring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600 — the Exit Audit included.