Luxembourg.
Hold six months, sell tax-free — on some of the priciest ground in the set.
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.
EU-27 = 100 · 2025. Living in Luxembourg runs about 32% pricier than the EU average.
Eurostat (prc_ppp_ind) / World Bank, 2025, CC BY 4.0. Whole-economy price level — country averages hide big regional and rent spread.
A €2,500 a month reference life runs about €3,290 a month here — roughly €39,480 a year, and a ×30 number near €1,184,000.
The reference life the calculators use, scaled by the index above — the same whole-economy figure, a guide not a quote.
Where in Europe
Oceanic — mild, often wet, four gentle seasons.
flats only
in Luxembourg City — about €3,040/mo for 70 m²
a roof here, against the EU-27 average
In Luxembourg, buy prices are up 65% since 2015 (+1.6% last year); rents up 15% since 2015.
Read these as the shape, not the price. Housing is the most divergent cost in Europe, and a national average buries the thing that actually decides it — the city, the street, new-build against old. Treat it as a ballpark, then price the real place. Not property or mortgage advice.
Buy price and rent: Deloitte Property Index 2025 (14th ed., 2024 data). Level vs the EU: Eurostat comparative price level for housing (prc_ppp_ind, EU-27 = 100, 2024). Trend: Eurostat house price index and actual-rentals index (2015 = 100, 2025).
The rules that matter for an exit.
Sell within six months and gains are taxed at progressive rates; hold longer and gains on ordinary holdings (under 10% of a company) are tax-free. That's the whole headline, and it's real.
Dividends are taxed on the way through — withheld at source, half-exempt at assessment for qualifying companies, plus a small dependency levy on investment income.
The wealth tax on individuals was abolished in 2006, and there's no exit tax on ordinary portfolios.
The catch isn't the tax code — it's the ground. See the cost figure above: geoarbitrage in reverse.
Close family is largely exempt — nothing on direct-line statutory shares or anything passing to a spouse or long-registered partner; only extra portions willed in the direct line are taxed, from 2.5%.
2026 was a declared 'tax stability' budget — nothing moved for investors; a broader income-tax reform is pencilled for 2028.
Can you actually move here?
Hold an EU or EEA passport and the door isn't the question — freedom of movement covers the move itself. The clocks and the tax-residency rules below still run for you.
With your passport, skip the doors — the clocks and the tax-residency rules are what matter for you.
No EU passport means one of the doors on the left — each checked against the authority that issues it.
resources at least the social minimum wage — €2,771/mo since June 2026, wage-indexed
Open, capital-markets flavoured — €500k into a Luxembourg company, €3m into a management structure, or a €20m deposit; property never counts.
permanent residency at 5 yrs · dual allowed · Luxembourgish (spoken A2 / listening B1) + a civics course
a stay over six consecutive months, or simply a permanent home here
Luxembourg's own-resources route exists and the clocks are short — five years to permanent residency and a passport alike, dual citizenship fine since 2008. The honest hurdles are two: the income bar is wage-indexed and climbing (€2,771 a month since June 2026), and the language of naturalisation is Luxembourgish — not the French you'd get by on.
Keeping the permit: more than six consecutive months away and the permit goes back
Everything here is wage-indexed — the income bar moved in June 2026 and the next indexation tranche is projected for late 2026; re-check the figure before filing.
Check it yourself: Guichet.lu — residence for private reasons · PwC — Luxembourg tax residence
Getting-in rules checked July 2026. They move faster than tax law — confirm the current rule with the authority before you plan a move around it. Education, not immigration advice.
State insurance follows work — a non-working resident buys in voluntarily through the CCSS at roughly €155 a month (2026, wage-indexed), with a three-month wait unless recent cover carries over.
Private cover: comprehensive cover valid in Luxembourg is required for the permit.
Healthcare access checked July 2026. Systems are stable but details shift — confirm before you rely on them. Education, not health-insurance advice.
Common questions
- How long must I hold shares to sell tax-free in Luxembourg?
- More than six months. Sell within six months and gains are taxed at progressive rates; hold longer and gains on ordinary holdings (under 10% of a company) are tax-free. That's the whole headline, and it's real.
- Does Luxembourg have a wealth tax or an exit tax?
- The wealth tax on individuals was abolished in 2006, and there's no exit tax on ordinary portfolios.
- How are dividends taxed in Luxembourg?
- Dividends are taxed on the way through — withheld at source, half-exempt at assessment for qualifying companies, plus a small dependency levy on investment income.
- Did Luxembourg change investment taxes in 2026?
- No — 2026 was a declared 'tax stability' budget and nothing moved for investors; a broader income-tax reform is pencilled for 2028.
- Can an American or a Brit retire early in Luxembourg?
- Yes — the door is 'Private reasons' residence: residence on your own resources for up to three years at a time — though the listed qualifying income is pensions and EU-earned income, so a pure portfolio case gets case-by-case scrutiny. The bar is resources at least the social minimum wage — €2,771/mo since June 2026, wage-indexed. An EU or EEA passport skips the visa question entirely — freedom of movement covers the move itself. Rules like these move — confirm with the immigration authority before planning around them.
- How long until a Luxembourg passport?
- 5 years of legal residence is the general naturalisation rule, with Luxembourgish (spoken A2 / listening B1) + a civics course. Dual citizenship is allowed. Permanent residency usually comes at 5 years.
Run your own numbers.
The Exit Calculator
Years to your number, at your savings rate.
OpenWhere You Live
What an annual wealth tax does to the maths — illustrative, deliberately.
OpenThe Geoarbitrage Map
The same life, priced across 58 countries.
OpenThe whole system — wrappers, funds, withdrawal, the blank page — is in the guide: The European FIRE guide
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.
This page was last verified against official sources on 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Know a figure here that’s wrong or out of date? Point me to the line and a source — every correction gets checked, and it’s how the map stays right.
Report a correctionBring 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.