The exit, country by country.
The arithmetic of leaving is universal: 30× your spending is 30× in Lisbon, London or Ljubljana. The tax code you retire inside is not, and it can quietly raise your number. I cover 31 priced countries, plus 3 microstates: only the ones I can back with sources.
Why these and not the whole map? Because every figure on these pages is re-checked against official sources on a schedule, and I only publish what survives that. More countries as they clear the same bar.
Three patterns keep repeating. A few countries pay you for patience: hold long enough and the tax on gains is simply gone. A few tax your pot itself, every year, gains or no gains; those quietly raise your number. And a few are landing spots, built to attract you. Deals worth having in writing before you move.
I built this Atlas around one practical question: what will pay for your life after you move? Pick the income that matters to you. You will see the main rule first, then the exceptions and treaty questions on the country page.
Not sure where to start? Five answers, a shortlist
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.
Showing the rule for personally held listed shares and fund units sold after residence begins.
Tap a country to open its page. The faintest shapes aren't on the ledger yet.
Iceland
A flat 22% on capital, clean and simple: on the dearest ground here.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain carries 22% tax, settled at assessment. A shared ISK 300,000 allowance covers interest, listed dividends and listed-security gains.
Switzerland
Zero on a private investor's gains: you pay for the ground instead.
A private investor's listed-share or fund-unit gain is exempt. The holding still enters cantonal wealth tax, and professional dealing follows different rules.
Denmark
Your ETF's paper gains are taxed every year: sold or not.
Listed-share gains are share income taxed at 27% and 42%. Many funds instead use an annual value rule, with classification depending on the current positive list.
Ireland
Your fund is taxed even if you never sell.
A directly held listed-share gain carries 33% capital gains tax, with a €1,270 annual exemption and loss relief. Many Irish and equivalent EU, EEA or OECD funds instead use the 38% exit-tax regime and an eight-year deemed disposal.
Luxembourg
Hold six months, sell tax-free: on some of the priciest ground in the set.
A minority listed-share or fund-unit gain is exempt after more than six months. A shorter holding enters the progressive bands, while a substantial holding has separate rules.
Norway
The wealth tax starts early, and follows you out.
A listed-share or equity-fund gain is effectively taxed at 37.84% after a small shielding deduction. Moving to Norway does not reset what you paid for an ordinary sale. A separate value recorded on arrival matters only if Norway later calculates exit tax.
United Kingdom
£20,000 a year sheltered from UK tax: the ISA.
A share or fund gain is taxed at 18% or 24% after the £3,000 yearly exemption. Holding the investment for longer does not lower the rate. A qualifying new resident can use FIG to exempt foreign gains for four years, but gives up two other personal allowances.
Sweden
One small flat tax on the pot, and gains stop mattering.
A listed-share or fund-unit gain carries tax at 30% as capital income. Losses first offset gains, with 70% of a remaining loss normally deductible.
Finland
A clean 30–34% on gains, and a three-year shadow when you leave.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain is capital income taxed at 30% up to €30,000 of annual capital income and 34% above. An annual small-sales exemption can apply when total proceeds stay within €1,000.
Belgium
The old haven, gently closed.
From 1 January 2026, a private financial-asset gain generally carries 10% tax above a €10,000 annual exemption. Earlier growth is outside the new charge.
Netherlands
Taxed on an assumed return, unless your real one was lower.
A private listed-share or fund holding sits in Box 3 rather than a sale-gain charge. The default uses a deemed return. Current relief substitutes a lower actual return.
Austria
Paper income taxed yearly, and paper gains billed at the border.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain carries tax at 27.5%. There is no holding-period relief, and leaving Austria can bring a separate departure charge.
France
A flat 31.4% by default, and wrappers that reward patience.
A listed-share or fund-unit gain carries the 31.4% flat investment charge from 2026. Original purchase cost continues after a move to France.
Germany
Accumulating funds don't hide here.
A private listed-share gain is normally taxed at 26.375% before church tax. For a qualifying equity fund, only 70% of the gain is taxed. Moving to Germany does not reset what you paid, and holding shares or funds for longer does not lower the rate.
Estonia
A flat 22% you can defer for decades: an account, not a loophole.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain carries tax at 22% when realised. The gain starts from documented historic cost, with no holding-period relief or separate capital-gains rate.
Italy
Nothing till you sell. But a 0.2% skim on the pot, every year.
A listed-share or fund-unit gain normally carries 26% tax, with 12.5% for qualifying government bonds. Original purchase cost continues after an ordinary move.
Malta
Listed gains untaxed, and non-doms keep foreign gains out of reach entirely.
A recognised-exchange share gain is exempt. A resident who is not domiciled in Malta also pays no Maltese tax on a foreign capital gain, even if remitted.
Spain
Cheap to live, but it taxes having.
A listed-share or fund-unit gain enters the 19–30% savings-income bands. A rollover can defer gains between qualifying mutual funds, but not ETFs.
Czechia
Hold three years, pay nothing.
A gain on listed shares or fund units can be exempt after the three-year holding period. It can also be exempt when total annual sale proceeds stay under CZK 100,000. Otherwise the income-tax bands apply.
Slovenia
Fifteen years' patience, then nothing: gains tax tapers to zero.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain starts at 25%, then falls to 20% after five years and 15% after ten. It becomes exempt after more than 15 years, using the actual acquisition date.
Cyprus
Securities gains simply untaxed, and a rewritten code since January.
Cyprus does not tax an individual's gain on ordinary shares, bonds, funds or ETFs. Its 20% capital gains tax is mainly for Cyprus property and shares whose value comes substantially from Cyprus property.
Greece
EU fund gains tax-free, and a 7% deal for arriving pensioners.
A listed-share gain is exempt when the holding stays below 0.5% and carries 15% tax at or above that level. Qualifying EU or EEA fund gains are exempt.
Portugal
The exit's favourite doorstep; the old tax deal is gone.
The year's net gain on listed shares and open-ended funds starts at 28%. After the three longer holding periods, 10%, 20% or 30% of the gain is left out of tax. A gain on an asset held under 365 days is added to other income if your total income reaches the top band.
Slovakia
Listed ETFs, held one year: tax-free, health levy included.
A private regulated-market security gain is exempt after more than one year. A shorter holding or non-qualifying market instead uses the income-tax bands plus the health levy.
Latvia
A flat 25.5% on capital, softened by an account that defers it.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain carries tax at 25.5% when realised. Documented acquisition cost is deductible, and a registered investment account can defer tax until withdrawals exceed contributions.
Lithuania
A flat 15% for long holds and the account; quick sales now climb.
From 2026, the answer depends on the asset and account. A declared investment account defers tax until withdrawals exceed contributions, while directly held assets use the ordinary gain rules.
Croatia
Two years' patience, then nothing. Flat 12% if you can't wait.
A gain on listed shares or fund units carries tax at 12% when the asset is sold within two years of acquisition. The gain is exempt after the two-year holding period.
Hungary
Flat 15%, and a five-year account that pays no tax at all.
A listed-share or fund-unit gain normally carries 15% tax. A qualifying market transaction or long-term investment account can change the loss and holding result.
Poland
A flat 19% on everything, and an exit tax with a real threshold.
A directly held listed-share or fund-unit gain carries tax at a flat 19% and is reported annually. Documented acquisition costs are deductible, with no holding-period relief.
Romania
Cheap ground, but 2026 marked the investing taxes up.
From 2026, a qualifying Romanian intermediary withholds 3% on a gain after at least 365 days and 6% on a shorter holding. Other disposals use the separate annual-assessment route.
Bulgaria
A flat 10%, and gains on EU-listed funds sit outside it.
A gain on shares, fund units, subscription rights or government securities is exempt when the sale happens on a qualifying Bulgarian, EU or EEA regulated or growth market. An off-market gain carries 10% tax on the annual net gain after a 10% deemed-cost deduction.
The number is each country’s cost of living (EU-27 = 100 · 2025). Eurostat (prc_ppp_ind) / World Bank, 2025, CC BY 4.0. Whole-economy price level. Country averages hide big regional and rent spread.
Three places people ask about, set apart from the ledger for two honest reasons: there's no Eurostat cost figure for any of them, and, unlike the rest of the map, you can't simply move in. Each page is clear about what entry actually takes.
Prefer the whole thing on one screen: every country and the patterns it carries, in a single grid.
See it all in one gridHousing is the line that moves most across a border, and the one the cost average hides. Priced on its own, country by country: to buy, to rent, and how fast it’s moved.
Housing, country by countryWant the whole world priced? The geoarbitrage tool walks the same life across 58 countries.
Open the toolNone 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.
Every figure on this page was verified against official sources in July 2026. What's changed on the map · The state of FIRE in Europe — the 2026 report · The dataset, open
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.