€1,490 for 90 minutes and a PDF. We get it. That sounds like a lot, and we’d raise an eyebrow too – we’ve all met the consultant whose main deliverable is an invoice. So instead of telling you it’s worth it, we’ll do what nerds do: run the numbers.
Below are three cases that show where the money usually leaks. They’re hypothetical illustrations – built from patterns we see often, with simplified maths – not real clients and not testimonials. All three use Germany, because its rules are among the strictest in Europe and its tax office has the patience of a glacier. Leaving from somewhere else? Each case ends with how your country differs. And at the end, a straight list of when you don’t need a session at all.
What you get for €1,490#
- Preparation: we read your questionnaire before the call, so the 90 minutes go to your case, not to basics.
- 90 minutes with a senior strategist on your situation: residency, company, banking, exit.
- A written roadmap within 5 working days: recommended structure, the steps in the right order, the traps to avoid and realistic costs.
- 30 days of follow-up questions by e-mail.
- Full credit: if you set up with our partners within 6 months, we deduct the whole fee from your first invoice.
What it isn’t: we’re not a law firm or tax advisor, and the roadmap isn’t a legal opinion. It tells you what to do, in which order, and what to have a licensed advisor sign off – so you don’t pay a lawyer by the hour to find out what your question is. That’s the most expensive way to learn anything.
Case 1: the Dubai company run from Munich#
Hypothetical. A consultant in Munich makes €200,000 profit a year. The plan comes from a forum thread, which should already worry you: set up a Dubai free zone company, invoice clients from there, pay 0–9% and keep living in Munich “for now”.
What goes wrong: a company is taxed where it’s managed. If every decision is made at the kitchen table in Munich, Germany sees a company managed in Germany – taxed like a German company, with corporate tax plus trade tax adding up to roughly 30% or more depending on the city. And because Germany has had no tax treaty with the UAE since 2022, there’s no treaty to argue with. The tax office wins by default.
| Forum plan | After the session | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the founder lives | Munich | Moves to Dubai for real – or stays and keeps a German company |
| Company tax on €200k | ≈ €60,000 in Germany, plus back-tax risk | ≈ €10,100 in the UAE if the move is real |
| Dubai running costs | ≈ €6,000 a year for a company that doesn’t help | Only paid if the company makes sense |
What the session changes: the question moves from “which free zone?” to “are you moving or not?”. If yes, the roadmap covers the move, the visa, the exit from Germany and the company – in that order. If no, you save the Dubai setup and running costs entirely and optimize at home instead. Either way, you avoid paying for a structure that makes things worse. Details in our place of management guide.
Not German? Tax offices across Europe use the same logic: a company run from their soil is their company. What differs is the fallback. Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland have a tax treaty with the UAE, Germany doesn’t. A treaty changes the procedure, not the outcome: if the decisions are made in Vienna or Madrid, that’s where the company is managed. Italy adds its own twist: the UAE is on its black list, so Italian citizens are presumed to still live in Italy until they prove the move (leaving Italy).
Case 2: the exit tax nobody mentioned#
Hypothetical. A German founder owns 100% of a GmbH, bought in for €25,000, now worth about €1.5 million. She plans to move to Cyprus next spring and has already signed a lease in Limassol.
What goes wrong: Germany taxes unrealized gains on company shares (1% or more) when you give up German tax residency after at least seven of the last twelve years – as if you had sold. Gain: about €1,475,000. Under the partial-income method, 60% is taxable – roughly €885,000 – which at top rates means a tax bill in the region of €400,000. On shares she hasn’t sold, in cash she doesn’t have. Welcome to Germany’s farewell gift.
What the session changes: no session makes the exit tax disappear, and anyone who promises that is selling something you shouldn’t buy. It turns the tax into a planned line item instead of a surprise:
- You know the amount before you move, not from a tax assessment afterwards.
- The tax can be paid in seven equal annual instalments on application, without interest – a huge difference for liquidity.
- If you return within seven years (extendable by up to five), the tax can be waived under conditions.
- Valuation, timing and structure get reviewed by a German tax advisor before the move date, while options still exist.
The value here isn’t a percentage. It’s not having to sell a stake in a hurry, or discovering the problem after you’ve already left. More in our German exit tax guide.
Not German? The thresholds differ wildly. Same founder, same €1.5 million company, same move to Cyprus:
| Leaving from | Who’s caught | Moving to Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Stakes of 1% or more, after 7 of the last 12 years | 7 interest-free instalments, usually with security |
| Austria | Any unrealized gain on shares, funds, bonds and crypto: 27.5%, no minimum stake | Deferred until you sell |
| Netherlands | Stakes of 5% or more | Assessment never expires; every dividend triggers partial collection |
| France | Shares over €800,000 (or 50% of a company’s profits) | Deferred, wiped out after 2 years (5 above €2.57 million) |
| Spain | Over €4 million, or a stake above 25% worth over €1 million, after 10 of the last 15 years | Due only if you sell, leave the EU/EEA or stop reporting within 10 years |
| Belgium | 10% on gains on financial assets since 2026 | Deferred; lapses if you don’t sell or pledge for 24 months |
| Switzerland, Italy, UK | No exit tax on private shares | Nothing to pay (UK: come back within 5 years and gains can be taxed) |
So our founder pays in instalments from Germany, owes nothing up front from Austria, Belgium, France or Spain as long as she holds the shares, and leaves Switzerland, Italy or the UK without an exit bill. The Netherlands waits patiently and collects on every dividend. Moving to Dubai instead of Cyprus flips several of those rows to “due now”.
Case 3: the Cyprus plan with the Berlin flat#
Hypothetical. A founder with €150,000 annual profit sets up a Cypriot company, rents a flat in Limassol and plans to use the 60-day rule. He keeps his Berlin flat “for visits” – it’s rent-controlled, and anyone who has hunted for a flat in Berlin knows you don’t give that up lightly.
What goes wrong: a flat kept available in Germany is a German residence, with zero minimum days. Germany therefore still treats him as fully taxable, which breaks the 60-day rule’s condition of having no other tax residency. His dividends are taxed in Germany, and a company run from Berlin risks being taxed there too.
| With the Berlin flat | Flat given up, clean exit | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax residency | Germany | Cyprus (60-day rule) |
| Company tax | Cyprus 15% – or German taxation if managed from Berlin | Cyprus 15% |
| Tax on dividends | German tax on dividends (≈ 26% with solidarity surcharge) | 0% SDC for non-doms, 2.65% health contribution |
| Rough total on €150k | ≈ €56,000–73,000 | ≈ €26,000 |
What the session changes: one fact – the flat – decides whether the whole plan works. The roadmap spells that out, plus the other quiet killers: family ties, a German directorship, a German bank account used as the main account. The difference between the columns is roughly €30,000–47,000 a year in this example, for giving up a flat. Whether the flat is worth that is your call. Now it’s a decision, not an accident. The rules behind it are in the 183-day myth.
Not German? The kept flat is a Europe-wide classic with local flavours. Austria’s second-home rule only rescues you with a day log, at most 70 days of use a year and your life centre abroad. France and Belgium look at where the household lives: if your partner and kids stay, so does your tax residence, at least under their own law. Spain adds the economic-centre and family tests to its 183 days. Sweden presumes Swedish citizens and long-term residents still have an essential connection for five years after leaving, and the burden of proof is yours. Each country’s version: Austria, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden.
The maths#
The session pays off if it prevents one of the following:
- One year of a structure that doesn’t work. A Dubai company costs about €6,000 a year to run, a Maltese one about €7,000 – before any tax damage.
- One wrong assumption about residency. In our examples, that’s tens of thousands a year.
- One unplanned exit tax. Even when the tax itself can’t be avoided, planning the payment and timing is worth far more than the fee.
- Hours of advisors’ time spent working out what your question is. Specialist tax advisors bill by the hour; arriving with a clear plan and specific questions shortens that bill.
And if you go ahead with our partners within six months, the fee is credited in full. Where legally possible, you contract with us: one fixed quote, a licensed local partner does the work, and we check it before the partner gets paid.
When you don’t need a session#
We’d rather lose a sale than sell you something useless. You probably don’t need us if:
- Your profit is modest (say, below €50,000) and you want to move within the EU as an employee or simple freelancer. Our move abroad overview and the free guides will get you most of the way.
- You’re not leaving your country. If you stay put, a good local tax advisor is the right person, not us.
- You already have advisors on both sides – in your old and your new country – who talk to each other.
- You’re still at the daydream stage. Play with the Jurisdiction Finder and the tax calculator first. Come back when you have a shortlist and a rough timeline.
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. The cases are simplified illustrations; your numbers will differ.
Ready to stress-test your plan? Fill in the questionnaire for a strategy session – or start free with the Jurisdiction Finder.
Sources#
- §6 AStG – exit taxation of shareholdings (Germany)
- §17 EStG – sale of shares in corporations, 1% threshold (Germany)
- §3 Nr. 40 EStG – partial-income method (Germany)
- §8 AO – Wohnsitz (Germany)
- §10 AO – place of management (Germany)
- Federal Ministry of Finance – double tax treaties by country
- Cyprus Tax Department – tax residency and non-dom
- UAE Federal Tax Authority – corporate tax
- Middle East Briefing – UAE double tax treaty network (incl. Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland)
