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Move abroad.

A new home, a new tax residency and a clean exit from the old one – done properly.

Common challengesFind your country in 1 min

Your passport says where you’re from. Not where you have to live.

Moving abroad is the biggest tax lever most people will ever touch. It also comes with the most paperwork, the most myths and the most ways to get it slightly, expensively wrong.

The upside is worth it: a country that taxes you less, bothers you less and throws in better weather. The hard part is leaving your old tax residency cleanly – so you don’t pay tax in two places, or get a polite letter from your old tax office three years later asking why you still have a flat there.

Sound familiar?

Tax eats your raises.

Every extra euro you earn seems to lose weight on the way to your account.

Life feels expensive.

Prices go up, the pay slip doesn’t keep up, and the central bank calls it “transitory”.

Nobody explains the rules.

Residency, tax and social security – three offices, three hotlines, zero people who can tell you how they fit together.

Banks get nervous.

Accounts are hard to open and easy to lose the moment you change address.

Healthcare is a question mark.

Public, private, reciprocal – which one covers you where?

Planning ahead feels impossible.

Pension promises, schools and politics shift under your feet every election cycle.

Complaining about the tax office is free. So is planning. Get your plan checked

The legal stuff you can’t skip

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  1. Leave officially: deregister with your municipality and tell your tax office. In Germany, keeping an apartment can be enough to stay fully taxable on your worldwide income – even while you sip coffee in Dubai.

  2. Unpacking your suitcase isn’t enough. Many countries use a 183-day test, some have shortcuts like Cyprus’s 60-day rule. When two countries both claim you, the double tax treaty decides. Count your days with the day tracker.

  3. Residency is where you live now; domicile is your long-term home. Some countries tax by one, some by the other – mix them up and you may still be taxed as if you never left.

  4. Some countries tax unrealised gains on your way out – Germany on substantial shareholdings, the US when you give up citizenship. A parting gift, from them to them. Plan the move before you sell or restructure.

  5. Inside the EU, reciprocal agreements help. In the UAE you need private health insurance – put it in the budget before the first doctor’s visit does it for you.

How to pick your new home base

Five questions decide almost everything:

  1. How does it tax you? No personal income tax (UAE), non-dom regimes for foreign dividends (Cyprus, Malta) or special regimes for skilled newcomers (Portugal’s IFICI). Compare them in the country guides.
  2. What does life cost? Rent in Lisbon and rent in Dubai Marina are very different numbers – and so are the tax bills. Look at both, not just the one that makes the spreadsheet look good.
  3. Who pays for healthcare? Public systems (Malta, Portugal) or private insurance (UAE)? Put the premiums in your budget.
  4. How do you get the permit? Through your own company, a nomad visa or only by investing? The Jurisdiction Finder weighs this for you.
  5. Will you like living there? Climate, language, flights home, schools. The lowest tax rate is worth nothing if you’re miserable there – and misery is not deductible.

Time to find the right jurisdiction.

There is no perfect country – only the one whose catches you can live with. Here are the numbers and the catches.

EURemote setup€€€ Malta 35% corporate tax on paper, about 5% after the shareholder refund – in an English-speaking EU country. Corp. tax≈5%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide EURemote setup€€€ Cyprus 15% corporate tax, 0% on dividends for non-doms for 17 years – and tax residency with just 60 days a year. Corp. tax15%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide 0% income taxRemote setup€€€ Dubai (UAE) 0% personal income tax, 0–9% corporate tax and a residence visa your own company hands you. Corp. tax9%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide 0% retainedRemote setup€€€ USA (LLC) A US LLC in days, from your sofa – no US tax without US business, but your home tax office gets the final word. Corp. taxpass-throughDividends0%Residency Open the guide EU0% retained€€€ Estonia 0% tax while profits stay in the company, 22% the day you pay out – and a company you run from your laptop. Corp. tax0%/ 22%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide €€€ Liechtenstein 12.5% flat tax, 0% dividend withholding and foundations with a century of practice – getting a permit is the hard part. Corp. tax12.5%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide EUEasy residency€€€ Portugal EU base with reachable visas and IFICI: 20% flat for 10 years – if your work qualifies. Corp. tax19%Dividends25%Residency Open the guide EURemote setup€€€ Romania 1% turnover tax for micro-companies under €100,000, 10% flat income tax and EU living costs from the bargain bin. Corp. tax16%Dividends16%Residency Open the guide 0% retainedRemote setup€€€ Georgia 1% on turnover for freelancers, 0% on retained company profits and a year visa-free for many passports. The fine print got longer lately. Corp. tax0%/ 15%Dividends5%Residency Open the guide Remote setupEasy residency€€€ Paraguay Territorial tax, 10% rates and a residence permit for a few hundred euros – the classic Plan B, if you actually show up. Corp. tax10%Dividends15%Residency Open the guide Remote setup€€€ United Kingdom The Ltd banks trust and the LLP that’s transparent – formed online in a day. Low tax it isn’t, and it never claimed to be. Corp. tax≈22.1%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide €€€ Switzerland 11.71% corporate tax in Zug, about 5% income tax on CHF 100k – and a price tag that eats half of it. Corp. tax11.71%Dividends15%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Spain A high-tax country with a six-year discount: 24% flat on work income under the Beckham law – now also for remote workers and startup founders. Corp. tax25%Dividends19%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Italy Half your work income tax-free for five years, €300,000 flat on foreign income, 7% for pensioners in the south. Fit a regime or pay full price. Corp. tax27.9%Dividends26%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Bulgaria 10% corporate tax, 10% income tax, 5% on dividends – no tricks needed, and the euro and Schengen since 2025/26. Corp. tax10%Dividends5%Residency Open the guide €€€ Andorra 10% on company profits, 0% on the dividends you pay yourself – in the Pyrenees, if you can get a residence slot. Corp. tax10%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Greece A high-tax country with excellent side doors: half your income tax-free for seven years, 5% on dividends – or €100,000 flat on all foreign income. Corp. tax22%Dividends5%Residency Open the guide EURemote setup€€€ Hungary The EU’s lowest corporate tax at 9%, a flat 15% income tax and Budapest café life – Vienna’s charm at a discount, inside Schengen. Corp. tax≈10.8%Dividends15%Residency Open the guide Remote setup€€€ Singapore 17% on paper, often under 9% in practice, tax-free dividends and a reputation even banks respect – a home for the company, not for cheap living. Corp. tax17%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide

Compare all countries Take the Finder quiz

Questions? Answers.

The ones we hear every week. Yours isn’t here? Ask a human.

Book a strategy session Ask a question

When am I no longer tax resident in my home country?
Your home country’s rules decide – typically once you’ve given up your home there and no longer spend most of the year there. In Germany, for example, keeping an apartment can be enough to stay fully taxable, even if you only see it at Christmas. Get advice before you move, not after.
Is the 183-day rule enough?
No. 183 days is a common threshold, not a magic number: many countries also look at your permanent home, your family and your centre of vital interests. Spending fewer than 183 days somewhere doesn’t automatically make you non-resident there.
Can I live nowhere and pay no tax (perpetual traveller)?
It can work legally, but it’s harder than Instagram suggests: banks want a tax residency, and home countries often keep taxing you if you can’t prove you left. “Nowhere” isn’t a box on any bank form. Read our perpetual travel guide.
Which country is easiest for residency?
For entrepreneurs, the least painful options are the UAE (visa through your own company), Cyprus and Malta (for EU citizens) and Portugal (D7/D8 visas). The Jurisdiction Finder narrows it down for you.

Further reading, with sources.

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Breakfast with a view. Paperwork done.

A clean exit, the right residency and a home you actually want to wake up in.

Find your country · 1 min

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