Expat Tax Regimes in Europe Compared (2026)

The short version

Which European tax regime wins depends on your income mix

TaxExpat is a comparison site that puts Europe's special tax regimes for new residents side by side using published rates and conditions, not marketing claims. Every figure on this page links back to a source listed at the bottom.

There is no single best tax regime in Europe for expats, only a best regime for your mix of local salary, foreign investment income, pensions and time horizon.

The pattern: Portugal's IFICI is the strongest option for qualifying professionals who earn Portuguese work income and also hold foreign investments: 20% on the work income, most foreign investment income exempt, for up to 10 years, with no salary cap.

Portugal is weaker for two groups. Retirees, because IFICI excludes foreign pensions, which makes Greece's 7% regime or Cyprus worth a look. And passive investors with no qualifying activity in Portugal, who simply do not qualify.

At a glance

Six regimes, one table

Headline parameters, as of September 2026
Regime	Headline	Main income it helps	Duration	Best fit
Portugal IFICI	20% flat	Qualifying Portuguese work income; most foreign investment income exempt	10 years	Founders, executives, tech and research staff with investments abroad
Spain Beckham Law	24% to €600k	Employment income; foreign-source investment income not taxed in Spain under the regime	6 tax years	Employees relocated to a Spanish job
Italy flat tax	€300k a year	All foreign income, for a fixed annual charge	Up to 15 years	Very high foreign income, well above €1m a year
Greece investor non-dom	€100k a year	Foreign income; needs €500k Greek investment	Up to 15 years	High foreign income investors
Greece pensioner regime	7% flat	Foreign pensions	15 years	Retirees with sizeable foreign pensions
Netherlands 30% ruling	Up to €78,600 tax-free	Employer-paid allowance on salary	Up to 5 years	Skilled hires recruited from abroad
Cyprus non-dom	0% SDC	Dividends and interest	17 years	Investors living off dividends and interest

Rate on qualifying local work incomeFlat regime rate vs Portugal's top standard rate

Portugal IFICI20%
Spain Beckham, first €600,00024%
Spain Beckham, above €600,00047%
Portugal standard, top rate48%

Italy and Greece tax local work income at normal rates under their foreign income regimes, so they do not appear here.

Maximum durationYears of relief available to a new applicant

Cyprus non-dom17
Italy flat tax15
Greece (both routes)15
Portugal IFICI10
Spain Beckham6
Netherlands 30% ruling5

Spain counts the year you opt in plus the following five years.

Tax on foreign dividends and interest: where the lump sums start to payAnnual tax by amount of foreign investment income. Portugal standard uses the 28% flat rate.

Simplified: ignores the Portuguese option to aggregate, EU dividend relief, treaty credits, blacklisted jurisdictions and Greece's €500,000 investment requirement. Italy and Greece add charges per family member.

Tool

Take-home estimator

Enter three income types to see an illustrative tax bill under each regime. Where a regime taxes income at normal local rates we do not reproduce, the bar shows a hatched block and the total says so.

Your income, per year

Illustrative, simplified, not tax advice

With €150,000 of local work income and €40,000 of foreign dividends and interest, Portugal IFICI gives the lowest modelled bill at about €30,000.

Portugal IFICI€30,000
Work €30,000 · Dividends and interest €0 · Pension €0
Portugal standard€73,563
Work and pension €62,363 (incl. solidarity rate) · Dividends and interest €11,200
Spain Beckham€36,000
Work €36,000 · Foreign dividends and interest €0
Italy flat tax€300,000 + local work tax
Lump sum on foreign income · Local work income taxed at normal Italian rates, not modelled
Greece lump sum€100,000 + local work tax
Lump sum on foreign income · Local work income taxed at normal Greek rates, not modelled

Assumptions and method

Portugal standard: 2026 resident IRS table (12.5% to 48%) on gross work and pension income, no deductions or credits, so it slightly overstates. Solidarity rate of 2.5% on the slice from €80,000 to €250,000 and 5% above.
Portugal standard taxes foreign dividends and interest at 28%, ignoring the option to aggregate.
Portugal IFICI assumes the work income is a qualifying activity (unavailable with no work income): 20% on work, non-blacklisted foreign dividends and interest exempt, pension at standard rates. Any solidarity rate on IFICI income is not modelled.
Spain Beckham: 24% on employment income up to €600,000, 47% above, foreign-source dividends and interest untaxed, pensions not modelled. Unavailable with no work income.
Italy and Greece lump sums are elective charges on foreign income, without family add-ons. Their normal rates on local work income are not modelled.
Greece's 7% applies to foreign pension only.
No social security, wealth, inheritance or withholding taxes. Netherlands and Cyprus are not modelled.

Regime by regime

Who each regime suits, and what trips people up

Portugal IFICI ("NHR 2.0")

Terms: 20% flat on qualifying employment and self-employment income. Most foreign dividends, interest, capital gains on securities, royalties and rental income exempt. Up to 10 consecutive years. No salary cap.
Key conditions: No Portuguese tax residence in the previous 5 years, become resident, and hold a qualifying activity. Routes include research and university teaching, highly qualified roles at companies with at least 50% exports, R&D posts under SIFIDE, and qualifying roles at certified Portuguese startups (Law 21/2023). Apply by 15 January of the year after you become resident.
What trips people up: Foreign pensions are excluded. Remote work for a foreign employer with no Portuguese qualifying activity usually fails. Former NHR beneficiaries cannot apply. Income from blacklisted jurisdictions loses the exemption.

Spain Beckham Law

Terms: 24% on the first €600,000 of taxable income, 47% above. You are taxed on Spanish-source income plus worldwide employment income. For the year of the move plus five more.
Key conditions: No Spanish tax residence in the 5 years before the move. Opt in within six months of starting work in Spain.
What trips people up: The six-month election window. Spanish-source savings income is still taxed at its own scale. Six years is short next to Portugal's ten.

Italy flat tax for high net worth individuals

Terms: €300,000 a year on foreign income for new applicants, plus €50,000 per family member included, from 1 January 2026. Up to 15 years. Foreign assets are also outside Italian wealth taxes and inheritance and gift tax on offshore holdings.
Key conditions: Italian tax residence. Italian-source income, including local work income, stays taxable at normal rates.
What trips people up: The charge is due whatever your foreign income. Against a 28% rate, it only pays above roughly €1.07m of foreign income. Italy also runs a separate impatriate regime for workers; its terms were reformed in 2024 and are not covered here.

Greece: investor lump sum and pensioner 7%

Terms: Investor: €100,000 a year on foreign income, €20,000 per extra family member, up to 15 years. Pensioner: 7% flat on foreign pensions for 15 years.
Key conditions: The investor route needs at least €500,000 invested in Greek assets. The pensioner route has no family member coverage.
What trips people up: The investment requirement comes on top of the annual charge. Against a 28% rate, the €100,000 lump sum only pays above roughly €357,000 of foreign income.

Netherlands 30% ruling

Terms: An untaxed allowance on salary, capped at €78,600 in 2026, reached at a salary of €262,000. Up to 5 years.
Key conditions: Salary above €48,013 in 2026, or €36,497 if under 30 with a Dutch master's degree.
What trips people up: The cap means high earners get proportionally less. It is a salary tool, not an investment regime.

Cyprus non-dom

Terms: No Special Defence Contribution on dividends and interest for 17 years. Capital gains on securities exempt. Extensions for a €250,000 payment per five-year period.
Key conditions: Cyprus tax residence, including through the 60-day rule.
What trips people up: Check which other levies and contributions still apply to your income before assuming a zero bill.

Portugal's honest position

Where IFICI wins, and where it loses

Strong for

Founders and executives with a Portuguese qualifying role and a foreign portfolio: 20% on work, most foreign investment income exempt.
High earners: no salary cap, unlike the Dutch ruling or Beckham's €600,000 threshold.
Longer stays: 10 years, against 6 in Spain and 5 in the Netherlands.

Weak for

Retirees: foreign pensions are taxed at standard rates up to 48%. Greece's 7% is far lower.
Passive-only investors: no qualifying activity means no IFICI. Cyprus or Greece may fit better.
Remote employees of foreign companies with no Portuguese qualifying activity.

If you are weighing Portugal, Expatico, a Lisbon-based IFICI specialist, publishes a full walkthrough of the IFICI rules, including the eligible activity lists.

Check your visa route too. The D8 remote work visa requires income from foreign employers or clients, which usually sits outside IFICI's qualifying activities. For help matching a Portuguese visa to your tax position, start there before you apply.

Founders using the certified startup route often relocate while raising capital. Dealflow.eu, a European deep tech investor matchmaking and funding platform, offers fundraising support for EU-funded startups.

For a wider ranking, expatico.eu's European tax league standings score regimes across ten editions.

Head to head

The comparisons people search for

IFICI vs Beckham Law

On work income, IFICI charges 20% and Beckham 24%. Above €600,000, Beckham jumps to 47% while IFICI stays at 20%. Both leave most foreign investment income alone.

Duration favours Portugal: 10 years against 6. Access favours Spain for ordinary employees, since Beckham follows a Spanish job, while IFICI needs a qualifying activity.

Portugal vs Spain tax for expats

Without a special regime, Portugal taxes residents at 12.5% to 48%, plus a solidarity rate above €80,000, and dividends and interest at 28%. The regime matters more than the country.

Italy flat tax vs Portugal

Italy charges €300,000 a year regardless of foreign income. IFICI charges nothing on most foreign investment income, but only if you hold a qualifying role. For a passive investor with no Portuguese activity, Portugal's standard 28% applies, and Italy only wins above roughly €1.07m of foreign income.

NHR alternatives

IFICI replaced the old NHR for new applicants, and it targets qualifying professionals rather than everyone. Retirees who would have used NHR should look at Greece's 7% regime and Cyprus. For the differences in detail, see a side-by-side of NHR and IFICI.

Honest downsides

What these regimes, and this page, do not solve

Regimes change. Italy raised its lump sum to €300,000 for new applicants from 2026. The Dutch ruling's cap is being reduced. Portugal replaced NHR with IFICI. Any 10 or 15 year plan carries policy risk.

Headline rates hide conditions. Qualifying activity lists, look-back periods, election deadlines and blacklists decide whether you get the rate at all.

Tax is one cost. Social security, housing and schooling can outweigh a few points of income tax. If you are still deciding on a country, weigh the non-tax side of the move before the regime tips the balance.

Our estimator is partial. It skips deductions, treaties and social security. Use it to rank options, then get advice.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the best tax regime in Europe for expats?

It depends on your income mix. Portugal IFICI suits qualifying professionals with Portuguese work income and foreign investments. Greece's 7% regime suits retirees with foreign pensions. Italy and Greece's lump sums only pay for very large foreign income.

What are the main alternatives to Portugal's NHR?

Portugal's own IFICI for qualifying professionals, Spain's Beckham Law for relocated employees, Greece's 7% pensioner regime, Cyprus non-dom for dividend and interest income, and the Italian and Greek lump sums for very high foreign income.

Is IFICI better than the Beckham Law?

On paper, yes, for those who qualify: 20% against 24% on work income, no step up above €600,000, and 10 years against 6. Beckham is easier to access, because it follows a Spanish job rather than a qualifying activity list.

Is Italy's flat tax better than Portugal?

Only for very high foreign income. Italy charges €300,000 a year on foreign income. Against Portugal's standard 28% on dividends and interest, it pays above roughly €1.07m. IFICI holders already pay nothing on most foreign investment income.

Can retirees use IFICI?

Generally no. IFICI needs a qualifying activity and excludes foreign pensions, which are taxed at standard Portuguese rates up to 48%. Greece's 7% flat rate on foreign pensions, or Cyprus, will often be cheaper.

Does IFICI cover remote workers for foreign employers?

Usually not. Remote employees of foreign companies with no qualifying Portuguese activity generally do not qualify. The work itself has to fall within one of the eligible routes.

How long do these regimes last?

Cyprus non-dom 17 years, Italy and Greece up to 15, Portugal IFICI 10, Spain Beckham 6 tax years, and the Netherlands 30% ruling up to 5.

Sources

Portugal IFICI: Article 58-A of the Tax Benefits Statute (EBF) and Portaria n.º 352/2024/1, Diário da República; Portal das Finanças.
Certified startups, Law 21/2023: Startup Portugal.
IFICI overview: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal, other tax credits and incentives.
Portugal 2026 IRS table, solidarity rate: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal, taxes on personal income.
Portugal 28% rate on dividends and interest: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal, income determination.
Spain Beckham rates, duration, scope: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Spain, other issues.
Italy flat tax, Greece regimes, Cyprus non-dom: IMI Daily, 7 best special tax regimes in Europe.
Netherlands 30% ruling: Belastingdienst, 30% facility.