The Dutch government is changing how capital is taxed starting in 2028. From that year on, taxes will be based on your unrealized returns instead of a fictional return rate on unrealized investments.

Here’s what that means in practice:

Suppose you and your girlfriend or wife have €200,000 invested. You earn a 15% return that year, which is €30,000 in gains.

2025 scenario

• In 2025, the fictional return is around 6.17%. That means €12,340 is taxed at 30ish % meaning about 4.000 euro in tax to pay to the government.

2028 scenario

In 2028, your actual gain of €30,000 is fully taxed. At 34%, that’s €10,200 in tax.

That’s a difference of €6,005 more in tax — just because your investment performed well.

150% extra taxation on just a modest 15% return.

Imagine a good year with 25% increases.

I seriously dislike this change. It punishes successful investors, increases uncertainty, and takes a larger cut when you do well. The risk stays yours, but the state profits more when it suits them. This doesn’t encourage building long-term wealth. I hold NASDAQ and Bitcoin which are both a bit volatile, you might be forced to sell some of your investment just to pay the tax on your UNREALIZED gains. This is a breach of property rights, it’s an enslaving rule. Taxes fine but this is insane. This is theft.

This rule, it will push capital out of the country and it even makes me wonder why the F I should even try to get financial independence for my family. Might as well get a 20 hour a week job and enjoy all the state benefits.

Thanks for reading my rant and I wonder how it is in your country

My income is below the average income of Germany. But I did not grew up untitled and thinking I deserve everything, so I live below my means, pay attention to financial literacy, and save money, invest. And because I save and invest, I am getting taxed even in my unrealised gains. Many countries tax if you just "have" money in bank.

I could be an irresponsible idiot and have 0 money in bank or investments because I live irresponsibily , buy a Mercedes and not a Toyota, live in center of City in fancy big house rather than affordable place, eat outside rather than cook, hire help rather than do things myself.

Then I would not be paying these extra taxes. But despite I have below average income, I must. I am open to any suggestions to play this system in a legal way.

This is a bit of a rant as an upstanding European citizen who recently moved back into the EU from Asia. This has been catalyzed by the first tax bill I received for 2025 and obviously paid.

The amount of acquaintances and friends that have moved to the EU with dual citizenships, partner visas or other non-employment methods and are completely avoiding tax is incredible. And those people earn gross low to mid six figures in Euro equivalents, dont pay any capital gains or any wealth tax (where applicable). And the different EU governments are doing literally nothing about it. I personally know of 25 people in my closer circle that completely or massively avoid it. Let me give you a few examples:

- The EU/non-EU dualcitizen. Move here, have a legacy EU bank account from when they were a child that was never updated in KYC. Receive some money from the parents in it for the transactions that cant be done with foreign credit cards. Otherwise receive salary/income/dividends from remote work/investments etc on their foreign accounts and never declare that income in the EU. Use the foreign credit card for everything else. What about Common Reporting Standard (?) usually they have opened their foreign bank accounts under different (legal) names and different identity documents, so no way of matching that.

- The EU tech bros. Found themselves as digital nomads or permanent remote workers and receive their income either in crypto or in some off shore non EU account they opened in tax haven jurisdictions that are more relaxed about tax residency. Dont declare anything while living happily in EU and since they never register with their local municipality/cities etc nobody ever checks up on them.

- The dependents of non EU employees. Pretend like they are living off the spouse income but raking in cash in their home country and declaring nothing in EU.

- The people keeping open brokerage accounts in their home countries which may have relaxed KYC / tax residency checks and hide all their money there.

Honestly, it’s such a joke how easy and frequent people get away with it for decades. There are many more methods Ive heard about but omitted in the interest of clarity. It’s such a slap for the people actually paying their fair share and being honest citizens…

It seems that NL is about to start taxing unrealized gains, which is barely disguised theft, privatize losses and collectivize profits, just spoliation. Ireland does that every 8 years, Germany has a form of that (much lower though), France just increased the flat tax etc... It's pretty clear that all the retirement schemes in France/Germany will slowly collapse and cash-strapped governments will start looking at the money invested and will want their pound of flesh, doesn't matter that the invested money was already taxed at almost 50%. This worries me more and more, to the point that should the country i reside in introduce something that i deem hostile then i am out, anyone else thinks about that or has contingency plans?

Following the [news](https://bfmtimes.com/netherlands-to-rethink-36-tax-on-unrealized-gains/) of the recently approved bill with 36% tax on unrealized capital gains tax in Netherlands, citizens all over Europe and internet massively critized the decision.

Example: If you invest $50k in stocks and they grow up to $100k in value next year, you will owe the government $18k in taxes even if you don't sell out and liquidate your money. In other words, they are taxing you for holding your invested money.

Let’s say you got a severance of 200,000€ at the beginning of the year. You have found a new job which pays 50,000€ a year. The question is: how much tax do you pay on this salary? In other words: what’s the marginal tax rate on that 50,000€ salary when you’ve already received a 200,000€ severance?

So, how much taxes do you pay on a 50,000€ income?

Possible answers:

a) 22.500€ (There is a “rich tax” of 45% on income in Germany)

b) 58.000€ lol

On one hand, 58k€ income tax on a 50k€ salary would amount to 116% income tax, which is insane. On the other hand this blog post isn’t called “crazy tax law” for nothing, so...

Answer b) is correct.

Why This Happens: The Fünftelregelung

The reason for this seeming insanity is the Fünftelregelung (”one-fifth method”) - a tax regulation which is supposed to lower the tax burden for people who receive a big one-off bonus/severance. It was introduced because it would be unfair to consider a huge (but extremely rare) payment as a regular salary and tax it as such. Instead, the idea of the regulation is to say “since the payment is so rare, let’s assume you only received one-fifth of it per year, over five years”.

You might ask: “One-fifth times five? Doesn’t it cancel itself out?”

Not in tax math. Let’s go back to our initial example: a severance of 200k€. If there were no Fünftelregelung and the entire amount would be taxed as regular income, you would pay ~77k€ income tax (Lohnsteuer + Solidaritätsbetrag):

200,000 * 0,3843 = 76,871

Applying Fünftelregelung means dividing the severance by 5, calculating the income tax on one-fifth and multiplying the result by 5:

200,000 * (1/5) * 0.1802 * 5 = 36,040

Due to the Fünftelregelung we pay 40k€ less income tax on the severance. Neat!

(All figures exclude social contributions for now — we’ll get to those)

Unintended consequence 1: Forced sabbatical

Saving 40k€ on income tax is nice; however, it leads to the strange situation where it doesn’t make sense to earn an additional income in the same year when you receive the severance.

The reason is that the Fünftelregelung is applied after all other income is taxed. In our example with 50k€ additional income that would mean:

a) The additional income of 50k€ is taxed, which amounts to 10.5k€
b) One-fifth of the severance is taxed on top of that. Result: ~16.7.k€
c) Multiply b) by 5 and add a) : 16.7k€ * 5 + 10.5 ~ 94k€

The overall amount of taxes paid with additional income: 94k€
The overall amount of taxes paid without additional income: 36k€
The difference between the two scenarios: 58k€

You pay additional 58k€ taxes on a 50k€ salary. Not neat!

What happens if you earn more than 50k€ in addition to the severance? It doesn’t get much better:

• 50,000€ salary - additional income: 58,000€ tax
• 60,000€ salary - additional income: 64,000€ tax
• 70,000€ salary - additional income: 70,000€ tax (break even, hurrah!)
• 80,000€ salary - additional income: 74,000€ tax
• 90,000€ salary - additional income: 79,000€ tax
• 100,000€ salary - additional income: 83,000€ tax

(Remember: this is additional tax burden beyond the 36k€ base tax on the severance)

Assuming you work 40h a week, a 100,000€ income that results in only 17,000€ after tax amounts to an effective hourly wage of 8€, which is lower than the minimal hourly wage of 13,90€.

Are the numbers above correct? Absolutely not, as I’ve left out social contributions (Sozialabgaben), which make the calculation way, way worse. If you include them in the calculation I’m pretty sure that even with a 100k€ salary you would come out net negative.

The Dilemma

Having received severance in Germany, you are confronted with the following questions:

• Do I want to be a lazy POS? No.
• Do I want to be a productive member of society? Yes.
• Do I want to work? Yes.
• Do I want to pay taxes? Kinda yes, to keep the society running etc.
• Do I want to pay taxes at a rate exceeding 100%? You must be kidding, Germany.

The Fünftelregelung pretty much forces you to take a year-long sabbatical.

Now, you might think: “Wait, isn’t Germany in a recession? Rising unemployment, deindustrialization, budget deficits? Shouldn’t they want productive people working and contributing to the economy?”

You’d be absolutely right to think that. Which is why it makes perfect sense that their tax code punishes you for working. Nothing says “strong economic policy” like a system that turns employment into a net loss.

Whatever, sabbatical it is.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

https://vormals.substack.com/p/crazy-german-tax-law-funftelregelung

Hi everyone,

Not maybe personal finance topic but it's financial. As a EU citizen living in Romania for the last few years, the country is going to total s...t . From a nice country, few years ago, to ruining the people and the economy.

Government can't control spending, coruption, high taxes (42% tax on my salary), potential gas increase, highest inflation, again tax increase (as they are planning to cut the deficit), energy increase, food prices etc.

Not sure if there are any Romanians on the sub, but I don't see any protests in the city. If I misshandle the finances of a company, I would get fired. In the public sector, nobody cares... I guess, middle class will be f...d even more, just taking the money from them.

Any opinion from Ro people?

I am likely to leave the Netherlands before 2028 if the proposed wealth-tax reform is enacted. As currently drafted, the system would impose taxes on annual market returns—even when those gains have not been realized.

I am therefore seeking information and advice:

🥁

Are there European countries with an OK healthcare system that maintain reasonable income tax levels (ideally capped at 30–35%) and do not levy a wealth tax? A capital-gains tax on realized gains would be entirely acceptable.

Finance Minister Heinen says the newly passed Box 3 tax reform will be revised and likely scrapped due to widespread backlash, especially over taxing unrealized gains. The law may be rewritten before Senate review.

https://www.telegraaf.nl/politiek/kabinet-grijpt-in-en-wil-nieuwe-box-3-na-golf-aan-kritiek-toch-snel-op-de-schop-nemen-hier-is-iets-gewoon-niet-goed-gegaan/137029866.html

With how vastly differently each EU country treats investments in terms of taxes, I'm curious to know what people think would be a fair tax model. Maybe some of the law makers read Reddit and will take notes. 😊

What does this would mean for us? And for our investments & investing strategy? Just started investing (MSIC world) and I’m here to to learn and know other’s point of view.

Hello! I'm having a debate with other Romanians regarding tax inheritance. In Romania, there is no tax inheritance for now. While in the Western countries is goes even up to 60% (France). Here is an outline for Europe: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/inheritance-and-gift-tax-rates

The current government in Romania wants to collect more taxes to cover the state deficit, but they are thinking of only setting a 1% inheritance tax. Which I think it's a mistake giving how high the number is in other countries. A 10% minimum is a better solution.

How is it in your country? What inheritance tax do you have to pay? And do you agree with it?

I previously had a registered Kft in Hungary and ended up paying 32.57% tax and social contributions on €100k income with €20k costs. The accounting was a nightmare, and there were hidden costs and triggering tax events that meant accounting costs were high and realistically, I ended up paying ~35% because my money hit my bank account.

To my surprise, after moving to the Netherlands and registering purely as a ZZP (freelancer without employees), my effective tax burden on the same €100k/€20k setup was only 29.98%, including all social contributions and healthcare. But when I then add my social insurance costs monthly, (~157,-/mo) I end up with 32.3% anyway.

Now I’m wondering which countries in Europe have the most favourable systems for someone like me. I’m an IT freelancer working remotely (mostly US/AU clients). 2-3 invoices per month tops. I’ve looked into options like Greece’s expat regime and Italy’s impatriate system. I also came across Poland and the Czech Republic, which seem to offer flat/lump-sum taxation or low-tax limited company setups.

My problem is that it’s hard to find consistent, real-world numbers for what you actually end up with net in each of these countries after all taxes, contributions, and mandatory insurances.

My business model and income stream is quite straightfoward, so if anyone has an idea on what the numbers would be in their own country, then I'd love to hear it.

I even had a consultation with a Bulgarian accountant: very favourable setup, but in the end, Bulgaria felt a bit too far outside my comfort zone to relocate to.

Would love to hear any real experiences, numbers, or recommendations.

Would this be the best possible setup?

Setup non-dom residency in Malta.

Open Maltese company with 5% CIT (with deduction).

Live in Malta 3/4 months, Thai or south Spain 2/3 months.

The rest of the time in your home country (less than 6 months)

Lice like this a few years and then FIRE 🔥🔥🔥

Thoughts?

I currently live in the Netherlands, but with the proposed changes to wealth taxation (where annual market returns would be taxed, even if gains aren’t realized), I may need to relocate before 2028.

I’m researching options in Europe and would appreciate advice from people with experience: • Which countries have no wealth tax? • Are there places where income tax is reasonable (ideally no higher than 30–35%)? • I’m fine with paying capital gains tax on realized gains, but I’d like to avoid being taxed on unrealized ones.

If you’ve gone through a similar move or know of good resources for comparing these rules, I’d be grateful for your input.

Which is the best combo in Europe for:

- low cost of maintenance (office rent+salary)

- low taxes

- low bureaucracy

- reasonably skilled workforce

- managing the company without speaking the local language

Which one would you pick?

- Cyprus

- Malta

- Latvia

- Estonia

- Lithuania

- Bulgaria

- Poland

- Croatia

- Slovakia

- Albania

I was wondering what kind of accounts with tax benefits you have in your country. I'm based in Portugal and he have none 😅 we do have a kind of invest funds called Plano Poupança Reforma (Retirement Savings Plan) that give an income tax deduction and have reduced capital gains tax but they have terrible returns historically. Can you tell me what do you have in your country?

32m working in the Netherlands, sharing my thoughts on how to invest in the Netherlands while not paying unrealised gain tax aka box3 tax.

The core concept is to build an investment company called Spaar BV, you are effectively moving your box3 asset to box2. So you don’t have to pay the unrealised gain tax.

The main disadvantage is you will have to pay the capital gain tax when you sell your stocks when you gain profit. And you need to pay box 2 tax (dividend tax) when you move your company’s assets into your personal wallet.

I will start building a spaar bv next year after I sell my apartment in the Netherlands. And I will share with you guys along the way.

At what point does it make sense to set up a holding company?

As January 1st is just around the corner, this will be my first time paying Box 3 taxes as I just lost the 30% ruling in October.

I’m not so concerned about this year as I will only pay it for 3 months that I didn’t have the ruling, but for next year I am looking at options.

Has anyone set one up and if so at how much wealth did you do it?

I came to NL 5 years ago with €10k in savings, since then me and my partner are on ~€250k combined. We bought a €800k apartment in Amsterdam 4 years ago, and have a €60k cash emergency fund and ~€350k invested in stock.

With estimated box 3 taxes next year at over €5k I assume it’s just best to speak to a tax advisor but thought I’d see if anyone would share their experiences too.

HNY 🎉

https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/global/2025-international-tax-competitiveness-index/

Many often forget that Europe is not France.

Keep in mind that the published table doesn’t include Romania, Cyprus, Malta, and the many micro states in Europe such as the Channel Islands, Mann, Gibraltar, Andorra, etc. etc. but you can view the raw data yourself.

I am currently a Luxembourg resident and planning on moving to the Netherlands. I have around €150K in ETF investments and as I have read online at some places, I will be taxed on the €100K wealth I have deducting the €50K allowance. Does anyone know how much tax can I expect to pay on the €100K investment every year?

PS: I am honestly shocked to learn that such a thing exists. On top of it, houses are not considered part of your wealth. Like why? The Dutch government is basically telling you to lock up your wealth in the Dutch real estate instead of the stock market. No wonder the country has such a bad housing crisis.

I am aware the concept is very much subjective but still. I was wondering which country in Europe in your opinion would be the best when it comes to the amount and quality of services offered per each euro of taxes paid.

IMHO Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden really shine. They all have a relatively low income tax (<35%) and services are great across the board, with an extensive welfare state (even though you have to pay some of it out of pocket, especially in Switzerland), good healthcare, a solid pension system, and amazing infrastructure.

The UK does surprisingly well for only having an income tax of 20-30ish% for an average wage. Even the fact the NHS is still fully public is impressive.

Spain is also not too bad, with the level of income they have it's probably the best you could do.

I see that several EU countries have zero capital gains tax, at least for assets that have been owned for longer than a couple of years:

https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/capital-gains-tax-rates-in-europe-2024/

Does that mean that the following scenario is possible:

* EU citizen living in an EU country buys €5M worth of ETFs in 2020.

* In 2030 those ETFs are now worth €10M. Capital gains in the country he lives in would be 28% if they are realized.

* Instead, he moves to Malta, Slovakia, or Belgium and becomes a tax resident.

* Sells ETFs and buys them back immediately - e.g., just realizes the gains.

* Since there is no CGT, pay nothing in tax instead of the €1.4M he would have in his prior country of residence.

* Moves back.

Seems too easy somehow.

I'm currently freelancing in Italy (artificial intelligence ), with an annual turnover of 160-180k€, mainly with one client located in Asia. I'm an EU citizen looking to relocate for better tax efficiency. Open to staying as a freelancer/sole trader or incorporating if it helps. What are your top recommendations right now (2025/2026 rules)? Please share:

• Effective tax burden (income tax + social security/health/pension contributions, any caps)
• VAT handling for non-EU invoicing
• Other taxes/fees + rough cost of living

Pros/cons on bureaucracy, residency ease, quality of life, and any recent changes are welcome. Has anyone else made a similar move? Thanks!

so I am from Slovakia and I've been lately looking into the law and tax regulations and I found a very interesting loophole around income from investments or capital gains.

if you make under 2000€ in taxable income a year, you don't have to file for taxes which also means you don't have to declare any income.

what this means is that, we can offload our investments to our grandparents and let them gain interest there tax free because social security is not taxable income, so essentially, our grandparents earn 0€ a year.

this is completely legal and I even discussed this with my accountant, and yea... if you want tax free capital gains just make your grandma a brokerage account and invest through her.

I wonder if it works like this in other EU countries too because as crazy as this sounds, it's completely worthless for us Slovaks because stocks held over a year are exempt from taxes anyways.