How to become a tax resident of another country in 2026: rules of 28 countries and expat income tax

You become resident through days, a home or your centre of vital interests, and a certificate from the tax office proves it. The rules of 28 countries, special regimes for foreign income, how expats pay income tax and how to avoid being resident in two countries at once.

In detail

Tax residency does not come with a passport or a residence permit: it arises from facts. The main fact almost everywhere is 183 days in the country in a year or in any 12 months. But many countries also make you resident through a permanent home, family or your centre of vital interests, and the tax office confirms the status with a certificate. Below are the rules of 28 countries where people most often move their tax residency, how expats pay income tax, and the steps that keep you from being resident in two countries at once.

Tax residency in 28 countries: how to qualify and how foreign income is taxed

In 13 of the 28 countries a resident's foreign income is not taxed at all, is taxed only when brought in, or is exempt for a set period. In the other 15 a resident pays tax on worldwide income, but newcomers often get a special regime or a low rate.

Where foreign income is not taxed or is exempt for a period: 13 countries

Where residents pay tax on worldwide income: 15 countries

The country links in the tables lead to detailed guides: how days are counted, whether you need a residence permit, how to get the certificate and what happens to income from your previous country.

How to become a tax resident of another country: 6 steps

1. Choose a country by how it taxes your income: salary, dividends, interest, business income and crypto.
2. Get the right to live there. Tax status arises from days even without a residence permit, but a visa-free stay rarely covers 183 days for non-EU citizens, so you need a residence permit or a long-stay visa.
3. Spend the required days or build ties with the country: rent a home, bring your family, move your work or business. Keep the evidence: lease, bills, entry and exit stamps.
4. Register with the tax office: get a tax number and file the first return if one is required.
5. Get a tax residency certificate. Banks, brokers and tax agents in your previous country ask for it to apply the double tax treaty.
6. Leave the tax residency of your previous country: spend fewer than 183 days there, give up the permanent home or move your centre of interests, and file a final return there.

The 183-day rule and other tests

183 days is the common benchmark, but countries count them differently. Georgia, Kazakhstan, the UAE and Greece take any 12 months in a row; Spain, Armenia, Belarus, Thailand, Montenegro, Malta, Poland, Italy, Costa Rica and Uruguay take the calendar year. Panama also counts days of the previous year: after more than 183 days there you stay resident for the next year too. Serbia takes any 12 months that start or end in the tax year, and the UK uses a tax year that starts on 6 April. In Belarus the day of arrival does not count but the day of departure does; Kazakhstan and Armenia count both. Switzerland has no 183-day rule at all: 30 days with work or 90 days without is enough. Thailand needs 180 days, and Cyprus makes you resident after 60 days if you have a job or business and a home there and have not spent more than 183 days in any other country.

The second test is a tie to the country, without counting days. In Spain your centre of activity or income, or a family living in the country, makes you resident. In Portugal it is a permanent home. In Turkey it is residence. In Kazakhstan, Armenia, Serbia and Montenegro it is the centre of vital interests. In the UAE it is your main home and centre of interests. In Latvia a declared address alone makes you resident, in Andorra the centre of economic interests, in Bulgaria a permanent address together with the centre of your life in the country. In Poland a centre of personal or economic interests is enough, in Germany a home you use, in Uruguay a spouse and minor children living in the country, in Panama a permanent home you actually live in. In Malta moving with the intention to live on the island makes you resident, and in the UK 16 or 46 days are enough if you have family, a home or work there.

The third point is how long the status lasts. Armenia and Spain treat you as resident for the whole calendar year. In Portugal the status can start on the day you arrive, and Greece counts you as resident from the first day of your stay. In Costa Rica a move in the second half of the year does not count for the first year. Georgia, once you reach 183 days, treats you as resident for the whole calendar year.

If two countries both treat you as resident, the double tax treaty settles it: first the permanent home, then the centre of vital interests, the habitual abode and citizenship. So days alone are not enough: where your home and family are matters.

Expat income tax: what taxes expats pay

Expats pay income tax in the country where they are tax resident. A resident of a country with worldwide taxation pays on income from everywhere, a resident of a country with territorial taxation only on local income, and a non-resident only on income earned in that country, such as rent from a flat there or a local salary. Your home country keeps taxing your worldwide income for as long as it treats you as resident, so the move only changes your taxes once you have left its tax residency.

• Double tax treaties stop the same income being taxed twice: tax paid in one country is credited in the other, and the residency certificate is what lets a bank or tax agent apply the treaty rate.
• US citizens file a US return wherever they live, because the US taxes by citizenship. In 2026 they can exclude up to $132,900 of foreign earned income and credit income tax paid abroad, so in countries with similar or higher rates the US bill is often zero.
• UK expats who become non-resident under the statutory residence test pay UK tax only on UK income, such as UK rent; the year of departure can be split so that income after the move is taxed abroad.
• Special regimes for newcomers lower the rate for the first years: 24% on salary for 6 years in Spain, 20% for 10 years in Portugal, a flat tax on foreign income in Italy, Greece and Poland, no tax on foreign income for 4 years in the UK and for 20 years in Turkey.

Where foreign income is not taxed

• Georgia - income from foreign sources is not taxed, Georgian income is taxed at 20%, and a small business pays 1% of turnover.
• UAE - there is no personal income tax at all; a business with revenue above $280,000 a year pays 9% corporate tax on profit above $110,000.
• Monaco - no income tax and no capital gains tax, except for French citizens.
• Singapore - foreign income of individuals is not taxed, even when transferred to the country.
• Panama - tax is charged only on Panamanian income: the first $11,000 a year is tax-free, then 15% and 25%; foreign income is not taxed.
• Costa Rica - foreign salary, dividends and pensions are not taxed; work physically done in the country counts as local income.
• Uruguay - salary for work outside the country is not taxed, foreign dividends and interest are taxed at 12% from 2026, but new residents get a holiday: the year of the move plus 10 more years.
• Thailand - foreign income is taxed only when brought in and only if earned from 2024; holders of the 10-year long-term resident visa are exempt even when bringing it in.
• Turkey - new residents from 2026 who had no ties with the country for the previous three years have foreign income exempt for 20 years under a certificate from the tax office.
• Portugal - under the special regime for skilled professionals foreign income, except pensions, is exempt for 10 years, and salary is taxed at 20%.
• Cyprus - people who move without Cypriot domicile pay no defence contribution on dividends and interest for 17 years.
• Malta - a resident without a permanent home on the island pays tax on foreign income only if it is remitted to Malta; with foreign income from $40,000 a year the minimum tax is about $5,700. Foreign capital gains are not taxed.
• United Kingdom - people who have not been resident for 10 years pay no tax on foreign income and gains for their first 4 tax years if they claim the relief in their return.
• Montenegro - with digital nomad status, salary from a foreign employer is taxed at 0%.

Spain, Portugal under the general rules, Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Germany, Poland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Serbia, Montenegro and Vietnam tax worldwide income and credit tax paid abroad. Italy, Greece and Poland offer wealthy newcomers a flat tax: a fixed sum a year for all foreign income. In Spain people who move for work pay 24% on employment income for 6 years, and foreign dividends, interest and capital gains are not taxed in Spain during that time.

Tax residency certificate: where to get it and what it costs

In Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Vietnam, Andorra, Latvia, Malta and the UK the tax authority issues the certificate on application, in Switzerland the cantonal tax office. In Bulgaria the certificate is issued without a fee, usually within a week. The certificate is issued for each tax year. You give it to your bank and broker and to the tax agent in your previous country, and use it if two countries both claim you as resident.

How much it costs to change tax residency

The certificate itself is free in most countries, and costs about $290 in the UAE and $680 in Monaco. The main costs are the right to live in the country: a residence permit or a long-stay visa, a home rented for the whole year, health insurance, tax registration and an accountant if you run a business. The total depends heavily on the country and your income, so we work out the budget in the chat for your situation.

How to stop being a tax resident of your home country

A new status does not cancel the old one automatically. While you spend 183 days or more in your previous country, or keep a permanent home or family there, it can treat you as resident and tax your worldwide income.

To leave cleanly, keep your days in the previous country below its threshold, end or let out the permanent home, move your family, work and bank relationships, notify the tax office of your departure and file the final return for the year you left. Some countries tax unrealised gains on shares when you leave, so plan the order of steps before the move. US citizens stay taxable in the US wherever they live, and the exclusion and foreign tax credit are how they avoid paying twice.

How days are counted is explained in detail in the article on tax residency and the 183-day rule, and you can check your status in the tax residency calculator.

How to choose a country for tax residency

• You work remotely for foreign clients - look at countries that do not tax foreign income: Georgia, the UAE, Singapore, or Turkey with its 20-year exemption for new residents.
• You live on dividends and interest - Cyprus without Cypriot domicile, the UAE, Monaco, Georgia, Malta if the income is not remitted to the island; in Spain the regime for incoming workers exempts this income for 6 years.
• You run your own business - Georgia with 1% of turnover for a small business, the UAE with no tax on profit up to about $110,000.
• You are moving to Europe with your family - Portugal and Spain with special regimes for 10 and 6 years, Cyprus with the 60-day rule for people who work on the island.
• You are moving to Latin America - Panama and Costa Rica do not tax foreign income at all, and Uruguay gives new residents an 11-year holiday.
• You want a low rate in Europe - Bulgaria with a flat 10% and Andorra with a rate of no more than 10%; in Switzerland the canton sets the rate, and wealthy newcomers can choose lump-sum taxation.
• You want simple paperwork - Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan: visa-free entry for many nationalities and a certificate that is free or ready within a month.

Before choosing, compare three things: how the country taxes your type of income, whether it has a treaty in force with your previous country, and where you will really spend more than half the year. Rates by type of income in every country are in the taxes by country section.

Common mistakes

• Keeping a Latvian residence permit as a backup and forgetting the address: a declared place of residence makes you resident without a single day in the country.
• Thinking a residence permit makes you resident by itself. The status comes from days, a home and the centre of interests, not from the card.
• Not getting a residency certificate: without it the bank and the tax agent in your previous country withhold tax at the full rate.
• Staying resident in two countries because of a home or family in the previous one.
• Confusing the calendar year with any 12 months in a row: one extra month in the country then changes your status.
• Bringing income earned from 2024 into Thailand without planning the tax, or not getting the exemption certificate in Turkey in the year of the move.
• Assuming zero tax on foreign income in Panama or Costa Rica removes the tax in your previous country: until you leave its residency it taxes worldwide income.
• Missing the deadline for a special regime: in Spain you apply within 6 months of starting work in the country.

How Murblz helps

We match a country to your income, calculate your tax burden before and after the move, arrange the residence permit, tax registration and residency certificate, and help you close the residency of your previous country without double taxation. Mistakes cost more than advice: dual residency, full-rate tax without a certificate and a missed deadline for a special regime. Rates of every country are in the taxes by country section.

Tax residency by country in detail

Day rules, special regimes, residency certificates and treaties are covered in separate guides:

• How to become a tax resident of Georgia in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Kazakhstan in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of the UAE in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Armenia in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Monaco in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Belarus in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Turkey in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Cyprus in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Portugal in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Spain in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Thailand in 2026
• How to become a tax resident of Singapore in 2026

FAQ