European Investment Tax Rates by Region
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of investment tax rates across over 30 European countries, including EU member states and associated nations (EFTA/EEA members).
For each country, we detail four key tax considerations: capital gains tax, dividend tax, wealth tax (where applicable), and exit tax provisions.
Countries are organized by geographical region for easy reference. Tax rates are current as of 2025, with special attention paid to ETF taxation, crypto assets, and conditions that may modify standard rates.
Nordic Countries
Denmark (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 27% or 42%, depending on personal income tax rate. Both capital gains and dividends are added to personal income and taxed as such. The rate depends on the total annual earnings, with the threshold being ~€8k
Dividend Tax: 27% or 42%, depending on personal income tax rate
Wealth Tax: None at this moment
Exit Tax: Yes - tax on unrealized gains when leaving the country, applicable for countries without a tax treaty with Denmark
Finland (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 30% up to €30k, 34% above that
Dividend Tax: 30% up to €30k, 34% above that
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: Tax on unrealized gains. Not applicable if the total value of the investments is below €500k or if the unrealized gains are below €100k
Iceland (EFTA, EEA)
Capital Gains Tax: 22%
Dividend Tax: 22%
Wealth Tax: None currently
Exit Tax: None
Norway (EFTA, EEA)
Capital Gains Tax: 37.84% (capital gains amounts are multiplied by 1.72 and then taxed under the personal income tax rate of 22%)
Dividend Tax: 37.84% (same calculation as capital gains)
Wealth Tax: 1.1% on the assets above NOK20M (~€1.7M)
Exit Tax: Applicable to gains exceeding NOK2M (~€40k). The system wants to make sure that unrealized gains accrued in Norway will be taxed in Norway, effectively imposing capital gains taxes to former residents for 5 more years. This can potentially be avoided if the person doesn't visit Norway for more than 2 months per year from that moment on, but this isn't definitively confirmed
Sweden (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 30%. An investor can choose to use an ISK account and avoid capital gains taxes. But then, they'll get a wealth tax treatment and be taxed a percentage of their total portfolio (around 0.9%)
Dividend Tax: 30% (not applicable in an ISK account)
Wealth Tax: Not really wealth tax as in other countries, but voluntary and applicable to the portion of your portfolio that you decide to put in an ISK account
Exit Tax: The "10 year rule" allows Sweden to tax non-residents for a decade after they left. Applicable only when migrating to selected countries and to non-ISK investments (as ISK is already taxed every year)
Western Europe
Belgium (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% if you're considered a "prudent investor". That means managing a relatively passive, long-term portfolio for yourself or your family (not an active/professional trader or short-term speculator). Otherwise, the capital gains tax rate is 33%
Dividend Tax: 30%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Note: Holding accumulating ETFs and selling when necessary removes the dividend tax expense
France (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: Between 30% and 35%
Dividend Tax: Around 30%. Can be lowered to around 18% if you keep the investment in a PEA account, but accumulating ETFs resolve all of that
Wealth Tax: 0.5 to 1.5% applicable to investors with more than ~€1.3m in worldwide real estate
Exit Tax: Taxed on unrealized gains (around 30%) when you leave. Applicable to people that lived in France 6 out of the last 10 years and with net-worth higher than €800k. However, if you don't sell your investments for 2 years (5 years if NW > €2.57M) after emigrating, there's no exit tax
Germany (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: Around 27-28% (25% flat rate + "solidarity tax" + "church tax" where applicable). For Bitcoin, crypto, gold, and other commodities, holding them for more than a year makes the sell tax free. Otherwise, around 47% (45% flat + "solidarity" + "church" taxes)
Dividend Tax: Around 27-28% (same calculation as CGT)
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None for "normal" investors (i.e. owning <1% of the shares of a company)
Ireland (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 33% with exemption of around €1,300 per year. For ETFs, there is a "deemed disposal" rule after 8 years of holding – you're taxed 41% even if the gains are unrealized. This is deducted from the tax bill when you eventually sell. This rule is not applicable for individual stocks or cryptocurrencies
Dividend Tax: Progressive, 20% or 40%
Wealth Tax: None at this moment
Exit Tax: 12.5% on unrealized capital gains, payable in up to 6 annual installments
Luxembourg (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% if the shares or digital assets are held for more than 6 months
Dividend Tax: 0% or 15%, depending on treaties with the issuing country
Wealth Tax: None at this moment
Exit Tax: Appears to be in place with the goal of recouping lost revenue if an individual leaves. However, since the CGT rate is 0% after 6 months, it's unclear what would represent the lost revenue for "normal" investors
Netherlands (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0%
Dividend Tax: 0% (or 15% when paid out by Dutch companies/funds)
Wealth Tax: Between 1.5% and 2.5% on the amount above ~€57k. It's imposed as an ongoing tax on unrealized and assumed gains. More precisely, it's assumed you realized the market's long-term returns (6%-7%-8%) and then a 35%-36% rate is applied. Effectively, it's a wealth tax of ~2%
Exit Tax: None for non-pension accounts
United Kingdom
Capital Gains Tax: 10%-20%. 0% if the realized gain is up to ~£12k, then progressive based on total income. There are no taxes on proceeds in an ISA account
Dividend Tax: Progressive, from 0% to ~40% (from £125k)
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Liechtenstein (EFTA, EEA)
Capital Gains Tax: 0%
Dividend Tax: 0%
Wealth Tax: Around 0.2%. It's calculated as an assumed growth of the net-worth of 4% and then a personal income tax rate is applied on top of it. The income tax is relatively low in Liechtenstein (from 1% to 8%, the highest one starting at CHF200k)
Exit Tax: None
Central Europe
Austria (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 27.5%
Dividend Tax: 27.5%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: You'll pay the capital gains tax as if you sold when leaving the country
Note: Austria taxes the dividends even when holding accumulating funds, so going for distributing ETFs might be more straight forward for reporting purposes
Czech Republic (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% if shares were held for 3+ years. Otherwise, it's the personal income tax rate. For crypto, it's always the personal income tax rate (15% or 23%, depending on total income)
Dividend Tax: 15%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Note: Holding accumulating ETFs removes the dividend tax expense
Hungary (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 15% (included in personal income tax rate). An investor can choose to open a TBSZ account and then the CGT rate goes to 10% after holding for 3 years and to 0% after holding for 5 years
Dividend Tax: 15% (part of the personal income tax rate)
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Poland (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 19%
Dividend Tax: 19%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: 19% on the amount exceeding PLN4M (~€930k) as unrealized gains
Slovakia (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% for stocks, 7% for crypto if held for more than a year. Otherwise 21%
Dividend Tax: 7% to 35%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: 21% on unrealized gains
Switzerland (EFTA)
Capital Gains Tax: 0%
Dividend Tax: 35% (just use accumulating funds and avoid dividends)
Wealth Tax: Differs per canton. Using Zurich for illustration: starts at 0.05% from CHF77k and increases to 0.3% from CHF3.1M
Exit Tax: None
Southern Europe
Croatia (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% if shares or digital assets are held for more than 2 years. Otherwise, around 12%
Dividend Tax: Around 12%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Cyprus (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% for UCITS ETFs (generally 20%, but UCITS ETFs are not in scope). The profits from cryptocurrency trades are taxed at 12.5%
Dividend Tax: 17%. Eligible foreigners that establish tax base in Cyprus can opt for the non-domiciled resident status and be taxed at 0%. Or just avoid dividends
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Greece (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% for UCITS ETFs (actual rate is 15%, but UCITS ETFs aren't in scope). For Bitcoin and crypto, the CGT is 22%, but the regulation is still unclear and it seems it's only enforced when converted to FIAT money. So trading on exchanges or DeFi is non-taxable. This is subject to change
Dividend Tax: 5%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Note: The classic "go for accumulating funds" approach applies
Italy (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 26%
Dividend Tax: 26%
Wealth Tax: A separate rate for foreign real estate (around 0.8%) and movable assets (around 0.2%)
Exit Tax: None
Malta (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 15%. People that haven't lived in Malta before can opt for the non-domiciled resident status and be taxed at 0%
Dividend Tax: 15%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Portugal (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 28%
Dividend Tax: 28%. An investor can choose the dividend income to be taxed as personal income, which can lower the rate to 13% or increase it to 48% (depending on total income)
Wealth Tax: Applicable only to real estate worth over €600k (0.7%) or €1M (1%)
Exit Tax: 28% tax on unrealized gains, applicable only if the person is moving to certain countries
Slovenia (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: ~25%. This amount decreases every 5 years, ending at 0% if the assets are held for more than 15 years
Dividend Tax: ~25%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Spain (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: Progressive, from 19% (until €6k) to 26% (above €200k)
Dividend Tax: Progressive, from 19% (until €6k) to 23% (above €50k)
Wealth Tax: Progressive, from 0.3% to 3.5%. It's difficult to give exact numbers as autonomous regions establish "tax reliefs" (deductions) for their tax payers, so it differs per location. In general, individuals with net-worth between €3M and €10M will end up paying around 2%
Exit Tax: Capital gains tax on unrealized gains when the resident leaves the country
Eastern Europe
Bulgaria (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 0% on UCITS ETFs. In general case it's 10%, which is the rate for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency
Dividend Tax: 5%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Note: Non-distributing ETFs are favorable in Bulgaria as well
Estonia (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 20%
Dividend Tax: 20%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Note: Both are taxed as normal income with an annual tax exemption of ~€6k
Latvia (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 20%
Dividend Tax: 20%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Lithuania (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 15% or 20%
Dividend Tax: 15% or 20%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Note: Both are subject to the personal income tax rate – 15% until €238k, 20% afterwards
Romania (EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 10%
Dividend Tax: 8%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
Other Countries
Montenegro (non-EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 15% (flat rate for all investment income)
Dividend Tax: 15%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
A local surtax of 13-15% applies on top of the personal income tax. The surtax rate is 15% in Podgorica and Cetinje, and 13% in all other municipalities. This effectively makes the total tax rate around 17-17.25% for investment income.
Albania (non-EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 15%. For companies with annual income up to ALL 14 million, rate is 0% until December 31, 2029
Dividend Tax: 8%
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: Yes - 15% on deemed disposal of assets when ceasing tax residency in Albania or transferring business assets to a foreign permanent establishment
As of January 2024, Albania has adopted new provisions including CFC rules and transfer pricing documentation requirements. The country has more than 40 tax treaties and is a party to the MLI (Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS) which entered into force on January 1, 2021.
North Macedonia (non-EU)
Capital Gains Tax: 10%
Dividend Tax: Between residents: 0% for companies, 0% for individuals. For nonresidents: 10% for companies, 0% for individuals
Wealth Tax: None
Exit Tax: None
The country has special incentives including a 10-year profit tax holiday for companies operating in free economic zones. Taxable income can be decreased by the amount of profit reinvested in fixed assets. North Macedonia has around 50 tax treaties and has signed the MLI (Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS) in January 2020.
