Movement and exit / E1
Emigrating with assets
The person wants to move abroad permanently, taking 1 million USD of savings and shares.
What we score
What does leaving cost them?
Default assumptions: Unless a vignette says otherwise, the person is a 30-year-old citizen of sound mind with no criminal record, acting alone, on their own behalf and not for profit, in an ordinary residential area. Where subnational units (states, provinces, cantons, Länder) make their own law, each unit is scored and the result is weighted by population. 'The state' includes police, prosecutors, courts, regulators, tax authorities and anyone acting on their orders, including platforms obeying takedown orders.
Score anchors
Both the law score and the practice score use these anchors. Half points are used when a country sits between two of them.
| Score | What it means for this vignette |
|---|---|
| 10 | Nothing; no exit tax or capital control. |
| 8 | Deregistration formalities only. |
| 6 | Exit tax on unrealised gains above a threshold, or continued taxation as a non-resident. |
| 4 | Heavy exit tax, citizenship-based taxation, or capital controls. |
| 3 | Exit permit needed. |
| 2 | Leaving without permission is a crime. |
| 0 | Emigration banned. |
Evidence used: Exit and departure taxes; capital controls; citizenship-based taxation; exit permits.
How each country scores
| Country | Law | Practice | Process | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0 | 9.5 | New Zealand has no exit tax, no general capital gains tax and no capital controls. An emigrant becomes non-resident once they have no permanent place of abode in NZ and have been away more than 325 days in any 12 months; only NZ-sourced income stays taxable. Cash of NZ$10,000 or more carried across the border must be declared. |
| Czechia | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9.0 | Czechia levies no exit tax on individuals. Its ATAD exit tax applies only to companies and permanent establishments, and there are no capital controls or wealth tax. A departing resident only notifies the tax office and the health insurer and files a final return for the residence period. |
| Switzerland | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8.0 | Switzerland has no exit tax on individuals: capital gains on private movable assets are tax-free (Federal Direct Tax Act Art. 16(3)), and there are no capital controls. Leaving requires only deregistering with the commune and a final tax assessment. Swiss withholding tax continues on Swiss-source dividends. |
| Netherlands | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8.0 | Leaving triggers no exit tax on savings or ordinary portfolio shares, and after emigration box-3 tax applies only to Dutch-situs assets such as real estate (art. 7.7 Wet IB 2001). The only exit charge is a deferred (conserverende) assessment when the holder owns a substantial interest of 5% or more in a company (art. 4.16(1)(h)) or has pension rights. The emigrant must deregister from the municipal personal records database (BRP). |
| Mexico | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8.0 | Mexico has no exit tax for individuals and no capital controls. A departing resident must file a notice with SAT within the 15 days before changing tax residence (Código Fiscal art. 9); without it, they remain resident. A person moving to a preferential-tax jurisdiction that lacks information-exchange and collection-assistance treaties stays a Mexican tax resident that year and the next 5. |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7.0 | There is no exit tax or capital control on individuals: a 20% 'settling-up' charge was floated before the November 2025 Budget but not adopted. Gains realised during a non-residence of 5 years or less are taxed on return. Since April 2025, a 'long-term resident' (10 of the previous 20 tax years in the UK) stays within UK inheritance tax on worldwide assets for 3 to 10 years after leaving. |
| Singapore | 6.5 | 7 | 0 | 6.8 | Singapore has no exit tax, capital-gains tax or capital controls. Under the Enlistment Act, however, all male citizens subject to NS, including NSmen and MINDEF reservists, must obtain an exit permit to stay abroad 12 months or more. Remaining abroad without one is an offence (fine up to S$10,000 and/or jail). The score averages women (10) and NS-liable men (3); exit permits for NSmen are normally granted. |
| Germany | 5 | 7 | 0 | 6.2 | The exit tax (§ 6 AStG) applies only to holdings of at least 1% in a company after 7 of the last 12 years of residence, so a diversified $1m portfolio is not taxed on departure. Where it does apply, it can be paid in 7 interest-free instalments. Since 2026, § 3(2) WPflG applies in peacetime: men aged 17 and over need Bundeswehr approval to leave for more than 3 months. Approval must be granted while they are not due for call-up, and conscription is still suspended. |
| Denmark | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6.0 | Leaving triggers exit tax on shares: unrealised gains are treated as realised when Danish tax liability ends (aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 38). This applies if the shareholding is worth DKK 100,000 or more and the person was taxable in Denmark for at least 7 of the last 10 years (stk. 2-3). Payment can be deferred, and there are no capital controls or exit permits. |
| Ireland | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6.0 | There is no exit tax or capital control on individuals. However, someone who was resident for 3 consecutive years stays 'ordinarily resident' for 3 tax years after leaving and remains taxable on worldwide income (with exceptions for foreign employment and trade) and, if Irish-domiciled, on gains. Under TCA 1997 s29A, assets sold during a non-residence of 5 years or less are taxed as if disposed of on departure. |
| United States | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4.0 | The US taxes citizens on worldwide income wherever they live, so moving abroad does not end US tax filing, FBAR or FATCA reporting. Ending it requires renouncing citizenship. Renouncers who have $2m+ net worth, more than $206,000 average annual tax (2025) or cannot certify 5 years of tax compliance pay a mark-to-market exit tax under IRC 877A. There are no capital controls. |