The same €10,000 ETF gain is taxed at anywhere from €0 to €3,800 on a five-year hold, depending on which European country you call home — and up to €4,200 if you sell inside six months in the wrong one. This comparator makes the spread visible: enter your gain and how long you held, and see all 30 countries ranked cheapest-first — including the holding-period exemptions that turn several countries’ rates to zero for patient investors.
By Kestutis Balciunas · Last verified 26 August 2026 against primary sources: Slovak Act 595/2003 §§ 7–9, 15 and Act 580/2004 § 38ezk (slov-lex); Maltese Income Tax Act Cap. 123 arts. 4–5 (legislation.mt); Cypriot Income Tax Law 118(I)/2002 art. 8(22) and Capital Gains Tax Law 52/1980 (CyLaw); Swiss DBG art. 16(3) (Fedlex); Luxembourg LIR arts. 99bis, 100 (ACD coordinated text, 1 Jan 2026); Croatian Income Tax Act arts. 67, 70, 19.a (zakon.hr); Bulgarian ZDDFL art. 13(1)(3) (lex.bg); Greek Law 4099/2012 art. 103; Portuguese CIRS arts. 43, 72; Romanian Fiscal Code art. 97(8¹) as amended by Law 239/2025 (ANAF); Irish Revenue TDM Part 27-01A-02 (Jan 2026); Belgian FPS Finance meerwaardebelasting; Czech Act 586/1992 § 4 and the Czech Ministry of Finance; Slovenian ZDoh-2 and ZINR (Ur. l. RS 40/2025). Figures are 2026-vintage and simplified to the standard private-investor case — verify current law before acting. Educational tool, not advice.
What the ranking shows — and what it does not
The tool applies each country’s 2026-vintage capital-gains treatment for a private investor selling listed UCITS ETFs: flat rates (Poland’s 19%, Italy’s 26%), progressive scales (Spain’s 19–30%), effective-rate systems (Germany’s 26.375% on 70% after the Teilfreistellung), holding-period exemptions (Croatia after 2 years, Czechia after 3, Slovenia’s taper to zero at 15, and Slovakia’s one-year rule with the two conditions it actually carries), and the special regimes that do not fit the gain-at-sale model at all. The Netherlands’ box 3, Denmark’s annual mark-to-market and Sweden’s ISK do not tax a gain at sale; Malta’s answer turns on your domicile and Greece’s on where your fund was authorised. All five are flagged rather than force-fitted into a rate column.
Country detail: how Slovenia’s taper actually steps down.
What it deliberately does not do: model dividends (taxed separately, usually yearly — see the EU dividend tax calculator), national wrappers (ISK, PEA, TBSZ — which change everything), or personal circumstances. And one honest warning repeated in the tool itself: you are taxed where you are resident — the table is what residents pay, not a shopping menu. If a move is genuinely on your horizon, read moving country with a UCITS portfolio first.
Where the one-line version is wrong
A rate table flattens conditions, and five of them change the answer rather than decorate it. Each was stated too simply on this page until 26 August 2026; all five are now carried inside the tool itself, next to the country they belong to.
- Slovakia is not simply “tax-free after a year”. § 9(1)(k) of Act 595/2003 sets two one-year tests — more than a year since you bought, and more than a year between the security’s admission to a regulated market and the sale — and it reaches only a transfer of securities under § 8(1)(e), meaning an on-exchange sale. Redeeming fund units is a different income type entirely: § 7(1)(g) capital income, taxed at a flat 19% (§ 15(a)(4)) however long you held. Before the clock runs out the real burden is around 32%, because a 16% health-insurance levy applies on top of income tax (Act 580/2004 § 12(1)(b) sets a standing 15%, but transitional § 38ezk fixes 16% for 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027), and the levy is deductible from the tax base under § 8(12).
- Malta has no holding-period rule at all. The listed-security exemption in art. 5(6)(b) of the Income Tax Act applies to shares “not being securities in a collective investment scheme” — and units in a collective investment scheme are securities by the definition in the same article, so a UCITS ETF is outside it. Art. 5(6)(c) covers scheme securities only in a prescribed fund. What actually makes Malta tax-free is domicile: art. 4(1) charges no tax on capital gains arising outside Malta for a person not ordinarily resident or not domiciled there.
- Luxembourg’s €500 is a cliff, not an allowance. Under art. 99bis(2) LIR a speculative gain escapes tax only while your total speculative profit for the calendar year stays below €500. Reach €500 and the whole amount is taxable, not the excess.
- Greece’s exemption is about where the fund is authorised, not how long you held it. Art. 103(5) of Law 4099/2012 exempts holders of UCITS authorised in Greece. On its wording that does not reach an Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled ETF, which is what most European investors hold, and we could not find a provision that settles the position for one. Greece is therefore flagged rather than scored at zero.
- Croatia’s 12% is the whole rate. The prirez local surtax was abolished on 1 January 2024, and the same reform lifted the final capital-income rate from 10% to 12% precisely because the surtax was folded into it. “12% plus local surtax” counts the same money twice.
United Kingdom: CGT rates, allowance and the ISA shelter
The UK is in the comparator, but its rules need some context. According to GOV.UK, gains from 6 April 2026 are taxed at 18% or 24%. Higher and additional rate taxpayers pay 24%. Basic rate taxpayers pay 18% on the part of the gain that fits inside the basic rate band (£37,700 for 2026 to 2027), and 24% above it. The tool shows the 24% rate.
Moreover, you only pay on gains above the tax-free allowance, which is £3,000.
The bigger lever is the ISA. You pay no tax on capital gains inside an ISA, and you can save up to £20,000 in ISAs in the 2026 to 2027 tax year (GOV.UK). One more trap: if an offshore fund lacks UK reporting status, HMRC normally taxes your gain as income, not as a capital gain (HMRC helpsheet HS265). So check a fund’s UK reporting status before you buy it outside an ISA.
Going deeper per country
Every row links to a deeper story: Bulgaria’s EU-listing exemption, Hungary’s TBSZ ladder, and the loss-harvesting rules in our TLH guide. The full framework — including withholding taxes and the Acc/Dist decision — is in the ETF tax efficiency guide.
Country detail: the full Slovakia guide: which disposals the one-year rule actually reaches.
These numbers make more sense with the guide
The free 12-page Starter Kit turns them into decisions: your first fund, a safe broker, and the tax basics for your country.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can I just move to a zero-tax country before selling?
A: Taxation follows tax residence at the moment of sale, so in principle yes — but exit taxes, residence tests, cost-basis rules and treaty details make this a decision for professional advice, not a quick trick. Several countries also tax you for years after leaving under certain conditions.
Q: Why do the Netherlands and Denmark show ‘n/a’ or a modelled figure?
A: Because they do not tax gains at sale. The Netherlands taxes an assumed return on your total assets each year (box 3); Denmark taxes ETF paper gains annually via mark-to-market. Both are shown with notes instead of a fake sale-tax figure.
Q: Are dividends included in this comparison?
A: No — deliberately. Dividends are usually taxed each year at separate rates, while this tool models the one-off tax on a realized capital gain. Accumulating funds minimize the dividend layer in most countries.
Q: How accurate are the rates?
A: They are 2026-vintage, simplified to the standard private-investor case, and rounded where systems are complex. Rules change every year — always verify against official sources or a local adviser before acting on a specific number.
Q: Which countries are completely tax-free for ETF gains?
A: Fewer than the usual lists claim, and this page used to overstate it. Three hold up for a UCITS ETF: Bulgaria (sales of collective-investment units on a regulated or growth market, and redemptions by schemes admitted to public offering in the EU or EEA), Cyprus (gains on the disposal of “titles” are exempt from income tax, and the separate 20% capital-gains tax reaches only Cyprus immovable property) and Switzerland (private capital gains, unless you are reclassified as a professional securities dealer). Three have come off. Belgium: a general 10% capital-gains tax applies from 1 January 2026 above a €10,000 annual exemption, with pre-2026 gains grandfathered. Malta: its listed-security exemption expressly excludes collective-investment-scheme securities, so a UCITS ETF is outside it, and what makes Malta tax-free is being non-domiciled rather than holding long. Greece: the exemption is written for UCITS authorised in Greece, which on its wording does not cover an Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled ETF. The exemption-clock countries do reach zero, but each carries conditions — read the note in the tool.