Best Low-Cost Low-Tax Countries for Fully-Remote Devs In Europe
Here we go again 😁
I often talk about working for high-paying fully-remote companies in Europe.
And how doing so can be leveraged to optimise your life quality and lifestyle if living from a strategic place, which should:
Be affordable
Have low taxes
Offer you the possibility to live the life you want
Since everyone wants different things - someone might prefer living in a big, modern city, someone else might prefer to be close to nature, someone might like seasons and someone else might want summer 12 months a year - here’s a list that can give you some options.
The common denominator is that all these options are low-tax and low/medium-cost (which I guess are two factors that all remote workers appreciate).
Best Low-Tax countries for Fully-Remote Devs in EMEA
🇬🇪 Georgia: 1% tax for incomes below $200k, no mandatory social security or healthcare.
🇵🇱 Poland: 12% tax plus 1-4% for social security.
🇮🇹 Italy: About 20-30% total tax if making less than €85k per year.
🇨🇾 Cyprus: Effective tax rate around 15%.
🇷🇴 Romania: Effective tax rate around 12%.
🇦🇪 UAE: 0%.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: 9% total tax.
🇲🇪 Montenegro: 15% flat income tax, no social security if not employed by a local employer.
🇪🇸 Spain: 24% up to €600k on a digital nomad visa.
🇹🇷 Turkey: 5% for contractors working with foreign clients, about €150/month for social security.
🇱🇹 Lithuania: 22.79% total tax rate for contractors earning €100k.
🇷🇸 Serbia: 10% up to €51k, social security based on a fixed taxable base.
🇦🇱 Albania: 0% up to €80k, then 5% on the difference.
🇺🇦 Ukraine: 5% plus a flat fee, free healthcare.
🇭🇺 Hungary: 15% flat income tax, 9% corporate tax. Total can reach 22% in the worst case.
Let me know in the comments below if some of these numbers aren't right, and if you know of some other countries with attractive tax rates for freelance devs!
Remember to include mandatory social security in your calculation.
You can also follow the conversation and check out the comments on this LinkedIn post.
Note: this is NOT tax advice. Always consult with a specialist before making any major decision.
To access extensive crowdsourced data on salaries and saving rates for developers in Europe:
Check out all the numbers in this document.
To learn more about what these numbers are about, check out this article.
For some analytics calculated on these numbers, check out this paragraph.
And if you want to contribute yourself (anonymously of course), here’s the link to the Google Form.
What I’ve noticed working on Euro Top Tech Jobs, networking with devs in Europe and in my coaching program
Making six figures remotely as a dev in 2025 is entirely possible.
For instance, I keep meeting developers making $100-200k fully remotely in Europe.
Some of them are ex-FAANG, some of them are not.
Many of them have optimised their taxes to under 15%.
Most of them live in LCOL places.
All have great WLB and flexible work conditions.
All of them have solid enough professional profiles and savings to give them security.
Most of them are senior+.
All of them could shoot for 300k+ careers in places like Zurich, London or Amsterdam. But they prefer this remote option.
Most of them work for “younger” companies, usually well funded startups and scaleups. (the likes you would find in Euro Top Tech Jobs).
These companies are remote. They’re capitalising on engineers’ demand for flexibility, and poaching talent from FAANG.
Some of them work in AI/LLM, some in Distributed Systems, some in Crypto, some as Full-Stack engineers.
Their tech stack is (in order of popularity):
TypeScript: used very often, especially for product companies
Python: growing in popularity, its usage is tightly correlated with the explosion of ML/LLM startups
Go: very popular as a backend language in modern remote startups
Java: especially popular within companies doing infra/cloud work and with Fortune500/enterprise companies
Rust: quite popular in the Crypto world
Here are some other articles from this newsletter on this topic:
On the appeal of low-cost-of-living countries for devs vs high-cost-of-living ones
On how to strategically think about location-planning in your career
How a remote job from a low-cost low-tax country can reduce layoffs anxiety
Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
Euro Top Tech Jobs: 4000+ top paying tech jobs in Europe in addition to 75+ fully-remote companies paying $100-600k per year and private guides like this one.
Coaching Program: Check it out if you want to work 1:1 with me to boost your career as a dev in Europe or remote.
Just few word about Ukraine. Starting from 1.01.2025 1% of war tax is added. So we will have 6% flat tax. But there is the cap. Cap is counted in the national currency, linked to minimal wage, and depends on the exchange rate. So currently it is 1167*8000/42=$222k.
And don’t get into the trap with free healthcare.
It is, but only on paper.
Bulgaria is amazing for devs. There is a big community and a lot of amazing engineers. Tax is 10% here tho not 9%. Also after pensions, the best health insurance, your total deduction from your gross salary is ~ 18.8%
Meaning, out of a 100k USD/BGN/EUR gross salary, you will get 81K Net salary with health insurance and excluding benefits/bonuses, which aren't taxed.