EU exit tax for freelancers: what actually applies
A 2026 guide to EU exit-tax rules for freelancers — why most exit taxes don't apply to you, what does (deregistration, contributions, VAT), and timing.
Most EU exit-tax content is written for founders with equity. Freelancers read the same content, conclude their exit is terrifying, and put off a move that should be one of the easiest tax changes of their career. The rules reach further than founders, though. France’s Article 167 bis applies to anyone resident for six of the last ten years who holds securities worth more than €800,000, or at least 50% of a company’s profits. Germany’s §6 AStG applies to a stake of at least 1% in any corporation, after seven of the last twelve years of residence. The Dutch conserverende aanslag covers substantial shareholdings but also pension and annuity rights. Belgium has taxed unrealised gains on financial assets on departure since 2026. A freelancer with none of these assets has no exit-tax calculation to make, and the move is mostly paperwork.
This is the version we run with freelancer members going from the EU to Thailand or Paraguay. It is shorter than the founder version because, for most freelancers, the moving parts are smaller.
The freelancer’s actual exit scope
Four things have to close, in roughly this order:
- Business deregistration — your registration as self-employed, or your entry in the country’s business register.
- Social-security cessation — the self-employed scheme, where your country has one.
- VAT close — the cessation, and the last VAT return for the period in which you stop.
- Income-tax return for the year you leave — filed under your country’s rules, which do not always split the year.
For most freelancers there is no exit-tax calculation. The exceptions are large securities portfolios, Dutch pension or annuity savings, Belgian financial assets, and business reserves taxed when the business closes. If one of these applies, a guarantee may be needed when moving outside the EU.
Country-by-country freelancer cessation
The mechanics vary by jurisdiction, but the structure is the same everywhere: deregister the activity, close social contributions, close VAT, and file the income-tax return for the year you leave.
| Country | Close the business | Social security | VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | Cessation on formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr, passed to URSSAF and the tax office | URSSAF: last turnover within 30 days (micro-entrepreneurs), final income within 90 days (other sole traders) | CA3 within 30 days or CA12 within 60 days; CFE reduction from the business tax office |
| Spain | Form 036 deregistration within one month | RETA deregistration through Import@ss | Last form 303; form 390 the following January |
| Germany | Trade: deregistration at the local trade office when you stop; Freiberufler: tell the tax office within one month | No general compulsory scheme; compulsory for listed groups (e.g. artists and publicists through the Künstlersozialkasse) | Annual VAT return within one month after the shortened period ends |
| Netherlands | KVK deregistration, passed on to the Belastingdienst | National insurance runs through income tax and ends when you no longer live or work in the Netherlands; disability insurance is voluntary | Last VAT return when the Belastingdienst writes to say it is due |
| Belgium | Strike-off at the BCE through a business counter | Tell your social insurance fund | Form 604C within the month, through MyMinfin |
| Italy | Professionals: form AA9/12 within 30 days; crafts and trades: ComUnica | INPS Gestione Separata, a professional fund, or the INPS craft and trade schemes | Annual VAT return the following year |
In every country the key date is the day you actually stop: most deadlines run from it, and you keep filing any returns already open. The income-tax return for the year you leave is filed the following year in Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. Belgium is the exception: its special return is due within three months of leaving.
What usually does not apply to a freelancer
A founder reading the leave-country guides on our blog sees an exit-tax section, a bank-guarantee section, a deemed-disposal table, an effective-management discussion of their company. For most freelancers:
- Usually no exit tax on unrealised gains. Without large securities holdings, a 1% stake in a company, Dutch pension or annuity rights or Belgian financial assets, these taxes have nothing to tax. Closing the business can still tax business assets and reserves in the Netherlands (the termination profit and the old-age reserve) and Germany.
- Usually no guarantee. A guarantee is only needed when one of those taxes applies and you move outside the EU — for example, German payment in instalments, or Belgian deferral for a country without a qualifying treaty.
- No company-migration question. There is no company to migrate, so the effective-management arguments that follow founders do not arise.
- No company dividends. No SAS, BV or GmbH, so no withholding on dividends and no treaty-rate question.
What does apply
A few things still need attention. They are smaller than the founder-side work, but they are real.
Retained EU clients. Most freelancers keep one or two EU clients after relocating. You invoice them from your new country. For business clients in the EU, the client normally accounts for the VAT (reverse charge). For consumers in the EU, VAT may still be due in their country, which a seller outside the EU can report through the EU’s non-Union one-stop shop. Whether the client’s country can tax your fees depends on the treaty: the Spain–Thailand treaty generally leaves them to Thailand, but the Spain–Paraguay treaty lets Spain tax income Paraguay does not tax.
Permanent establishment risk. If you keep returning to your old country and working from a fixed base — your former office, a relative’s house used as a regular workspace — the tax authority can argue that part of the income belongs there. The fix: when you travel back, do so as a visitor, not a re-installed local worker. Genuine remote work from the destination is what the file needs to show.
CSG/CRDS in France. For non-residents, France charges CSG/CRDS on French rental income and French property gains; people insured in another EEA country or Switzerland are exempt. Fees from French clients are not among the income it lists. If you keep French property, budget for it.
Box 3 in the Netherlands. Dutch property stays taxable in the Netherlands after you leave. Letting it does not move it out of box 3: you report its WOZ value (a lower percentage if the tenant has rent protection), not the rent. Selling it is the only way to end the liability.
The 8–12 week timeline
Most freelancer exits run faster than founder exits because the moving parts are smaller. The CERØ freelancer exit calendar:
- Week 1. Diagnosis call. We map the self-employment structure, social-security scheme, VAT status, retained EU clients and timing.
- Weeks 1–4. Destination visa file in parallel. DTV application or Paraguay cédula. Bank account opened. Real lease secured.
- Weeks 4–6. Business deregistration filed. Social-security cessation notified. VAT cessation submitted.
- Weeks 6–8. Deregister where you live: the municipality in the Netherlands and Germany, your commune in Belgium, the town-hall register and a new tax address on form 036 in Spain.
- Weeks 8–10. Departure.
- Belgium: within 3 months of leaving. Special income-tax return.
- Following year. Income-tax return for the year you leave (Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy), and the Thai or Paraguayan tax-residency certificate.
For most freelancers, this is the entire exit. There is no parallel exit-tax track to coordinate.
Why the freelancer exit suits Thailand and Paraguay
Thailand’s DTV visa was designed with remote workers and freelancers in mind, so the visa and the freelancer’s work profile line up. Its tax side needs more care than the marketing suggests. A Thai tax resident’s foreign income is taxed when it is brought into Thailand, so money kept abroad stays outside Thai tax until you bring it in. But the DTV carries no tax exemption, and pay for work done while physically in Thailand can be Thai-source income, taxable whether or not it is brought in. Plan that before you move.
Paraguay’s cédula offers permanent residency in 60–90 days with no minimum-day requirement to maintain it. For Spanish-speaking freelancers, Paraguay is structurally the cleanest territorial answer — it taxes only Paraguayan-source income, with no remittance rule. Check where your work counts as performed, and your old country’s treaty with Paraguay. The trade-offs are language (Spanish only) and banking friction (slower than Thailand).
For the destination details, see our Thailand and Paraguay pages, or run the tax comparison tool to compare your current effective rate against the destination scenarios.
Where to go from here
If you want to see your effective rate change against your specific income, the tax calculator covers Thailand. The tax comparison covers 10 countries side by side.
If you want to read the country-specific exit guides (in case you have any equity overlap), see France, Germany, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium.
If you want the free diagnosis call directly, book it here. For most freelancers, the call confirms the exit is mechanical, the destination match is clear, and the 8–12 week calendar fits your circumstances. Most freelancers leave the call with a written plan they can act on the same week.
CERØ handles the DTV visa, Thai tax residency setup and your home-country exit — end to end. Talk to the team about your specific numbers.
CERØ handles the cédula, Paraguayan tax setup and your EU exit — from paperwork to touchdown. Talk to the team about whether Paraguay fits your structure.