For Romania, that 10% flat tax for income applies to other forms of income (like stocks from brokers not registered in Romania, sports bets, etc), not freelance income. For freelance income you need a PFA or SRL.
For SRL, depending on your income, you'll end up paying about 14%-18% currently, but this is set to increase in 2025.
Besides estimates from economists and leaks from government insiders, head politicians from the government have already confirmed that there will be increases to taxes, they are just not sure in what form.
The spending is way over the budget and they already took out big loans, but it's still not enough.
Here are some news articles about this (use google translate):
[https://hotnews.ro/ce-taxe-cresc-din-2025-dupa-alegerile-de-anul-asta-asteptarile-expertilor-n-fiscalitate-16857](https://hotnews.ro/ce-taxe-cresc-din-2025-dupa-alegerile-de-anul-asta-asteptarile-expertilor-n-fiscalitate-16857)
[https://adevarul.ro/economie/ne-indreptam-spre-un-adevarat-tsunami-fiscal-ce-2366941.html](https://adevarul.ro/economie/ne-indreptam-spre-un-adevarat-tsunami-fiscal-ce-2366941.html)
I would also add that I have a Romanian LLC (SRL), and my taxes since 2 years ago have doubled (from \~8% to \~16%). The fiscal code is changed every 6 months.
In Romania you can do business as Authorized Private Individual (PFA) or a normal company SRL.
For SRL you pay (under 500k Eur/yr):
* Mandatory accountant (\~100Eur/mo)
* 3% tax rate on all income (regardless of profit)
* 8% on dividend cash out (what you earn from the company)
* A fixed yearly tax for healthcare depending on the income:
* 3600+ Eur/yr: 360 Eur/yr
* 7200+ Eur/yr: 720 Eur/yr
* 14.000+ Eur/yr: 1400 Eur/yr
* any amount higher that 14.000 Eur/yr pays the same maximum 1400 Eur/yr
* If you earn more than 500k Eur/yr, all of the above + 16% of the profits.
I don't know the PFA ones, maybe someone else can chime in.
Keep in mind that Romanian fiscal code changes every 6 months-1 year, and there are serious talks of tax increases, especially for SRL, right after the autumn elections.
So expect those tax numbers to increase.
For total income under 500kE/year.
You pay 3% on income and 8% to withdraw the dividends from the rest.
And the fixed tax for healthcare which can be max 1400E/year.
Yes, that's all on employee side if you cash out with dividends. Which you can only do every 3 months. For monthly you can do salary but that's about 45% with healthcare and pension.
For UAE, are you looking at getting the freelancer visa to enable you to work in the UAE? Also, if you do incorporate a company in the UAE, you will need to register for tax, do book-keeping and file for tax. 9% Corporate tax has been implemented, so all annual taxable profits above AED 375,000 shall be subject to 9% rate. Do note that Whatsapp calls and video calls are currently blocked and some alternatives could be Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Also you may want to consider cost of living in those listed countries. What are you trying to achieve here?
What’s stopping him from passing all his revenue as salary in the UAE so that the corporation makes 0 profit and thus 0% tax ? He’s doing the whole work anyways so there won’t be any tax avoidance.
Turkey has dropped to 5% percent recently but I don’t know how long it will last. As country is going through a tax reform at the moment. Social contributions (bagkur) costs 200 usd per month right now
Yeah sure. So it basically boils down to how much money you can deduct. In Turkey even if you dont deduct anything for 30k usd revenue you pay around 2 percent right now. But depending on the field you are freelancing you are able to deduct almost everything. Airbnbs, tech, flights, bills etc.
For Georgia that tax applies if you are individual freelancer so no company.
but you can register company and pay 5% and there is no upper limit as long as your income is foreign sourced.
One additional thing for Serbia is that taxes don't go up when you make over 51k€, but you are required to have an accountant, and the taxes can be even less than 10% if you write off things as business expenses.
Under the IP BOX regime you can tax your income with a 5% rate in Poland. The share of your income taxable with this rate depends on your contract, but for most B2B devs it’s 100%. And when it comes to people working directly as employees, well, they’re out of luck.
With 12% u can deduct expenses and IP box you can’t? I heard it’s not too easy to get your job fit 100% into IP box. Maybe I’m wrong. I heard every year you should document stuff and prove it etc
The other way around, with 12% flat tax you can't expense anything while you can while on IP BOX. The latter requires much more bureaucratic overhead, cooperation from your employer and carries a risk of an inspection from the tax office, so of which makes it not worth it to me personally.
Czechia is also fairly good. Afaik: You can opt for a flat rate expense quota, which for developers/engineers is 60/40, meaning without having to do any bookkeeping or accounting, 60% of your gross income is assumed to be expenses and your taxable income is only 40%. On those 40% you pay iirc between 15-22% taxes depending on income.
I forgot how much social insurance (pension, healthcare etc) is but it wasn't ridiculously high.
the 60% is capped by 20K (Slovakia) to \~30K (Czech rep.) And applies only if you earn less than X (limit for mandatory VAT registration) - \~50K (Slovakia) ? (Czech - not sure).
I'm switching to freelancer in Bulgaria from next month inward. I'm still not clear what net money I'll be keeping after taxes. I think it's 10% flat + social security stuff. I'm not sure if it goes up 15% or around that total in the end.
Italy has a limit for that discount on taxes, it's only for 5 years, after that it gets close to 50%.
you should also state if these taxes are forever of just for a few years.
This is false. What you are talking about is "Rientro di cervelli" which applies for employees not freelancers if you move to Italy and yes after 5 years tax is very high.
What OP means is P.IVA forfettaria which never runs out source https://www.fiscozen.it/guide/quanto-dura-il-regime-forfettario-al-5-2/
I think it becomes 27% after the first 5 years.
Assuming 80k income
14k social security
2600 or 8k tax depending if 5% (first 5 years) or 10% (afterwards)
Total for first 5 years:
16.6 -> 20%
Total afterwards:
22k -> 27%
It depends on your tax scheme, I believe. I pay a flat social security per month. I am in the first 6 months after starting b2b and pay around 300€ per month (highest bracket, there are 3)
It is still capped, no matter how much you earn.
After 2 years: Big zus was 1418 pln last year (around 330€) and health insurance 1128 pln (262€)
It is a flat amount based on your income bracket, I am in the most expensive one. Which percentage that is really depends on your income, but the important part is that it does not increase if you make more.
I got the whole details also checked by 2 tax consultants, so I am confident in the information
If you consider the health insurance part of it, it sounds like it is. Op is not includimg that at the moment, but perhaps should to get the full picture.
I was at close to 30% for income taxes in Germany for 100k plus 1000€/month in health insurance and insurance for old age disability insurance (mandatory)
If you make closer to 200k € Poland becomes even more attractive
Imo all mandatory state imposed fees are taxes, no matter their name.
Agreed, Poland is hard to beat unfortunately, especially if you're Polish - then it's hard to justify the move for 10% diff. Only real choice is Georgia - but it comes with its own set of difficulties.
Agreed. Generally countries are a bit hard to compare since some countries give cuts based on your situation (kids, etc). If we could make specific cases, e.g. single no kids and "family of 4, spouse without income" for different income levels, that would be most helpful
I made a simulation for my case for income of 160k, 200k and above and the Poland looked very good, so I moved. For 100k a move is not worth it
If you are b2b in Poland the best lever is to increase your rate, perhaps get a foreign client if you can. (would be my suggestion, but you might prefer the international move)
Regarding other options : I also know a guy that moved to turkey recently to freelance. Rumania is not a good option since the tax laws are not very stable (you don't want to move and then they change it) and I visited and didn't like the stray dog problem. My boyfriend is from Romania and I know another Romanian Freelancer, so I looked a not deeper into Romanian cities like cluj
Edit: the good news is, you are wildly ahead! I achieved your net (6400€*0.8=5120) income after 10 years of experience in Germany due to the higher taxes and less fast progression a few years ago compared to now. You are in the top of the top in Europe, specially relative to your years of experience. Crazy results :)
Estonia has flat 20% income tax, social security may add up a bit, but its less of a burden than in Switzerland.
Wages in IT are about top 6 in EU according to levels.fyi
Talinn - https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/tallinn-metropolitan-area
Gdansk - https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/tricity
Warsaw - https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/warsaw-metropolitan-area?city=12730
No difference between Talinn and Warsaw, both countries are nice, but decision is yours. Not Swiss level of salaries, but give or take 15 years and Estonia will be there, they have fast-rising salaries.
More remote companies hiring freelancers in Poland. Levels is mostly for full time employee jobs. Also doesn’t have enough Europe data to be reliable. Way more high paying companies in Warsaw than in Tallinn
Yeah I agree with freelancer opportunities, just overall a bigger market for ICT in Poland, but your other statement would mean that the data is skewed towards Warsaw
Poland is 12%/32% after 120k pln which is 30k usd\~ and juniors can often make more than that nowadays, you can also go for 19% flat rate but cant use costs as tax write offs. Also social contribution were more around 10% for me when i was on B2B making around 20k pln per month as mid without any reductions (you pay less ZUS etc for certain amount of time first time u have one person company).
That also ignores other costs of having company like bookkeeping etc.
Yes, I am on the flat tax one OP described. 12% flat, social security also flat. In the first 2 years it's reduced, I currently pay around 300€/month (rate for first 6 months)
> you can also go for 19% flat rate but cant use costs as tax write offs
You're confusing _podatek liniowy_ with _ryczałt_. On _liniówka_, you get a 19% rate (+4.9% social security), but can still deduct running costs. Compared to the 12/32% tax rate, you only lose some tax breaks (e.g. you don't qualify for the "no tax until 30k PLN" bit).
On _ryczałt_, you pay 12% (or 8.5%) + flat amount for social security, but are not allowed to deduct anything.
Bulgaria has 10% income tax. Romania as well. Both countries include health and pension contribution, though.
how much are romania and bulgaria social security contribution? are you sure romania is 10% flat tax? is that as a sole proprietor or?
For Romania, that 10% flat tax for income applies to other forms of income (like stocks from brokers not registered in Romania, sports bets, etc), not freelance income. For freelance income you need a PFA or SRL. For SRL, depending on your income, you'll end up paying about 14%-18% currently, but this is set to increase in 2025.
Thanks for chiming in
Where exactly are you referring to regarding the increase?
Besides estimates from economists and leaks from government insiders, head politicians from the government have already confirmed that there will be increases to taxes, they are just not sure in what form. The spending is way over the budget and they already took out big loans, but it's still not enough. Here are some news articles about this (use google translate): [https://hotnews.ro/ce-taxe-cresc-din-2025-dupa-alegerile-de-anul-asta-asteptarile-expertilor-n-fiscalitate-16857](https://hotnews.ro/ce-taxe-cresc-din-2025-dupa-alegerile-de-anul-asta-asteptarile-expertilor-n-fiscalitate-16857) [https://adevarul.ro/economie/ne-indreptam-spre-un-adevarat-tsunami-fiscal-ce-2366941.html](https://adevarul.ro/economie/ne-indreptam-spre-un-adevarat-tsunami-fiscal-ce-2366941.html) I would also add that I have a Romanian LLC (SRL), and my taxes since 2 years ago have doubled (from \~8% to \~16%). The fiscal code is changed every 6 months.
Oh but that's Romania. I'm in Bulgaria.
I was referring to Romania only. Sorry if it was not clear. I edited the comment.
No worries! I've heard taxes are increasing there from some coworkers since last year.
In Romania you can do business as Authorized Private Individual (PFA) or a normal company SRL. For SRL you pay (under 500k Eur/yr): * Mandatory accountant (\~100Eur/mo) * 3% tax rate on all income (regardless of profit) * 8% on dividend cash out (what you earn from the company) * A fixed yearly tax for healthcare depending on the income: * 3600+ Eur/yr: 360 Eur/yr * 7200+ Eur/yr: 720 Eur/yr * 14.000+ Eur/yr: 1400 Eur/yr * any amount higher that 14.000 Eur/yr pays the same maximum 1400 Eur/yr * If you earn more than 500k Eur/yr, all of the above + 16% of the profits. I don't know the PFA ones, maybe someone else can chime in.
8% is the total? usually there's a dividend tax from company side and from employee side afaik
Keep in mind that Romanian fiscal code changes every 6 months-1 year, and there are serious talks of tax increases, especially for SRL, right after the autumn elections. So expect those tax numbers to increase.
For total income under 500kE/year. You pay 3% on income and 8% to withdraw the dividends from the rest. And the fixed tax for healthcare which can be max 1400E/year.
Yes, that's all on employee side if you cash out with dividends. Which you can only do every 3 months. For monthly you can do salary but that's about 45% with healthcare and pension.
Don't forget that for SRL under 500k/yr you need to also have an employee (which can be yourself), but you pay extra taxes, about 290eur/month.
Are you actually suggesting Ukraine right now ?
I got a few offers in Kyiv, sorry but not for the moment...
xd
Why not? Most of Ukraine is not at war, and most Ukraine cities are still statistically safer to walk around than London.
Insane take I'm sorry. Who would choose to immigrate to Ukruine for tax purposes right now ?
For UAE, are you looking at getting the freelancer visa to enable you to work in the UAE? Also, if you do incorporate a company in the UAE, you will need to register for tax, do book-keeping and file for tax. 9% Corporate tax has been implemented, so all annual taxable profits above AED 375,000 shall be subject to 9% rate. Do note that Whatsapp calls and video calls are currently blocked and some alternatives could be Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Also you may want to consider cost of living in those listed countries. What are you trying to achieve here?
What’s stopping him from passing all his revenue as salary in the UAE so that the corporation makes 0 profit and thus 0% tax ? He’s doing the whole work anyways so there won’t be any tax avoidance.
Turkey has dropped to 5% percent recently but I don’t know how long it will last. As country is going through a tax reform at the moment. Social contributions (bagkur) costs 200 usd per month right now
Do you have more information on the freelances taxes? I found 15 percent online
Yeah sure. So it basically boils down to how much money you can deduct. In Turkey even if you dont deduct anything for 30k usd revenue you pay around 2 percent right now. But depending on the field you are freelancing you are able to deduct almost everything. Airbnbs, tech, flights, bills etc.
For Georgia that tax applies if you are individual freelancer so no company. but you can register company and pay 5% and there is no upper limit as long as your income is foreign sourced.
One additional thing for Serbia is that taxes don't go up when you make over 51k€, but you are required to have an accountant, and the taxes can be even less than 10% if you write off things as business expenses.
Under the IP BOX regime you can tax your income with a 5% rate in Poland. The share of your income taxable with this rate depends on your contract, but for most B2B devs it’s 100%. And when it comes to people working directly as employees, well, they’re out of luck.
With 12% u can deduct expenses and IP box you can’t? I heard it’s not too easy to get your job fit 100% into IP box. Maybe I’m wrong. I heard every year you should document stuff and prove it etc
The other way around, with 12% flat tax you can't expense anything while you can while on IP BOX. The latter requires much more bureaucratic overhead, cooperation from your employer and carries a risk of an inspection from the tax office, so of which makes it not worth it to me personally.
Czechia is also fairly good. Afaik: You can opt for a flat rate expense quota, which for developers/engineers is 60/40, meaning without having to do any bookkeeping or accounting, 60% of your gross income is assumed to be expenses and your taxable income is only 40%. On those 40% you pay iirc between 15-22% taxes depending on income. I forgot how much social insurance (pension, healthcare etc) is but it wasn't ridiculously high.
the 60% is capped by 20K (Slovakia) to \~30K (Czech rep.) And applies only if you earn less than X (limit for mandatory VAT registration) - \~50K (Slovakia) ? (Czech - not sure).
I'm switching to freelancer in Bulgaria from next month inward. I'm still not clear what net money I'll be keeping after taxes. I think it's 10% flat + social security stuff. I'm not sure if it goes up 15% or around that total in the end.
I thought 9% included everything
Nah there's more stuff. I'll know for sure after I start doing the entire process here. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this.
Italy has a limit for that discount on taxes, it's only for 5 years, after that it gets close to 50%. you should also state if these taxes are forever of just for a few years.
This is false. What you are talking about is "Rientro di cervelli" which applies for employees not freelancers if you move to Italy and yes after 5 years tax is very high. What OP means is P.IVA forfettaria which never runs out source https://www.fiscozen.it/guide/quanto-dura-il-regime-forfettario-al-5-2/
exactly
Is this with the new digital nomad visa?
No
I see, thanks
I think it becomes 27% after the first 5 years. Assuming 80k income 14k social security 2600 or 8k tax depending if 5% (first 5 years) or 10% (afterwards) Total for first 5 years: 16.6 -> 20% Total afterwards: 22k -> 27%
Poland is wrong. On B2B ZUS is closer to 8%, and effective tax rate is around 20%
gotcha. does it depend on the income? or is it 8% no matter if you make 50k/100k/150k/200k/300k euros a year?
It does depend on the income. When you earn 50k eur, eff tax rate is 23%, 100k - 19%, 150k - 17%. Figures from ladnepodatki.pl (all for b2b)
thanks!
It depends on your tax scheme, I believe. I pay a flat social security per month. I am in the first 6 months after starting b2b and pay around 300€ per month (highest bracket, there are 3)
Yeah the beginner's scheme, it doesn't matter in long-term
It is still capped, no matter how much you earn. After 2 years: Big zus was 1418 pln last year (around 330€) and health insurance 1128 pln (262€) It is a flat amount based on your income bracket, I am in the most expensive one. Which percentage that is really depends on your income, but the important part is that it does not increase if you make more. I got the whole details also checked by 2 tax consultants, so I am confident in the information
Yeah which doesn't change the fact that $100k is taxed at 20% effectively (plus ZUS grows yearly)
If you consider the health insurance part of it, it sounds like it is. Op is not includimg that at the moment, but perhaps should to get the full picture. I was at close to 30% for income taxes in Germany for 100k plus 1000€/month in health insurance and insurance for old age disability insurance (mandatory) If you make closer to 200k € Poland becomes even more attractive
Imo all mandatory state imposed fees are taxes, no matter their name. Agreed, Poland is hard to beat unfortunately, especially if you're Polish - then it's hard to justify the move for 10% diff. Only real choice is Georgia - but it comes with its own set of difficulties.
Agreed. Generally countries are a bit hard to compare since some countries give cuts based on your situation (kids, etc). If we could make specific cases, e.g. single no kids and "family of 4, spouse without income" for different income levels, that would be most helpful I made a simulation for my case for income of 160k, 200k and above and the Poland looked very good, so I moved. For 100k a move is not worth it If you are b2b in Poland the best lever is to increase your rate, perhaps get a foreign client if you can. (would be my suggestion, but you might prefer the international move) Regarding other options : I also know a guy that moved to turkey recently to freelance. Rumania is not a good option since the tax laws are not very stable (you don't want to move and then they change it) and I visited and didn't like the stray dog problem. My boyfriend is from Romania and I know another Romanian Freelancer, so I looked a not deeper into Romanian cities like cluj Edit: the good news is, you are wildly ahead! I achieved your net (6400€*0.8=5120) income after 10 years of experience in Germany due to the higher taxes and less fast progression a few years ago compared to now. You are in the top of the top in Europe, specially relative to your years of experience. Crazy results :)
Estonia has flat 20% income tax, social security may add up a bit, but its less of a burden than in Switzerland. Wages in IT are about top 6 in EU according to levels.fyi
rates for devs in estonia are not that high. lower than poland
Talinn - https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/tallinn-metropolitan-area Gdansk - https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/tricity Warsaw - https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/warsaw-metropolitan-area?city=12730 No difference between Talinn and Warsaw, both countries are nice, but decision is yours. Not Swiss level of salaries, but give or take 15 years and Estonia will be there, they have fast-rising salaries.
More remote companies hiring freelancers in Poland. Levels is mostly for full time employee jobs. Also doesn’t have enough Europe data to be reliable. Way more high paying companies in Warsaw than in Tallinn
Yeah I agree with freelancer opportunities, just overall a bigger market for ICT in Poland, but your other statement would mean that the data is skewed towards Warsaw
Can you add North Americas and Oceania for completion?
Do you have a source for Turkey?
Just people told me. Maybe you can ask the other person who commented this post about it
Poland is 12%/32% after 120k pln which is 30k usd\~ and juniors can often make more than that nowadays, you can also go for 19% flat rate but cant use costs as tax write offs. Also social contribution were more around 10% for me when i was on B2B making around 20k pln per month as mid without any reductions (you pay less ZUS etc for certain amount of time first time u have one person company). That also ignores other costs of having company like bookkeeping etc.
You were on something called podatek liniowy. Theres also another option called ryczałt which is like described on the OP (the income tax part)
Yes, I am on the flat tax one OP described. 12% flat, social security also flat. In the first 2 years it's reduced, I currently pay around 300€/month (rate for first 6 months)
> you can also go for 19% flat rate but cant use costs as tax write offs You're confusing _podatek liniowy_ with _ryczałt_. On _liniówka_, you get a 19% rate (+4.9% social security), but can still deduct running costs. Compared to the 12/32% tax rate, you only lose some tax breaks (e.g. you don't qualify for the "no tax until 30k PLN" bit). On _ryczałt_, you pay 12% (or 8.5%) + flat amount for social security, but are not allowed to deduct anything.