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Tax & Structure
Transfer taxes, annual property taxes, capital gains, inheritance, rental income, treaties and residency rules — explained as mechanisms, with rates only where an official source states them.
By Thomas Lovas Lokoy, Co-founder & Editor · Updated 28 September 2026
A home abroad is taxed at five moments — when you buy it, every year you hold it, when you let it, when you sell it and when you die — and usually by two countries at once. Almost every costly surprise comes from treating those moments separately. The articles here take them one at a time and then put them back together, with rates only where an official source states them.
For the rates in a particular country, the market dossiers set out the current transfer, holding and sale taxes with a link to each official page.
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Tax & Structure
Tax-Efficient Property Ownership: Personal Name, Company or Trust
How property held in your own name, through a company, in a trust or in a foundation is taxed — what recent rule changes closed, and the current figures from the official pages that publish them.
7 min read · Updated 30 September 2026
Everything in Tax & Structure
Private Banking for Real Estate Investors: How the Lending Works
What a private bank actually offers a property buyer — mortgages underwritten on wealth rather than salary, lombard credit, multi-currency loans — and the conditions that decide what that credit really costs.
Property Tax: What You Are Actually Being Taxed On
Almost nobody is taxed on what they paid. They are taxed on an assessed value set by someone else, on a cycle they do not control — and that gap is where the surprises live.
The 183-Day Rule Is Not the Rule
Counting days is the part of tax residency everyone knows and the part that decides least. Two countries can both consider you resident, and neither has to care that you disagree.
Low-Tax Countries: What the Headline Rate Hides
A zero income tax rate tells you about one tax. The total cost of living somewhere is the sum of every charge, and the list of charges is longer in the places that advertise the zero.
How Private Is Property Ownership, Really?
In much of the world, who owns what is a matter of public record and always has been. What is actually private, what is searchable by anyone, and what the transparency registers changed.
Stamp Duty and Transfer Taxes: The Tax You Pay Just for Buying
Transfer taxes are charged on the transaction itself, due at completion, and rarely financeable. They are also the cost most often left out of the budget until it is too late to plan around.
Will I Pay Capital Gains on the Sale of My Overseas Home?
Usually yes — main-residence relief rarely travels to a second property, and an overseas one adds a second country with its own claim. The mechanics that decide the bill, with no rate quoted because rates change.
Inheritance Tax on Property Abroad: The Bill Your Heirs Inherit
Succession tax on foreign property is due where the property sits, often quickly, and usually in cash. An illiquid asset and a short deadline is how families end up selling in a hurry.
Letting It Out: Tax on Rental Income From a Home Abroad
Rental income is taxed where the property sits, usually reported locally, and often taxed again where you live. The gross yield in the brochure is not the number that reaches you.
Taxed Twice on the Same Money? Read the Treaty
When two countries both tax the same income, a treaty decides which one wins and what relief you get. It is the document that governs cross-border ownership, and almost nobody reads it.
The UK Mansion Tax Explained: How the High Value Council Tax Surcharge Will Work
From April 2028, owners of English homes worth £2 million or more face an annual surcharge of £2,500 to £7,500 on top of council tax. The bands, who pays, deferral, exemptions and how to challenge a band.
General information, not advice. Rules, rates and thresholds change, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. Confirm every figure on the official source linked above and take advice from a qualified local lawyer, notary or tax adviser before you commit.