One freelance income, every country we cover, and what is left once income tax and social contributions are paid.
On €80,000 a year, Italy leaves you the most, but only on Regime forfettario: new business, 5% for five years, which you would have to qualify for. Switch to rules open to anyone to compare without it.
Italy
€54,04568% of it kept
Most left of the countries we cover
On Regime forfettario: new business, 5% for five years, the best of 5 we checked
Only if you confirm: Available for 5 tax years in total; Italian tax residence, or EU/EEA residence with at least 75% of your worldwide income arising in Italy (comma 57, lett. b)
Assumes deductible business expenses: €10,000, what you do: Other activities, including IT and software (ATECO 62-63, and anything not listed above), region: Lombardy (Milan)
On Regime simplificado (category B), the best of 2 we checked
Assumes deductible business expenses: €10,000, what you do: Professional services (activities on the art. 151.º CIRS list), national rules, no region selected
Same amount in every country, converted to euros. Each card is the cheapest legal way that
country lets you be taxed on it, and says which one that is.
How these numbers are worked out
Every card runs the same amount through the tax rules of that country for 2026: income
tax, any regional or municipal surcharge, and the social contributions that come with this
kind of income. Nothing is a headline rate. The number you see is what is left.
Where a country lets you be taxed in more than one way, we calculate every option you are
allowed on that amount and show the best one, named on the card. This matters more than it
sounds: taking the first regime listed in each country's rules would rank countries by the
order of their paperwork rather than by their tax. A regime with a revenue ceiling drops out
of the comparison by itself once you go above it.
What the machine cannot check, it does not assume quietly. Age, profession, whether this is
your first year of residence: if a regime rests on something like that, the card says so and
you decide whether it applies to you. Switch to rules open to anyone to
remove those regimes from the comparison entirely.
Each card also lists what it assumed about you beyond the amount, and links to the full
calculator for that country, where every one of those assumptions is editable and the whole
breakdown is shown line by line, with sources.
This calculator is for information only and is not tax advice. Rates and thresholds
change; check the methodology page for sources and
verification dates, and confirm your own situation with a qualified adviser.