Which EU Countries Are Tightening Tax Oversight for Migrants in 2025?

European countries in 2025 are significantly tightening tax controls concerning migrants – from wealthy investors and digital nomads to labor migrants and expats. As the number of mobile workers and investors grows, governments are seeking to curb tax evasion, balance the burden between residents and newcomers, and respond to political pressures from society. For example, in countries like Portugal, migrants already make up a significant share of taxpayers (around 14% of all tax residents) and make a considerable contribution to the state budget. This pushes authorities to ensure that everyone who enjoys the benefits of living in the country pays their fair share of taxes. Below, we look at the specific measures being implemented by different EU countries for various categories of migrants in 2025 and the goals behind them.

Investors and High-Net-Worth Migrants

Spain and Portugal have decided to revise favorable regimes for migrant investors. In Spain, as of April 2025, the “golden visa” program has been entirely abolished – residency in exchange for significant investments, primarily in real estate. Over the 12 years of this program, tens of thousands of wealthy foreigners obtained residency permits by investing from €500,000 in property. However, the Spanish government concluded that the program was heating up the real estate market and making housing less accessible for local residents. Now, investing in real estate no longer grants the automatic right to residency in Spain, effectively closing this loophole for wealthy migrants.

At the same time, investors still have other relocation pathways available, but they no longer receive tax benefits. Portugal is experiencing a similar trend. Since 2024, the country has stopped accepting applications for the popular Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) tax regime, which granted new foreign residents significant tax holidays (a preferential 20% rate on income from high-skilled activities and almost complete exemption from taxes on foreign income and pensions). The government considered NHR a form of “tax injustice” and decided to abolish it.

As a result, from 2025, foreigners moving to Portugal will no longer be able to obtain the 10-year tax-exempt NHR status. Instead, a narrower regime is planned, targeting only the attraction of talented professionals in strategic sectors – for example, scientists, engineers, and academics. Tax benefits for salary income may be restored for these groups, but exemptions for passive income (dividends, rental income, foreign pensions) will be excluded.

At the same time, in 2023, Portugal also rolled back its golden visa scheme for real estate, similarly citing the fight against the housing crisis as justification.

Italy, in 2024, changed the conditions for wealthy migrants benefiting from the flat tax regime. Previously, affluent foreigners (including sports stars and millionaires) moving to Italy could pay a fixed €100,000 annually on all foreign income instead of the full progressive tax rate. This attracted thousands of millionaires – for example, this “football star regime” was one of the reasons Cristiano Ronaldo was enticed to move to Turin. However, under public pressure and to increase revenue for the state budget, the Italian government decided to double this flat tax to €200,000 per year.

Starting from the 2024 tax year, new participants in the program are required to pay more, meaning the flat tax has become less advantageous for wealthy migrants. Those who managed to enter the old regime earlier retain the €100,000 rate (they are “grandfathered” under the old conditions), but the influx of new wealthy residents will likely decrease. The goal of this measure is to make ultra-wealthy foreigners pay taxes more proportionate to their real income and to respond to local residents’ dissatisfaction over rising prices in major cities due to the influx of wealthy individuals.

Digital Nomads and Freelancers

EU countries have been actively attracting digital nomads – remote workers and entrepreneurs – offering special visas and sometimes tax incentives. However, by 2025, there is growing recognition that these mobile professionals should also fall under the scrutiny of tax authorities. In Spain, since 2023, a special digital nomad visa has been in effect along with the expanded “Beckham Law,” allowing new foreign workers to pay a flat 24% tax on Spanish income (instead of the progressive rate of up to 47%). This was introduced to attract entrepreneurs, IT specialists, and start-up founders. However, simultaneously, Spanish authorities are tightening control over the foreign income of residents. The 2025 tax reform introduced stricter reporting requirements for foreign income and assets for those who spend a significant amount of time in Spain.

Now, expats and remote workers who are tax residents in Spain are required to declare their global income in much greater detail; otherwise, they risk facing penalties. Effectively, Spain is closing loopholes that previously allowed digital nomads to earn worldwide income while living in Spain without paying taxes there on their foreign profits. Additionally, from 2026, Spanish banks and payment systems will begin automatically transmitting data on residents’ (including foreigners’) accounts and transactions to the tax authorities as part of a new “fiscal control plan.” This means that any significant movement of money through a Spanish resident’s accounts or cards will be visible to the tax authorities, even if the income is formally received abroad. Thus, digital nomads in Spain will need to carefully monitor their tax status to avoid unexpected tax assessments.

It’s not only Spain that’s focusing on remote workers. Germany, in 2025, is advancing a new digital services tax – a 10% levy on revenue from large tech corporations earned through advertising shown to German users. Although this directly affects multinational giants, indirectly, the increased taxation on the digital economy will also impact small online businesses relied upon by digital nomads (advertising costs may rise, and platforms might pass on the costs).

More broadly, the European Union is implementing unified rules for the exchange of tax information on income from online platforms. Since 2023, the DAC7 directive has been in force, obliging platforms (from Airbnb to Upwork) to report user earnings to tax authorities. This means that freelancers earning through digital platforms are now “transparent” to EU tax authorities – data on their earnings is automatically transmitted to the countries where they are tax residents. By 2025, most EU countries have already implemented these mechanisms, making tax evasion significantly more difficult for “digital migrants.” For example, if a foreign courier or programmer works in an EU country through an app, tax authorities can learn about their income even without a personal audit. It’s worth noting that some countries, on the contrary, have introduced tax incentives to attract remote workers (like Greece, with a 50% income tax discount for new foreign residents for seven years, or Italy, with its planned digital nomad visa). However, the general trend for 2025 is that even while maintaining preferential rates to attract talent, governments are increasing the monitoring of actual income for remote workers. Tax authorities are becoming increasingly vigilant in tracking how much time such specialists actually spend in the country (using border crossing data, bank account activity, etc.) to determine whether they should be classified as tax residents and taxed on their global income.

Revisions of Special Regimes for Expats

Another category consists of corporate expats and highly qualified specialists who are transferred by companies to work in their EU offices or whom countries try to attract with incentives. Previously, many countries offered generous tax regimes to offset high taxes for foreign specialists. Now, these regimes are being revised and are often being curtailed or restricted. For example, Belgium was famous for its old system of tax exemptions for foreign expats, which had been in place since the 1980s: a significant portion of the salary could remain untaxed if the person held the status of a “foreign executive employee.” As of 2022, Belgium abolished this informal status and introduced a new “special regime for inbound taxpayers,” but with clear conditions: a salary of at least €75,000 per year, a maximum duration of five years (with an option for a three-year extension), and a strictly limited amount that can be paid tax-free (up to 30% of the salary but not exceeding ~€90,000). By 2024, the transition period ended, and all expats in Belgium are now taxed under the new rules. Although the new regime offers more legal certainty, it is far less beneficial for high-earning professionals than the previous one.

Many expats have faced an increased tax burden, and the government is thus reducing revenue shortfalls. (Notably, in 2025, Belgium considered easing the conditions of the new regime – lowering the salary threshold to €70,000 – to regain attractiveness for scarce specialists. Nevertheless, the era of generous tax exemptions is over.) The Netherlands has also reduced the scope of its popular benefit – the so-called “30% ruling,” under which highly skilled foreigners could receive 30% of their salary tax-free as compensation for relocation costs. Previously, this benefit could be used for five years regardless of income level, and expats even had the right not to become tax residents for investment income purposes (the so-called partial non-resident status, allowing them to avoid Dutch tax on interest, dividends, etc.). Starting in 2024, the government introduced a cap on the application of the 30% ruling: it now applies only to the portion of the salary up to ~€216,000 per year, and income above this threshold is taxed at the full rate. And from 2025, the partial non-resident status for new expats has been abolished: all foreigners who receive the 30% benefit from 2024 onwards are now considered full tax residents of the Netherlands.

This means they will have to declare both their worldwide passive income and foreign assets in the Netherlands, whereas previously, they could avoid doing so. Essentially, the Netherlands has closed the loophole that allowed many wealthy expats to keep assets abroad outside the scope of taxation. Although the 30% discount itself remains in place (and will even become 27% after 2026), its attractiveness for the highest salaries has diminished, and the coverage of foreign residents under tax law has expanded. France and Ireland still offer “impatriation” programs (temporary tax relief for relocating specialists), but even there, authorities are paying increased attention to preventing abuse of these benefits. For instance, the French impatriate regime provides a 50% exemption from tax on foreign income for eight years, but French authorities actively exchange information with other countries about accounts and assets to check whether new residents are hiding additional income abroad. Overall, the trend across the EU is the reduction of tax-free niches for expats. Special regimes remain, but their duration is limited, thresholds are tightened, and tax authorities closely monitor compliance with criteria.

Labor Migrants and Anti-Evasion Measures

The category of labor migrants – foreigners who come to work under employment contracts or in search of income – has also come under increased scrutiny from fiscal authorities. The main objective here is to bring informal earnings out of the shadows and prevent tax evasion by those working in the country. In Eastern Europe, where the influx of workers from third countries (such as Ukrainians, Belarusians, and people from Asian countries) has surged in recent years, authorities have faced a problem: many foreigners register as self-employed (individual entrepreneurs) and work in sectors like delivery, taxi services, and construction, but some fail to declare their income or leave the country without paying taxes. For instance, in Lithuania, the tax authority discovered in 2023 that out of approximately 15,800 foreign “individual entrepreneurs,” about 2,200 did not file tax declarations or pay due taxes, and another 3,300 ignored paying VAT, even though they were required to declare it.

Most violators were taxi drivers and delivery couriers among migrants. In 2024–2025, Lithuanian authorities developed measures to address the situation. Firstly, they required aggregator platforms (such as Wolt and Bolt) to provide monthly data to the tax authorities on the income of all foreign couriers and drivers.

Secondly, a rule was introduced that if a foreign driver accumulates tax debt, their license (permit) to work as a driver will be revoked until the debt is paid off.

Additionally, there is discussion about obliging foreign self-employed individuals to pay monthly tax advances to prevent debts from accumulating by the end of the year, and measures are being considered to prevent habitual tax evaders from leaving the country without settling their tax obligations. Although completely blocking the exit of debtors is difficult, Lithuania is clearly signaling to migrants that working without paying taxes threatens the loss of permits and other sanctions. Poland, as of June 1, 2025, implemented a major reform of immigration and labor legislation, in which significant importance is attached to the financial integrity of both employers and employees. Now, companies hiring foreigners must undergo strict checks: they will be prohibited from obtaining work permits for migrants if the employer has tax debts or social security arrears.

Furthermore, a company must prove the legality of its business, timely submit employment contracts, and pay foreign workers a salary no lower than the regional market average. These measures are aimed at combating fictitious companies that previously could “buy” permits for foreigners without paying taxes and then abandon the workers. Poland has also tightened requirements for the number of working hours: a foreigner will not be granted a long-term residence permit if they work under a contract for fewer than 10 hours per week. This is intended to stop the widespread practice where migrants were registered for a few symbolic jobs for one or two hours solely to obtain residency status while actually engaging in other activities without paying taxes. The new rules force labor migrants either to maintain full official employment with all taxes and contributions paid or to leave the country. Other EU countries are also stepping up efforts to bring order to the labor migrant sector.

Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia are increasing inspections of companies that widely employ foreign labor to identify undeclared workers and “envelope salaries.” Romania and Bulgaria, under EU pressure, are introducing electronic systems to track labor migrants, linking data from migration services to tax authorities to ensure that no one disappears from oversight when changing jobs. The general trend: labor migrants must either be officially employed and pay taxes or lose the right to work and legal status. Combined with the automatic exchange of financial information between EU countries’ tax authorities (the CRS system), this makes it significantly more difficult for migrants to evade mandatory payments.

Refugees and the Tax Burden

Refugees and asylum seekers, as a distinct category of migrants, are not the direct target of new tax measures in 2025 – primarily because upon arrival, their incomes are usually low or non-existent. Most changes in tax control are aimed at migrants who earn income or own assets. Nevertheless, the issue of refugees’ contribution to the economy is a topic of political debate. Some countries are considering mechanisms to encourage the rapid integration of refugees into the labor market so they can start paying taxes and reduce the burden on the social support system. For example, Germany and Sweden, in 2023–2024, reduced benefits for able-bodied refugees to motivate them to seek work.

There are also more radical examples: Denmark, back in 2016, adopted a controversial law allowing authorities to confiscate valuables and cash exceeding a certain amount (~€1,340) from incoming refugees to cover state expenses. This is not exactly a tax but signals that even refugees are expected to contribute financially. In 2025, this approach received some support among right-wing populist parties in other countries, but it did not become widespread due to ethical and legal concerns. Overall, no specific new tax rules aimed explicitly at refugees were introduced in 2025. When refugees gain the right to work and start earning, they fall under the usual tax rules as residents. Governments aim to ensure that these new taxpayers are also covered by general control measures (data exchange, income declaration checks). But the main efforts of tax authorities in 2025 are focused on migrant groups with significant income and risks of concealment – investors, expats, freelancers, and large numbers of labor migrants.

Goals and Motives for Tightening Tax Control

Analyzing the measures listed, several key objectives can be identified that guide EU countries in tightening tax control over migrants.

Combating tax evasion and money laundering. The increase in cross-border mobility allowed some migrants to exploit loopholes – earning income abroad while residing in a country and not reporting it. New rules (from automatic bank data exchange to strict asset reporting) aim to enhance transparency. For example, Spain and other countries are implementing systems to track large transfers and residents’ assets abroad to prevent income from being hidden from taxation.

Similarly, the EU DAC7/DAC8 rules increase transparency for income earned through digital platforms and cryptocurrencies, closing loopholes for freelancers and investors.

Equalizing the tax burden and the sense of fairness. Local populations have often been outraged that foreigners enjoy public benefits without paying their “fair” share of taxes – whether wealthy retirees living on loopholes or labor migrants working off the books. The abolition of regimes like NHR in Portugal was explicitly motivated by eliminating fiscal injustice between foreigners and locals.

Italy’s increase of the flat tax for millionaires was also an attempt to quell social discontent over “tax tourists” and to raise additional funds for the budget amid high public debt.

Stricter control over self-employed migrants helps reduce tensions with local workers who complain about unfair competition and wage dumping by foreigners working “in the shadows.”

Increasing budget revenues. Tightening control has a direct financial effect – taxes that were previously lost now flow into the treasury. In the context of post-pandemic deficits and spending on social support (as well as millions of refugees from Ukraine), countries are looking for ways to broaden the tax base. For example, Spain expects to collect additional millions of euros by detecting undeclared foreign income among its resident expats. Lithuania, by bringing order among foreign couriers and drivers, plans to increase income tax and social contribution revenues. Thus, control measures are also an investment in the state’s financial stability.

Political factor and public security. Across Europe, there is increasing pressure from right-wing and populist forces demanding “order” in migration. Moderate governments, seeking to reduce tensions, are themselves introducing stricter rules, demonstrating to voters that migrants are not in a privileged position. Furthermore, the EU has long been concerned that programs like golden visas could be used for money laundering by criminals or corrupt officials.

Therefore, closing such schemes is a signal prioritizing security and the rule of law. Attracting skilled foreigners remains important for the economy, but authorities want to ensure that this does not harm social cohesion and a fair tax system.

It’s important to note that tightening tax oversight does not mean aiming to scare off migrants. Many countries balance between remaining attractive to foreigners and protecting their fiscal interests. This is partly why, for example, Belgium in 2025 is easing some requirements for its new expat regime, and Portugal is developing a new preferential scheme to replace the abolished NHR regime, targeting specialists who are genuinely needed by the economy. The goal is to selectively attract the right categories of migrants while avoiding creating loopholes for abuse.