Wealth taxes are the exception in 2026, not the rule. Among the world's major economies, only a handful still levy an annual charge on a resident's net worth: Spain, Norway, Switzerland (at cantonal level), and a narrower version in France that hits real estate only. The Netherlands does not call it a wealth tax, but its Box 3 deemed-return system on savings and investments functions as one in practice. Everyone else either abolished theirs (Germany 1997, Sweden 2007, France's ISF replaced by IFI in 2018) or never had one. For anyone planning residency in 2026, this shrinking list is the point: an annual charge on net worth is now avoidable by geography.
What follows is a country-by-country breakdown of who taxes wealth, how it works, and where the planning openings sit — grounded in the rate and threshold data TaxAtlas tracks for each jurisdiction. Rates and thresholds change annually and can vary within a country; verify with a local adviser before making a residency or asset-restructuring decision.
What actually counts as a wealth tax
The label matters less than the mechanics. A true net wealth tax is an annual charge on the resident's global net assets — everything owned, minus liabilities, above a threshold. That is what Spain, Norway, and the Swiss cantons run. France's IFI is narrower: it hits real estate only, not securities. The Dutch Box 3 system is different again — it presumes a return on investment assets and taxes that presumed return, so the burden scales with holdings even when the actual yield is negative. Italy operates a limited version through IVIE and IVAFE, which apply only to foreign-held real estate and financial assets.
The distinction matters because planning options differ. Where the tax is on a defined asset class (real estate, foreign holdings), restructuring can help. Where it is on total net worth, only the residency decision or a valuation reset does.
Spain: the classic net wealth tax, plus a solidarity surtax
Spain's Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio applies to residents' worldwide net assets and to non-residents' Spanish-situs assets. The state schedule runs from 0.2% up to 3.5%, but rates and exemptions are set at the level of the autonomous community, and the variation is enormous. Madrid, Andalusia, and a handful of other regions apply a 100% bonificación — the tax exists on paper but the effective rate is zero for residents there. Catalonia and Valencia, by contrast, tax aggressively and start bites early.
Two features often surprise new residents. First, the general exemption for the primary residence caps at €300,000 of value per person, which is quickly exceeded in Barcelona or Madrid. Second, since 2022 Spain has layered a temporary Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas on net wealth above €3 million, at 1.7% to 3.5%. It was designed to prevent regional bonificaciones from wiping out the wealth tax base, and it has now been extended through 2026. Where a regional wealth tax already applies, the solidarity tax credits against it — so in Madrid and Andalusia it is the binding charge on very-high-net-worth residents.
Spain's country page tracks the current schedule alongside the Beckham Law inbound regime — which shields employment income at a flat 24% but does not carve out the wealth tax on Spanish-situs assets. The Beckham Law guide covers the interaction in more detail.
Switzerland: cantonal wealth tax is unavoidable, but the burden varies
Switzerland has no federal wealth tax. Every canton and most municipalities do, and the rate landscape reflects the same tax-competition dynamic that pushes cantonal income tax from single digits in Zug to over 30% in Geneva. Cantonal wealth-tax rates typically fall between 0.1% and 1% on net assets above local exemptions, and the base is worldwide for residents.
The Swiss system offsets its wealth tax with a genuinely rare feature: private capital gains on securities are generally tax-free for individual investors. That trade — recurring wealth tax in exchange for near-zero personal CGT — is why a founder liquidating a position often models Switzerland favourably against a country like Germany, where the gain is taxed once at exit but there is no annual charge afterwards.
Two practical points. First, the exemption thresholds are modest by international standards — often in the low six figures depending on canton and family status — so anyone with meaningful liquid wealth pays something. Second, some cantons still offer lump-sum taxation (forfait fiscal) for wealthy foreigners, under which the tax base is set by reference to living expenses rather than worldwide income and wealth. Zurich, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, and Basel-Landschaft have abolished it; most others retain it. The lump-sum taxation guide covers who qualifies and how the base is calculated. Anyone comparing cantons in earnest should read the Switzerland country page alongside the local tax administration's schedule.
France: IFI is real-estate wealth tax, nothing more
France abolished its general wealth tax (ISF) in 2018 and replaced it with the Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière — a narrower charge that hits real estate assets only. The threshold is €1.3 million of net taxable real estate value, and the schedule runs from 0.5% up to 1.5% at the top. Once a household crosses the threshold, the tax applies from €800,000 upward — a common trap for people who focus on the €1.3M entry point and forget that the first €800k is not exempt once liability is triggered.
Residents are taxed on their global real estate; non-residents pay only on French-situs property. The base includes real estate held indirectly through companies, subject to look-through rules that catch most obvious structures. The primary residence gets a 30% valuation abatement.
Because IFI is narrower than the old ISF, the reshaping of family wealth toward securities, life-insurance wrappers (assurance-vie), and business assets is now the dominant planning move. Business real estate used for the taxpayer's own trade or profession is generally excluded — a carve-out that matters for owner-operators. Investors comparing France with lower-burden neighbours should read the France exit tax guide before restructuring: leaving France with unrealised gains can trigger a separate charge.
Netherlands: Box 3 is a wealth tax by another name
The Dutch personal tax code splits income into three "boxes." Box 3 covers savings and investments, and it is where the wealth-tax character lives. Instead of taxing actual returns, the Belastingdienst applies a deemed return to the total value of Box 3 assets above the tax-free allowance (roughly €57,000 per person in 2026), then taxes that deemed return at 36%. The effect is a charge of roughly 1.5% to 2% of asset value each year, regardless of what the portfolio actually earned.
The system has been in constitutional trouble for years. The Dutch Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the deemed-return approach unfairly penalises savers holding cash rather than higher-yielding assets. A transitional regime is in place, and the government is working toward a new Box 3 based on actual realised returns, expected to take effect in 2027 or 2028 — the timing has slipped more than once. For 2026 specifically, the deemed-return model remains in force, subject to a taxpayer's right to claim assessment on actual return where it is lower.
Two things matter for planning. First, Box 3 hits at a much lower wealth level than any classical wealth tax — €57,000 is not a HNW threshold, so ordinary savers pay it. Second, the 30% ruling for skilled inbound workers historically included a "partial non-resident" carve-out that shielded Box 3 exposure — that carve-out was abolished from 1 January 2025, with a transitional rule running only through end-2026 for the 2023-grant cohort. From 2027, no expat shortcut around Box 3 survives.
Italy: not a general wealth tax, but IVIE and IVAFE bite on foreign assets
Italy does not tax domestic net wealth annually, but residents holding assets abroad face two targeted charges. IVIE applies at 0.76% to the value of foreign-held real estate. IVAFE applies at 0.2% to the value of foreign-held financial assets (bank accounts, brokerage holdings, some insurance products). Both are wealth taxes in effect if not in name, and they are the reason Italy's headline "no wealth tax" description is misleading for anyone whose portfolio sits outside Italy.
The Italian flat-tax regime for high-net-worth new residents shields foreign-source income but does not automatically shield IVIE or IVAFE on the same assets — the interaction is fact-specific and one of the reasons the Italian HNW regime rewards careful pre-move structuring.
Norway: the highest headline rate in Europe
Norway retains a true net wealth tax and, as of 2026, applies it at the highest rate in Europe. The combined municipal-and-state rate sits at roughly 1% on net wealth above the basic threshold (around NOK 1.7 million per person, indexed annually), rising to roughly 1.1% above a much higher band (around NOK 20 million). The base includes worldwide assets for tax residents; valuation discounts apply to primary residences, private company shares, and business assets, and the details drive most of the planning. Because thresholds are indexed and the rate structure can be adjusted by budget, verify current figures with a Norwegian adviser before acting.
Norway's wealth tax has driven a well-documented outflow of ultra-wealthy residents to Switzerland since 2022. That flow is itself a data point about how binding the tax feels at the top end.
Comparison at a glance
| Country | What is taxed | Threshold (2026) | Rate range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | Worldwide net wealth (regional variation) | Typically €700,000 plus €300,000 primary-residence exemption | 0.2%-3.5% state; 1.7%-3.5% solidarity above €3M |
| Switzerland | Worldwide net wealth (cantonal) | Cantonal, typically low six figures | 0.1%-1% cantonal plus communal |
| France (IFI) | Global real estate only | €1.3M net (charged from €800k) | 0.5%-1.5% |
| Netherlands (Box 3) | Savings and investments (deemed return) | ~€57,000 per person | Effective ~1.5%-2% of asset value |
| Italy (IVIE/IVAFE) | Foreign real estate; foreign financial assets | None meaningful | 0.76% (IVIE); 0.2% (IVAFE) |
| Norway | Worldwide net wealth | ~NOK 1.7M per person | ~1% (higher band ~1.1%) |
Uruguay's Impuesto al Patrimonio is a further, modest example — a progressive charge on residents' net assets above threshold, of interest mainly to those already considering South American residency. Everywhere else on the TaxAtlas map, an annual charge on net worth is absent as of 2026.
What actually triggers exposure
Three residency traps come up repeatedly:
- The 183-day rule is not the whole story. Spain, France, and the Netherlands all use "center of vital interests" or "durable ties" tests that can catch someone who never sleeps 183 nights in the country. A Spanish spouse and a Spanish home suffice for Spanish residency, and Spanish residency triggers the wealth tax on worldwide assets. The tax residency guide covers the mechanics.
- Non-domiciled and inbound regimes rarely shield the wealth tax. Spain's Beckham Law, Italy's HNW flat tax, and the Netherlands' 30% ruling all reshape income tax; none of them wipes out wealth-tax exposure on assets located in the country, and in some cases they do not shield foreign assets either. Read the small print before assuming the headline benefit covers everything.
- Real estate is where wealth taxes cluster. France's IFI, Italy's IVIE, most cantonal Swiss regimes, and the Spanish valuation rules all key off property value. Buying a European home is the single most common way to walk into a wealth-tax liability without having planned for it.
Planning around the thresholds
Residency selection is the primary lever. Within Spain, the choice of autonomous community determines whether wealth tax bites at all — Madrid and Andalusia's 100% bonificaciones remain in place, though the solidarity tax caps the benefit above €3M. Within Switzerland, cantonal rates differ enough that a Zug or Schwyz resident and a Geneva resident with the same balance sheet pay meaningfully different amounts.
Asset restructuring matters where the tax base is defined narrowly. France's shift from ISF to IFI means securities and life-insurance wrappers are now outside the base, so a portfolio-heavy household may face no French wealth tax at all despite significant net worth. The mirror is true in Italy, where holding foreign real estate directly triggers IVIE while similar exposure through an Italian collective vehicle may not — the details need local advice.
Valuation discounts are often overlooked. Norway allows large discounts on private company shares and operating business assets; France discounts the primary residence 30%; Swiss cantons use official taxable values that are typically well below market. These are the difference between a punishing rate and a manageable one, and they change frequently.
Finally, timing of the move matters. Several wealth-tax jurisdictions assess as of 31 December — arriving on 1 January and leaving on 30 December of a given year can substantially reduce the base for that year. Exit rules run the other way: France, the Netherlands, and Spain all have exit-adjacent mechanisms that can catch unrealised gains on departure, so a clean move requires more than a change of address. The exit taxes guide covers the general framework, and the France exit tax guide covers the French mechanics specifically.
Where to go next
To compare wealth-tax jurisdictions side-by-side against zero-wealth-tax alternatives, use the country comparison tool. Country-level detail sits on the Spain, Switzerland, France, and Netherlands pages. For broader context, territorial vs worldwide taxation and the FAQ cover the residency and tax-base questions that drive wealth-tax exposure in the first place. As always, this article is informational; residency or restructuring decisions should be validated with a qualified adviser in each jurisdiction.