Investment Taxes in Europe: Dividends and Capital Gains in 10 Countries (2026 Table)

You have already picked a broker — the comparison is still there. But a brokerage account in Europe has a sequel that people remember in April: taxes. And here a rule applies that catches many investors off guard: IBKR, Lightyear and Revolut do not pay taxes for you. How much to pay and when is a question not for your broker but for the country where you are a tax resident. Across ten European countries the answers differ severalfold: from zero in Cyprus to 31.4% in France. We have put it all into one table — with the rates in force in 2026, and with this year’s changes that were easy to miss.

The short answer

• The typical picture is a flat rate between 15% and 26.375% on both dividends and profits from sales. Four countries break the pattern: France (31.4% — the highest rate in the table), Spain (a 19–30% progressive scale), the Netherlands (which taxes the capital itself, not the profit) and Cyprus (nearly zero for non-doms).
• 2026 turned out unexpectedly rich in changes: France raised its flat tax from 30% to 31.4%, Lithuania moved capital gains onto a progressive scale up to 32%, Cyprus cut the dividend tax for its domiciled residents from 17% to 5%, and Estonia cancelled an already-approved increase: the rate stays at 22%.
• You pay, not your broker. With a foreign broker you declare the income and remit the tax yourself — in your country of tax residence. Forgetting means meeting the tax office from its worst side.

Three rules without which the table makes no sense

First: tax is determined by residency — not by citizenship and not by your broker. Live in Germany for more than half the year and you pay under German rules, even if your passport is Estonian and your account sits with an American broker. Moving by itself does not change residency: what counts is the 183 days and the “centre of vital interests”.

Second: dividends are often taxed twice. First the company’s country withholds tax at source — the US, for example, takes 15% of Apple dividends before the money even reaches your account. Then your own country calculates its tax, and what was withheld abroad is usually credited thanks to double-taxation treaties. The end result is almost always “top up to your own rate”, not “pay twice in full”.

Third: a foreign broker is not a tax agent. A German bank will withhold German tax itself, while IBKR in Ireland will simply send you an annual report. From there on it is your tax return, your deadlines, your responsibility. It is not scary — one form once a year — but you need to know it in advance.

The table: dividends and capital gains in 2026

COUNTRY	DIVIDENDS	CAPITAL GAINS	WHAT TO KNOW
🇩🇪 Germany	26.375%	26.375%	€1,000 of income a year is tax-free; 30% of equity-fund income is exempt; accumulating ETFs face an annual advance tax (Vorabpauschale)
🇫🇷 France	31.4%	31.4%	the PFU flat tax rose from 30% in 2026; a PEA account held 5+ years exempts you from the income-tax part
🇮🇹 Italy	26%	26%	government bonds — 12.5%; an account with a foreign broker adds the IVAFE levy of 0.2% of assets per year
🇪🇸 Spain	19–30%	19–30%	progressive: first €6,000 — 19%, above €300,000 — 30%; switching between Spanish funds does not trigger tax
🇳🇱 Netherlands	≈2.2% of capital	same box 3	tax is levied not on profit but on a deemed 6% return on assets (at a 36% rate); the first €59,357 is free
🇵🇱 Poland	19%	19%	the “Belka tax”; from 2027 — the tax-free OKI investment account (limit PLN 100,000)
🇪🇪 Estonia	0% or 22%	22%	foreign dividends taxed at source are not taxed again; the investment account defers tax; the rise to 24% was cancelled
🇱🇻 Latvia	25.5%	25.5%	dividends of Latvian companies that paid local tax are exempt; +3% on income above €200,000 a year
🇱🇹 Lithuania	15%	20–32%	from 2026 gains are taxed progressively; €500 of profit a year is free; shares held 5+ years — still 15%; an investment account exists
🇨🇾 Cyprus	2.65% (non-dom)	0%	gains on securities are not taxed at all; non-doms pay only the health levy; for domiciled residents dividends from 2026 — 5% instead of 17%

Rates are for an individual, a tax resident of the country, investing in shares and ETFs through a broker; in force in 2026. In Germany church tax may be added on top, in France incomes above €250,000 face additional levies, and in Spain the Basque Country and Navarre have their own scales.

Three systems that break the usual logic

The Netherlands: there is tax even when there is no profit. Box 3 does not care how much you actually earned: the state “imputes” a 6% annual return to your assets and taxes it at 36%. A €100,000 portfolio above the tax-free minimum means roughly €1,450 of tax a year — whether it grew, fell or sat in cash. The one consolation is the “counter-evidence” rule: if your actual income is below the imputed one, since 2025 you can declare the real figure and pay on that. A full switch to taxing actual income is promised by 2028 — the bill is still in the senate.

Estonia and Latvia: the company pays the tax, not you. In both countries corporate tax is charged at the moment profits are distributed, so dividends of local companies arrive in the investor’s hands already “clean”. Better still, in Estonia foreign dividends that had tax withheld at source — the American 15%, for example — are not taxed again at all. And the investment account (investeerimiskonto) lets you compound profits from sales tax-free until you withdraw more from the account than you paid in. For a long-term investor this is one of Europe’s friendliest systems — and in 2026 it stayed that way: parliament cancelled the planned rise of the rate to 24%.

Cyprus: fifteen minutes of paperwork and almost zero. A foreigner who moves to Cyprus gets non-dom status for 17 years: dividends and interest attract neither income tax nor the defence levy — only the 2.65% health contribution, and even that is capped. Profit from selling shares and ETFs is taxed for no one — Cyprus simply has no capital gains tax on securities. The 2026 reform left the system untouched, and for locals it even cut the dividend tax from 17% to 5%.

What changed in 2026

• France: 30% → 31.4%. A 1.4-point social contribution “for autonomy” was added to the flat tax. A small thing, but the direction speaks volumes.
• Lithuania: capital gains go progressive. Instead of the old 15% — from 20% to 32% depending on total income for the year. Dividends stayed at 15%, and so did shares held longer than five years: a literal tax bonus for long-termism.
• Cyprus: a big reform — non-dom survived. The defence levy on dividends for domiciled residents was cut from 17% to 5%, and the non-dom regime was confirmed and even made renewable.
• Estonia: the increase was cancelled. Both the “security tax” and the already-approved rise of the rate to 24% were withdrawn — 22% applies in 2026.
• The Netherlands: a near miss. Plans to raise the deemed return to 7.78% and cut the tax-free minimum were beaten back by parliament — 6% and €59,357 remain.
• Poland: the OKI law is signed. A personal investment account with no tax on income inside — but it starts working in 2027; in 2026 the “Belka tax” applies as before.

Non-residents: two taxes instead of one

As soon as foreign shares appear in your portfolio, there are two taxes: at source and at home. The classic route of an American dividend looks like this: with no paperwork the US withholds 30%, with a W-8BEN form — 15% under the tax treaty. The form takes five minutes to fill in online with your broker — at IBKR it is part of registration — and it is probably the best-paid five minutes in investing. Then your country tops up to its own rate: a German resident pays roughly another 11.4%, an Estonian resident pays nothing more.

The flip side of the same coin is the tax withheld by the company’s country when you are the non-resident receiving the dividends. Here the spread across the table’s countries is just as wide: Estonia, Latvia and Cyprus withhold nothing, France takes 12.8% from individuals, the Netherlands — 15%, Spain and Poland — 19%, while Germany takes its 26.375% and offers to refund the excess over the treaty’s 15% through a separate procedure — which is why non-residents find German shares more pleasant to hold through a fund. The practical takeaway for most readers is simple: Irish UCITS ETFs solve the lion’s share of these problems by themselves — inside the fund American dividends are taxed at the favourable 15%, and the fund itself withholds nothing from you. We covered this in more detail in our broker comparison.

Common mistakes

• Expecting the broker to handle everything. A foreign broker withholds no tax and sends nothing to your tax office. A report for your tax return — yes; the rest is on you.
• Not filing the W-8BEN. Double the US rate on dividends — 30% instead of 15% — for one missed online form. Check today: with most brokers the status is visible in account settings.
• Not knowing about “no-sale” taxes. The German Vorabpauschale and the Dutch box 3 accrue even when you sold nothing. A surprise in your tax return is the worst kind of surprise.
• Comparing countries by a single rate. Lithuania — “only 15%” on dividends and up to 32% on gains; Latvia — 25.5%, but with zero on local dividends; Estonia — 22% that for many portfolios turns into zero. Look at your own portfolio, not at the headline.
• Treating a move as a change of taxes. Until you have stopped being a tax resident of the old country — by day count and by the “centre of interests” — its tax office still considers your income its own.

Takeaways

• The spread is real: on the very same portfolio you pay 31.4% in Paris and 2.65% in Limassol. Taxes are not a footnote to investing but a full line item of your returns.
• The Baltics are friendlier than they look: the Estonian investment account, zero on local dividends in Latvia, Lithuania’s relief for 5+ years of holding — a long-term investor has plenty of legal ways to pay less here.
• Check the year: four countries out of ten changed their rules just now, and two more promise changes in 2027–2028. We will keep the table above updated.
• Minimal hygiene — a W-8BEN with your broker, UCITS funds instead of American ones, knowing your rate and your filing deadlines — closes 90% of the questions without any consultants.

If this was useful — in the Invest Hub club we show our real portfolios and trades and unpack questions like these on live examples of residents from different European countries. You can join via the link here.

This material is for information purposes only and is not tax or investment advice. Rates and rules are per national tax authorities and PwC/EY summaries as of August 2026; special regimes, regional scales and transition rules may apply in your situation — check your country’s rules or a consultant before making decisions.