Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Canada and others tax the appreciation on a shareholding when you give up residence, as if you had sold it on the day you left. No sale, no cash, a tax bill. The question belongs before the move, not after. As of 09/2026.
The reflex that gets expensive
In many minds the sequence looks like this: move first, incorporate, settle in, then call the tax adviser. That order costs money, because the decisive moment lies before departure.
A long list of countries treats giving up residence as a deemed disposal of your shareholding. The tax office acts as if you had sold on the day you left and taxes the appreciation since acquisition, although not a single euro, dirham or dollar has moved.
Why it catches so many people
These rules were written with large fortunes in mind. In practice they catch the tradesman who started twelve years ago with modest share capital and whose business is worth considerably more today. They catch the agency that never distributed but reinvested. They catch the stake in a friend's company that you had almost forgotten.
Three misconceptions come up regularly:
- "But I'm not selling." That is precisely the point. The tax arises without a sale, purely through departure.
- "The company stays where it is." That changes nothing. What is taxed is not the company but your shareholding in it.
- "I just won't deregister." Then tax liability at home generally persists, with all the consequences for your worldwide income. That is not a solution, it is a different problem.
What to settle before departure
Valuing the shares is the core of it. It determines the amount, and it is more negotiable than many assume, as long as it happens beforehand. Afterwards you are arguing about a tax claim that already exists.
These five questions belong on your tax firm's desk before you deregister:
- Does my country levy an exit tax at all, and which holdings fall under it, including old and small ones?
- How are they valued, and which valuation method fits my case?
- Is deferral an option, and what security is required for it?
- Would restructuring before departure change anything, and can it be done in time?
- What happens if I return in a few years?
Exit Palm does not provide tax advice. We know the questions, the sequence and the deadlines; answering them is for a tax firm licensed where you are taxed today. We involve them early instead of passing on half-knowledge.
Residence is the trigger, not deregistration
Deregistering with the authorities is an administrative act. For tax purposes something else counts: whether residence and habitual abode have genuinely been given up. An apartment available to you at any time, including a room at your parents' or a let apartment you can access, can keep tax liability alive.
That cuts both ways. Keep the apartment and you may not have left for tax purposes at all. Give it up and you may thereby trigger the exit tax. Both belong decided deliberately, not in passing.
What we recommend
Talk to a tax firm at home before you cancel a lease or apply for a licence. The effort is manageable; the difference in outcome is not.
If you want to know what your structure in the Emirates could look like afterwards: that is what the first consultation is for, including naming what needs a law or tax firm.
Exit Palm does not provide legal or tax advice. For legal and tax questions we work with licensed partners in the UAE and in your home jurisdiction. All information without warranty, as of the date shown.