Very few countries leave foreign income untaxed in every case. On the summaries we read, only the UAE and Bermuda charge no personal income tax at all; Panama says it taxes only Panamanian-source income; several others tax foreign income only when you bring it in; and some give newcomers a time-limited exemption or flat tax. These are four different mechanisms with different traps, and lists that mix them mislead. The table below sorts each country by the mechanism its own tax summary describes, with the date reviewed. It is information, not tax advice.
The four mechanisms
| Mechanism | What it means | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| No personal income tax | The state charges no tax on individuals’ income | Other taxes (corporate, payroll, VAT) still apply; your home country may still tax you |
| Territorial | Only income from sources in the country is taxed | “Source” has rules; services performed there may count as local |
| Remittance | Foreign income is taxed only if brought into the country | Paying local costs from the foreign account can count as remitting |
| Special exemption or flat tax | Newcomers get a reduced base for a fixed period or by election | Needs an application, a minimum tax or a qualifying activity |
Country by country
Each row quotes or paraphrases the “foreign income” line of the PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries page for that country (secondary source, big-four) and adds what the visa’s own page says where the tracker has it. Dates are PwC’s printed “last reviewed” dates.
| Country | Mechanism on the page | What the page says | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | No personal income tax | No personal income tax; 9% corporate tax on natural persons running a business with turnover above AED 1 million | 9 Sept 2026 |
| Bermuda | No personal income tax | No income tax on individuals; payroll tax was not covered on the page read | 19 Feb 2026 |
| Panama | Territorial | Citizens and residents taxed on income earned from Panamanian sources | 4 Aug 2026 |
| Costa Rica | Territorial, unconfirmed | Costa Rican-source income taxable; the page does not state the foreign-income rule outright. The tourism board says nomad-visa holders are exempt, which we did not find on a statute page | 30 June 2026 |
| Thailand | Remittance | Foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 is taxable if remitted to Thailand in the same or a later tax year | 24 Aug 2026 |
| Malaysia | Remittance, but exempted for most individuals | PwC: residents taxed on Malaysian income and foreign-sourced income received in Malaysia. PwC’s page does not mention that resident individuals’ foreign-sourced income received in Malaysia has been exempt under Income Tax (Exemption) Orders gazetted in 2022, except business income through a partnership; law-firm and Big-4 notes disagree on the end date (31 Dec 2026 in the orders, 2036 in some summaries). Check LHDN for the current position | 16 June 2026 |
| Mauritius | Remittance | Foreign income taxable only to the extent received in Mauritius | 15 June 2026 |
| Japan | Remittance for non-permanent residents | Non-permanent residents: Japanese-source income plus foreign income paid in or remitted to Japan; permanent residents: worldwide | 7 Aug 2026 |
| South Korea | Remittance for short-stay residents | Foreigners resident 5 years or less in the last ten: Korean-source plus foreign income paid in Korea or remitted | 2 July 2026 |
| Barbados | Remittance-like | Resident but not domiciled: Barbados-source income plus foreign income giving a local benefit | 11 Jan 2026 |
| Malta | Remittance with an elected rate | Ordinarily resident, not domiciled: Maltese-source plus remitted foreign income; Global Residence Programme at 15% on remitted income with a EUR 15,000 minimum, Retirement Programme 15% with a EUR 7,500 minimum; consolidated rules from 1 Jan 2027 | 30 Sept 2026 |
| Georgia | Foreign-source exemption plus small-business rate | PwC states residents are exempt from tax on income without a Georgian source; 20% flat; individual entrepreneurs under GEL 500,000 turnover may pay 1% of turnover | 2 Sept 2026 |
| Italy | Elected flat tax | Flat tax on foreign income, by when you joined: EUR 100,000 for those who opted from the 2024 tax period, EUR 200,000 for those who opted from 2025, EUR 300,000 for those who transfer residency from 1 Jan 2026 (EUR 50,000 for their family members) | 23 July 2026 |
| Ecuador | Elective territorial period | Residents taxed on income generated abroad, with a credit for tax paid. A separate temporary tax-residency regime from Jan 2024 lets qualifying newcomers pay tax only on Ecuadorian-source income for five years; the qualifying test reported for it is USD 150,000 invested or USD 2,500 a month of income under Ecuadorian social security (not on the page we read; check SRI) | 23 July 2026 |
| Indonesia | Time-limited territorial | Foreign nationals meeting skill requirements may be taxed only on Indonesian-source income for the first four years | 11 June 2026 |
| Uruguay | Source-based hybrid | 12% flat on capital investment income (interest, rents, royalties, gains); pay for personal services performed abroad for Uruguayan taxpayers at progressive rates of 0% to 36% | 2 Sept 2026 |
| Romania | Partial exemption | Worldwide; salary for work abroad received from abroad is exempt as stated | 25 Sept 2026 |
Not listed because the summary says worldwide with no exemption on the pages read: Portugal, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. The list covers only the countries in our dataset; other places with no personal income tax or a territorial system exist and are not covered. Special regimes exist in some of the unlisted ones (Portugal’s IFICI, Spain’s special regime, Greece’s reduction) but were not on the summaries read; the visa tracker’s tax notes say which of them apply to nomads, and for Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece the answer is “not shown to apply automatically”. Several island and Caribbean schemes state their own exemptions: see the per-country answers on the residency table.
Three things the lists get wrong
- “No tax” and “no residency” are different. The UAE has no personal income tax, but a person can still be tax resident at home. Your home country’s exit and residency rules decide whether it lets go of you.
- Remittance countries tax what you spend there. On Thailand’s rule as quoted, foreign income remitted in the same or a later year is taxable; the Mauritius visa page adds that money spent with foreign cards is not deemed remitted. Check how your own country treats card spending before you assume.
- Special regimes are usually not automatic. Italy’s flat tax is an election with a price; Georgia’s 1% needs entrepreneur registration under the turnover cap; Ecuador’s is elective. None is granted by a visa alone on the pages read.
Method
Built from the foreign-income column of our tax-residency dataset, which comes from PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries pages read on 29 Sept 2026 through a summarising fetch (so wording is paraphrase-grade and no statute article numbers are given), plus the tax field of the visa tracker. The PwC pages are secondary sources; the national tax authority is the primary source and should be read before acting. A country is absent where the summary did not describe a regime. Re-checked every 30 days. This is general information, not tax advice.