Guides

Long-form guides with the data tables and official citations behind our tools.

• Canada Freelancer and Self-Employed Taxes Explained (2026)

  What a Canadian freelancer keeps in 2026 — two income taxes on one taxable income, CPP with both halves and a ceiling that makes it regressive, the province that is worth $7,379 a year, and the point where the marginal rate goes down.

• Netherlands Freelancer (ZZP) Taxes Explained (2026)

  What a Dutch freelancer keeps in 2026 — why tax credits, not entrepreneur deductions, now do the work; where the marginal rate peaks at over 60%; and why the Netherlands taxes a freelancer less than Portugal at every income level while leaving them worse off in real terms at every income level.

• Spanish IRPF by Región: All 15 Autonomic Scales Compared (2026)

  Half of Spanish IRPF is set by your comunidad autónoma. All fifteen common-regime scales, what each costs a freelancer at €30,000, €50,000 and €100,000 of invoicing, and the region that is the cheapest in Spain at €20,000 and the most expensive at €50,000.

• Real-Terms Take-Home: Why Prices Move the Break-Even Point (2026)

  Portugal and Spain taxed side by side, then adjusted for what each country actually costs. The tax comparison says Spain wins above €44,250. Adjusted for price levels, Portugal keeps winning to roughly €70,500 — a €26,000 shift nobody publishes.

• VAT and GST Registration Thresholds for Freelancers (2026)

  The turnover at which a freelancer must register for VAT or GST in seven countries, from zero in Spain to S$1 million in Singapore — what each threshold actually counts, why cross-border work often never reaches it, and the EU scheme that changed the picture in 2025.

• Freelancer Social Security Contributions Compared (2026)

  What self-employed workers actually pay into social security in Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Georgia, the UAE and Singapore in 2026 — with the official rates, the monthly quota table, the ceilings, and the point at which the cheaper system stops being cheaper.

• Georgia vs Estonia for Freelancers: 1% Turnover or 0% Retained (2026)

  The two jurisdictions freelancers are pushed toward most often work in opposite directions. Which is cheaper does not depend on how much you earn — it depends on whether you spend the money or leave it in the business.

• Portugal vs Dubai for Freelancers (2026)

  Dubai charges no income tax and Portugal charges plenty, so the comparison looks settled before it starts. For the first two years it very nearly is not — and then it becomes the most one-sided comparison on this site.

• Double Taxation Treaties: The Basics for Freelancers (2026)

  A treaty does not stop two countries taxing the same income. It decides which one gets to, and how the other gives way — and the method it uses can change your total bill by the full difference between the two tax rates.

• Permanent Establishment: Why Your Employer Cares Where You Work (2026)

  When a company refuses to let you work from another country, the reason is usually not immigration. It is that your presence there might give the company a taxable presence — and the OECD updated its guidance on exactly this in 2025.

• Social Security When You Work Across Borders (2026)

  Your tax treaty does not cover social security. It runs on a separate set of rules, decides a separate question, and in several countries costs more than the income tax does — which makes getting the wrong answer expensive in a way most freelancers only discover in arrears.

• Estonia e-Residency Taxes Explained (2026)

  Estonia really does tax retained company profit at 0%, and e-Residency really does let you run an EU company from anywhere. What the pitch leaves out is that the 0% is a deferral rather than an exemption, and that your own country of residence can tax the company regardless of where it is registered.

• How to Invoice International Clients (2026)

  Two questions decide every cross-border invoice: whether you add VAT, and how much of the total survives the transfer. The first is answered by where your client is and what they are; the second by a fee most comparison tables never show.

• Singapore Freelancer Taxes Explained (2026)

  Singapore taxes a S$100,000 income at about 5.7% — if you are tax resident. If you are not, the same income costs 2.7 times more. The day count that decides which applies is the largest single number in your first year, and almost nothing written about Singapore mentions it.

• Digital Nomad Visa Income Requirements (2026)

  What you must earn to qualify for a remote-work residence route in seven countries, with the 2026 figures and the source behind each — including the three thresholds pegged to a national wage that moved on 1 January and are still published wrong almost everywhere.

• Dubai Freelancer Taxes Explained (2026)

  Dubai charges no income tax on freelancers, and that is true. What is less advertised is that corporate tax reaches individuals above AED 1 million of turnover, and that the relief keeping most freelancers at 0% is written to expire at the end of 2026.

• Georgia's 1% Tax for Freelancers: The Complete Picture (2026)

  The 1% is real — and so are the parts the YouTube videos skip. How Small Business Status actually works in 2026: the month-based 3% switch, the consulting ban, VAT for foreign clients, and the residency question that decides everything.

• Spain Autónomo Taxes Explained (2026)

  What a self-employed autónomo in Spain actually pays in 2026 — the 15 income tramos of the RETA cuota, IRPF on top, the 5% allowance most guides still get wrong, and how much your comunidad autónoma changes the answer.

• Tarifa Plana for New Autónomos in Spain (2026)

  The €80 flat social security quota for new self-employed workers — what it replaces, what it saves at each income level, how the second year is earned rather than given, and the one thing about 2026 nobody can answer cleanly.

• Dubai vs Singapore: The True Cost of 0% Tax (2026)

  Dubai advertises 0% income tax, Singapore a low-tax system. What an expat professional actually pays in each city in 2026 — mandatory fees, income tax at four salary levels, GST vs VAT, and the cases where each city wins.

• Portugal Freelancer Taxes Explained (2026)

  What a freelancer in Portugal actually pays in 2026 — IRS, social security, the simplified regime coefficients and the first-year discounts, with effective rates at every income level.

• Portugal vs Spain for Freelancers: Which Is Actually Cheaper in 2026?

  A side-by-side comparison of what freelancers pay in Portugal and Spain in 2026 — take-home at every income level, the first-year regimes, and why your expense ratio decides the answer.