Banking abroad: why accounts get closed (and how not to)
“We have decided to end our relationship.” Why banks close accounts of expats and founders, what your rights are, and how to become boringly bankable.
Maximize liberty.
Minimize taxes
* legally. We checked. Twice.
Become a money nerd. Country guides, nerd tools and licensed partners for your company and life abroad – free to learn, easy to act on.
- Jurisdictions compared
- 19
- Flag strategists
- 8
- Attorneys & lawyers
- 26
- Countries visited
- 100+
Be free.
Pick a goal. We’ll show you the route, the options and the traps – before you pay for any of them.
Set up a business.Incorporate where it makes sense – not where you happen to live.
Move abroad.Residency, visas and a clean exit from your high-tax home.
Optimize your tax.Structure income, dividends and residency the legal way.
Protect wealth.Diversify banks, currencies and jurisdictions – your Plan B.
Nineteen jurisdictions. One honest comparison.
Corporate tax, dividends, residency routes – and the catches nobody prints in the glossy brochure. Hover or tap a country for the key numbers.
0% income taxRemote setup€€€
Dubai (UAE)
0% personal income tax, 0–9% corporate tax and a residence visa that comes with your own company.
Corp. tax9%Dividends0%Residency
Open the guide
0% retainedRemote setup€€€
Georgia
1% on turnover for freelancers, 0% on retained company profits and a year visa-free for many passports.
Corp. tax0%/ 15%Dividends5%Residency
Open the guide
EU0% retained€€€
Estonia
0% tax while profits stay in the company, 22% the day you pay out – and a company you run from your laptop.
Corp. tax0%/ 22%Dividends0%Residency
Open the guide
EURemote setup€€€
Cyprus
15% corporate tax, 0% on dividends for non-doms for 17 years – and tax residency with just 60 days a year.
Corp. tax15%Dividends0%Residency
Open the guide
EURemote setup€€€
Malta
35% corporate tax on paper, about 5% after the shareholder refund – in an English-speaking EU country.
Corp. tax≈5%Dividends0%Residency
Open the guide
0% retainedRemote setup€€€
USA (LLC)
A US LLC in days, from your sofa – no US tax without US business, but your home country gets the final word.
Corp. taxpass-throughDividends0%Residency
Open the guide
EURemote setup€€€
Hungary
The EU’s lowest corporate tax at 9%, a flat 15% income tax and Budapest café life – in the heart of Schengen.
Corp. tax≈10.8%Dividends15%Residency
Open the guide
Remote setup€€€
Singapore
17% headline, often under 9% in practice, tax-free dividends and a reputation banks love – for the company, not the cheap life.
Corp. tax17%Dividends0%Residency
Open the guide
Your office for the next five years? You pick the view.
Palm trees, mountains or a skyline – the right country is the one where your company, your taxes and your life all work. Seven questions get you a shortlist.
Find your country · 1 minLearn for free. Get an expert opinion. Set it up in one place.
- 01 · free
Learn it all
Country guides, deep dives, checklists and nerd tools. All of it free – no paywall, no “book a call to see the good part”.
Browse the free stuff - 02 · €1,490, credited
Get an expert opinion
Still unsure? A 90-minute Strategy Session turns your situation into a written roadmap. Credited if you go ahead.
Get your roadmap - 03 · one roof
Set it up
Vetted, licensed partners in each country. One contract, one invoice, KYC once – soon all in one dashboard at clients.nerdy.money.
See how it works
Nerds, not salespeople.
Our team has set up companies, moved countries and opened more bank accounts than we’d like to admit – in more than 100 countries since 2013. We made the rookie mistakes so you don’t have to.
Legal. Always.
Tax avoidance is a right, evasion is a crime – we only do the first. Every number has a source, every guide names the catches.
Everything free
Guides, comparisons and tools without paywall or e-mail gate. Learn first, decide later.
Plan first, paperwork second
We start with your life – residency, income, family – not with selling you a company you might not need.
One contract, zero chasing
Vetted, licensed partners in each country. You pay us, we check their work – then they get paid.
Fresh from the nerd lab.
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A flat you kept, a family at home, a laptop that creates a company presence: 7 ways nomads stay taxable without noticing – and how to fix each one.
Dubai vs Cyprus vs Malta for founders in 2026
Same €200k profit, three founder favourites: what you pay in Dubai, Cyprus and Malta in 2026 – plus days, banks, costs and our honest verdict.
Questions before you start?
The five things almost everyone asks us first. Anything else? Ask a human.
Is all of this legal?
Yes – and it has to be. Choosing where you live and where your company sits is your right; hiding income is a crime, and we don’t help with that. Every guide explains the rules that apply (CFC rules, place of management, exit tax) and where the catches are.
Is the content really free?
All of it: country guides, guides, glossary, calculator, Jurisdiction Finder and the 183-day tracker. No paywall, no e-mail gate. We earn money when you book a Strategy Session or set something up through our partners.
Why would I pay for a Strategy Session?
Because the right setup depends on details no website knows: your passport, family, existing company and assets, where you want to live. In 90 minutes a senior strategist turns that into a written roadmap. The fee is credited in full if you set up with us within six months.
Do I have to move abroad to pay less tax?
Usually, yes. A foreign company alone rarely helps while you stay tax resident in a high-tax country – profits get pulled back via CFC rules or the place of management. That’s why we plan your personal residency and the company together.
Who actually does the work?
Licensed corporate service providers, lawyers and tax advisors in each country – vetted by us. Where the law allows, you sign one contract with BeNerdy Consultancy FZE, pay one invoice, and we only pay the partner once we’ve checked everything is in order.