Moving from Sydney 2026: where a high earner keeps most

Moving from Sydney, for a high earner.

Ranked on what $1,000,000 of income keeps over 10 years, with what Sydney charges on the way out.

In short, current to October 2026

On the Patrician.ch board, the address that leaves a $1,000,000 earner leaving Sydney with the most after 10 years is Dubai, UAE, at $10M kept against an effective 0%. Staying in Sydney keeps $5.5M over the same 10 years, a difference of $4.5M.
Within 5 hours of Sydney, the address that keeps the most is Queenstown, New Zealand, at $6.2M over 10 years.
Leaving Sydney itself carries a charge: Deemed disposal. Ceasing Australian residence triggers a capital gains event on assets other than taxable Australian property, at your marginal rate with the 50% discount on assets held over 12 months, about 23.5% of the gain at the top bracket. You can elect to treat the assets as taxable Australian property and pay on the actual sale instead.
Deferral: Elective, by treating the assets as Australian property until sold.
Figures are current to October 2026 and modeled on indicative 2026 headline brackets for a single filer. Confirm with counsel before relying on any of them.

Each address on this page was last checked against its official sources between 14 October 2026 and 30 October 2026. The sources for each are named on its page.

Source: the Patrician.ch board, an original ranking of 100 residence addresses across 47 countries and territories. Tax rates, thresholds and routes are sourced. Cost, safety, schools, sun and beauty are Patrician.ch editorial indices. Figures current to October 2026. Updated 5 November 2026. Cite as: Patrician.ch, Moving from Sydney 2026: where a high earner keeps most, patrician.ch/answers/moving-from-sydney/, October 2026.

Ranked

Leaving Sydney: where $1,000,000 goes furthest.

Ordered by what a single filer keeps over 10 years after income tax, on Patrician.ch's 2026 model, with the flight time from Sydney. The engine reorders this on your own income, liquidity event, passports and household.

Dubai 🇦🇪 UAE0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 14h 20m nonstop from Sydney

$10M

Abu Dhabi 🇦🇪 UAE0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 14h 25m nonstop from Sydney

$10M

Punta del Este 🇺🇾 Uruguay0% effective on $1M, foreign gains untaxed 11 years by qualifying election, 16h 15m with 1 stop from Sydney, special regime for arrivals

$10M

Anguilla 🇦🇮 Anguilla0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 24h 05m with 2 stops from Sydney

$10M

Monaco 🇲🇨 Monaco0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 22h 30m with 1 stop from Sydney

$10M

Christophe Harbour 🇰🇳 St Kitts and Nevis0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 24h 15m with 2 stops from Sydney

$10M

George Town 🇰🇾 Cayman Islands0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 20h 05m with 1 stop from Sydney

$10M

St John's 🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 24h 20m with 2 stops from Sydney

$10M

Providenciales 🇹🇨 Turks and Caicos0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 20h 50m with 1 stop from Sydney

$10M

Nassau 🇧🇸 Bahamas0% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 20h 05m with 1 stop from Sydney

$10M

Within 5 hours of Sydney.

The same ranking, kept to addresses a direct flight of 5 hours or less from Sydney.

Queenstown 🇳🇿 New Zealand38% effective on $1M, no capital gains tax, 3h nonstop from Sydney, special regime for arrivals

$6.2M

Model note. Income tax on the published 2026 rules. Social contributions, most deductions and treaties are not modeled. Where a place is modeled on a regime for new arrivals, its city page says so. Flight times are scheduled gate to gate times on the fastest routing, from airline schedules read October 17, 2026. The exit charge from Sydney is modeled separately and is not netted into the figures above.

See these 2 places for your own income.Dubai and Abu Dhabi, side by side on your income, passports and family. Free, in the ranking of all 100. Then the Dossier: a written report in 10 chapters on the 3 places that rank first for you. The Dossier is $500. The founding price, $250, holds until 30 November.

Compare them on my income →

Questions

The short answers.

Where should a high earner move from Sydney?

On $1,000,000 of income, Dubai keeps the most over 10 years, $10M, followed by Abu Dhabi and Punta del Este.

Within 5 hours of Sydney, Queenstown keeps the most. The ranking changes with the passports held, the household and a liquidity event, all of which the engine takes as inputs.

Does Sydney charge an exit tax?

Deemed disposal.

Ceasing Australian residence triggers a capital gains event on assets other than taxable Australian property, at your marginal rate with the 50% discount on assets held over 12 months, about 23.5% of the gain at the top bracket. You can elect to treat the assets as taxable Australian property and pay on the actual sale instead.

Can the exit tax on leaving Sydney be deferred?

Elective, by treating the assets as Australian property until sold.

Which addresses on the board levy no capital gains tax?

39 of the 100 addresses on the board levy no personal capital gains tax on listed securities, among them Abu Dhabi, Andorra la Vella, Anguilla, Athens, Bora Bora, Christophe Harbour.

The Dossier: your top 3, on your numbers.A written report on the 3 places that rank first for you, compared line by line on your income, a sale, your passports and your family. 10 chapters, written the moment you pay. Every tax figure carries its official source and the date it was last checked. The Dossier is $500. The founding price, $250, holds until 30 November. Refunded in full within 7 days of delivery, no reason needed.

Read chapters 1 to 3, free →

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The income tax of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Punta del Este, Anguilla, Monaco and Christophe Harbour, side by side on 2026 rates. Your readers type their own salary and the places reorder. Free on any site, with the credit line under it.

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Moving from Sydney, for a high earner.

Leaving Sydney: where $1,000,000 goes furthest.

Within 5 hours of Sydney.

The short answers.

Where should a high earner move from Sydney?

Does Sydney charge an exit tax?

Can the exit tax on leaving Sydney be deferred?

Which addresses on the board levy no capital gains tax?

Put these figures on your site.

This page is the general case. Your income and passports rank all 100 differently.

This research on your firm's site, as Patrician AI under your name.