A $1M salary in London pays $432K of income tax a year on the Patrician.ch 2026 model, an effective 43%. It keeps $568K. London's own offer to newcomers is narrow: 4 year foreign income and gains regime for new arrivals.
Mid-table money
Income kept after tax on $1M a year over 10 years, US dollars
Note: Income tax only, 10 years at 2026 rules. Cost of living, property and social charges are not deducted.
Source: Patrician.ch 2026 tax model, built on official tax authority rates
The short flights
The places within a short flight split into 2 camps. Paris (44%), Milan (45%) and Lisbon (48%) take as much as London on a salary or more, and each runs a regime for new arrivals. Milan's is the bluntest: Flat tax for new residents on foreign income under Article 24-bis, a fixed 300,000 euros a year for anyone who becomes resident from 1 January 2026, plus 50,000 euros per family member, for up to 15 years. Earlier entrants keep the 100,000 or 200,000 rate they joined on (2026 Budget Law, Law 199 of 30.12.2025).
The other camp caps or flattens the bill. Zug charges 21%. Andorra la Vella flattens it. 10% flat income tax above €40K, no tax on gains from shares when the stake is 25% or less or held 10 years, 10% on other capital gains, including a founder's sale of a larger stake inside 10 years, no wealth or inheritance tax. Gibraltar, at 6%, works differently again. The rate shown is Category 2 status: tax is charged on the first £118K of income only, so the bill is capped at £42,380 a year whatever you earn, with a floor of £37,000. The government announced on 18 June 2026 that new applicants need a net worth of at least £5M, up from £2M, with existing holders grandfathered. No capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, no VAT. A 15% transaction tax on goods, not on services, applies since 15.07.2026.
Jersey sits between them at 20%. High Value Residency: 20% on Jersey property income and on the first £1.25M of other income, and 1% on everything above, a minimum tax of £250K a year, and a house bought above £3.5M or an apartment above £1.75M.
The long flights
Dubai and Monaco take nothing, and keep $432K a year more than London on the same salary. Over 10 years the gap is $4.3M. Singapore takes 21%. New York takes 43%, close to London's figure.
None of this counts what a London life costs against the alternatives: rent, schools and the price of a flight home are on each city page, and the London page sets them out.
Figures come from the Patrician.ch 2026 model: indicative headline brackets for a non-US single filer, current to October 2026. Research, not tax, legal or immigration advice.