Mobility isn’t a one-time fee it’s a 3-year operating cost. In 2026, rule changes (UK FIG, Italy flat tax, Spain visa end), new travel admin (ETIAS), and crypto reporting (DAC8/CARF) make “cheap” plans pricey.
Many people budget for mobility like it’s a one-time purchase.
They see a headline number—“visa fee,” “lawyer fee,” “investment amount”—and think they’ve done the math.
Then real life hits:
In 2026, this is happening more often because rules and compliance systems are tightening across Europe and the UK, and reporting is expanding for crypto and cross-border money.
The fix is not panic. The fix is a better budget.
This article gives you a simple model you can reuse: True Cost of Mobility (TCM).
A “move” has a start date. But the cost is not only at the start.
Mobility has ongoing costs: renewals, filings, banking maintenance, travel admin, and (the biggest one) tax changes over time.
So instead of budgeting “Year 0 only,” budget 3 years.
That’s long enough to see the real picture.
Here is the simple formula:
TCM (3 years) = Upfront costs + Recurring costs + Tax delta + Compliance/admin + Time cost + Risk buffer
What those words mean:
If you can’t model the cost, you can’t manage the risk.
2025–2026 delivered a cluster of cost shocks that prove one point: mobility plans get re-priced.
The UK introduced a 4-year foreign income and gains (FIG) regime for eligible new arrivals, and published guidance on who can claim it.
Simple budgeting lesson: if your “UK plan” was built on the old system, your numbers need updating.
Italy planned to raise its lump-sum tax for wealthy new residents from €200,000 to €300,000 for new arrivals as part of the 2026 budget plan, according to reporting by the Financial Times and Reuters.
Simple budgeting lesson: regime risk can become a hard annual line item.
KPMG’s legal alert notes that Spain’s golden visa mechanism for residency via qualifying investment was terminated, effective 3 April 2025.
Simple budgeting lesson: when a route closes, you may face sunk costs + pivot costs.
The official EU ETIAS site says ETIAS will start operations in the last quarter of 2026.
Simple budgeting lesson: some costs are small in euros but big in friction—plan for admin.
The European Commission says DAC8 rules enter into force on 1 January 2026, expanding tax transparency to crypto-asset transactions.
The Financial Times reported that CARF enforcement starts 1 January 2026 in the UK and many other countries, requiring platforms to collect and report user and transaction data.
Simple budgeting lesson: even if you “don’t live in crypto,” recordkeeping and reporting can become part of your overall mobility overhead.
Use this as your checklist.
These are the “starting costs” people remember:
Budget tip: Upfront costs are usually the smallest category over 3 years. Don’t over-focus on them.
This is where budgets quietly break:
Budget tip: Put renewals on a calendar and budget them like you would rent.
Tax delta is often the biggest line item.
It is not only about the headline tax rate. It is about:
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien, remember: the IRS states you are taxed on worldwide income, even if you live abroad (with possible exclusions/credits depending on facts).
Budget tip: Tax delta is not a “one-page answer.” Build a simple memo and update it yearly.
This category keeps getting bigger in 2026.
Include:
Budget tip: This category is why “cheap plans” can become expensive. The plan that looks simplest on paper may be the hardest to maintain.
Time is a cost, even if you don’t write a check.
A simple method:
Time cost (per year) = hours spent on mobility admin × your effective hourly rate
Mobility admin includes:
Budget tip: Many high earners underestimate time cost because it comes in small pieces—until they add it up.
A buffer is not paranoia. It is realism.
Spain ending a route, and Italy repricing a regime, are reminders that policies can shift quickly.
A simple buffer rule:
Step 1: Write your Plan A / B / C in one sentence each.
Step 2: Fill the 6 cost buckets for each plan.
Step 3: Add the totals (3-year view).
Then ask: “Can I still afford this if the rules tighten?”
These examples show how the math changes when you include the “hidden categories.”
Common budget mistake: focusing only on visa and lawyer fees.
Where the real costs often sit:
A simple 3-year TCM shape (typical categories):
What changes in 2026: UK rules changed from April 2025, so “UK as Plan A” budgeting needs new assumptions.
Common budget mistake: underestimating corporate compliance and banking friction.
Where the real costs often sit:
A simple 3-year TCM shape:
What changes in 2026: AML and crypto reporting pressure is rising; admin loads expand and banks get more careful.
Common budget mistake: treating Plan B/C like “paper” instead of a maintained system.
Where the real costs often sit:
A simple 3-year TCM shape:
What changes in 2026: ETIAS is another reminder that friction increases over time; even small processes create ongoing admin.
Mobility costs aren’t set only by “the program.” They are set by rule-makers and gatekeepers.
A plan can look cheap because it hides costs in:
A plan can look expensive upfront but be cheaper over 3 years because it is stable and low-friction.
That’s the whole point of TCM.
In 2026, mobility budgeting is not just about paying fees.
It’s about managing a system:
If you build a 3-year “True Cost of Mobility” model, you make better decisions—and you avoid the most painful kind of expense: the emergency pivot.
I-Invest disclosure: This is educational content, not legal, tax, immigration, or investment advice. Rules vary by country and personal facts. Use qualified professionals before acting.
