Budgeting App for Expats in Luxembourg

Luxembourg uses the euro and has been in the euro area since 1 January 1999¹. If you're legally resident anywhere in the EU, you're entitled to open a basic payment account, and banks can't turn you down just because you don't live in the country².

Borderless Budget connects to major Luxembourg banks including Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat, BGL BNP Paribas, Banque Internationale a Luxembourg, ING, and POST Luxembourg through secure bank connections, and your accounts in the US, Canada, the EU, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein connect too.

Major banks for expats

• Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat
• BGL BNP Paribas
• Banque Internationale a Luxembourg
• ING
• POST Luxembourg

Cash vs. card culture

Payconiq, the national mobile payment app, was due to complete its move to Wero, a European wallet backed by leading European banks, by September 2026³.

Housing is the big number. The median advertised rent per square metre for apartments is three times higher in Luxembourg than in the neighbouring regions, where advertised rents per home are around €850 a month in south-east Wallonia and €680 in northern Lorraine⁷. Free public transport takes one line out of the budget entirely.

If you're paid in euros and spend in euros, there's no conversion to watch. If part of your income or savings is in dollars, pounds or francs, the exchange rate decides what Luxembourg's rents cost you each month, even when the rent itself doesn't change. Tracking both currencies side by side shows you the real trend.

Transferring money to Luxembourg

• Your bank must charge the same for a euro payment to another EU country as for the equivalent payment at home, and that covers transfers, ATM withdrawals and card payments⁸. Sending euros between a Luxembourg account and one in France, Belgium or Germany should cost what a domestic transfer does.
• A company or tax office that accepts SEPA transfers or direct debits from domestic accounts can't refuse yours because it's held in another EU country⁸. A Belgian or German IBAN can pay a Luxembourg bill.
• If you earn in dollars or pounds, compare your bank's rate with a specialist service before each transfer, and move a month of euro spending at a time.

Borderless Budget tracks all of your accounts, your home-country bank, your Luxembourg bank, and services like Wise or Revolut, in a single dashboard. Exchange rates update daily, so your budget always reflects where things actually stand.

• Luxembourg taxes residents on their worldwide income and non-residents on Luxembourg-source income⁹.
• The scale is progressive, from 8% on taxable income above €13,230 to 42% on income above €234,870. A solidarity tax of 7% of the tax (9% above €150,000 in classes 1 and 1a, or €300,000 in class 2) is added on top⁹.
• Your tax class depends on your household: class 1 for single people, class 2 for married people and, under conditions, civil partners, and class 1a for single people with children⁹.
• The tax year is the calendar year. Employers withhold income tax monthly, and returns for a year are due by 31 December of the following year¹⁰.
• Besides income tax, employees pay 8.5% of gross pay for pensions and a 1.4% dependency contribution, on top of the sickness contribution⁵.
• The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live¹¹, and the US and Luxembourg have an income tax treaty for the avoidance of double taxation¹².

1. Budget your Luxembourg life in euros. Rent, groceries and bills are all in EUR, and converting each one in your head adds noise.
2. Wages here are indexed: when cumulative inflation reaches 2.5%, all salaries and pensions rise by 2.5% the following month¹³. The last step was on 1 June 2026¹³. Update your income line when it happens, and expect prices to move with it.
3. Ask what the monthly charges on a flat cover before you sign, and give them their own budget line.
4. If you live across the border and work in Luxembourg, keep each country's spending in its own category so you can see what the commute saves on rent against what it costs in time.
5. Keep home-country bills, like subscriptions, loans and phone plans, in their own currency so you can see what Luxembourg actually costs you.

Connect your Luxembourg and home-country banks

Link your Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat, BGL BNP Paribas, Banque Internationale a Luxembourg, or other Luxembourg bank alongside your home-country bank. Transactions from all accounts sync automatically into one dashboard.

Budget in EUR and your home currency

Your budget is set in your home currency, and Borderless Budget automatically converts every transaction, whether it's in euro or your home currency. You can toggle any transaction to see the original currency amount. Exchange rates update daily, so your budget always reflects reality.

Automatic categorization

Transactions from Luxembourg merchants are automatically categorized. Categorization improves as you use the app, learning your patterns across both currencies, so you spend less time sorting transactions and more time living your life in Luxembourg.

See the impact of exchange rates

When exchange rates shift, your combined budget view updates automatically. You'll see exactly how currency movements affect your overall spending, no surprises, no guesswork.