# St. Barthélemy

 Country code: BL

**Pros**
- Absence of personal income tax for residents living on the island for over five years
- Exceptional safety and security with very low crime rates for business and personal life
- Significant fiscal autonomy from mainland France allowing for a more business-friendly local tax environment

**Cons**
- Prohibitive real estate prices and extremely high cost of living for entrepreneurs and staff
- Limited physical infrastructure and heavy dependence on expensive maritime or aerial imports
- Strict local urban planning and environmental regulations limiting new commercial development and expansion

Long story short: Here, no income tax, no wealth tax, once you've been a resident for five years: Saint Barts carved out its own tax code in 2007, out of Paris's reach.

The flip side: everything costs a fortune, from rent to a boat-imported yogurt, and the local administration moves at its own leisurely pace. The banks, though, are solid, modeled on the French system.

Other than that: rock-solid security in Gustavia's posh neighborhoods, excellent food, stunning scenery, but a tiny market and an economy running almost entirely on luxury.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Saint Barthélemy** doesn't tax personal income, and nobody comes sniffing around when you settle in. No withholding, no tax return, no centre-of-vital-interests trap waiting to snap shut.

Earn what you want: the taxman here simply doesn't know your name.

**01.1 Income tax**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Personal income tax | NONE | no personal income tax framework |

**01.2 Tax residence test**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 183-day rule | does not exist here |  |
| Economic interest | does not exist here |  |
| Family centre | does not exist here |  |
| Habitual abode | does not exist here |  |
| Extended-stay test | does not exist here |  |

## Will your wealth be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Saint Barthélemy** keeps its hands off what you hold. *No capital gains tax*, no annual wealth grab, no inheritance regime.

Your portfolio compounds in peace and leaves the way it came in; nobody's standing at the door with their palm out.

**02.1 Investment income**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital gains | NONE | no capital gains regime |
| Dividend tax | NONE | no dividend tax |
| Interest income | NONE | no interest income tax |

**02.2 Wealth & estate**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wealth tax | NONE | no annual wealth tax · no real-estate wealth tax · no net-worth assessment |
| Inheritance system | NONE | no estate tax · no heir-based duties · no succession tax framework. Wealth transfers across heir-classes are not taxed in this jurisdiction. Only standard probate / registration fees may apply. |

**02.3 Crypto**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Crypto · tax regime | ZERO TAX | Rate: 0% · Saint Barthélemy (St. Barts) is a zero-tax jurisdiction for individuals who have been tax residents for at least five years. Qualified residents are exempt from income tax and capital gains tax on movable assets, including cryptocurrency. Individuals who have not yet met the five-year residency threshold are subject to the French mainland tax system, which typically applies a 30% flat tax (PFU) on crypto gains. Source: https://www.comstbarth.fr/fiscalite |
| Crypto-to-crypto | NEUTRAL | a swap is not a taxable realisation event |
| FATF travel rule | NOT SIGNED | no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers |

## Easy to run a company there?

Long story short: YES, BUT EXPOSED.
**Saint Barthélemy** has *no corporate income tax* but stacks the two nastiest non-fiscal frictions: *criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets (jail on the table for sloppy intra-company spending) and *public registries* (your name served up to anyone with a browser).

The sticker says zero; the exposure says otherwise, on every other axis.

**03.1 Rates**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate tax | NONE | no corporate income tax framework |
| VAT standard rate | NONE | no general VAT · no consumption tax framework |

**03.2 Regime & registry**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IP Box · Patent Box | NONE | no IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules |
| Misuse of corporate assets | CRIMINAL | criminal liability · Article L241-3, 4° of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) · As a French Overseas Collectivity (COM), Saint Barthélemy applies the French Commercial Code and Penal Code. Under the principle of the 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity,' the company's assets are strictly distinct from the shareholder's personal patrimony. Consequently, a sole shareholder-manager can be criminally prosecuted for 'Abus de Biens Sociaux' (ABS) if they use company funds for personal use, regardless of the company's solvency or the shareholder's own consent, as the act is deemed contrary to the company's independent social interest. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC | Registre National des Entreprises (RNE) |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC | Registre National des Entreprises (RNE) |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) (Limited Liability Company (LLC)). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration Fees (Registry/RCS and RBE) | USD 62 |  |
| Mandatory Legal Publication (Journal d'Annonces Légales) | USD 203 |  |
| Professional Legal and Incorporation Services (Statutes drafting) | USD 2,085 |  |
| Total | USD 2,350 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Saint Barthélemy** has no treaty network at all, which buries the holding question, full stop.

Every dividend in or out eats the statutory withholding at full rate, and no domestic regime can patch a hole that sits on the source side. Don't park a holding here.

**04.1 Substance & exemptions**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Territorial · individuals | TERRITORIAL | territorial — foreign-source income generally untaxed |
| Territorial · corporates | TERRITORIAL | territorial principle — foreign-source profits generally exempt |
| Participation exemption | 100% | no minimum threshold · no holding period |
| CFC rules | NONE | no controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope |

**04.2 Withholding tax · non-resident**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WHT · dividends | NONE | no withholding on outbound dividends |
| WHT · interest | NONE | no withholding on outbound interest |
| WHT · royalties | NONE | no withholding on outbound royalties |
| Tax-haven WHT | NONE | no punitive rate on record |

**04.3 Treaty network**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Treaties signed | 0 | active |
| Treaties pending | — | in negotiation |

## Easy to come and go?

Long story short: LITTLE.
Coming and going from **Saint Barthélemy** costs you nothing worth mentioning. *Territorial* regime (foreign income stays foreign), *no exit tax* at the door.

You show up with your stuff, you leave with your stuff, plus whatever you earned abroad in between. Borders the way they should all work.

**05.1 Exit & dual nationality**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Exit tax | NONE | no triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism |
| Dual citizenship | FORBIDDEN | naturalisation requires renouncing existing citizenship |

**05.2 Citizenship paths**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residence | — | not available |
| Marriage | — | not available |
| Birth | — | not available |
| Descent | — | not available |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: NO.
Foreign tax offices see next to nothing of what you do in **Saint Barthélemy**: it has signed *few exchange frameworks*.

But the *corporate registries are public*: your shareholdings and directorships are one search away for anyone curious. Invisible from abroad, on display at home.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 0/9 active**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | None | — |
| CARF | None | — |
| FATCA | None | — |
| MLI | None | — |
| BEPS | None | — |
| MAAC | None | — |
| GLOBAL FORUM | None | — |
| EOIR | None | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | None | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: NO.
**Saint Barthélemy** sits on no major blacklist, though it's *outside* the FATF club.

Some counterparties will run a bit of extra due diligence out of habit, but there's no formal stigma: you won't get hassled for dealing with it.

**Blacklist exposure — Clear everywhere**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Clear | grey / black list |
| EU | Clear | non-cooperative list |
| FRANCE | Clear | ETNC list |
| SPAIN | Clear | tax-haven list |
| PORTUGAL | Clear | favourable regimes |
| BRAZIL | Clear | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short:
Not enough data to tell how free you'd actually feel in **Saint Barthélemy**.

**08.1 Press freedom**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Press freedom · RSF index | — |  |

Central bank digital currency

NONE

no announced CBDC program · no pilot · no retail or wholesale prototype on record

## Connected to the world?

Long story short: COMPLETELY CUT OFF.
**Saint Barthélemy** is unplugged from the global money grid: **2/11** of the services we track work here. No *Stripe*, no *Amazon*, and almost nothing around them either.

Whatever your plan is, the payment layer gets built from scratch, with local banks and local rules. Come for other reasons; connectivity isn't one of them.

**Accept payments — 1/6 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe | Not available | card payments |
| PayPal | Not available | wallet payments |
| Adyen | Not available | enterprise psp |
| Mollie | Not available | eu payments |
| GoCardless | Not available | direct debit |
| Paddle | Available | merchant of record |

**Bank and move money — 1/3 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wise | Available | multi-currency |
| Revolut | Not available | personal banking |
| Revolut Business | Not available | business banking |

**Buy and sell on Amazon — 0/2 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Amazon | Not available | consumer delivery |
| Amazon Seller | Not available | marketplace selling |

  SEE ALSO## Other jurisdictions worth comparing

Picked by similarity of strategic profile to St. Barthélemy. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Wallis & Futuna WF  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/wf) [   Marshall Islands MH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mh) [   Nauru NR  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/nr)

  NOTABLY MORE FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, higher total score.

 [   Georgia GE  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ge) [   El Salvador SV  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sv) [   Macao SAR China MO  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mo)

  NOTABLY LESS FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, lower total score.

 [   Marshall Islands MH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mh) [   Nauru NR  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/nr) [   British Virgin Islands VG  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/vg)