# Bermuda

 Country code: BM

**Pros**
- Absence of personal income, capital gains, or corporate taxes for most international business entities.
- Robust legal framework based on English Common Law ensuring strong property rights and contract enforcement.
- Strategic geographic location providing easy access to North American markets and high-speed digital infrastructure.

**Cons**
- Significant reliance on high import duties and payroll taxes to fund government expenditures.
- Restrictive local ownership regulations requiring sixty percent Bermudian control for many domestic business categories.
- Exorbitant cost of living and operational expenses driven by isolated geography and limited land availability.

Long story short: Here, no income tax, no corporate tax, no capital gains tax: a fiscal dream the island guards jealously.

The catch: cost of living is insane, work permits are locked down tight to protect local jobs, and since 2025 a 15% tax hits the big multinationals, though it won't touch small setups.

Other things worth knowing: banks are rock solid but few in number, infrastructure is top notch, upscale neighborhoods are genuinely safe, beaches are pink and breathtaking, and hurricane season hits hard every summer.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Bermuda** 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 | 0% | flat rate |

**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.
**Bermuda** 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 | 0% | flat |
| Dividend tax | 0% | flat |
| Interest income | 0% | flat |

**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% · Bermuda is a tax-neutral jurisdiction that does not impose personal income tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax on individuals. While the Digital Asset Business Act (DABA) 2018 provides a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto-related businesses, individual residents are not taxed on the purchase, holding, or sale of digital assets. A 15% corporate income tax is being introduced in 2025, but it applies only to large multinational enterprises with annual revenue exceeding €750 million. |
| 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.
Corporate tax in **Bermuda** sits at a *low* **15%**, with *no criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets and *non-public* registries.

Cheap to run, discreet about who owns what, and no prosecutor breathing down your neck. A clean place to operate.

**03.1 Rates**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate tax | 15% | flat |
| 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 | NO CRIMINAL | no criminal liability · Bermuda follows English common law principles where a company is a separate legal entity, but the 'consent' of a sole shareholder-director generally precludes criminal charges for theft or misuse of assets while the company is solvent. Such acts are treated as civil breaches of fiduciary duty or unauthorized distributions of capital under Section 54 of the Companies Act 1981. Criminal liability for 'fraudulent trading' (Section 248) typically requires the company to be in liquidation or an intent to defraud creditors. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Registrar of Companies |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | Registrar of Companies |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called Exempted Company. The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Application and Registration Fees (including first year fee) | USD 3,220 |  |
| Professional Incorporation and Legal Service Fees | USD 15,779 |  |
| Total | USD 18,999 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Bermuda** 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% | 10% holding · 12 months min |
| 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 | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · interest | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · royalties | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| 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 **Bermuda** 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 | ALLOWED | naturalised citizens may keep their existing nationality |

**05.2 Citizenship paths**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residence | 5 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | 10 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Birth | — | not available |
| Descent | 1 gen | available path to naturalisation |
| Investment | USD 2,500,000 | available path to naturalisation |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: YES, CLOSELY.
Yes, your money is watched here. **Bermuda** signed *every major* automatic-exchange framework: CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC. Open an account and it gets reported straight to your home tax authority (Americans: FATCA applies, no exceptions).

Corporate registries stay *non-public*, which saves a thin slice of ownership discretion. But your financial trail is made of glass.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 4/9 active · 4 pending**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | Signed | 2017 |
| CARF | Signed | 2024 |
| FATCA | In force | 2014 |
| MLI | None | — |
| BEPS | Signed | — |
| MAAC | In force | 2014 |
| GLOBAL FORUM | Signed | — |
| EOIR | In force | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | In force | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: SOMEWHAT.
**Bermuda** is *flagged* by a few national tax administrations (drawn from FR/ES/PT/BR) and sits outside the FATF club.

The friction is selective: anti-abuse rules fire on specific corridors, and counterparties ask more questions than usual. Neither the FATF nor the EU has it on their lists, which keeps the damage contained: a nuisance, not a scarlet letter.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 3 authorities**

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

## Do you feel free there?

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

**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.
**Bermuda** 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 Bermuda. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Kuwait KW  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/kw) [   Bahrain BH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bh) [   Bahamas BS  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bs)

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

 [   Bolivia BO  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bo) [   St. Lucia LC  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/lc) [   Macao SAR China MO  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mo)