# Cameroon

 Country code: CM · Currency: XAF · Language: English

**Pros**
- Abundant natural resources and agricultural land available for private investment and development.
- Strategic maritime access serving as a commercial gateway to landlocked Central African nations.
- Expanding digital sector with a young, motivated workforce seeking private sector opportunities.

**Cons**
- Pervasive systemic corruption and heavy bureaucratic hurdles slowing down entrepreneurial initiatives.
- Persistent security instability in specific regions creating significant operational risks and uncertainty.
- Opaque fiscal policies and aggressive tax administration targeting successful private enterprises.

Long story short: In Cameroon, the real tax is paid in cash, slipped to a clerk to unstick a stuck file: corruption drives business more than the tax office does.

On the flip side, the CFA franc pegged to the euro spares you currency nightmares, and the country runs the biggest economy in the CEMAC zone, with real potential in oil, cocoa and agriculture.

Beyond that: security stays decent in the upscale neighborhoods of Douala and Yaoundé, the food is excellent, and the landscapes earn the country its nickname, Africa in miniature.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: YES, A LOT.
Income gets *fleeced* in **Cameroon** (top marginal rate **38.5%**), but the residency test is surprisingly hands-off.

The bill is brutal for residents; the whole game is simply not to become one by accident.

**01.1 Income tax**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Personal income tax | 11 → 38.5% | progressive · 4 brackets |

| Bracket (USD) | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| 0 – 3,532 | 11% |
| 3,532 – 5,298 | 16.5% |
| 5,298 – 8,830 | 27.5% |
| 8,830 + | 38.5% |

**01.2 Tax residence test**

_A single active rule is enough to make you tax-resident._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 183-day rule | exists 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: YES, FAIRLY.
**Cameroon** taxes gains at **16.5%** *and* runs an annual wealth tax above a threshold (top rate **0.1%**).

Your pile gets hit twice: once while it sits, once when it moves. The kind of double-dipping that quietly bleeds a portfolio.

**02.1 Investment income**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital gains | 16.5% | flat |
| Dividend tax | 16.5% | flat |
| Interest income | 16.5% | flat |

**02.2 Wealth & estate**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wealth tax | 0.1% | flat |
| Inheritance system | APPLIES | heir-based · 5 heir classes |

| Heir | Top rate | Allowance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Spouse | 2% | XAF 0 |
| Children | 2% | XAF 0 |
| Siblings | 5% | XAF 0 |
| Other relatives | 10% | XAF 0 |
| Non-relatives | 20% | XAF 0 |

**02.3 Crypto**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Crypto · tax regime | UNREGULATED | Fallback rate: 16.5% · Cameroon has no specific cryptocurrency tax legislation. However, the Directorate General of Taxation (DGI) applies general tax principles, treating crypto-assets as intangible assets (actifs incorporels). Capital gains are subject to a 15% flat tax plus a 10% local surcharge (Centimes Additionnels Communaux - CAC), totaling 16.5%. Professional trading or mining is classified as non-commercial profit (BNC) and taxed at progressive rates up to 38.5% (including CAC). While the regional central bank (BEAC) prohibits banks from facilitating crypto transactions, the regional regulator COSUMAF introduced a framework for Digital Asset Service Providers (DASPs) in late 2025. |
| 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: NO.
Corporate tax in **Cameroon** is **33%**, no IP-box mercy, VAT at **19.3** on top.

Operationally, running a company here is fine; fiscally, the state helps itself to a fat slice of every unit of profit. You do the work, they skim the cream.

**03.1 Rates**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate tax | 27.5 → 33% | progressive |

| Bracket (USD) | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| 0 – 5,298,000 | 27.5% |
| 5,298,000 + | 33% |

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| VAT standard rate | 19.3% | single rate · no reduced tiers |

**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 891 of the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies (AUSCGIE) and Article 21 of Cameroon Law No. 2003/008 · Cameroon follows the OHADA principle of the autonomy of the legal entity, meaning the company's assets are legally distinct from the shareholder's personal patrimony. A sole shareholder-manager can be held criminally liable for 'Abus de Biens Sociaux' (Misuse of Corporate Assets) because the law protects the 'social interest' of the company as a separate legal person. This interest is violated when funds are diverted for personal use, regardless of the company's solvency or the fact that the perpetrator is the only owner. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier (RCCM) |
| Directors privacy | PRIVATE | Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier (RCCM) |

**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 & Registry Fees (CFCE) | USD 177 |  |
| Notary Public Fees | USD 265 |  |
| Professional Legal & Incorporation Services | USD 2,561 |  |
| Total | USD 3,002 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Cameroon** 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 | WORLDWIDE | worldwide income taxation regardless of source |
| Territorial · corporates | WORLDWIDE | worldwide corporate taxation |
| Participation exemption | NONE | no dividend participation exemption regime |
| 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 | 16.5% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · interest | 16.5% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · royalties | 15% | non-resident outbound |
| Tax-haven WHT | 33% | penalty rate · blacklisted destinations |

**04.3 Treaty network**

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

## Easy to come and go?

Long story short: SOME.
**Cameroon** taxes your worldwide income while you're resident, but at least the exit is free: *no exit tax* on the way out.

Leaving costs you paperwork, not money; your unrealised gains walk out the door with you, untouched.

**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 | 5 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | — | not available |
| Birth | jus soli | available path to naturalisation |
| Descent | — | not available |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: PARTLY.
**Cameroon** plays along with *some* of the exchange machinery (typically CRS, MLI, MAAC), so a slice of your financial life gets shipped to treaty partners. Corporate registries stay *non-public*, so ownership stays opaque.

Half-watched: they see some of the money, none of the structure.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 4/9 active · 2 pending**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | In force | 2026 |
| CARF | None | — |
| FATCA | None | — |
| MLI | In force | 2022 |
| BEPS | Signed | — |
| MAAC | In force | 2015 |
| GLOBAL FORUM | Signed | — |
| EOIR | In force | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | None | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: YES.
**Cameroon** sits on the **FATF grey/black list**, the one flag that chases a transaction around the planet.

Enhanced due diligence becomes mandatory for your counterparties everywhere, correspondent banking dries up, and some institutions slam the door outright.

No structuring cleverness offsets a FATF listing: the compliance cost is welded to the country's name.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 1 authority**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Listed | 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: NO.
Press freedom in **Cameroon** is *locked down* (RSF rank **\#131**). Independent media and civic space operate under pressure (when they operate at all), and that kind of grip usually spills over into economic life too.

Small mercy: crypto isn't formally banned.

**08.1 Press freedom**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Press freedom · RSF index | 131/180 | score 42 · ↓ 1 rank year-on-year |

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: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Cameroon**. *Stripe* won't onboard you, so card payments mean a foreign structure or a local processor with its own rules. *Amazon* doesn't deliver either.

Some secondary services run (**3/11**), but for an online business this is swimming against the current.

**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 — 1/2 available**

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

  SEE ALSO## Other jurisdictions worth comparing

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

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

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

 [   Iran IR  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ir) [ 🇹🇦  Tristan da Cunha TA  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ta)