# Gambia

 Country code: GM · Currency: GMD · Language: English

**Pros**
- Competitive corporate tax incentives for priority sectors to attract foreign investment and private capital.
- Significant improvements in political stability and freedom of expression since the 2017 democratic transition.
- Strategic maritime access through the Port of Banjul for reaching the broader West African market.

**Cons**
- Persistent systemic corruption and bureaucratic hurdles in administrative processes and business registration.
- Unreliable electricity supply and poor road networks leading to high operational costs for businesses.
- High public debt levels and inflationary pressures impacting macroeconomic stability and purchasing power.

Long story short: In Gambia, the state barely notices you exist: setting up a company takes a few days, nobody comes poking through your books, and taxes are more negotiated than actually paid.

Flip side: power cuts hit you hard and often, roads outside the posh neighborhoods are rough, banks barely lend a dime, and every license or customs clearance wants its little envelope under the table.

Beyond that: Kololi, Fajara and Cape Point stay quiet and safe, the food (grilled fish with a Senegalese twist) is genuinely good, the beaches and the river are worth the detour, but the local market is tiny for anyone chasing real scale.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Gambia** 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.
**Gambia** 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 | UNREGULATED | Fallback rate: 15% · The Gambia has no specific cryptocurrency tax framework. The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) applies general tax law under the Income and Value Added Tax Act 2012. Casual investors are subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) at a rate of 15% of the gain or 5% of the consideration, whichever is higher. Professional traders are subject to progressive Personal Income Tax (top rate 25%). The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) does not recognize crypto as legal tender and has issued warnings regarding its use. |
| Crypto-to-crypto | TAXABLE | each swap counts as a disposal — gains realised at every trade |
| FATF travel rule | NOT SIGNED | no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers |

## Easy to run a company there?

Long story short: YES.
**Gambia** charges *no corporate income tax*, but treats *misuse of corporate assets as a crime*. Even as sole shareholder, dipping into company funds for personal use can land you in front of a judge; your own consent doesn't erase the offense.

Registries stay *non-public*, so at least your name stays off the internet.

Fiscally royal; just keep the books straight, because this is not a place to get casual with the company card.

**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 · Criminal Code (Cap 10:01), Sections 259 and 301; Companies Act 2013, Section 314 · The Gambia follows the 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity' principle (Salomon v Salomon). Under English Common Law precedents persuasive in The Gambia (notably Attorney General's Reference (No. 2 of 1982)), a sole director and shareholder can be criminally liable for theft from their own company. The company is a separate legal person, and the shareholder's consent does not preclude the 'dishonesty' required for a conviction under Section 259 (Stealing by Directors) or Section 301 (Fraudulent Appropriation by Directors) of the Criminal Code, even if the company remains solvent. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Registrar of Companies (Ministry of Justice) |
| Directors privacy | PRIVATE | Registrar of Companies (Ministry of Justice) |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called Private Company Limited by Shares (Private Limited Company). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Name Reservation Fee | USD 7 |  |
| Business Registration Fee (Foreign Rate) | USD 33 |  |
| Incorporation Fee (Share Capital up to 500,000 GMD) | USD 134 |  |
| Notarization of Company Statutes | USD 2 |  |
| Municipal Operational License (Banjul/Kanifing) | USD 67 |  |
| Stamp Duty | USD 31 |  |
| Mandatory Income Tax Deposit for Foreign Investors | USD 625 |  |
| Professional Legal Fees (Drafting and Filing) | USD 469 |  |
| Total | USD 1,367 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Gambia** 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 | 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: SOME.
**Gambia** 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 | 15 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | — | not available |
| Birth | — | not available |
| Descent | — | not available |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: NO.
Nobody's reading over your shoulder in **Gambia**. It has joined *almost none* of the big automatic-exchange machines (CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC), and its corporate registries are *non-public*.

Your account movements stay out of foreign tax offices; your name stays out of search boxes. Here, discretion isn't a perk; it's the factory setting.

**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: SOMEWHAT.
**Gambia** 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 1 authority**

| 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 | Listed | favourable regimes |
| BRAZIL | Clear | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short: PARTLY.
**Gambia** sits in the *middle band* of the RSF press-freedom index (rank **\#58**): civil society functions, but the walls are real and you'll learn fast where they stand.

Crypto lives in the standard regulated tier.

**08.1 Press freedom**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Press freedom · RSF index | 58/180 | score 65 · · 0 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 **Gambia**. *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 Gambia. 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.

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