# Guadeloupe

 Country code: GP

**Pros**
- Strategic tax exemptions in specific zones to stimulate private investment and business growth.
- Direct access to the European Single Market within a Caribbean geographic context.
- High-quality French-standard infrastructure and telecommunications for reliable business operations.

**Cons**
- Rigid French labor regulations and high social security contributions and associated high operational costs.
- Excessive administrative bureaucracy and complex regulatory requirements as barriers to entrepreneurial initiatives.
- Frequent social unrest and strikes with negative impact on logistics and economic stability.

Long story short: Here, the taxman hits as hard as in mainland France, but it also hides huge breaks for anyone setting up shop overseas: exemptions on payroll charges and tax cuts that can flip your balance sheet.

The flip side: paperwork stays slow and picky, petty crime in a few Pointe-à-Pitre neighborhoods can bite, and the local import levy jacks up prices on anything shipped in from outside.

Besides that: banks mirror the mainland system so they're solid, infrastructure holds up decently despite the occasional power cut, the food is excellent Creole fare, and the scenery will take your breath away.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Guadeloupe** 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.
**Guadeloupe** 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 | FLAT TAX | Rate: 30% · Guadeloupe follows the French General Tax Code (CGI Art. 150 VH bis). Capital gains are subject to a 30% Flat Tax (PFU). Crypto-to-crypto exchanges are not taxable events. Gains are exempt if total annual sales are below €305. Professional trading is taxed as BNC at progressive rates up to 45%. |
| 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.
**Guadeloupe** 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 · Articles L241-3 (4°) and L242-6 (3°) of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) · Guadeloupe is a French overseas department where French law applies. Under the principle of 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity,' the company's assets are distinct from those of its shareholders. French jurisprudence (e.g., Cass. Crim. 19 April 1989) established that a sole shareholder-director can be criminally liable for Misuse of Corporate Assets (ABS) because the act is contrary to the company's social interest. The consent of the sole shareholder does not negate the crime, and the offense is punishable regardless of the company's solvency. |
| 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 (Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce & RBE) | USD 62 |  |
| Mandatory Legal Publication (Annonce Légale - Fixed Rate) | USD 204 |  |
| Professional Incorporation Fees (Legal drafting and filing) | USD 1,390 |  |
| Total | USD 1,656 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Guadeloupe** 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 | TERRITORIAL | territorial principle — foreign-source profits generally exempt |
| Participation exemption | 95% | 5% holding · 24 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 | 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.
**Guadeloupe** 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 | — | 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 **Guadeloupe**: 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.
**Guadeloupe** 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 **Guadeloupe**.

**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: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Guadeloupe**. *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 — 2/3 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wise | Available | multi-currency |
| Revolut | 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 Guadeloupe. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Benin BJ  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bj) [   Guinea GN  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gn) [   Comoros KM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/km)

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

 [   Egypt EG  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/eg) [   Equatorial Guinea GQ  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gq) [   Madagascar MG  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mg)

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

 [   St. Pierre & Miquelon PM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/pm) [   St. Martin MF  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mf) [   Guam GU  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gu)