# Guam

 Country code: GU

**Pros**
- US Legal Framework: Strong protection of private property rights and contract enforcement under federal law.
- Strategic Asian Gateway: Proximity to major Eastern markets within the stable US dollar ecosystem.
- Tax Rebate Programs: Significant corporate and income tax incentives through the local Qualifying Certificate system.

**Cons**
- Jones Act Constraints: Federal maritime restrictions on shipping costs and limited free-market logistics competition.
- Bureaucratic Red Tape: Slow administrative processes and complex local land-use regulations as barriers to development.
- High Utility Costs: Expensive electricity and water services plus infrastructure vulnerability to tropical storms.

Long story short: On Guam you inherit the full American tax machine, IRS-style paperwork included, with zero territorial loophole to breathe through.

The flip side: a rock-solid banking system backed by federal guarantees, an administration that mostly just follows the rulebook rather than shaking you down (the real corruption stays in local politics around Hagåtña), and Tumon stays calm and safe if that's where you live and work.

Other things worth knowing: infrastructure is decent but aging fast, the food scene mixing Chamorro, Japanese and Filipino influences is genuinely great, beaches are gorgeous, but the whole economy leans almost entirely on the US military and Asian tourism, so opportunities outside those two lanes are thin.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Guam** 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.
**Guam** 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 | PROGRESSIVE | Rate: 20% · Guam operates under a 'Mirror Code' tax system (Guam Territorial Income Tax), which adopts the US Internal Revenue Code. Cryptocurrency is classified as property per IRS Notice 2014-21. Long-term capital gains (assets held for more than 12 months) are taxed at rates of 0%, 15%, or 20%. Short-term gains and professional trading income are taxed at ordinary progressive income tax rates, which peak at 37%. |
| 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.
**Guam** runs *no corporate income tax* and *no criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets: fiscally and legally featherweight.

The catch: registries are *public*, so your name as shareholder is one search away for any curious stranger. They won't tax you, they won't prosecute you. They'll just put you in the shop window.

**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 | NO CRIMINAL | no criminal liability · Guam follows U.S. common law principles where the 'Abus de Biens Sociaux' doctrine does not exist. In a solvent company with a sole shareholder-director, personal use of corporate funds is generally treated as a civil or tax matter (e.g., constructive dividends or 'piercing the corporate veil') rather than a crime. Criminal charges like misapplication of entrusted funds (9 GCA § 46.70) or theft require a victim; since the sole owner is the only stakeholder and the company is solvent, there is no 'other' party being defrauded. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation, General Licensing and Registration Branch |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation, General Licensing and Registration Branch |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Articles of Organization Filing Fee (Department of Revenue and Taxation) | USD 250 |  |
| Initial General Business License Fee | USD 100 |  |
| Professional Incorporation and Legal Advisory Fees | USD 800 |  |
| Total | USD 1,150 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Guam** 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 | 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 | 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.
**Guam** 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 **Guam**: 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: YES.
**Guam** stacks the *EU non-cooperative list* on top of national blacklists. Counterparties routinely fire anti-abuse rules, jack up withholding, or refuse the deal entirely, and the EU layer makes the friction automatic across the whole bloc.

The jurisdiction itself is the risk; the substance of what you do there is a footnote.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 4 authorities**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Clear | grey / black list |
| EU | Listed | non-cooperative list |
| FRANCE | Listed | ETNC list |
| SPAIN | Listed | tax-haven list |
| PORTUGAL | Listed | 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 **Guam**.

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

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Niue NU  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/nu) [   Northern Mariana Islands MP  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mp) [   Curaçao CW  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/cw)

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

 [   Lebanon LB  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/lb) [   U.S. Virgin Islands VI  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/vi) [   Faroe Islands FO  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/fo)

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

 [   Cook Islands CK  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ck) [   Fiji FJ  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/fj) [   Falkland Islands FK  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/fk)