# North Korea

 Country code: KP · Currency: KPW · Language: Korean

**Pros**
- Official abolition of direct taxation since 1974, offering a unique, albeit theoretical, tax-free environment.
- Extremely low rates of street crime and theft due to pervasive state monitoring and strict enforcement.
- Untapped market potential and lack of competition in a completely closed, resource-rich economy.

**Cons**
- Absolute state ownership of land and resources, preventing any meaningful private property or individual enterprise.
- Pervasive systemic corruption requiring constant informal payments to officials for basic operational survival.
- Total absence of civil liberties, internet access, and freedom of movement for entrepreneurs and employees.

Long story short: Forget the idea of building a business here: the North Korean state owns everything, controls everything, and sees any private entrepreneur as a potential dissident.

Pyongyang still cultivates a golden bubble for diplomats and regime officials: fancy restaurants, modern mini marts, and rare power cuts in the nice neighborhoods. The banking system, isolated by international sanctions, remains an empty shell.

Beyond that: near zero insecurity in authorized zones, simple but decent food, preserved mountain landscapes, and constant surveillance that makes any privacy illusory.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**North Korea** 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.
**North Korea** 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 | ZERO TAX | Rate: 0% · North Korea officially abolished personal income tax on April 1, 1974. While the state actively uses cryptocurrency for sanctions evasion and revenue generation, private ownership, mining, and trading of digital assets are strictly prohibited for citizens. Unauthorized internet access and financial transactions outside state control are criminalized. |
| 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.
**North Korea** 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 Law of the DPRK, Article 133 (Misappropriation or Waste of Funds) · In North Korea's socialist legal system, the concept of private corporate ownership is not recognized for domestic citizens, and for Foreign-Invested Enterprises (FIEs), the state maintains strict oversight of all economic assets. Under Article 133 of the Criminal Law (2015), the 'misappropriation or waste' of funds by a manager is a criminal offense. The law does not provide an exception for a sole owner-manager; once assets are invested in an enterprise, they are protected as part of the national economic order, and their diversion for personal use is treated as a criminal act regardless of the company's solvency. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | NOT_FOUND |
| Directors privacy | PRIVATE | NOT_FOUND |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called 외국인기업 (Wegugin Kiop) (Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE)). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| State Registration and Business License Fees | USD 500,000 |  |
| Professional Consultancy and Intermediary Service Fees | USD 3,000,000 |  |
| Total | USD 3,500,000 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**North Korea** 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.
**North Korea** 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.
Nobody's reading over your shoulder in **North Korea**. 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: YES.
**North Korea** sits on an **international embargo list** (UN, US or EU sanctions). This is not blacklist friction, it's the financial death penalty: correspondent banking is gone, payment rails refuse the corridor, and simply transacting with the country can put *you* on a sanctions desk's radar.

Whatever the tax math says, the jurisdiction is radioactive. Walk away.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 2 authorities**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Listed | 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 **North Korea** is *locked down* (RSF rank **\#179**). 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 | 179/180 | score 12 · ↓ 2 ranks 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: COMPLETELY CUT OFF.
**North Korea** is unplugged from the global money grid: **0/11** 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 — 0/6 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 | Not available | merchant of record |

**Bank and move money — 0/3 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wise | Not 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 |

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