# St. Martin

 Country code: MF

**Pros**
- Exemption from French VAT and wealth tax to boost local investment and capital retention.
- Strategic duty-free status allowing unrestricted movement of goods and minimal customs interference.
- Unique dual-governance environment providing access to European markets within a Caribbean lifestyle.

**Cons**
- Complex French administrative regulations creating significant bureaucratic hurdles for small business operations.
- High vulnerability to natural disasters requiring expensive private insurance and infrastructure reinforcement.
- Elevated security risks and property crime rates impacting operational costs and personal safety.

Long story short: After five years of residency in Saint Martin, you stop paying a single cent of local income tax, written in black and white into the collectivity's own tax code.

The catch: local administration drags its feet on everything, the island is still nursing Irma's wounds on the roads, and banks eye every new account with suspicion, slippery ground when it comes to money laundering.

Besides that: the French side stays calm in its wealthy neighborhoods, unlike its Dutch neighbor. Excellent Creole-French food, gorgeous scenery, tiny market, and everything imported costs a fortune.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Saint Martin** 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.
**Saint Martin** 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: 10% · Saint Martin (French side) has tax autonomy and its own tax code (Code des Impôts de Saint-Martin). Crypto-assets are treated as movable property (biens meubles). Capital gains for individuals are subject to a 10% flat tax (Article 150 decies), with a general exemption for sales below €5,000 (Article 150 septies). Professional trading is treated as business income (BIC/BNC) and taxed at progressive rates up to 40%. Unlike mainland France, Saint Martin has not adopted the specific 'digital asset' regime (Article 150 VH bis), meaning crypto-to-crypto swaps remain taxable events under general exchange rules. |
| 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, BUT EXPOSED.
**Saint Martin** 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 · Article L241-3, 4° of the French Commercial Code · In Saint Martin (a French Overseas Collectivity), French law applies. Under the principle of the 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity,' a company is a distinct legal person from its owner. Consequently, a sole shareholder-manager who uses corporate assets for personal gain (e.g., personal expenses) commits the criminal offense of 'Abus de Biens Sociaux' (ABS). This applies regardless of the company's solvency, as the act is considered contrary to the corporate interest and a misuse of the entity's separate patrimony. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC | Registre National des Entreprises (RNE) / INPI |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC | Registre National des Entreprises (RNE) / INPI |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Commercial Registry (RCS) and Beneficial Owner (RBE) Registration Fees | USD 68 |  |
| Mandatory Legal Publication (Journal d'Annonces Légales) | USD 232 |  |
| Professional Incorporation Services (Legal and Administrative Setup) | USD 1,738 |  |
| Bank Fee for Share Capital Deposit Certificate | USD 116 |  |
| Total | USD 2,154 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Saint Martin** 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 | 95% | 5% 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.
**Saint Martin** 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 **Saint Martin**: 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: SOMEWHAT.
**Saint Martin** 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 | Clear | favourable regimes |
| BRAZIL | Listed | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short:
Not enough data to tell how free you'd actually feel in **Saint Martin**.

**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 **Saint Martin**. *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 St. Martin. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   St. Pierre & Miquelon PM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/pm) [   Gambia GM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gm) [   Côte d’Ivoire CI  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ci)

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

 [   Vietnam VN  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/vn) [   Burkina Faso BF  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bf) [   Gabon GA  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ga)

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

 [   Cuba CU  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/cu) [   Sudan SD  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sd) [   Syria SY  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sy)