# Nepal

 Country code: NP · Currency: NPR · Language: Nepali

**Pros**
- To leverage low labor costs and untapped potential in renewable energy and tourism sectors.
- To enjoy high personal freedom and a culturally rich, low-cost lifestyle for adventurous entrepreneurs.
- To utilize strategic positioning between major Asian economies for unique arbitrage and trade possibilities.

**Cons**
- To face pervasive bureaucratic corruption and systemic inefficiency within state institutions.
- To navigate inadequate transport infrastructure and inconsistent power supply as barriers to operational efficiency.
- To manage onerous regulatory requirements for foreign capital and difficult profit repatriation processes.

Long story short: In Nepal, the administration will never hassle you with a tax audit, it simply lacks the means and the will. Getting your profits out of the country is another story though: the central bank keeps an eye on every dollar that leaves.

Setting up a company can now be done online in a few days, corruption stays low level, and local banks, unglamorous but solid, run smoothly for your day to day business in Kathmandu.

Other than that: the power no longer cuts out, the capital's nicer neighborhoods are calm, the Newari food is worth the trip, and the Himalayan peaks make the occasional surprise strike easy to forgive.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Nepal** 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.
**Nepal** 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: 39% · Cryptocurrency is strictly prohibited in Nepal by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) under the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act and the Nepal Rastra Bank Act. All activities, including trading, mining, holding, and promoting, are illegal and punishable by fines (up to 3x the transaction value), asset confiscation, and imprisonment (up to 7 years). While no specific crypto tax law exists, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) taxes all forms of income under the Income Tax Act 2058 at progressive rates reaching a maximum of 39% (including surcharges). |
| 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.
**Nepal** 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 · Companies Act, 2063 (2006), Section 160(p) and Section 161(1)(c) · Nepal strictly enforces the 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity' principle. Under Section 160(p) of the Companies Act, any officer (including a sole director/shareholder) who misappropriates company property or uses it for purposes other than those specified in the company's Memorandum or Articles of Association commits a criminal offense. This is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment for up to two years. Furthermore, Section 163 mandates that the Government of Nepal acts as the plaintiff in such cases, confirming that the state treats the unauthorized personal use of corporate funds as a crime against the legal entity, regardless of the company's solvency or the sole shareholder's consent. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Office of the Company Registrar (OCR) |
| Directors privacy | PRIVATE | Office of the Company Registrar (OCR) |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration Fee (OCR) | USD 124 |  |
| Professional Legal and Incorporation Services | USD 653 |  |
| PAN/VAT and Local Ward Registration | USD 33 |  |
| Total | USD 810 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Nepal** 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.
**Nepal** 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 **Nepal**. 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 · 1 pending**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | None | — |
| CARF | None | — |
| FATCA | None | — |
| MLI | None | — |
| BEPS | None | — |
| MAAC | None | — |
| GLOBAL FORUM | Signed | — |
| EOIR | None | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | None | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: YES.
**Nepal** sits on the **FATF grey/black list**, the one flag that chases a transaction around the planet.

Enhanced due diligence becomes mandatory for your counterparties everywhere, correspondent banking dries up, and some institutions slam the door outright.

No structuring cleverness offsets a FATF listing: the compliance cost is welded to the country's name.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 1 authority**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | 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: PARTLY.
**Nepal** sits in the *middle band* of the RSF press-freedom index (rank **\#90**): 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 | 90/180 | score 55 · ↓ 16 ranks year-on-year |

Central bank digital currency

    Program Status Cross-border Sources     Nepal CBDC

The motivations are to find a better way to meet the wide variety of policy goals taken by central banks such as financial inclusion, optimal payment system, and cost-efficient currency management, among others.

The Nepal Rastra Bank

   RESEARCH   —   [announce →](https://www.nrb.org.np/contents/uploads/2022/10/CBDC-for-Nepal.pdf "Announcement")

 programs 1

## Connected to the world?

Long story short: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Nepal**. *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 Nepal. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Haiti HT  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ht) [   Gambia GM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gm) [   Solomon Islands SB  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sb)

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

 [   Liberia LR  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/lr) [   Myanmar (Burma) MM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mm) [   Laos LA  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/la)