Seychelles
| Pros |
|---|
| Absence of capital gains, gift, or inheritance taxes to maximize private wealth retention. |
| Strategic territorial tax system with exemption of foreign-sourced income for non-resident entities. |
| High level of personal safety and political stability within a serene tropical environment. |
| Cons |
|---|
| Significant reliance on imported goods with resulting high operational costs and logistical complexities. |
| Increasing regulatory compliance requirements from international pressure on offshore financial centers. |
| Limited local labor pool and specialized talent with need for expensive foreign recruitment processes. |
Long story short: Setting up an offshore company here stays simple and taxed at zero on your foreign income, but since the European blacklisting, local banks treat you like a suspect before opening an account.
The administration crawls at a tropical pace, petty counter corruption still lingers but nothing systemic if you keep a low profile. Infrastructure holds up in Victoria, except water and power that occasionally cut out.
Besides that: near total safety in upscale areas like Eden Island, excellent grilled fish and curry, stunning beaches and granite peaks, but anything imported will cost you a fortune.
Will your income be taxed?
Long story short: NO.
Seychelles 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.
Will your wealth be taxed?
Long story short: NO.
Seychelles 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.
Easy to run a company there?
Long story short: YES.
Seychelles 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.
A good fit for a holding?
Long story short: NO.
Seychelles 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.
| Country | Status | Dividends | Interest | Royalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ∅ // no treaties match | ||||
Easy to come and go?
Long story short: LITTLE.
Coming and going from Seychelles costs you nothing worth mentioning. Territorial regime (foreign income stays foreign), no exit tax at the door.
You show up with your stuff, you leave with your stuff, plus whatever you earned abroad in between. Borders the way they should all work.
Is your money watched?
Long story short: YES, CLOSELY.
Seychelles signed every exchange framework that matters and runs a public corporate registry. Whatever you do here (earn, hold, structure) is reported, searchable, or both.
Your money is watched from every angle; if discretion is part of your plan, this isn't your jurisdiction.
Is it blacklisted?
Long story short: SOMEWHAT.
Seychelles 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.
Do you feel free there?
Long story short: PARTLY.
Press freedom in Seychelles is partial (RSF rank #45): civic space exists, with walls you'll eventually touch. Crypto, on the other hand, rides untaxed.
Mixed deal: your money moves freely, your mouth a little less so.
Connected to the world?
Long story short: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in Seychelles. 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.
Other jurisdictions worth comparing
Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Seychelles. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.