# Sierra Leone

 Country code: SL · Currency: SLE · Language: English

**Pros**
- Access to vast mineral wealth and agricultural land for private development and export
- Low entry barriers in emerging sectors like telecommunications and renewable energy production
- Duty-free access to international markets through trade agreements and specialized economic zones

**Cons**
- Financial instability and capital erosion from high inflation rates and currency volatility
- Significant operational cost increases due to severe infrastructure deficits in power supply and logistics
- Business security risks and contract enforcement issues from weak rule of law and corruption

Long story short: Nobody's really chasing you for taxes in Sierra Leone: the state barely tracks anyone, and paperwork moves at the speed of whoever slips a note across the desk.

The flip side: petty bribery is routine from customs to checkpoints, banks are thin and mostly cash-only, and power cuts hit even the nicest Freetown hills.

Still, the peninsula's beaches are jaw-dropping, the grilled fish and cassava leaf are excellent, security in the upscale districts is solid, and diamond wealth remains barely tapped.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Sierra Leone** 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.
**Sierra Leone** 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: 30% · The Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender and has issued warnings regarding its use. There is no specific 'Crypto Tax Law'; however, the National Revenue Authority (NRA) applies general tax principles. Under the Finance Act 2013 and the Income Tax Act 2000, gains from the disposal of 'chargeable assets' are subject to a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) of 30%. Swapping one crypto-asset for another is considered a disposal where consideration is received 'in kind', making it a taxable event. Professional trading is treated as business income, which is taxed at the top marginal rate of 30% for residents. |
| 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.
**Sierra Leone** 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 · In Sierra Leone, which follows the Common Law tradition, the misuse of corporate assets by a sole director who is also the sole shareholder of a solvent company is treated as a civil breach of fiduciary duty rather than a criminal offense. Under Section 240 of the Companies Act 2009, such actions trigger civil liabilities, including the duty to account for profits or indemnify the company for losses. Criminal charges for 'fraudulent conversion' under Section 20 of the Larceny Act 1916 typically fail in this scenario because the 'directing mind and will' of the company (the sole shareholder) has consented to the act, thereby negating the 'dishonesty' and 'lack of consent' required for a criminal conviction, provided the company remains solvent and no creditors are defrauded. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration & Statutory Fees (CAC, Name Search, TIN) | USD 142 |  |
| Professional Incorporation Services (Legal & Consultancy) | USD 1,420 |  |
| Total | USD 1,562 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Sierra Leone** 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.
**Sierra Leone** 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 | 15 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | — | not available |
| Birth | jus soli | available path to naturalisation |
| 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 **Sierra Leone**: 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 · 2 pending**

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

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: NO.
**Sierra Leone** sits on no major blacklist, though it's *outside* the FATF club.

Some counterparties will run a bit of extra due diligence out of habit, but there's no formal stigma: you won't get hassled for dealing with it.

**Blacklist exposure — Clear everywhere**

| 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 | Clear | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short: PARTLY.
**Sierra Leone** sits in the *middle band* of the RSF press-freedom index (rank **\#56**): 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 | 56/180 | score 66 · ↑ 8 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: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Sierra Leone**. *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 Sierra Leone. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Bhutan BT  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bt) [   Kyrgyzstan KG  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/kg) [   Lesotho LS  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ls)

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

 [   Bangladesh BD  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bd) [   Botswana BW  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bw) [   Chad TD  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/td)

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

 [   Gambia GM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gm) [   St. Martin MF  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mf) [   St. Pierre & Miquelon PM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/pm)