# South Sudan

 Country code: SS · Currency: SSP · Language: English

**Pros**
- Minimal regulatory oversight due to weak state institutions and nascent legal frameworks.
- Abundant untapped natural resources and agricultural potential for pioneering private investment.
- Low tax enforcement and informal economy for significant operational autonomy.

**Cons**
- Severe political instability and ongoing security risks to physical assets and personnel safety.
- Pervasive corruption and lack of rule of law in an unpredictable business environment.
- Extremely poor infrastructure and limited access to reliable power or transportation networks.

Long story short: In South Sudan, corruption isn't a crime, it's a public service: every stamp, every permit gets negotiated in cash dollars, no detour needed.

The upside: the tax authority has neither the means nor the will to bother you, as long as the right hands get greased. The country floats on oil and almost everything still needs to be built, from logistics to food supply, for anyone with strong enough nerves.

Other things worth knowing: the banking system is basically dead, so run everything in cash. Juba's upscale neighborhoods, packed with private guards, stay surprisingly calm despite the dirt roads everywhere, and the Nile cutting through the city is about the only real scenery you'll get.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**South Sudan** 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.
**South Sudan** 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: 20% · The Bank of South Sudan (BoSS) issued a public advisory in October 2022 stating that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not legal tender and are not regulated or supervised in the country. While the BoSS has cautioned against their use, there is no specific tax legislation for digital assets. Consequently, the South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) applies general income tax rules under the Taxation Act 2009. For individuals, gains are treated as ordinary income subject to Personal Income Tax (PIT) at progressive rates up to 20% (as per the Finance Act 2024/2025). Professional or business-scale trading is subject to the Business Profit Tax (BPT) at a flat rate of 30%. |
| 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.
**South Sudan** is maximum operational chill: *no corporate income tax* on standard profits, *no criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets, and *non-public* registries.

The state doesn't take a cut, doesn't park a prosecutor over your intra-company flows, and doesn't put your name in a search box.

VAT sits at **n/a**. Run your thing; nobody's looking over your shoulder.

**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 · South Sudan follows the Common Law tradition where a company is a separate legal entity, but a sole shareholder-director of a solvent company is generally not held criminally liable for the 'misuse' of assets. Under the Penal Code Act 2008 (Section 340), 'Criminal Breach of Trust' requires dishonest misappropriation; however, in a sole-owner scenario, the company is legally deemed to consent to the owner's actions, negating the element of dishonesty. Such acts are instead treated as civil breaches of fiduciary duties or regulatory violations under the Companies Act 2012. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Directorate of Registration of Businesses, Associations and NGOs (Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs) |
| Directors privacy | PRIVATE | Directorate of Registration of Businesses, Associations and NGOs (Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs) |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration Fee (Foreign/Joint Venture Rate) | USD 2,000 |  |
| Legal & Professional Incorporation Services | USD 3,000 |  |
| Investment Certificate & Regulatory Permits | USD 700 |  |
| Total | USD 5,700 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**South Sudan** 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.
**South Sudan** 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 | ALLOWED | naturalised citizens may keep their existing nationality |

**05.2 Citizenship paths**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residence | 10 years | available path to naturalisation |
| 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 **South Sudan**. 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.
**South Sudan** 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: NO.
Press freedom in **South Sudan** is *locked down* (RSF rank **\#109**). 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 | 109/180 | score 51 · ↑ 27 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.
**South Sudan** is unplugged from the global money grid: **1/11** 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 — 1/2 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Amazon | Not available | consumer delivery |
| Amazon Seller | Available | marketplace selling |

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