# Sint Maarten

 Country code: SX

**Pros**
- Absence of capital gains and wealth taxes to maximize private capital retention and investment growth
- Strategic location as a duty-free Caribbean hub with high-capacity international air and sea connectivity
- Dual-jurisdiction environment for unique access to both European standards and Caribbean market flexibility

**Cons**
- Persistent political instability and administrative corruption with negative effects on business predictability and legal certainty
- Fragile utility infrastructure and high climate vulnerability with the need for significant private contingency systems
- Increasing international pressure for tax transparency and complex local labor regulations for reduced operational autonomy

Long story short: Here, the Dutch government is too busy with its own political crises to bother digging through your accounts. Corporate taxes stay low, paperwork is minimal, and nobody really checks what you declare.

The flip side: infrastructure still carries the scars of Irma, local banks stay wary of new accounts, and corruption runs deep through parts of the administration.

Other than that: in upscale neighborhoods like Cupecoy, safety is nothing to worry about, Caribbean food is excellent, and the beaches are absolutely worth the trip.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Sint Maarten** 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.
**Sint Maarten** 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: 0% · Sint Maarten does not have specific cryptocurrency legislation. Under general tax law, individuals are not subject to capital gains tax on private assets, making crypto gains effectively tax-free for casual investors. However, if trading activity is frequent or professional, it may be reclassified as 'income from other activities' or business income, which is taxed at progressive income tax rates up to 47.5%. |
| 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.
**Sint Maarten** 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 · Sint Maarten law, which follows the Dutch legal tradition, does not have a specific criminal statute for 'Misuse of Corporate Assets' (Abus de Biens Sociaux). While the company is a separate legal entity, a sole shareholder-director's use of funds for personal expenses in a solvent company is generally not prosecuted as criminal embezzlement (Article 2:336 of the Penal Code) because the sole owner's consent negates the 'unlawfulness' (wederrechtelijkheid) required for the offense. Instead, such acts are treated as a civil breach of the director's duty of care under Book 2, Articles 2:8 and 2:9 of the Civil Code, or as a tax matter (e.g., an undeclared dividend). Criminal liability typically only arises if the company becomes insolvent (Bankruptcy Fraud) or if the act involves tax evasion or forgery. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) Trade Register |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) Trade Register |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional Incorporation Service Fees | USD 3,000 |  |
| Notary Fees for Deed of Incorporation | USD 2,250 |  |
| Government Business and Director License Fees | USD 2,000 |  |
| Chamber of Commerce (KvK) Registration Fee | USD 866 |  |
| Government Application Processing Fee | USD 84 |  |
| Total | USD 8,200 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Sint Maarten** 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 | 100% | 5% holding |
| 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.
**Sint Maarten** 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: PARTLY.
**Sint Maarten** plays along with *some* of the exchange machinery (typically CRS, MLI, MAAC), so a slice of your financial life gets shipped to treaty partners. Corporate registries stay *non-public*, so ownership stays opaque.

Half-watched: they see some of the money, none of the structure.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 2/9 active · 2 pending**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | Signed | 2018 |
| CARF | None | — |
| FATCA | None | — |
| MLI | None | — |
| BEPS | None | — |
| MAAC | In force | 2013 |
| GLOBAL FORUM | Signed | — |
| EOIR | In force | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | None | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: SOMEWHAT.
**Sint Maarten** 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 **Sint Maarten**.

**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: COMPLETELY CUT OFF.
**Sint Maarten** is unplugged from the global money grid: **2/11** 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 — 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 — 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 Sint Maarten. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Andorra AD  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ad) [   Aruba AW  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/aw) [   Northern Mariana Islands MP  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mp)

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

 [   Faroe Islands FO  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/fo) [   Indonesia ID  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/id) [   Philippines PH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ph)

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

 [   Côte d’Ivoire CI  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ci) [   Gambia GM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/gm) [   Solomon Islands SB  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sb)