# Wallis & Futuna

 Country code: WF

**Pros**
- Absence of personal income tax and corporate tax for most local business activities.
- High level of personal safety and low crime rates within a stable French legal framework.
- Significant local autonomy and traditional governance structures allowing for unique community-based negotiations.

**Cons**
- Extreme geographic isolation leading to high transport costs and limited access to global markets.
- Underdeveloped digital infrastructure and unreliable internet connectivity hindering modern remote business operations.
- Heavy reliance on expensive imports and complex land ownership laws based on traditional customary rights.

Long story short: In Wallis and Futuna, you pay almost nothing: the territory runs its own tax code, far gentler than mainland France's, and nobody is coming to dig through your books.

The catch is there is barely a market to sell to: eleven thousand people, an economy kept alive by French subsidies, and getting here at all is a nightmare, with flights rare and brutally expensive.

Other than that: French administration means no corruption to speak of, infrastructure is basic, safety is close to absolute, the lagoons are stunning, and the food is simple but good.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Wallis and Futuna** 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.
**Wallis and Futuna** 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 | ZERO TAX | Rate: 0% · Wallis and Futuna is a French Overseas Collectivity with fiscal autonomy. The territory does not levy personal income tax, corporate tax, or capital gains tax on individuals. Its tax system is primarily based on indirect taxation, such as import duties and the 'patente' (business license fee). Consequently, cryptocurrency gains for individual residents are effectively tax-free. |
| 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, BUT EXPOSED.
**Wallis and Futuna** has *no corporate income tax* but stacks the two nastiest non-fiscal frictions: *criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets (jail on the table for sloppy intra-company spending) and *public registries* (your name served up to anyone with a browser).

The sticker says zero; the exposure says otherwise, on every other axis.

**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 · Articles L241-3 (4°) and L242-6 (3°) of the Commercial Code (Code de commerce) · As a French Overseas Territory, Wallis and Futuna applies the French Commercial Code (via Article L950-1). Under the principle of 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity,' the company's assets are distinct from those of the shareholder. Consequently, a sole director-shareholder who uses corporate funds for personal expenses commits a criminal offense (Abus de biens sociaux), as the act is considered contrary to the company's social interest, regardless of the company's solvency or the shareholder's own consent. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC | Journal Officiel de Wallis et Futuna (JOWF) |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC | Journal Officiel de Wallis et Futuna (JOWF) |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Commercial Registry (RCS) & Publication (JOWF) Fees | USD 437 |  |
| Professional Incorporation & Legal Documentation Fees | USD 2,912 |  |
| Initial Business License (Patente) Registration | USD 243 |  |
| Total | USD 3,592 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Wallis and Futuna** 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 | TERRITORIAL | territorial — foreign-source income generally untaxed |
| Territorial · corporates | TERRITORIAL | territorial principle — foreign-source profits generally exempt |
| Participation exemption | 100% | no minimum threshold · no holding period |
| 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: LITTLE.
Coming and going from **Wallis and Futuna** 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.

**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.
Foreign tax offices see next to nothing of what you do in **Wallis and Futuna**: 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**

| 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: NO.
**Wallis and Futuna** 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:
Not enough data to tell how free you'd actually feel in **Wallis and Futuna**.

**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: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Wallis and Futuna**. *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 — 2/6 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe | Not available | card payments |
| PayPal | 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 Wallis & Futuna. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   St. Barthélemy BL  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bl) [   Marshall Islands MH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mh) [   Nauru NR  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/nr)

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

 [   Georgia GE  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ge) [   El Salvador SV  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sv) [   Macao SAR China MO  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mo)

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

 [   Marshall Islands MH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mh) [   Nauru NR  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/nr) [   British Virgin Islands VG  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/vg)