Competitive corporate tax rates and specific incentives for innovative startups to minimize fiscal burden
Exceptional personal safety and low crime rates for the protection of private property
High degree of political stability and direct democracy traditions for a predictable business climate
Cons
Small domestic market size and reliance on external trade for economic growth
Complex regulatory alignment with European Union standards despite non-member status
Limited physical accessibility and lack of independent major transport hubs like international airports
Europe's lowest tax rate, but good luck opening a bank account here without spending months proving you're not laundering money: that's the San Marino paradox in a nutshell.
On the flip side: a tiny administration, almost zero corruption, and total safety. The catch is that residency permits are doled out in dribs and drabs, and the banks, still burned by their own past scandals, scrutinize every wire transfer like it's a crime scene.
Beyond that: breathtaking views from Mount Titano, spot-on Italian food, and a microscopic economy permanently hitched to Italy's wagon.
San Marino 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.
01.1Income tax
Personal income tax
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?What residents pay on what they earn: salary, freelance income, sometimes dividends too. We show the system (flat or progressive) and the top rate.
Source et informations complémentairesno personal income tax framework
01.2Tax residence test
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
Income tax simulatori
N/A
no income tax framework — nothing to simulate
Will your wealth be taxed?NO.
San Marino 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.
02.1Investment income
Capital gains
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?The tax on your profit when you sell something that gained value: stocks, property, crypto, a business. Some countries skip it entirely.
Source et informations complémentairesno capital gains regime
Dividend tax
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?What you pay when your company sends you dividends. It stacks on top of corporate tax, so the combined bill is what really counts.
Source et informations complémentairesno dividend tax
Interest income
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?The tax on income from savings, bonds and loans. Matters when choosing where to park your cash.
Source et informations complémentairesno interest income tax
02.2Wealth & estate
Wealth tax
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?A yearly tax on what you own above a threshold, whether you sell or not. Most countries scrapped it; a few still run one.
Source et informations complémentairesno annual wealth tax · no real-estate wealth tax · no net-worth assessment
Inheritance system
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?What heirs pay on what they inherit, by category (spouse, children, others), with allowances and top rates. Plenty of countries charge nothing at all.
Source et informations complémentairesno 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.
02.3Crypto
Crypto · tax regime
ZERO TAX
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De quoi s’agit-il ?How crypto gains are taxed here: zero, flat, progressive or grey zone. Includes whether crypto-to-crypto swaps count as taxable events.
Source et informations complémentairesRate: 0% · Capital gains from digital assets for individuals are exempt from income tax under Decree-Law 86/2019, Art. 14. Professional trading is treated as business income subject to progressive IGR rates (up to 35%). Source: https://www.sanmarinoinnovation.com/blockchain-decree
Crypto-to-crypto
NEUTRAL
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De quoi s’agit-il ?How crypto gains are taxed here: zero, flat, progressive or grey zone. Includes whether crypto-to-crypto swaps count as taxable events.
Source et informations complémentairesa swap is not a taxable realisation event
FATF travel rule
NOT SIGNED
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De quoi s’agit-il ?Does this country enforce the crypto Travel Rule? If yes, exchanges must identify senders and recipients, like banks do for wire transfers.
Source et informations complémentairesno information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers
Easy to run a company there?YES, BUT EXPOSED.
San Marino 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.
03.1Rates
Corporate tax
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?What companies pay on their profits. The headline rate is a starting point: IP boxes and holding regimes often pull the real rate lower.
Source et informations complémentairesno corporate income tax framework
VAT standard rate
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?The sales tax baked into almost everything you buy here. One standard rate, plus reduced rates on things like food or books.
Source et informations complémentairesno general VAT · no consumption tax framework
03.2Regime & registry
IP Box · Patent Box
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?A discounted tax rate on income from patents, software and designs, often 5 to 10%. A magnet for tech and licensing businesses.
Source et informations complémentairesno IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules
Misuse of corporate assets
CRIMINAL
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De quoi s’agit-il ?If you spend company money on yourself, is it a crime (prison possible) or a civil matter? Some countries prosecute even sole shareholders.
Source et informations complémentairescriminal liability · Article 198 of the Penal Code (Codice Penale) of the Republic of San Marino · San Marino follows a strict approach where 'Amministrazione infedele' (Asset Infidelity) is a criminal offense. Under Article 198 of the Penal Code (as recently updated), the crime is prosecuted 'ex officio' (automatically by the state) when committed by a company director. Because the company is a distinct legal entity (Art. 1, Law 47/2006), the state protects corporate assets independently of the shareholder's will; thus, a sole shareholder-director can be criminally liable for using company funds for personal gain even if the company is solvent.
Shareholders privacy
PUBLIC PAYWALL
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De quoi s’agit-il ?How visible a company's shareholders and directors are: free public registry, paywalled, restricted or fully private. More privacy, but sometimes warier banks.
Source et informations complémentairesRegistro delle Imprese
Directors privacy
PUBLIC PAYWALL
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De quoi s’agit-il ?How visible a company's shareholders and directors are: free public registry, paywalled, restricted or fully private. More privacy, but sometimes warier banks.
Source et informations complémentairesRegistro delle Imprese
03.3Incorporation cost
In this country, the most standard company form is called Società a Responsabilità Limitata (S.r.l.) (Limited Liability Company). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only.
Government License Issuing Tax
USD 1,951
Initial Company Registration Fee
USD 402
Notary Fees, Stamp Duties, and Legal Documentation
USD 3,386
Professional Incorporation Service Fees
USD 4,591
Total
USD 10,330
A good fit for a holding?NO.
San Marino 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.
04.1Substance & exemptions
Territorial · individuals
WORLDWIDE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?Does this country tax only local income (territorial) or everything you earn worldwide? Territorial means your foreign income stays untaxed here. Huge.
Source et informations complémentairesworldwide income taxation regardless of source
Territorial · corporates
WORLDWIDE
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Source et informations complémentairesworldwide corporate taxation
Participation exemption
95%
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De quoi s’agit-il ?Can a holding company receive dividends from its subsidiaries tax-free? The cornerstone of any serious holding structure.
Source et informations complémentaires5% holding · 12 months min
CFC rules
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?Anti-offshore rules: they tax you at home on your foreign company's profits, even if nothing was distributed. Where they exist, offshore setups get tricky.
Source et informations complémentairesno controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope
04.2Withholding tax · non-resident
WHT · dividends
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?The cut this country takes when it sends dividends, interest or royalties abroad. Tax treaties can shrink it; blacklists can inflate it.
Source et informations complémentairesno withholding on outbound dividends
WHT · interest
NONE
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Source et informations complémentairesno withholding on outbound interest
WHT · royalties
NONE
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Source et informations complémentairesno withholding on outbound royalties
Tax-haven WHT
NONE
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Source et informations complémentairesno punitive rate on record
04.3Treaty network
Treaties signed
0
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De quoi s’agit-il ?Deals with other countries to avoid double taxation and cut withholding taxes. The bigger the network, the easier your money moves across borders.
Source et informations complémentairesactive
Treaties pending
—
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Source et informations complémentairesin negotiation
Tax treaty network
origin · SM0%> 0%no treaty
⌖
Inspect a country
Hover any country on the map to read its withholding-tax treaty with SM.
Country
Status
Dividends
Interest
Royalties
∅
// no treaties match
Easy to come and go?SOME.
San Marino 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.
05.1Exit & dual nationality
Exit tax
NONE
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De quoi s’agit-il ?What the country charges you for leaving: tax on your unrealized gains, as if you'd sold everything at the border. Here you'll see if it exists and when it triggers.
Source et informations complémentairesno triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism
Dual citizenship
FORBIDDEN
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Source et informations complémentairesnaturalisation requires renouncing existing citizenship
05.2Citizenship paths
Residence
20 years
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Source et informations complémentairesavailable path to naturalisation
Marriage
10 years
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Source et informations complémentairesavailable path to naturalisation
Birth
—
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Source et informations complémentairesnot available
Descent
1 gen
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Source et informations complémentairesavailable path to naturalisation
Investment
—
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Source et informations complémentairesnot available
Is your money watched?YES, CLOSELY.
San Marino 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.
Multilateral reporting frameworks
4/9 active
· 4 pending
CRS
2017
CARF
2024
FATCA
2014
MLI
2020
BEPS
—
MAAC
2015
GLOBAL FORUM
—
EOIR
—
CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE
—
Is it blacklisted?SOMEWHAT.
San Marino 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 exposureListed by 2 authorities
EMBARGO
un / us / eu sanctions
FATF
grey / black list
EU
non-cooperative list
FRANCE
ETNC list
SPAIN
tax-haven list
PORTUGAL
favourable regimes
BRAZIL
low-tax list
Do you feel free there?
Not enough data to tell how free you'd actually feel in San Marino.
08.1Press freedom
Press freedom · RSF index
—
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De quoi s’agit-il ?The RSF world ranking of press freedom. A good proxy for censorship and civil liberties. The lower the rank, the freer the press.
Central bank digital currencyi
NONE
no announced CBDC program · no pilot · no retail or wholesale prototype on record
Connected to the world?POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in San Marino. 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 payments2/6 available
Stripe
card payments
PayPal
wallet payments
Adyen
enterprise psp
Mollie
eu payments
GoCardless
direct debit
Paddle
merchant of record
Bank and move money1/3 available
Wise
multi-currency
Revolut
personal banking
Revolut Business
business banking
Buy and sell on Amazon0/2 available
Amazon
consumer delivery
Amazon Seller
marketplace selling
SEE ALSO
Other jurisdictions worth comparing
Picked by similarity of strategic profile to San Marino. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.
