El Salvador
| Pros |
|---|
| Adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender to attract global capital and promote financial sovereignty. |
| Significant reduction in violent crime rates to ensure physical security for residents and business owners. |
| Elimination of income tax on foreign investments and technology-related capital gains to foster growth. |
| Cons |
|---|
| High concentration of executive power potentially undermining the long-term stability of the rule of law. |
| Elevated levels of public debt creating risks of future fiscal adjustments or economic instability. |
| Limited infrastructure and logistical development in rural areas hindering broad-scale industrial expansion. |
Will El Salvador tax what you earn?
YES, A LOT. On paper, El Salvador taxes personal income at 30%. In practice, the territorial regime puts only locally-sourced income in scope: foreign salary, foreign dividends, foreign capital gains are left alone. The headline scares; the design doesn't. For anyone whose income arises abroad, the effective rate collapses.
Will El Salvador tax what you own?
YES, BUT LIGHTLY. El Salvador taxes capital gains lightly (10% at the top), with no annual wealth charge and no inheritance regime. A held portfolio compounds with minimal friction; the state only shows up at disposal.
Is it easy to run a company in El Salvador?
NO. Corporate tax in El Salvador is 30% with no IP-box relief, on top of VAT at 13. Running a company here is operationally fine but fiscally expensive: the state takes a large bite of every unit of profit.
Is El Salvador good for your holding company?
YES, BUT THIN. El Salvador runs a full participation exemption (100% on qualifying dividends and gains), but its thin treaty network (1 agreements) limits the geographies where the holding can sit without taking a withholding hit on the source side. Workable for regional structures, not for global ones.
| Country | Status | Dividends | Interest | Royalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ∅ // no treaties match | ||||
What does it cost to come and go from El Salvador?
LITTLE. Coming and going from El Salvador is cheap. The country runs a territorial system (foreign income stays foreign), and there's no exit tax on departure. You leave with what you came in with, plus whatever you earned abroad while you were here.
Will El Salvador protect your privacy?
YES. El Salvador has signed few exchange frameworks, so foreign tax authorities won't routinely see what you do here. But corporate registries are public: ownership and directorships are queryable by anyone with a browser. Privacy from abroad, transparency at home.
Is El Salvador itself a liability?
NO. El Salvador carries no entries on any major blacklist, though it sits outside FATF membership. Counterparties may apply light extra due diligence, but no formal stigma attaches to dealing with it.
Will you feel free in El Salvador?
NO. Press freedom in El Salvador is restricted (RSF rank #135). Civic space and independent media operate under pressure or not at all, a constraint that typically extends to financial expression as well, even where crypto isn't formally banned.
Other jurisdictions worth comparing
Picked by similarity of strategic profile to El Salvador. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.