# U.S. Virgin Islands

 Country code: VI

**Pros**
- Access to significant tax reductions through the Economic Development Commission program for qualifying businesses.
- Operation within a US legal framework while enjoying Caribbean lifestyle and strategic maritime location.
- Benefits from the mirror tax system providing substantial exemptions on corporate and personal income.

**Cons**
- High energy costs and frequent power outages due to an aging utility infrastructure.
- Bureaucratic inefficiencies and potential corruption within local government agencies and licensing processes.
- High operational expenses and logistical challenges caused by geographic isolation and hurricane risks.

Long story short: Here, Uncle Sam hands you a gift you won't find anywhere else on American soil: up to 90% off your federal tax bill if you set up shop under the local economic development program.

The flip side: local administration is slow and often cozy with insiders, the power grid buckles at the first storm, and hurricanes wipe the infrastructure clean every five years or so.

Beyond that: banking is pure American grade, rock solid. Insecurity stays confined to the working class neighborhoods, far from the posh hillside streets. Food is decent but pricey and mostly imported, while the beaches more than make up for it.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**United States Virgin Islands** 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.
**United States Virgin Islands** 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 | PROGRESSIVE | Rate: 20% · The US Virgin Islands (USVI) operates under a 'Mirror Tax System' where the US Internal Revenue Code (IRC) is applied as local law. Cryptocurrency is classified as property per IRS Notice 2014-21. Long-term capital gains (held >12 months) are taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20%. Short-term gains and professional trading are taxed at ordinary income rates (up to 37%). Additionally, VI Code Title 33 § 581 imposes a 10% surcharge on the total income tax liability of individuals. |
| Crypto-to-crypto | TAXABLE | each swap counts as a disposal — gains realised at every trade |
| FATF travel rule | NOT SIGNED | no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers |

## Easy to run a company there?

Long story short: YES.
**United States Virgin Islands** 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 · In the U.S. Virgin Islands, which follows U.S. common law principles, a sole shareholder cannot be held criminally liable for embezzling or misusing the assets of their own solvent corporation. Under Title 14, Section 1087 of the Virgin Islands Code, embezzlement requires the 'fraudulent appropriation' of property; however, if the actor is the 100% owner and the company is solvent, the law generally deems the corporation to have consented to the use of funds. Such acts are treated as civil matters (e.g., piercing the corporate veil under the 'alter ego' doctrine) or tax issues (e.g., constructive dividends) rather than criminal offenses. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Division of Corporations and Trademarks |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC | Division of Corporations and Trademarks |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

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

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Articles of Organization Filing Fee | USD 300 |  |
| Name Reservation Fee (120 days) | USD 50 |  |
| Professional Incorporation Service Fee | USD 400 |  |
| Total | USD 750 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**United States Virgin Islands** 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% | 10% holding · 12 months min |
| 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.
**United States Virgin Islands** 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 | 5 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | 3 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Birth | jus soli | available path to naturalisation |
| Descent | 1 gen | available path to naturalisation |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: NO.
Nobody's reading over your shoulder in **United States Virgin Islands**. 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.
**United States Virgin Islands** stacks the *EU non-cooperative list* on top of national blacklists. Counterparties routinely fire anti-abuse rules, jack up withholding, or refuse the deal entirely, and the EU layer makes the friction automatic across the whole bloc.

The jurisdiction itself is the risk; the substance of what you do there is a footnote.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 5 authorities**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Clear | grey / black list |
| EU | Listed | non-cooperative list |
| FRANCE | Listed | ETNC list |
| SPAIN | Listed | tax-haven list |
| PORTUGAL | Listed | 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 **United States Virgin Islands**.

**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.
**United States Virgin Islands** 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 U.S. Virgin Islands. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

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