Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Taxes, residence and daily life for people moving to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: for a wealthy family, an expat employee and a remote worker. Researched .
Open Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the interactive guide
At a glance
For an EU-citizen family of five living off a €30M portfolio, the guide's default reader. The interactive guide recomputes everything for other passports and situations.
- Ruled out
- Extreme violent crime
- Tax on a €30M portfolio
- €48,600 a year
- Wealth tax
- none
- Children inherit
- tax-free
- EU member
- no
- Currency
- XCD
- Capital
- Kingstown
Tax on investments, inheritance and wealth
SVG has no capital gains, inheritance, gift or net wealth tax. Ordinarily resident individuals are taxed on worldwide income (top 28%); whether this reaches foreign portfolio dividends is not verified. Residents who are not ordinarily resident are taxed on foreign income only when remitted. Low confidence on dividends.
- Ordinary tax residence: Ordinarily resident individuals are taxed on worldwide income at 10%/20%/28%; residents who are not ordinarily resident are taxed on foreign income only when received in SVG. No capital gains, inheritance or net wealth tax.
Inheritance law and trusts
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines allows wide testamentary freedom, with no reserved share and no inheritance tax per a commercial guide. Common-law trusts apply. No private foundation law was found and the Hague Trusts Convention is not in force.
Daily life, scored out of 100
From public indicators (World Bank, UNDP, Transparency International and others); higher is better.
| Measure | Score |
|---|---|
| Safety and personal security | 22 |
| Political and institutional stability | 62 |
| Corruption and government integrity | 64 |
| Legal system and property rights | 62 |
| Healthcare quality and access | 56 |
| Education quality | 30 |
| Human development and quality of life | 60 |
| Infrastructure and connectivity | 76 |
| Business opportunities and economy | 55 |
| Cultural fit and lifestyle | 65 |
Research notes
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — family-office tax dossier
Last reviewed: 2026-10-15 Tax year: 2026 Reviewer: research agent (Claude), unreviewed by a tax adviser
Summary
SVG has no capital gains, inheritance, gift or net wealth tax. Ordinarily resident individuals are taxed on worldwide income (top 28%); whether this reaches foreign portfolio dividends is not verified. Residents who are not ordinarily resident are taxed on foreign income only when remitted. Low confidence on dividends.
Residence and eligibility
183 days rule; ordinarily resident = permanent home + presence (Deloitte SVG Highlights 2026). Worldwide basis for ordinarily resident; remittance basis for resident but not ordinarily resident.
Capital gains
Not taxed (Deloitte). JSON 0. Transfer tax 5% buyer + 5% seller on immovable property and shares; alien landholding licence 4-10%.
Dividends
Income Tax Act Cap. 435 s. 36(1) (IRD consolidation to 2009): "the assessable income of every resident person shall not include the actual amount of any dividend accrued to that person". The exclusion is not limited to SVG companies and s. 77, to which it was subject, was repealed in 1998. Foreign portfolio dividends are therefore untaxed for residents, whether or not remitted; no remittance-basis assumption is involved. Deloitte 2026 agrees (dividend income not taxed; no WHT). JSON: domestic_rate 0, foreign_gross_rate 0, foreign_tax_credit not_applicable, confidence medium (post-2009 amendments not read, being scanned images). Foreign withholding (e.g. US 30%, no treaty) is a final cost.
Inheritance and gifts to children
No inheritance or estate tax (Deloitte). JSON basis none.
Wealth tax
None.
Special regimes
None found.
Company taxation (kept separate from personal tax)
CIT 28%.
Cost of living notes
Not sourced. Re-checked 15 Oct 2026: no long-term 4-5 bedroom rental with a monthly rent was found (Kingstown, Villa/Indian Bay and Bequia listings were nightly or weekly holiday rates), and no private secondary school fee schedule is published online.
- 15 Oct 2026 final pass: re-checked Liberty Properties, longtermlettings.com and The Grenadines Collection (weekly holiday rates only) and web search for school fees; still not sourced.
Open questions
- Residence routes not researched.
- [standard/capital_gains] Primary legislation not checked.
- [standard/inheritance] Whether the 5% transfer tax on shares applies to gifts or estate transfers of SVG company shares not verified.
- [standard/dividends] The IRD's consolidation of Cap. 435 runs to 2009; later amendment acts (2019, 2020, Finance Act 2023) are scanned images and were not read for any change to s. 36.
- Cost of living not sourced (re-checked 15 Oct 2026): no agency long-let listing for a 4-5 bedroom house with a monthly rent (Liberty Properties lists only commercial and small lets; longtermlettings.com 1 house; The Grenadines Collection quotes weekly holiday rates) and no private secondary school fee schedule online.
Sources
- Deloitte International Tax: St. Vincent and the Grenadines Highlights 2026: https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/services/tax/2026/dttl-tax-stvincentandthegrenadineshighlights-2026.pdf
- Income Tax Act, Cap. 435 (Revised Laws, consolidated to 2009), s. 36 Dividends: https://ird.gov.vc/images/pdf/Cap435.pdf
Change log
- 2026-10-15: initial research.
- 2026-10-15: re-verified dividends against Income Tax Act Cap. 435 s. 36(1): foreign dividends 0% for residents (was null/low); confidence raised to medium.
- 2026-10-15: cost of living re-checked (rent and school fee); still not sourced, open question added.
- 2026-10-15: rent and school fee re-checked (Liberty Properties, longtermlettings.com, Grenadines Collection, web search); still not sourced.
Residence and succession sources
- St Vincent and the Grenadines: inheritance and estate tax — Expanship
- HCCH status table: 1985 Trusts Convention — Hague Conference on Private International Law
Tax sources are cited in the research notes above.