Relocation intelligence
🇸🇨 Moving to Seychelles: tax, residency and cost of living
Territorial system, no capital gains, wealth or inheritance tax. Non-citizens get no tax-free band and pay 15% from the first rupee, rising to 30%. Mandatory pension contribution 5%. Corporate tax 25%.
Thinking of moving to Seychelles? Here is the tax, residency, property and quality-of-life picture in plain numbers, with sources.
Key facts
- Top income tax
- 30%
- Corporate tax
- 25%
- Capital gains
- 0%
- Wealth tax
- No
- Inheritance tax
- No
- Cost of living index
- 52
- Safety
- 5/10
- Internet quality
- 6/10
- Visa-free destinations
- 156
- Foreigners can own property
- Yes
- Residency in
- 6 months
- Citizenship in
- 5 years
Taxes
Territorial system with no capital gains, wealth or inheritance tax. Non-citizens get no tax-free band and pay 15% from the first rupee, rising to 30%, plus a 5% pension contribution.
Residency and visas
Permanent residence requires an investment of at least 1 million dollars in a local business; naturalisation takes a long time.
Property ownership
Foreigners may buy only in designated zones such as Eden Island, with government approval.
Cost of living and quality of life
A tropical island paradise with high safety, but almost everything is imported (high costs), healthcare is limited with medical evacuation, and the low-lying island is climate-vulnerable.
Passport and mobility
The Seychellois passport is surprisingly strong, with about 156 destinations visa-free.
Why people move to Seychelles
Territorial, no capital gains or inheritance tax, strong passport
Foreign income stays untaxed, there is no capital gains or inheritance tax and the passport gives about 156 destinations.
Expensive island, expensive residence permit, no tax-free band
Non-citizens pay 15% from the first rupee, permanent residence needs a million-dollar investment and everything is expensively imported.
Honest trade-offs
- Als niet-burger krijgt u geen belastingvrije som en betaalt u 15 procent inkomstenbelasting vanaf de eerste roepie, terwijl Seychellois de eerste SCR 102.666 per jaar belastingvrij ontvangen.
- Permanente verblijfsvergunning vereist een investering van minstens 1 miljoen USD in een lokaal bedrijf, en naturalisatie duurt elf jaar met een taalexamen.
- Buitenlanders mogen alleen vastgoed kopen in aangewezen zones zoals Eden Island, met overheidsgoedkeuring, prijsdrempels en 5 procent zegelrecht plus hoge bijkomende kosten.
- Bijna alles wordt geimporteerd, waardoor boodschappen, huisvesting en consumptiegoederen op dit afgelegen eiland duur zijn.
- De gezondheidszorg is beperkt en ernstige medische gevallen moeten naar het buitenland worden geevacueerd, terwijl bankrekeningen openen voor buitenlanders traag verloopt (12 tot 20 weken).
- Als klein laaggelegen eilandland is Seychelles zeer kwetsbaar voor zeespiegelstijging, kusterosie en klimaatverandering.
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