Domiciled tax residents pay income tax on their worldwide income, non-domiciled tax residents – on income sourced in Saint Lucia and on income sourced abroad but remitted to Saint Lucia, and non-residents – on income sourced in Saint Lucia.
Income tax is levied at progressive rates:
Capital gains are tax exempt. Dividends from corporations and interest from banks are not taxed in Saint Lucia.
Effective 1 July 2021 all international business companies (IBCs) were deemed resident companies under the Income Tax Act. Resident companies pay tax on income generated in or out of Saint Lucia. Non-resident companies pay tax on on income sourced (or deemed sourced) in Saint Lucia.
The income tax rate is 33,3%.
Additionally, some of the prohibitions under Section 12 of the IBC Act no longer apply. All IBCs are now permitted to do business with residents and may purchase immovable property in Saint Lucia.
IBCs must register with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and file annual tax returns based on unaudited financial statements.
Dividends are tax exempt.
Gains from the sale of assets are tax free, unless they are profits from ordinary business, in which case the profits are included in the corporate income tax base.
None.
Dividends are exempt from tax.
Royalties and a number of other types of income are subject to 25% withholding tax.
Interest is subject to withholding tax at the rate of 15%.
The standard VAT rate is 12.5%.
A reduced rate of 7% applies in the hospitality industry.
Social security contributions are paid on employment remuneration at the rate of 5% by employers and at the rate of 5% by employees.
The maximum monthly earnings on which contribution is charged is XCD 5 000.
Property tax is payable on residential property at the rate of 0,25% of the property’s market value and on commercial property at the rate of 0,4%.
Stamp duty is levied on various transactions and documents. It is either a fixed amount or a percentage of the transaction value. For example, buyers of real estate pay stamp duty at the rate of 2%, and sellers at the rate from 2,5% to 10%, depending on the transaction value and whether the seller is a resident.
Saint Lucia has only one DTA. This treaty, between the Caribbean territories, is referred to as the CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement.
The following states are parties to this Agreement: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
On October 29, 2015, Saint Lusia signed the Multilateral Competent Authorities Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS MCAA), under which Saint Lusia receives information from its financial institutions and automatically exchanges this information with other jurisdictions on an annual basis. The automatic exchange began in September 2018.
Foreign exchange transactions can generally be made without restrictions.