Antigua and Barbuda's taxes at a glance
Structure used: Self-employed resident on a self-employed work permit, taxed under the Unincorporated Business Tax as a sole trader (0%, 8%, 25% on net income), plus 10% social security up to XCD 78,000 a year and 5% Medical Benefits Scheme on earnings. Bands are the effective tax on profit for a remote worker using this structure, with clients abroad and costs of 15% of revenue.
Antigua and Barbuda tax residency: why the day count barely matters
The Inland Revenue Department's business tax FAQ dates the change: the Unincorporated Business Tax took effect on July 1, 2016, after the repeal of the Personal Income Tax that ran from April 2005. With no personal income tax, there is no residence test deciding how much of your salary or savings Antigua can tax, because it taxes neither.
What decides your bill is the kind of income, not the number of days. The Unincorporated Business Tax applies to business carried on in the country whether or not you are resident, and the FAQ describes it as covering all self-employed business income of sole proprietorships and partnerships.
How Antigua and Barbuda taxes an individual's income, by type
| Income | Tax in Antigua and Barbuda |
|---|---|
| Salary from employment | No income tax; education levy and social security apply to wages |
| Dividends and interest, local or foreign | Not taxed |
| Freelance, consulting or other self-employed income | Unincorporated Business Tax at 0%, 8% and 25% on net income, plus contributions |
| Rent from Antigua property, owner living on the islands | Unincorporated Business Tax, as a rental business |
| Rent from Antigua property, owner living abroad | 12.5% withholding on every dollar |
At 18.2% of profit on $100,000 of revenue, Antigua still ranks among the low tax countries for remote workers, but the 0% headline belongs to employees and investors, not to anyone who invoices.
Living in Antigua on untaxed income: the version that holds and the one that does not
Holds
You hold residence through citizenship by investment and live on dividends and interest from a portfolio in London. None of it is business income, so Antigua taxes none of it, however long you stay.
Fails
You move over on a self-employed work permit and keep consulting for clients in New York from your villa, calling the fees your savings. That is self-employed business income: on $85,000 of profit, about $8,294 of business tax plus about $7,139 of social security and medical contributions.
With no residence test, living in Antigua also proves little to the country you left. Whether you are still taxed there depends on its own test: under the UK's statutory residence test, for example, someone UK resident in any of the previous 3 tax years is automatically non-resident only with fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year, or fewer than 91 while working full time abroad.
Unincorporated Business Tax rates for the self-employed
Unincorporated Business Tax for a sole trader, on net income in the year
| Net income | Rate |
|---|---|
| XCD 0–42,000 (about $0–15,556) | 0% |
| XCD 42,001–186,000 (about $15,556–68,889) | 8% |
| Over XCD 186,000 (about $68,900) | 25% |
The tax is charged on net income, meaning sales minus expenses incurred only to run the business, with no personal or household costs allowed. Partnerships get wider bands: with 2 partners the 0% band runs to XCD 84,000 (about $31,100) and the 8% band to XCD 228,000 (about $84,400), according to the same FAQ.
| Profit in Eastern Caribbean dollars | XCD 229,500 |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated Business Tax: 8% of XCD 144,000 plus 25% of XCD 43,500 | XCD 22,395 (about $8,290) |
| Social security: 10% of the XCD 78,000 ceiling | XCD 7,800 (about $2,890) |
| Medical Benefits Scheme: 5% of earnings | XCD 11,475 (about $4,250) |
| Total, 18.2% of profit | XCD 41,670 (about $15,400) |
The XCD 300 (about $111) registration fee for this income level counts toward the business tax. The education levy, which is also collected from self-employed persons, is not included.
Social security for the self-employed is 10%, a rate the Social Security Board left unchanged when it raised the private sector rate to 16% for 2025, on insurable earnings up to XCD 78,000 (about $28,900) a year. The Medical Benefits Scheme takes 5% of earnings, or 2.5% from age 60 to 69, paid monthly, and it expects an income declaration from every self-employed person between October and December.
What employees pay instead of income tax
Wages escape income tax but not the education levy. The Board of Education exempts the first XCD 541.67 (about $201) of monthly pay, takes 2.5% of pay from there up to XCD 5,000 (about $1,850) a month, and 5% of anything above, alongside the employee's share of social security.
Sales tax (ABST) on your invoices
Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax registration becomes compulsory once your standard-rated and zero-rated supplies pass XCD 300,000 (about $111,000) a year, according to the Inland Revenue Department's ABST FAQ, and lawyers, accountants, architects, land surveyors and engineers must register whatever their turnover. Exports of services are zero-rated, so a registered freelancer with clients abroad charges them no ABST but still files returns and can reclaim the tax paid on business costs.
Filing the Unincorporated Business Tax
Antigua and Barbuda filing calendar for a sole trader
- Register a trading name at the Intellectual Property office if you trade under any name but your own, then register at the Inland Revenue Department with forms UBT 001 and F16, your passport and your self-employed work permit.
- File the registration fee form (R02) by January 31 each year, or within 1 month of registering: from nothing up to XCD 400 (about $148) by gross income, credited against the year's tax as its minimum.
- File quarterly returns (F14) by April 15, July 15, October 15 and January 15, paying installments where the year is likely to show tax.
- File the annual return (F15) by March 31, claiming only expenses incurred to earn the business income.
- Register with the Social Security Board and the Medical Benefits Scheme, pay monthly, and make the medical benefits income declaration between October and December.
- Late filing costs the greater of 5% of the tax owed or XCD 500 (about $185), so file nil returns in quiet quarters.
Ways to move to Antigua and Barbuda
| Route | Minimum income or investment | Permit length | Makes you tax resident | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed work permit Source: ird.gov.ag, checked September 29, 2026Self-employed route | Varies | Not stated | Not applicableThe business registers for Unincorporated Business Tax, social security and medical benefits contributions. | Open |
| Citizenship by Investment Source: cip.gov.ag, checked September 28, 2026Investment route | Investment of $230,000 Source: cip.gov.ag, checked September 28, 2026 | Not stated | Not applicableCitizenship carries no tax effect by itself. | Open |
| Nomad Digital Residence (ended) Source: nomad.gov.ag, checked September 29, 2026. The linked discontinuation notice (ab.gov.ag) returns 404, so the end date is unknownDigital nomad visa | $4,167 a month Source: nomad.gov.ag, checked September 29, 2026. Was $50,000 a year for 2 years. Shown for reference only | 2 years | Not applicableNone now: the program has ended. | Closed |
Running your own company from Antigua and Barbuda
As a person, you pay nothing on what a company pays you as dividends: investment income is not taxed, and with no personal income tax there are no controlled foreign company rules for individuals. That makes a company abroad look like a clean way to turn consulting fees into untaxed dividends.
The company itself is the weak point. The Inland Revenue Department says a non-resident company may be subject to corporation income tax, and must file a return, if it carried on business in Antigua and Barbuda, or if a resident person's actions are so closely connected with it that it becomes assessable under section 22 of the tax law. A foreign company whose only worker sits in St. John's doing the work is exactly that connection.
So the structure holds for passive holdings: shares, a portfolio, or a business that others run abroad. For your own day-to-day consulting, the realistic choices are the sole trader route with its 0%, 8% and 25% bands, or a local company that registers for corporation tax and pays it in monthly installments based on the previous year.
David's note
I would plan Antigua as a place to receive investment income, not as a place to earn a living by invoicing. For a freelancer, 18% of profit is fair, but the work permit, 6 filings a year and 3 separate contribution schemes cost more attention than the rate suggests.
US citizens living in Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is not on the IRS list of income tax treaty countries or among the 31 countries with a US totalization agreement, and citizenship by investment changes nothing for the IRS. You can exclude up to $132,900 of 2026 earnings under the foreign earned income exclusion. Self-employed, you owe US self-employment tax of 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, about $14,130 on $100,000, which the exclusion does not reduce, on top of Antigua's own 10% social security and 5% medical contributions.
The costliest Antigua mistake: treating freelance fees as untaxed
No income tax does not mean no tax on what you invoice
The 2016 repeal removed tax on wages and investment income only. A freelancer or consultant working from Antigua is running an unincorporated business, and at $100,000 of revenue the business tax and contributions come to about $15,433 a year. Missing the quarterly and annual returns adds penalties of at least XCD 500 (about $185) each.
The FAQ lists who counts as an unincorporated business, from lawyers and engineers to online retailers and photographers, and names no exception for clients abroad. Registering needs a self-employed work permit if you are not a national, and the nomad program that once let remote workers live on the islands for 2 years has ended.
Owning rental property from abroad is a separate trap. A non-resident owner pays 12.5% on every dollar of rent as a withholding tax, with no deduction for costs, and must keep a property management agent who files the return within 15 days of each payment.
Who Antigua and Barbuda suits, and who it does not
Good fit
- Employees and investors who already hold residence or citizenship: wages and investment income carry no income tax.
- Self-employed people with profits under about $20,000 a year, taxed only on the part above XCD 42,000 (about $15,600) at 8%.
Poor fit
- Remote workers looking for a nomad visa: the Nomad Digital Residence program has ended.
- Higher-earning freelancers: business income above XCD 186,000 (about $68,900) is taxed at 25%, plus 15% in contributions.
Recent tax and visa changes in Antigua and Barbuda
The EU removed Antigua and Barbuda from Annex II (cooperative jurisdictions with pending commitments) of its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu
Social security contribution rates rose to 16% for private sector employment and 15% for the public sector; the self-employed rate stayed at 10%. socialsecurity.gov.ag
