Monaco's taxes at a glance
Structure used: Resident on a residence permit, working as a self-employed individual with an advisory or professional-expertise activity (civil, not commercial) for clients abroad: outside the 25% profit tax (ISB), which reaches only industrial or commercial activities; fixed CAMTI health and CARTI class 1 pension contributions; no personal income tax. Bands are the effective tax on profit for a remote worker using this structure, with clients abroad and costs of 15% of revenue.
Monaco residency and the tax residence certificate
Monaco has no personal income tax for residents who are not French, so it has no income tax residence test of its own. That puts it among the countries with no personal income tax, and it leaves 2 documents that matter: the residence permit for anyone 16 or older who wants to live in Monaco more than 3 months a year, and a separate residence certificate for tax purposes.
The permit needs a home in Monaco, owned, rented or shared with a spouse or close relative; proof of means such as salary, professional income or savings, with a reference from a Monaco bank for non-EEA nationals; and a criminal record extract under 3 months old. Non-EEA nationals first need a French long-stay type D visa, unless they have lived in France for more than a year. The first permit is valid for 1 year and costs €80 (about $91).
The residence certificate for tax purposes goes to permit holders who live in Monaco more than 183 days, or have their principal place of business there, or spend the majority of the year there, under Sovereign Ordinance 8.373 of November 26, 2020. It is valid for 1 year and costs €600 (about $683). You apply with your passport, a recent utility bill, proof of income such as a bank certificate or pay slip, and a certificate of accommodation if you are neither the owner nor the tenant.
The certificate proves where you live; it does not make your former country let go. That country applies its own residence rules to your remaining days, home and family, and a Monaco certificate does not override them.
Leaving the UK for Monaco
Works
You sell your London house, rent an apartment in Monaco, and spend 220 days a year there. Your UK visits stay at 40 days, and with only 2 UK ties left you are not resident under the UK statutory residence test, where a recent leaver with 16 to 45 days needs 4 ties to stay resident.
Fails
You get the Monaco permit and the certificate on the principal-place-of-business test, but spend 130 days a year at your London house, where your children go to school. Above 120 days a recent leaver needs only 1 UK tie, so the UK still treats you as resident and taxes your worldwide income, certificate or not.
What a freelancer or founder owes in Monaco
No personal income tax does not mean no tax on work. Monaco's profit tax, the ISB, applies to any business, of any legal form, that carries on an industrial or commercial activity in Monaco and makes at least 25% of its turnover from operations outside Monaco, under article 1 of Sovereign Ordinance 3.152. The rate is 25% for financial years from January 1, 2022, down from 31% in 2019.
For a freelancer, everything turns on classification. Advisory and professional-expertise work is a civil activity in Monaco, which the government's sole trader guide keeps off the trade register, and the ISB reaches only industrial or commercial activity, so a freelancer doing that work pays no profit tax. Trading, agency or reselling work is commercial and pays the ISB. On the civil route, the fixed contributions below come to about 8.8% of profit at $100,000 of revenue, with no tax on top.
The self-employed also pay fixed social contributions to the Caisses Sociales de Monaco, not a percentage of profit: CAMTI for health and CARTI for pension, where pension classes 2 to 4 cost 2 to 4 times class 1. The amounts below run to September 30, 2026, and the figures for the exercise from October 1, 2026 had not been published when we checked.
| CAMTI health insurance€1,101 a quarter | €4,404 (about $5,010) |
|---|---|
| CARTI pension, class 1€550.08 a quarter | €2,200.32 (about $2,500) |
| Tax residence certificateRenewed every year | €600 (about $683) |
| Total before any profit tax | €7,204.32 (about $8,200) |
Exercise October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. Excludes housing, the first residence permit (€80, about $91) and the 25% ISB where it applies. EUR converted at 0.878889 per USD (ECB, September 28, 2026).
David's note
I would treat the certificate, not the permit, as the finish line. The permit lets you live in Monaco; the certificate is what you show when a former home country asks where you live, and it only holds up if your days, home and business really moved with you.
How Monaco treats foreign income
For a resident who is not French, foreign dividends, interest, capital gains and wages are all untaxed, because there is no personal income tax to apply to them, per the Government of Monaco. There is no remittance rule to manage and no newcomer window that closes after a few years.
How Monaco taxes a resident who is not French
| Income | Monaco tax | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Salary and wages | None | No personal income tax |
| Dividends and interest, local or foreign | None | Includes dividends from your own foreign company |
| Capital gains | None | No personal income tax |
| Business profit, commercial activity such as trading, agency or reselling | 25% ISB | When at least 25% of turnover comes from outside Monaco |
| Business profit, civil activity such as advisory or expert work | None | The ISB reaches only industrial or commercial activity |
| Self-employment | Fixed social contributions | CAMTI health and CARTI pension, not a percentage |
French nationals are the exception: under the 1963 France-Monaco convention, French citizens who live in Monaco are taxed by France. VAT, meanwhile, is levied in Monaco on the same basis and at the same rate as in France, so a Monaco business deals with VAT on its invoices as a French one would.
Getting set up in Monaco
From arrival to tax certificate
- Secure a home in Monaco: owned, rented, or shared with a spouse or close relative.
- As a non-EEA national, get a reference from a Monaco bank confirming sufficient funds; the law sets no minimum, and the bank judges what is enough.
- As a non-EEA national who has not lived in France for more than a year, get a French long-stay type D visa before you apply.
- Apply for the residence permit with a criminal record extract under 3 months old; the first permit lasts 1 year.
- If you will work, register the business in Monaco before you start; advisory or expert work registers as a civil activity, while trading, agency or reselling is commercial and brings the ISB.
- Apply for the tax residence certificate once you meet 1 of its 3 tests, and renew it every year.
Ways to move to Monaco
| Route | Minimum income or investment | Permit length | Makes you tax resident | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residence permit (carte de sejour) on a Monaco bank reference Source: monservicepublic.gouv.mc, checked September 29, 2026Passive income route | Varies | 12 months, renewable | With enough daysNo income tax either way for non-French residents; the permit leads to a tax residence certificate only with more than 183 days, a principal place of business in Monaco, or the majority of the year in Monaco. | Open |
| Residence permit on self-employed income from a Monaco business Source: monservicepublic.gouv.mc, checked September 29, 2026Self-employed route | Varies | 12 months, renewable | With enough daysNo personal income tax, but the business pays the 25% profit tax if its activity is commercial and at least 25% of turnover comes from outside Monaco. | Open |
Running your own company from Monaco
With no personal income tax, Monaco has no CFC charge on individuals, so owning a foreign company creates no Monaco tax on you, and its dividends reach you untaxed as long as you are not French.
The exposure sits with the company. A Monaco company pays the 25% ISB on the same terms as an individual business, an industrial or commercial activity with at least 25% of turnover from operations outside Monaco, and article 1 of the ordinance applies whatever the legal form. A foreign company that you run from Monaco can be treated as having a Monaco establishment and drawn into the ISB, so decide where the company is really managed before you move.
Banks abroad also look at the flags. Monaco is not on Annex I or II of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, but the FATF has kept it under increased monitoring since June 2024, and it was still listed on June 19, 2026, which can mean extra due diligence questions for a Monaco company or resident.
Monaco for US citizens
US citizens stay taxable in the US on worldwide income wherever they live. Monaco has no income tax to credit against the US bill, and it is not among the 31 countries with a US totalization agreement.
That leaves the foreign earned income exclusion as the main relief, up to $132,900 of 2026 foreign earned income for someone who passes the bona fide residence test or spends 330 full days abroad in 12 months. The 15.3% US self-employment tax still applies to net self-employment earnings, and Monaco's fixed contributions come on top.
Watch out: 0% income tax, but a 25% tax on commercial work
A commercial freelance business with foreign clients owes the 25% profit tax
A marketer moves to Monaco, registers an individual business and runs it as an agency, buying media and design work from suppliers and reselling it to clients in Germany and the US. Agency and reselling work is commercial, and far more than 25% of turnover comes from operations outside Monaco, so the business pays the 25% ISB on its profit, on top of fixed social contributions. The absence of personal income tax does not reach that business-level charge.
Settle the classification before you register, not after the first assessment. The same marketer selling only her own advice as a consultant would run a civil activity and pay only the fixed contributions, so the answer moves her yearly bill by a quarter of her profit.
The other expensive mistake is assuming the move ends your old tax residence. It does not on its own: your former country decides under its own rules, which is why days, homes and family ties abroad matter more than the permit.
Who Monaco suits, and who it does not
Good fit
- People who are not French and live on investments: no tax on dividends, interest or gains, and a residence certificate other countries recognize.
- Freelancers selling advisory or expert services to clients abroad, a civil activity outside the profit tax: only fixed social contributions of about €6,604 (about $7,510) a year.
- People who can base their main business in Monaco: the certificate needs no 183 days in that case.
Poor fit
- French nationals, who stay taxable in France.
- Freelancers with a commercial activity and foreign clients: the 25% profit tax plus fixed social contributions comes to about 32% of profit at $100,000 of revenue.
- Anyone on a normal budget: a home in Monaco and a Monaco bank reference come first, and banks set their own deposit levels.
- US citizens, who stay taxable in the US.
Recent tax and visa changes in Monaco
FATF placed Monaco under increased monitoring (grey list); it is still listed on June 19, 2026. fatf-gafi.org
The profit tax (ISB) rate reached 25% for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2022, down from 31% in 2019. monentreprise.gouv.mc
Sovereign Ordinance 8.373 set the criteria for the residence certificate for tax purposes: more than 183 days, principal place of business in Monaco, or the majority of the year in Monaco. monservicepublic.gouv.mc
