Countries with no personal income tax, ranked by Nomad Tax Index score
Countries with no personal income tax, ranked by Nomad Tax Index score
Countries with no income tax, one by one
1. United Arab Emirates
The UAE has no personal income tax, and a self-employed person pays no corporate tax while business turnover stays at or below AED 1,000,000 (about $272,000) a year.
Under the United Arab Emirates' tax rules, foreign income is untaxed for new residents, and 90 days Source: tax.gov.ae, checked September 29, 2026. 90 days in 12 consecutive months with a residence permit plus a permanent home or UAE business (Federal Tax Authority's unofficial translation of Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022) in the country make you tax resident.
The easiest way in is the remote work visa: 1 year, renewable, for at least $3,500 a month earned from an organization outside the UAE, per the Dubai residency authority. With that permit, a home and 90 days a year there, you meet the tax residence test.
2. Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands tax no individual income at all, but the remote worker program closed to new applicants in 2022, so residence now takes a Cayman business, a local job or an investment of KYD 1,000,000 (about $1,200,000).
Under the Cayman Islands' tax rules, foreign income is untaxed for new residents, and there is no income tax residence test to pass.
The remote worker program is closed, so no permit is built for nomads. The long-stay option is the Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means: it lasts 25 years, can be renewed and does not allow local employment.
3. The Bahamas
The Bahamas has no personal income tax, so a self-employed resident pays only National Insurance of 10.3% on profit up to BSD 43,160 (about $43,160) a year.
Under the Bahamas' tax rules, foreign income is untaxed for new residents, and there is no income tax residence test to pass.
The BEATS remote work permit is the way in: no stated income minimum, 12 months at a time, and $1,000 plus a $25 application fee, per the official BEATS program FAQ. It sets no minimum stay, and National Insurance on your profit is the ongoing bill.
4. St Kitts and Nevis
St Kitts and Nevis abolished income tax on individuals in 1980, but a self-employed resident pays a 4% Unincorporated Business Tax on service receipts above XCD 2,000 (about $741) a month and 10% social security on a declared income category, and there is no remote worker visa.
Under St Kitts and Nevis's tax rules, foreign income is untaxed for new residents, and there is no income tax residence test to pass.
There is no remote worker visa. A self-employed newcomer comes in on a work permit with a business license, which starts the business tax and social security, or through citizenship by investment from $250,000 at the Citizenship by Investment Unit, which has no tax effect by itself.
5. Monaco
Monaco has no personal income tax for residents who are not French, and a freelancer selling advisory or expert services abroad runs a civil activity outside the 25% profit tax, so the only charge is fixed social contributions of about €6,604 (about $7,510) a year, about 9% of profit at $100,000 of revenue.
Under Monaco's tax rules, foreign income is untaxed for new residents, and 91 days Source: monservicepublic.gouv.mc, checked September 29, 2026. The residence permit is for people who reside in Monaco more than 3 months a year (page updated September 25, 2026). The tax residence certificate then needs more than 183 days, or a principal place of business in Monaco, or the majority of the year in Monaco (certificate page updated December 23, 2024). 91 days is the permit floor; the principal place of business test sets no day count in the country make you tax resident.
The residence permit needs a home in Monaco, a Monaco bank's reference and more than 3 months a year there; the law sets no wealth minimum, so the bank decides. Advisory work falls outside the 25% profit tax, which reaches commercial businesses, so trading or agency work pays it.
What no income tax covers, and what a freelancer still pays
No personal income tax settles wages, dividends and gains. It does not settle business income, which is what most remote workers live on. The UAE draws a line at turnover: under Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023, a natural person's business enters corporate tax only above AED 1,000,000 (about $272,000) of turnover in a calendar year. Above that line the corporate tax rates are 0% on the first AED 375,000 (about $102,000) of taxable income and 9% on the rest.
The Cayman Islands charges nothing: no income, payroll or social security tax on individuals. The other 3 charge a self-employed resident something, just not under the name income tax. St Kitts and Nevis levies its Unincorporated Business Tax on gross takings, with no carve-out for clients abroad. The Bahamas collects National Insurance on a resident self-employed person's profit, and Monaco charges fixed health and pension contributions of about €6,604 (about $7,510) a year at the lowest pension class.
Spending taxes stay in place. The Bahamas charges VAT at 10%, or 5% on certain essential goods, while the Cayman Islands has no VAT and relies on import and stamp duties.
Reading "0% income tax" as a freelancer
Right reading
You check what the country charges on business income, not on wages. In the UAE, $100,000 of revenue is about AED 367,250 of turnover, under the AED 1,000,000 (about $272,000) line, so a freelancer on a residence visa pays no income tax and no corporate tax on it.
Wrong reading
You move to Antigua and Barbuda because it repealed income tax on wages in 2016, then invoice clients from there. As a self-employed resident you owe Unincorporated Business Tax of 0%, 8% and 25% on net income plus 15% in contributions, about 18.2% of profit at $100,000 of revenue.
How to become tax resident in a country with no income tax
A residence permit gets you in the door. Tax residence is a separate test, and it is the one your home country will ask about. Under Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 you are UAE tax resident after 183 days in any 12 consecutive months, or after 90 days if you hold a residence permit and have a permanent home or a business there. The Federal Tax Authority certifies people who meet that test through EmaraTax, and that certificate is the proof your old tax office will want.
Monaco splits the 2 steps more sharply. Its residence permit is for people who live there more than 3 months a year, while the residence certificate for tax purposes needs more than 183 days, your principal place of business in Monaco, or more of the year there than anywhere else.
The harder half is the country you leave. It decides by its own rules when you stop being its resident, usually by looking at your home, family, work and days, and a permit abroad does not answer that question for it. Plan the exit year before you move.
US citizens stay taxable in the US wherever they live. The 2026 foreign earned income exclusion shelters up to $132,900 of earnings from income tax, but the IRS counts excluded income toward self-employment tax, and none of the 5 countries above has a Social Security agreement with the US. A US citizen freelancing from the UAE still pays that 15.3% on profit.
Moving your tax residence to a no-income-tax country
- Get the residence permit first: the UAE's 90-day test only runs while you hold one.
- Keep a home available all year, owned or on a long lease, not a string of short rentals.
- Register the business where you now work: a freelance permit in the UAE, a business license in St Kitts and Nevis, a business authorization in Monaco.
- Ask for a tax residence certificate where one exists, as in the UAE and Monaco, and keep one for every year.
- Tell the tax office at home you have left, file the departure-year return, and close or let what ties you there.
A residence permit does not end your old tax residence
Monaco's permit asks for just over 3 months a year, and holding it tells your former country nothing about where you live. Spend 100 days in Monaco and 200 back home, and Monaco will not certify you, because its certificate needs more than 183 days, your principal place of business there or most of the year. Your home country is then free to keep taxing you on everything.
Near-zero alternatives: territorial and low-tax countries
The countries above are few, and their doors are narrow or costly. Most people after a near-zero bill end up in 1 of 2 other groups. Territorial tax countries tax only income from local sources, so foreign income is untaxed, but work you do while living there can count as local. Low tax countries are those where a remote worker pays 25% or less on $100,000 of revenue, through flat rates and newcomer regimes.
If what you want is a company that pays no tax rather than a personal residence, the list of tax havens adds company jurisdictions that leave a non-resident owner's foreign profit untaxed.
How this list is ranked
Every country here has no personal income tax, so the order comes from the Nomad Tax Index score, where tax at $100,000 of revenue carries half the weight and access, presence, stability and foreign passive income make up the rest. The UAE, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas score high enough on it to sit among the top 10 countries for digital nomads. The bands price a self-employed person selling services abroad at 3 revenue levels with 15% business costs, which is why contributions and business taxes show up where the income tax rate is 0%.
David's note
I would price the door before the rate. At $100,000 of revenue the UAE and the Cayman Islands both come to 0% and The Bahamas to about 5%, so tax barely separates them. Entry does: an income test in the UAE, an investment or a local business in Cayman, a permit with no stated income minimum in The Bahamas. Pick the country whose permit you can hold for years, not the one with the lowest headline.
