Antigua and Barbuda: personal tax guide

What the tax system covers

Personal income tax and PAYE were abolished in 2016. This does not exempt unincorporated business income, corporate profit, property, sales or payroll-related charges; identify the legal taxpayer and activity before treating any receipt as untaxed.

When you become tax resident

Antigua and Barbuda’s jurisdiction submission to the OECD reproduces the Income Tax Act residence definition: a permanent abode with some presence in the assessment basis period, at least 183 days in that period, a qualifying continuous stay crossing adjacent assessment periods, or at least 30 days together with the specified permanent-resident certificate. The permanent-abode limb has a limited exception for full-period absences for education, treatment or government duties. These are residence definitions, not a revival of the ordinary personal income tax abolished from June 2016. A citizenship-by-investment passport is not the specified permanent-resident certificate, and satisfying a local definition does not terminate residence in another country.

Rates and the tax base

No general personal income tax. Ordinary personal income tax and PAYE were abolished from 30 June 2016. Unincorporated business taxation, social-security and other levies must be assessed separately; this is not a statement that all activity or payments are tax-free.

Private investment gains and business trading

The Inland Revenue Department identifies a land-value appreciation tax on gains arising from real-estate transfers. This limited property charge means the absence of general personal income tax must not be interpreted as every asset disposal being tax-free. Private securities gains, unincorporated trading and the applicable property exemptions need separate verification.

Asset cost basis on arrival

The arrival cost-basis treatment for this country has not yet been established in this comparison. Do not assume either an arrival-value reset or retention of original cost.

• The treatment needs to be checked separately for ordinary shares, funds, property, business interests and assets acquired by gift or inheritance.

The absence of personal income tax is not a business exemption

Antigua’s revenue authority records the abolition of personal income tax and PAYE in June 2016. It separately administers corporate income tax, unincorporated business tax, sales tax, property taxes and other charges. The owner’s personal position and the business’s obligations therefore need separate analysis.

A company operating in Antigua can need local tax registration and returns even when the shareholder obtained citizenship through investment. The corporate registration guidance asks for incorporation, ownership and director information and identifies circumstances in which a nonresident company doing local business must file. A foreign company is not automatically outside the system.

A salary and business revenue are different receipts

The personal-income-tax abolition should not be read as removing corporate or unincorporated business tax. For a founder, first establish whether the revenue belongs to the individual, a partnership or a corporation. The treatment of remuneration paid by a controlled company also needs to be reconciled to the revenue authority's related-party ruling rather than assuming that any amount described as salary is deductible. Shareholder withdrawals, expense reimbursement and dividends should have distinct records.

What an actual move should establish

Document the home, family move, travel and business activity rather than using the citizenship certificate as a tax-residence opinion. Prepare a schedule of assets and income left in the former country: rental property, pensions, companies, deferred remuneration and investments can have different continuing rules. Where departure tax applies there, valuation work belongs before the move.

The practical financial model should include living costs, business tax, property costs, payroll-related charges, insurance and the administration of every retained foreign company. A zero personal-income-tax line is useful, but it is only one line in that model. Identify which professional or administrator owns each recurring obligation.

Business and rental income still need a tax calculation

The abolition of ordinary personal income tax does not abolish unincorporated business tax. The IRD schedule for a sole trader applies 0% up to XCD42,000 of chargeable income, 8% over that amount through XCD186,000 and 25% above that. Partnership bands differ according to the number of partners.

The IRD separately identifies 12.5% withholding on rental income of a nonresident property owner. Its procedure requires a property-management agent to file within 15 days after payment. Confirm whether the activity is personal ownership, an unincorporated business or a company before applying the relevant rules.

Residence evidence after personal income-tax abolition

The domestic residence definition and the amount of local income tax are different questions. IRD’s abolition ruling does not say that banking self-certifications or foreign-country residence tests disappear. Keep the permanent-home evidence and immigration travel record that support the precise residence limb being claimed, together with any required permanent-resident certificate.

Separately identify unincorporated-business income, property, payroll and nonresident-payment obligations. A claim of “no personal income tax” should not be used as a blanket statement that every transaction is untaxed. For a person retaining a family home or business abroad, the foreign country’s residence and source rules still need their own conclusion.

Foreign companies and income attribution

A current legislative CFC review is not complete; citizenship-programme marketing is not sufficient evidence of the tax regime.

Departure, migration and continuing obligations

No comprehensive current departure-tax review is asserted in this draft.