St. Barthélemy
BL: 7 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment.
Forming a company
Company types in St. Barthélemy
The 7 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names BL. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for BL.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for St. Barthélemy: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements BL belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
St. Barthélemy’s own position
- Customs territory
- Its own: outside the Union customs territory (overseas country and territory since 1 January 2012; wide customs autonomy)
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With effect from 1 January 2012, the island of Saint-Barthélemy shall cease to be an outermost region of the Union and shall have the status of overseas country or territory referred to in Part Four of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
- VAT territory
- None levied: French TVA is not applicable (collectivité with fiscal autonomy); outside the EU VAT territory
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dans les collectivités régies par l'article 74 de la Constitution (Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélémy, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Polynésie française, Wallis-et-Futuna), en Nouvelle-Calédonie
- European Union: internal market and customs union
- Outside
European Council Decision 2010/718/EU: from 1 January 2012 Saint-Barthélemy ceased to be an outermost region and became an overseas country or territory under Part Four TFEU; the OCT decision records that OCTs do not form part of the single market.
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With effect from 1 January 2012, the island of Saint-Barthélemy shall cease to be an outermost region of the Union and shall have the status of overseas country or territory referred to in Part Four of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
- European Union: VAT territory
- Outside
Not a territory to which the Treaty applies under art. 355(1); the Directive defines third countries as territories to which the Treaty is not applicable, and the French tax authority lists Saint-Barthélemy among the territories where TVA does not apply.
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‘third country’ means any State or territory to which the Treaty is not applicable.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- Not in our records
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in BL, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for BL.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in BL, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- Not levied here
Saint-Barthélemy levies no corporate income tax, so there is no corporate income tax return. The annual charge on a company under the Code des contributions is the contribution forfaitaire annuelle des entreprises, a fixed 350 euros plus 100 euros per employee, exigible from 1 January and payable at the latest on 31 March of the tax year on the strength of the previous year's payroll declaration — a flat contribution, not a return of profits. Recorded here because the code sets no tax on company income.
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La contribution forfaitaire annuelle est exigible à compter du 1er janvier et payable au plus tard le 31 mars de l’année d’imposition, sur la base des effectifs salariés figurant sur la Déclaration Sociale Nominative établie au 31 décembre de l’année antérieure
- Corporate tax, final payment
- Not levied here
There is no corporate income tax and therefore no balancing payment of it. The code's only annual company payment is the contribution forfaitaire annuelle, which must be paid spontaneously into the collector's hands at the latest on 31 March of the tax year; a single payment, with no instalments or balance.
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L’imposition forfaitaire prévue à l’article 7 doit être payée spontanément à la caisse du comptable chargé du recouvrement de l’impôt, au plus tard le 31 mars de l’année d’imposition.
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Not levied here
With no tax on company profits there is no advance or instalment payment of company tax in Saint-Barthélemy. The code's payment rules set one payment date for the flat annual company contribution (31 March) and require the registration and real-estate duties to be paid at the moment of registration; it establishes no regime of payments on account.
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Les impositions prévues aux Chapitres 3, 4 et 5 du Livre 2 du présent Code sont acquittées lors de la réquisition de publier ou de la présentation à l’enregistrement, sous peine de refus du dépôt ou de la formalité de l’enregistrement
- Personal income-tax return
- Not levied here
Saint-Barthélemy levies no personal income tax, so a resident files no annual income tax return. The Code des contributions says so in its own words when it deals with proof of fiscal residence: in the absence of direct taxation in the collectivity's territory enabling it to establish a person's fiscal residence, individuals are invited to use the residence-certificate form. French national income tax does not apply to income attributable to the collectivity under the tax convention cited in Article 1 of the code.
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En l’absence de taxations directes sur le territoire de la collectivité permettant à la collectivité d’établir la résidence fiscale d’une personne physique
- Personal income tax, final payment
- Not levied here
There is no personal income tax, so an individual has no balance of income tax to settle after a return. The code establishes direct taxation on nobody — its real-estate charges on individuals (impôt sur la plus-value immobilière, taxe sur le profit immobilier, taxe sur la valeur vénale des immeubles) fall on particular transactions and holdings and are paid at registration or on assessment, not as a balance of income tax.
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En l’absence de taxations directes sur le territoire de la collectivité
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Not levied here
With no personal income tax there are no payments on account of income tax for an individual. The code's scope provision applies it to all immovable and movable property in the collectivity and to all natural and legal persons, and the charges it then establishes on individuals are the registration, plus-value immobilière, profit immobilier, property-value, vehicle, tourist and waste taxes, none of which is collected by instalments on account of income.
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les dispositions du présent code sont applicables à l’ensemble des biens meubles et immeubles situés sur le territoire de la Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy comme à l’ensemble des personnes physiques et morales.
- VAT return
- Not levied here
Saint-Barthélemy levies no VAT or GST: it is outside the French and EU VAT territory, and its Code des contributions contains no tax on value added (the phrase 'valeur ajoutée' does not occur in the code). Goods entering the island are taxed by the droit de quai, a duty instituted in 1879, assessed on the customs declaration and payable within ten days of the collector's notice, not by a periodic return. Fuel, electricity, drinks and vehicles carry their own excise-type taxes. There is therefore no standard periodic VAT/GST return to record.
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Le droit de quai institué dans l'île de Saint-Barthélemy par arrêté du maire du 24 mai 1879
- Payroll withholding
- Not levied here
No income tax is levied in Saint-Barthélemy, so an employer withholds none from salaries and has no income tax remittance to make. The code's only staff-related charge is the per-employee component of the contribution forfaitaire annuelle, computed on the previous year's Déclaration Sociale Nominative — the payroll declaration used as the base of that annual company contribution — and paid once a year with the contribution, not monthly.
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sur la base des effectifs salariés figurant sur la Déclaration Sociale Nominative établie au 31 décembre de l’année antérieure
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for BL yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods BL exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes BL’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal HS 7113 | under 0.05% | 20.2% | 20.5% | US$3 m |
| Fruit or nut juices (including grape must and coconut water) and vegetable juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter HS 2009 | 0.14% | 8.8% | 13.3% | US$2 m |
| Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528 HS 8517 | under 0.05% | 0.10% | 10.1% | US$1 m |
| Other slag and ash, including seaweed ash (kelp); ash and residues from the incineration of municipal waste HS 2621 | under 0.05% | 1.4% | 4.4% | US$1 m |
| Mineral or chemical fertilisers, nitrogenous HS 3102 | under 0.05% | under 0.05% | 3.7% | US$0 m |
| Chemical preparations for photographic uses (other than varnishes, glues, adhesives and similar preparations); unmixed products for photographic uses, put up in measured portions or put up for retail sale in a form ready for use HS 3707 | under 0.05% | under 0.05% | 3.7% | US$0 m |
| Wristwatches, pocket-watches and other watches, including stopwatches, with case of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal HS 9101 | 0.13% | under 0.05% | 3.0% | US$0 m |
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars HS 8703 | under 0.05% | 0.16% | 2.7% | US$0 m |
| Amino-resins, phenolic resins and polyurethanes, in primary forms HS 3909 | under 0.05% | under 0.05% | 2.3% | US$0 m |
| Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof HS 9401 | under 0.05% | 0.47% | 2.1% | US$0 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$13 m. The ten largest headings are shown.