Vanuatu
Vanuatu: 3 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment.
Forming a company
Company types in Vanuatu
The 3 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 Vanuatu. 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 Vanuatu.
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 Vanuatu: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Vanuatu 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.
None of the 36 arrangements we hold lists Vanuatu as a member.
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
- 0%Official investvanuatu.vu as of 2026-10-15 · the rate for the Company
Quote
there is effectively no corporate and personal income tax in vanuatu
- 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
- VUV 35,000Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-15
Quote
For a registration of an annual return under section 119 Companies Act 2012 35,000 35,000
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Vanuatu, 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 Vanuatu.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Vanuatu, tax year 2025, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- Corporate tax, final payment
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- Personal income-tax return
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- Personal income tax, final payment
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- VAT return
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
- Payroll withholding
- Not in our records
customsinlandrevenue.gov.vu inaccessible when checked
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Vanuatu yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Vanuatu exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Vanuatu’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304 HS 0303 | 77.6% | 60.8% | 38.2% | US$123 m |
| Light-vessels, fire-floats, dredgers, floating cranes, and other vessels the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function; floating docks; floating or submersible drilling or production platforms HS 8905 | under 0.05% | 3.6% | 37.4% | US$120 m |
| Plants and parts of plants (including seeds and fruits), of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purposes, fresh, chilled, frozen or dried, whether or not cut, crushed or powdered HS 1211 | 9.1% | 10.6% | 9.1% | US$29 m |
| Molluscs, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked molluscs, whether in shell or not, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process HS 0307 | 2.8% | 4.4% | 4.1% | US$13 m |
| Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted HS 1801 | 1.5% | 1.1% | 2.9% | US$9 m |
| Fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh, chilled or frozen HS 0304 | 5.0% | 4.4% | 2.7% | US$9 m |
| Copra HS 1203 | 0.17% | 0.06% | 1.7% | US$6 m |
| Other vessels, including warships and lifeboats other than rowing boats HS 8906 | under 0.05% | under 0.05% | 1.2% | US$4 m |
| Wood in the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or sapwood, or roughly squared HS 4403 | 0.95% | 1.7% | 0.45% | US$1 m |
| Locust beans, seaweeds and other algae, sugar beet and sugar cane, fresh, chilled, frozen or dried, whether or not ground; fruit stones and kernels and other vegetable products (including unroasted chicory roots of the variety Cichorium intybus sativum) of a kind used primarily for human consumption, not elsewhere specified or included HS 1212 | 0.09% | 0.17% | 0.30% | US$1 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$321 m. The ten largest headings are shown.