Cape Verde wants remote workers, and it has written that into its tax law. For 2026, people who move to the islands to work remotely for employers or clients abroad pay no income tax for a year. After that they can move into a non-habitual resident regime that exempts most foreign income, including foreign pensions.
This guide covers Cape Verdean personal income tax (IRPS) for people moving to Cape Verde in the 2026 tax year, which is the calendar year.
The key question is simple. Is your income from Cape Verde, or from abroad? Local salaries and fees are taxed in full. Foreign income can be exempt, but only if you use the right regime.
Amounts are in Cape Verde escudos (CVE). The escudo is pegged to the euro at CVE 110.265 per €1, so CVE 1 million is about €9,070.
What's changed: the 2026 State Budget law took effect on 1 January 2026. It cut the non-habitual resident period from 10 years to 7, and it includes a one-year income tax exemption for remote workers. Since May 2025, a decree has set out what you need to apply for the residence visa for remote work. A new property transfer tax (ITI) also started on 1 January 2026, at 1%, including on Cape Verde property passing on death or by gift.
📋 Cape Verde tax at a glance for 2026
Topic | Details |
|---|---|
Tax system | Worldwide income for residents. Non-habitual residents are exempt on most foreign income |
Top income tax rate | 27.5% above CVE 1.8 million (about €16,300). The first CVE 220,000 is tax free |
All-in on a US$100k salary | About 31% (€87,000, single, including 8.5% social security). About 18% with the 10% non-habitual resident rate for listed jobs |
Remote workers | 0% income tax for one year under the 2026 budget law |
Foreign income | Taxed for residents and added to your other income. Mostly exempt for non-habitual residents |
Dividends, interest, capital gains | Cape Verde dividends and bond interest 10%, bank interest 20%, gains on local property and shares 1% of the sale value |
Crypto gains | No specific rules |
Residence at a glance | Getting in: easy (more than 183 days in any 12-month period, or a home on 31 December). Leaving: no exit tax, but don't keep your home |
Double tax treaties | A small network: Portugal, Spain and Macau, with six more approved for ratification |
The remote work exemption and non-habitual resident status
Image 1 — remote workers pay 0% in year one, then move to NHR
Article 47 of the 2026 budget law covers employees and freelancers who are not resident in Cape Verde and who work remotely for people or companies based outside the country. If they can show their employment contract or service agreements, their income is exempt from income tax for one year. They can also import the equipment they need for work free of customs duty.
If you stay longer than a year, the same article lets you use the non-habitual resident regime. The exemption sits in the annual budget law, so check it's renewed if you're planning a move for 2027.
You're a non-habitual resident (NHR) if you become Cape Verde tax resident after not being resident there in any of the previous five years. You ask to be registered when you register as resident, or by 31 March of the following year. From 2026 the status lasts seven consecutive years, down from ten.
Foreign pensions: exempt, as long as the pension isn't paid from Cape Verde.
Foreign dividends, interest and rent: exempt where the other country can tax them under a treaty, or under the OECD model treaty if there's no treaty, unless the other country is a tax haven.
Foreign employment income: exempt if it's taxed in the other country and isn't treated as earned in Cape Verde. Work you physically do in Cape Verde usually counts as Cape Verdean.
High-value work: a 10% rate on employment or self-employed income from scientific, artistic or technical activities on a list set by the Finance Minister.
Exempt income still counts when setting the rate on your other income. Gains on foreign shares are usually taxable only in your country of residence under the OECD model, so the NHR exemption may not cover them.
👉 Official Bulletin: Law 69/X/2025, the 2026 State Budget, Articles 30 and 47 (in Portuguese)
When you become tax resident in Cape Verde
The IRPS Code makes you resident for a year if either of these applies:
you spend more than 183 days in Cape Verde, in a row or in total, in any 12-month period
on 31 December you have a home in Cape Verde that you use as your habitual residence
The 12-month test isn't tied to the calendar year. A stay from August to the following April can make you resident even though neither calendar year has 183 days on its own. The home test is just as easy to trip: keep a long-let flat at the year end and you can be resident however few days you spent there.
Residents are taxed on their worldwide income. Non-residents pay tax only on income from Cape Verde, usually through a final withholding of 20%.
Leaving is a matter of breaking both tests. Spend no more than 183 days in Cape Verde in any 12-month period and don't keep a habitual home there on 31 December. We found no exit tax in the IRPS Code.
👉 Ministry of Finance, tax directorate (DNRE): IRPS income categories and rates (in Portuguese)
Income tax rates for 2026
Cape Verde taxes income in five categories: employment and pensions (A), business and professional income (B), rent (C), investment income (D) and gains (E). Salaries are taxed through monthly withholding, which is final unless you choose to file. Foreign income of a resident must be declared and added to your other income, and taxed on this scale:
Cape Verde income tax rates for 2026
Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
Up to CVE 960,000 (about €8,700) | 16.5% |
CVE 960,001 to CVE 1,800,000 (about €16,300) | 23.1% |
Over CVE 1,800,000 | 27.5% |
Non-habitual residents in listed high-value work | 10% |
Source: IRPS Code (Law 78/VIII/2014, as amended), Article 46. The first CVE 220,000 of each person's income is deducted first. We apply the rates band by band.
Worked example
You're single and take a job with a Cape Verde employer in 2026, earning €87,000 (CVE 9,593,055, about US$100k).
You pay 8.5% social security of CVE 815,410 (€7,395), which is deductible.
After the CVE 220,000 tax-free amount, your taxable income is CVE 8,557,645 and your income tax is CVE 2,210,792 (€20,050).
Your all-in bill is about €27,445, or 31.5% of your salary. If your role is on the list for the 10% NHR rate, it falls to about 18%.
Your employer withholds tax each month using a formula in the IRPS Code, and that withholding settles your tax unless you choose to file. We've used the annual scale here.
Freelancing in Cape Verde
Most freelancers on modest incomes can use the simplified regime for micro and small enterprises (REMPE). It covers businesses with turnover of up to CVE 5 million (micro) or up to CVE 10 million (small), about €90,700.
Under REMPE you pay a single tax, the Tributo Especial Unificado (TEU), of 4% of turnover. It replaces income tax, VAT and the employer's social security, and 70% of it goes to the social security institute (INPS). You pay it every quarter.
On US$100k of fees (CVE 9.59 million), the TEU is about CVE 383,700 (€3,480). INPS lists an 8% contribution for REMPE workers. If that's charged on your full income, your all-in bill is about 12%. US$100k is just under the CVE 10 million ceiling, so a strong year or a weaker dollar can push you out of the regime.
Above the ceiling you keep accounts, and your profit is taxed on the scale above plus 19.5% self-employed social security, roughly 40% on US$100k. Remote freelancers with foreign clients can use the one-year exemption instead.
Crypto, investments and pensions
How is crypto taxed in Cape Verde? There are no specific rules. The IRPS Code lists the gains it taxes: property, company shares and other securities, intellectual property, unexplained increases in wealth and gambling wins. Crypto isn't named, and the tax authority hasn't published guidance. If you trade often, the gains could be treated as business income.
Cape Verde investment income is taxed at source, with no need to file:
Dividends and interest on bonds and similar securities: 10%.
Bank deposit interest and other investment income: 20%.
Gains on Cape Verde property and shares: 1% of the sale value.
Foreign investment income is different. A resident must declare it and add it to their other income, so it's taxed at up to 27.5%. Non-habitual residents are exempt on most foreign dividends and interest.
Foreign pensions follow the same pattern: taxed on the scale without NHR status, exempt for up to seven years with it.
There's no inheritance tax and we found no wealth tax. The new property transfer tax (ITI) charges 1% when Cape Verde property passes on death or by gift, as well as on sales. The rate is 3% where either side uses a tax haven.
👉 Official Bulletin: Law 54/X/2025, the property transfer tax (ITI) code (in Portuguese)
Social security
Employees pay 8.5% of their salary to the INPS and employers pay 16%, a total of 24.5%. Self-employed people pay 19.5%. Workers in REMPE businesses pay 8%, because the TEU covers the employer's share. Contributions are due by the 15th of the following month.
The INPS publishes no rule for remote workers paid from abroad, so check your position before you move.
👉 INPS (social security institute): contribution rates and obligations (in Portuguese)
Double tax treaties
Does Cape Verde have double tax treaties? Only a few. The Ministry of Finance publishes conventions with Portugal and Macau, and a treaty with Spain has been in force since 7 January 2021. Parliament has also approved treaties with Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe and Senegal for ratification, but we couldn't confirm which of these are in force. There's no treaty with the UK or the United States.
Without a treaty, there's no tie-breaker if two countries both treat you as resident. Cape Verde gives a credit for foreign tax on income it also taxes, capped at the Cape Verde tax on that income.
👉 Ministry of Finance (DNRE): double tax conventions (in Portuguese)
The visa for remote workers
Cape Verde launched its Remote Working programme in December 2020. Since 2023 the foreigners law has had a residence visa for people working remotely for employers or clients abroad.
To apply, you'll need:
your passport and a criminal record certificate from your home country
an employment contract or employer's letter, or for freelancers, service contracts or evidence of work for clients
proof of your average monthly income over the last three months
a document showing where you're tax resident
The law doesn't set a minimum income. A residence visa lets you stay for six months, extended until your residence permit is decided. A temporary residence permit lasts two years and can be renewed. If you stay beyond the exempt year, apply for NHR status by 31 March of the following year.
👉 Official Bulletin: Decree-Law 13/2025, documents for the remote work residence visa (in Portuguese)
👉 Official Bulletin: Law 27/X/2023, which added the remote work residence visa (in Portuguese)
👉 Government of Cape Verde: launch of the Remote Working and digital nomads programme (in Portuguese)
Who is Cape Verde good for?
How does Cape Verde compare for different kinds of mover? Ratings are relative to the 150+ countries TaxPilot covers, based on 2026 rules and the all-in cost including social security.
☑️ Who is Cape Verde good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026
Expat profile | Cape Verde rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
Employees | Poor (Good with NHR) | About 31% all-in on a US$100k local salary: income tax of up to 27.5% plus 8.5% social security. A non-habitual resident in a listed high-value role pays 10% instead, about 18% all-in. |
Freelancers (self-employed) | Good | About 12% on US$100k under the simplified regime for small businesses: 4% unified tax (TEU) on turnover, plus 8% social security if it is charged on your full income. US$100k sits just under the CVE 10 million turnover ceiling. Remote freelancers can also claim the one-year exemption, not counted here. |
Retirees | Excellent | 0% on a US$40k foreign pension plus US$20k of foreign dividends and interest for a non-habitual resident, for up to 7 years. There's no inheritance tax or wealth tax, only a 1% transfer tax on Cape Verde property passing on death or by gift. Without NHR status, about 24%. |
Crypto gains | Good | Crypto isn't on the IRPS Code's list of taxable gains and the tax authority hasn't published guidance. Frequent trading could be treated as business income. |
Investment income | Good | About 11% for a non-habitual resident: foreign dividends and interest are generally exempt, but gains on foreign shares may still be taxed. Without NHR status, about 25%. |
Digital nomad visa | Excellent | A residence visa for people working remotely for employers or clients abroad. The 2026 budget law exempts their income from tax for one year, and the law sets no fixed income threshold. |
Filing and deadlines
The tax year is the calendar year. Employees and pensioners with only Cape Verde salary or pension don't have to file, because withholding settles their tax, but they can choose to.
31 March 2027: annual return (Modelo 112) for 2026 if your only income is salary or pension. It's optional if Cape Verde withholding covered it all, but a resident with a foreign salary or pension must file.
31 May 2027: annual return for 2026 for everyone else, including residents with foreign investment, business or rental income.
31 March 2027: last date to ask for NHR status if you became resident in 2026.
REMPE: TEU returns and payments by the end of April, July, October and January.
Businesses with accounts also make three advance payments, each 30% of the previous year's tax, by 31 March, 31 August and 30 November.
👉 Ministry of Finance: 2026 tax calendar (in Portuguese)
Frequently asked questions
Do remote workers pay tax in Cape Verde?
For 2026, no, for their first year. The State Budget law exempts non-resident employees and freelancers who work remotely for employers or clients outside Cape Verde from income tax for one year. After that they can use the non-habitual resident regime.
What is the non-habitual resident regime in Cape Verde?
It's a regime for people who become Cape Verde tax resident after five years of not being resident. From 2026 it lasts seven years. Foreign pensions and most foreign dividends and interest are exempt, and listed high-value jobs are taxed at 10%.
When do I become tax resident in Cape Verde?
You're resident if you spend more than 183 days in Cape Verde in any 12-month period, or if on 31 December you have a home there that you use as your habitual residence. Residents are taxed on their worldwide income.
What are the income tax rates in Cape Verde in 2026?
After a CVE 220,000 tax-free amount, income is taxed at 16.5% up to CVE 960,000, 23.1% up to CVE 1.8 million and 27.5% above that. Employees also pay 8.5% social security.
Are foreign pensions taxed in Cape Verde?
Not if you're a non-habitual resident and the pension isn't paid from Cape Verde. Otherwise a resident's foreign pension is added to their other income and taxed at up to 27.5%. There's no inheritance tax.
Which double tax treaties does Cape Verde have?
Only a few. The Ministry of Finance publishes conventions with Portugal and Macau, and a treaty with Spain has been in force since January 2021. Parliament has approved six more, including Angola, Mauritius and Senegal, for ratification. There's no treaty with the UK or the United States.
Important information
This article is general information and does not constitute tax, legal, immigration or financial advice, and does not create a client relationship. Tax outcomes depend on travel history, income sources, treaty status and the law applying to the relevant year. Rates, thresholds and regimes change, and some measures described may be proposed rather than enacted; this article reflects our understanding as at the date of publication. Obtain advice from a suitably qualified professional before acting or refraining from action.
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