Seychelles expat tax 2026: foreign income, rates

Seychelles taxes income by where it comes from. If your pension, dividends, interest or rent come from abroad, Seychelles doesn't tax them at all, and there's no capital gains tax on your investments. That makes the islands one of the simplest places in Africa to live on foreign income.

Work is different. A salary for work done in Seychelles is taxed from the first rupee for most foreigners, at up to 30%, and self-employed profits earned on the islands pay business tax at up to 25%.

This guide covers Seychelles personal tax for the 2026 tax year (1 January to 31 December 2026): the territorial system, salary and business tax rates, residence, the Seychelles Pension Fund, treaties and how you can stay long term. The key question is simple. Is your income earned in Seychelles, or does it come from abroad?

What's changed: the salary tax bands haven't changed since 1 June 2018, and the sole trader bands date from January 2022, so 2026 rates are the same as 2025. The 2026 Budget, delivered on 12 February 2026, announced that foreign workers on a Gainful Occupation Permit (GOP) will also have to contribute to the Seychelles Pension Fund, starting in the second half of 2026 after consultation. This is Proposed, not law: we found no amending law in October 2026. Since 1 January 2025, interest on fixed deposits has had 0% withheld for individuals, and since 1 January 2024 the annual tax on property owned by non-Seychellois has been 0.5% of market value.

📋 Seychelles tax at a glance for 2026

The territorial system: foreign income isn't taxed

Why do retirees and investors look at Seychelles? Because the tax system only reaches income that has its source on the islands.

Image 1 — income from abroad is outside the tax net

The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) describes the system as territorial. Under section 5(1) of the Business Tax Act, an amount a resident earns in a business is Seychelles income only if it comes from activities conducted, goods situated or rights used in Seychelles. The SRC lists two kinds of income that fall outside the tax:

• Overseas activities: income from activities a Seychelles business carries on in another country.

• Passive income from abroad: dividends, interest, royalties, rents and other passive income a Seychelles resident receives from a non-resident.

The 2021 change you may read about applies only to large companies (groups above two of three limits: €20 million of assets, €40 million of turnover and 250 staff), which since 16 September 2021 are taxed on foreign passive income unless they have real substance in Seychelles. For individuals, only where the activity happens counts.

Personal tax in Seychelles comes in two parts. Employees pay income tax on their pay under the Income and Non-Monetary Benefits Tax Act, withheld by the employer. Sole traders pay business tax on their profits under the Business Tax Act. Neither reaches a foreign pension or a portfolio held abroad.

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: the Seychelles tax system, including territorial taxation

👉 Business Tax (Amendment) Act 2020 (Act 2 of 2021): the source rule and the substance test

When you become tax resident in Seychelles, and how you stop

The Business Tax Act treats you as a resident individual for a tax year if any of these apply:

• you reside in Seychelles

• you're domiciled in Seychelles, unless your permanent home is abroad

• you're in Seychelles for 183 days or more in any 12-month period that starts or ends during the tax year

Residence matters less here than in most countries. Your pay for work in Seychelles is taxed whether you're resident or not, and your foreign income isn't taxed either way. Residence counts for two things: treaty claims, and the lower citizen rates on salaries for nationals of treaty countries (see below).

Leaving is simple. Foreign income was never taxed, so moving away mainly ends tax on what you earn in Seychelles. We found no exit tax.

To work for a Seychelles employer, you need a Gainful Occupation Permit. Your employer applies, after the Ministry of Employment approves the post. The fee is SCR 1,000 to process the application plus SCR 500 for each month of the permit.

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: Public Ruling 2019-1, including the definition of a resident

👉 Immigration and Civil Status: Gainful Occupation Permit

Income tax rates for 2026

Income tax on pay is worked out each month, on the gross pay from each job. The bands below have applied since 1 June 2018 and still apply in 2026.

Seychelles monthly income tax rates on employment income for 2026

Source: Income and Non-Monetary Benefits Tax Act, First Schedule, monthly rates in force from 1 June 2018, as published by the Seychelles Revenue Commission.

The difference is the citizens' tax-free slice. Once a non-citizen earns more than SCR 10,000 a month, 15% applies from the first rupee, which costs about SCR 1,283 a month more than a citizen pays on the same salary.

There's an exception for treaty nationals. Under Public Ruling 2019-1, a national of a country that has a double tax treaty with Seychelles, who is resident in Seychelles, pays the citizen rates. The SRC may ask for your passport to prove it. UK and US nationals don't qualify, because there's no treaty.

Benefits in kind, such as housing, utilities, a car or meals, are taxed on your employer, not on you. The employer pays 15% of the cost or of a set value, for example SCR 3,000 a month for a two-bedroom home.

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: income and non-monetary benefits tax rates

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: income tax for non-citizens from treaty countries

Worked example

• You're a non-citizen working for a Seychelles employer on a GOP in 2026, earning SCR 1.47 million a year (about US$100k), or SCR 122,500 a month.

• Monthly tax is SCR 16,166.60 plus 30% of SCR 39,167, a total of SCR 27,916.70.

• Over the year that's about SCR 335,000. You don't currently pay into the Seychelles Pension Fund.

Your all-in bill is about SCR 335,000, or 22.8% of your salary. As a resident national of a treaty country, you'd pay about SCR 319,600, or 21.7%. If the Budget plan to bring GOP holders into the pension fund goes ahead at the usual 5% employee rate, the non-citizen figure would rise to about 27.8%.

Freelancing in Seychelles

Sole traders pay business tax on their profit for the tax year. The SRC publishes these rates, in force since January 2022:

• 0% on the first SCR 102,666

• 15% from SCR 102,666.01 to SCR 1 million

• 25% above SCR 1 million

On US$100k of profit (SCR 1.47 million), that's about SCR 252,100, or 17.1%. Remember the source rule: if you do the work from Mahé, the profit is Seychelles income, even if every client is abroad.

If your turnover is below SCR 1 million, you can pay presumptive tax of 1.5% of turnover instead, with no deduction for costs. On turnover of SCR 600,000, that's SCR 9,000.

You need the right to work for yourself first. A foreigner needs a self-employed GOP, which you apply for yourself; if you're setting up a business, you submit a project memorandum to the Seychelles Investment Board first.

Seychellois self-employed people pay 10% of their earnings into the Seychelles Pension Fund. The Fund describes its members as Seychellois workers, so a foreign sole trader isn't expected to contribute at present.

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: FAQs on business tax rates and returns

Crypto, investments and pensions

Is crypto taxed in Seychelles? Not as a private investment. None of the taxes the SRC administers is a capital gains tax, so a gain on crypto, shares or funds you hold as an investor isn't taxed. There's no official guidance on crypto, though. If you trade as a business from Seychelles, the profit is Seychelles business income.

• Foreign dividends, interest and rent: not taxed, because passive income from a non-resident isn't Seychelles income.

• Seychelles bank interest: tax is withheld at source and is final. For individuals it's 0% on savings accounts, fixed deposits and government securities, and 5% on current and call accounts.

• Foreign pensions: salary tax applies to pay from employment, and business tax to business income sourced in Seychelles. A pension paid from abroad falls under neither. The SRC hasn't published guidance aimed at foreign pensions, so check if yours is unusual.

We found no inheritance tax, estate duty or wealth tax among the taxes the SRC runs. If you own a home as a non-Seychellois, though, you pay an annual immovable property tax, 0.5% of market value since 1 January 2024, due by 31 December. Commercial property, and a home owned by someone married to a Seychellois, are exempt.

👉 Business Tax (Amendment of First Schedule) Regulations 2024: withholding tax on interest

👉 Immovable Property Tax (Increase in Tax Rate) Order 2023: the 0.5% rate

Social security and the Seychelles Pension Fund

Seychelles doesn't charge a separate social security contribution on pay. The main compulsory scheme is the Seychelles Pension Fund (SPF):

• Employees: 5% of gross monthly salary since 1 January 2023, matched by 5% from the employer.

• Self-employed: 10% of verified monthly earnings, or of average yearly profit or turnover, with a minimum based on the minimum wage.

• Who pays: the Fund describes its members as Seychellois workers, and the 2026 Budget's plan to bring foreign GOP holders in shows they don't pay yet.

That last point may change. The 2026 Budget said the government will require GOP holders to contribute to the SPF too, after consultation, with implementation planned for the second half of 2026. This is Proposed, not law. Since 1 January 2025 the SPF pays an "age pension" in place of the retirement pension, after at least 10 years of continuous contributions or 20 years in total, so a foreign worker on a shorter contract would be unlikely to qualify.

👉 Seychelles Pension Fund: mandatory contribution rates

👉 Seychelles Pension Fund (Membership and Contribution) (Amendment) Regulations 2023: self-employed contributions

👉 Ministry of Finance: 2026 Budget Speech, including the GOP pension proposal

Double tax treaties

Does Seychelles have double tax treaties? Yes. The SRC lists 29 double taxation agreements in force, including with the UAE, South Africa, Mauritius, China, Singapore, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Kenya, Qatar, Malaysia and Thailand.

There's no treaty with the UK, the United States, France or Germany. India has only a tax information exchange agreement. Because Seychelles doesn't tax foreign income, a missing treaty matters less than usual, but it does mean UK and US nationals pay non-citizen rates on a Seychelles salary.

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: tax agreements in force

Staying long term: no nomad visa

Seychelles has no digital nomad visa. The Workcation programme, launched in 2021 by the Seychelles Tourism Board, invited remote workers to stay for up to a year on an ordinary visitor's permit. Its website wasn't working when we checked in October 2026, so don't rely on it.

The visitor's permit itself is the practical route:

• It's granted for up to three months, free of charge.

• You can extend it in steps of up to three months, to a maximum of 12 months, for SCR 5,000 per extension.

• You need a return or onward ticket, confirmed accommodation, enough money for your stay and an Electronic Travel Authorisation before you fly.

Immigration's guidance doesn't say whether remote work for a foreign employer is allowed on a visitor's permit, and it says non-Seychellois need a GOP to work, paid or unpaid. Ask the Immigration and Civil Status Office before you plan a long remote-work stay. Stay 183 days in 12 months and you're also resident for tax.

👉 Immigration and Civil Status: visitor's permit and extensions

Who is Seychelles good for?

How does Seychelles 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 pension fund contributions. We convert at about SCR 14.7 to US$1, the Central Bank of Seychelles mid-rate for 19 October 2026 (SCR 14.73).

☑️ Who is Seychelles good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026

👉 Central Bank of Seychelles: average exchange rates of authorised dealers

Filing and deadlines

The tax year is the calendar year. Employees are taxed through the payroll: your employer withholds income tax each month and pays it to the SRC by the 21st of the following month.

Sole traders file a business tax return by 31 March after the year ends, so the 2026 return is due by 31 March 2027. You have to file even if you made a loss or your profit is below the tax-free amount. Monthly payments under the Pay As You Go scheme are due by the 21st of the following month, and the presumptive tax return is also due by 31 March. New businesses have to register with the SRC within 28 days of starting to trade.

👉 Seychelles Revenue Commission: tax year, returns and payment dates

Frequently asked questions

Does Seychelles tax foreign income?

Not passive income. The Seychelles Revenue Commission treats dividends, interest, royalties, rent and other passive income a resident receives from a non-resident as non-Seychelles income, so it isn't taxed. Pay for work done in Seychelles and profits from activities on the islands are taxed.

What are the income tax rates in Seychelles for expats in 2026?

Tax on pay is worked out monthly. Non-citizens pay 15% from the first rupee up to SCR 10,000, 20% up to SCR 83,333 and 30% above that. Citizens, and resident nationals of treaty countries, pay nothing on the first SCR 8,555.50 a month.

Do expats pay into the Seychelles Pension Fund?

Not at present. The Fund describes its members as Seychellois workers, who pay 5% with a matching 5% from the employer. The 2026 Budget announced that foreign GOP holders will have to contribute too, but that's Proposed, not law.

Is there capital gains tax in Seychelles?

No. None of the taxes the Revenue Commission runs is a capital gains tax, so gains on shares, funds or crypto held as investments aren't taxed. Profits from trading as a business in Seychelles are business income.

When do I become tax resident in Seychelles?

When you're in Seychelles for 183 days or more in any 12-month period that starts or ends in the tax year, or if you reside or are domiciled there. Residence matters less than usual, because foreign passive income isn't taxed either way.

Does Seychelles have a tax treaty with the UK?

No. Seychelles has 29 double taxation agreements in force, including with the UAE, South Africa, Mauritius, China and Singapore, but none with the UK or the United States.

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