The British Overseas Territory of St. Helena adopted a 25% flat tax on both corporate and personal income effective April 1, 2012. The Income Tax Ordinance 6 of 2012 replaced that of 2009, which consisted of two rates of 17% and 27%. (St. Helena issues its own currency, which is set at par with British pounds sterling.)
Allowances were adjusted to prevent those in the previous 17% bracket from paying more in taxes than under the new 25% rate. The 2009 law provided a personal allowance of 3,500 pounds that was deductible against charged income. The 2012 ordinance increased the allowance to 7,000 pounds.
Capital gains are taxed at 10%.
The purpose of the 2012 reform was to increase the attractiveness of St. Helena as a place to invest in the wake of an airport scheduled to open in early 2016. Previously, all physical contact with the island was through a weekly ship service to and from southern African ports. The autonomous government of St. Helena plans to further reduce tax rates (and import duties).
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