Monaco Tax Guide: No Income Tax, and the Cost Is the Rent

Monaco sits 60th out of 217 in our world ranking, with a FiScore of 6.7 out of 10.

Monaco levies no personal income tax. None on salaries, dividends, rent or capital gains. There is no wealth tax either, no property tax and no council tax. That much is simple, and it has been true since 1869.

Everything interesting about Monaco is therefore about getting in, and about one nationality that cannot.

The one nationality excluded

Article 7 of the Franco-Monegasque convention of 18 May 1963 taxes French nationals in France "under the same conditions as if they had their domicile or residence in France", in two cases: when they move their domicile to Monaco, and when they cannot show five years of habitual residence in Monaco as at 13 October 1962.

In plain terms: a French citizen moving to Monaco today keeps being taxed by France on worldwide income, exactly as if they had never left. Monaco solves nothing for them.

No other nationality is caught by the clause, and that single sentence explains the composition of Monaco's population better than any brochure.

The entry price is the housing

There is no application fee that matters. A residence card requires accommodation in Monaco and sufficient means, plus a bank deposit whose level each bank sets for itself, since no legal text fixes it.

The real barrier is the first of those. Monaco is the most expensive residential market in the world, on two square kilometres that cannot grow, and you must genuinely occupy what you rent or buy. That is the price of entry, and it recurs every month.

Anyone comparing Monaco to a zero-tax jurisdiction on tax alone is missing where the money actually goes.

Inheritance: only what sits in Monaco

Monaco does levy inheritance and gift duties, but they reach only assets situated in the Principality, whatever the domicile, residence or nationality of the deceased.

Zero in the direct line, on Monaco assets, with no wealth tax alongside it, is a combination very few places offer.

Companies

Monaco's business profits tax does not reach every company. It targets commercial or industrial activities making more than 25% of turnover outside Monaco, plus income from intellectual property. A company whose activity is purely Monegasque falls outside it entirely.

For those within scope the rate is 25%, down from 33.33% until 2018 and reduced in steps to its present level in 2022.

What decides is not the legal form but the nature of the activity and where the operations happen: a civil company or a sole trader can be caught, a commercial company can fall outside.

VAT is France's, 20%: for that tax the two countries form a single fiscal territory.

If you are American

Citizenship-based taxation applies, and Monaco offers no treaty relief to soften it: the Principality's treaty network is very thin, and there is no US income tax treaty.

Zero Monegasque tax therefore generates zero foreign tax credit. For an American, Monaco is a place to live, not a tax outcome, and the housing cost lands on top of an unchanged US bill.

The drawbacks

French nationals are excluded in practice, and that is the single most important line on this page.

Two square kilometres. Space is the binding constraint on everything, starting with what you pay to sleep there.

Not in the European Union, though it is inside the Schengen area and in customs and VAT union with France, which is a combination that surprises people.

Banking is selective. Opening an account takes a substantial relationship, and the banks decide who is worth it.

So, who is Monaco for?

• A non-French high earner who will genuinely live there: no income tax, no wealth tax, and inheritance at zero in the direct line on local assets.
• An established estate: the inheritance treatment is the quiet argument, and it does not depend on a revocable regime.
• A French national: no. The 1963 convention removes the point entirely.
• Anyone hoping for a paper address: the residence card requires real occupation, and real occupation in Monaco is the most expensive there is.

The full table of Monegasque rates is on our Monaco page, and the comparison tool puts it next to anywhere else. Before deciding anything, read how to actually leave.

Sources

The 1963 convention as published by the French tax administration, Monegasque government guidance on inheritance duties and on the business profits tax, verified in August 2026. An error reported to us gets fixed.

This page informs, it does not advise. Before deciding anything, talk to a professional who will look at your situation, as our terms of use set out.