Retiring to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
No retirement residence programme exists. There is no retiree visa, no minimum pension, no incentive scheme - the same single permission at the Prime Minister's Office applies to a retiree as to anyone else. Two things do exist and neither is an immigration route. Pension income is exempt from income tax up to EC$20,000 a year whether it was earned here or abroad, which is in the Act rather than in a scheme and therefore applies to any resident. And a Vincentian who has lived abroad for ten continuous years and is coming home to stay can bring household effects and tools of trade free of import duty, excise tax and VAT, and one vehicle per family at a 75% waiver.
At a glance
- Retirement residence programme
- None
Nothing in the House of Assembly's record of Acts from 1993 to 2025, and nothing on the Passport and Immigration Department's or the Government's pages.
- Pension exemption
- EC$20,000 a year, local or foreign
Income Tax Act section 14(u) and its proviso. About US$7,400 at the fixed East Caribbean rate.
- Returning national concession: years abroad required
- 10 continuous years
The Customs and Excise Department states the condition in words: a minimum of ten continuous years residing abroad.
- Returning national concession: household effects and tools of trade
- Free of import duty, excise tax and VAT
Customs service charge is still payable on everything.
- Returning national concession: motor vehicle
- One per family, 75% waiver
Of import duty, excise tax and VAT. Vehicle surtax and customs service charge are paid in full, and the vehicle cannot be disposed of for four years.
- Returning national concession: time limit
- One year from the date of return
Extendable by writing to Cabinet through the Director General.
Requirements
- For residence: the general permission at the Prime Minister's Office; nothing specific to retirees is published
- For the pension exemption: being resident for income tax purposes - no application
- For the returning national concession: citizenship by birth or by descent with former residence here, ten continuous years abroad, an intention to reside permanently, and an interview with Customs on arrival
In detail
No scheme, but a statutory exemption that does the same work
Several Caribbean states sell a retirement status with a minimum income and a fee. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines does not have one. What it has is section 14(u) of the Income Tax Act, which exempts the income on all pensions, including social security payments, whether earned locally or abroad, capped by its proviso at twenty thousand East Caribbean dollars a year. Because it is an exemption in the charging statute rather than a benefit attached to a status, it applies to anybody who is tax resident here, with no application, no fee and no qualifying investment. Above the cap, the balance is taxed after the ordinary deduction.
Coming home: a concession with sharp edges
A returning national is a citizen by birth, or a citizen by descent who has formerly resided here, coming back after at least ten continuous years abroad and intending to stay permanently. The concession waives import duty, excise tax and VAT on household and personal effects and tools of trade, new or used, and waives 75% of those taxes on one vehicle per family. The customs service charge is paid in full on everything, and the vehicle surtax is paid in full on the vehicle. Imports have to be completed within a year of return. The vehicle cannot be sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of for four years, and effects cannot be sold at all. Returning abroad for more than three continuous months loses the privileges and makes the waived duties repayable. And a person who takes up residence first and has been here more than twelve continuous months does not qualify at all.
Country-level policy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines publishes the fact of its laws and not their text. The Ministry of Legal Affairs puts every weekly Gazette online back to 2016, and each Gazette names the Acts and statutory rules and orders published that week - then says they can be purchased at the Government Printing Office at Campden Park. The House of Assembly publishes a table of every Act passed since 1993, with its long title, its short title, the dates of its readings, assent, publication and any proclamation, and its number. Neither publishes a section of an Act. The Immigration (Restriction) Act, the Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) Act, the Citizenship Act, the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act and the Aliens (Land Holding Regulation) Act are all unreadable from outside the country, and every one of them governs something on this site.
A non-national cannot simply buy land here. The Aliens (Land Holding Regulation) Act, Chapter 316, requires a licence, and the licence is not a registry formality: the Governor-General's assignment of portfolios lists "Alien's Landholding Licences" among the Prime Minister's own subjects, immediately after citizenship, residency and work permits. Parliament's record shows the Act amended in 1993, 1996, 2000 and most recently by Act No. 13 of 2022. None of those texts is published, so the fee, the conditions, any development obligation and any exemption for CARICOM or OECS nationals are all unknown.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«(u) the income on all pensions, including social security payments, whether
earned locally or abroad with effect from the income year 1986:»Known to be out of date. The Fifth Schedule here prints 30% on chargeable income between $10,001 and $30,000 and 32.5% on a company's, and section 47(1)(b) prints an eighteen thousand dollar allowance. The Finance Act 2023 substituted 28% in both places of the Schedule and twenty-two thousand dollars in section 47, and the Inland Revenue Department now publishes a standard deduction of $25,000. None of those changes is in this text, and the instrument that moved the company rate from 32.5% to the 30% the 2023 Act amended is one we have not read.
The words "whether earned locally or abroad" are what make this useful to someone retiring here with a foreign pension.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers income tax, VAT, excise and the climate resiliency levy, and - unusually - issues every class of driving permit. One of only two departments that publish the text of statutes: it posts the Income Tax Act as Chapter 435, the VAT Act, the Excise Acts, the Finance Act and the Land Tax Act. Also publishes current rates, the standard deduction by year, the PAYE tables and the driving licence fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The Chapter 435 text it posts is the Revised Edition, consolidated to 1 January 2009, and nothing on the page says so. Its Fifth Schedule prints a 30 per cent individual band and a 32.5 per cent company rate that are no longer the law, and its section 47 allowance of eighteen thousand dollars has been superseded twice. The department's own rate pages are current but are not instruments, and the standard deduction of $25,000 it publishes for 2024 and 2025 is not traceable to any published Act. Its driving licence pages give no statutory basis at all.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«(i) in the case where the pensions, including social security payments,
amount exceeds twenty thousand dollars per annum, the exemption
from tax shall apply in relation to twenty thousand dollars per annum,»Known to be out of date. The Fifth Schedule here prints 30% on chargeable income between $10,001 and $30,000 and 32.5% on a company's, and section 47(1)(b) prints an eighteen thousand dollar allowance. The Finance Act 2023 substituted 28% in both places of the Schedule and twenty-two thousand dollars in section 47, and the Inland Revenue Department now publishes a standard deduction of $25,000. None of those changes is in this text, and the instrument that moved the company rate from 32.5% to the 30% the 2023 Act amended is one we have not read.
The cap, in East Caribbean dollars.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers income tax, VAT, excise and the climate resiliency levy, and - unusually - issues every class of driving permit. One of only two departments that publish the text of statutes: it posts the Income Tax Act as Chapter 435, the VAT Act, the Excise Acts, the Finance Act and the Land Tax Act. Also publishes current rates, the standard deduction by year, the PAYE tables and the driving licence fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The Chapter 435 text it posts is the Revised Edition, consolidated to 1 January 2009, and nothing on the page says so. Its Fifth Schedule prints a 30 per cent individual band and a 32.5 per cent company rate that are no longer the law, and its section 47 allowance of eighteen thousand dollars has been superseded twice. The department's own rate pages are current but are not instruments, and the standard deduction of $25,000 it publishes for 2024 and 2025 is not traceable to any published Act. Its driving licence pages give no statutory basis at all.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«A returning national is a citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines by birth, or a citizen by descent who has formerly resided in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who is returning from residing abroad after a minimum of ten continuous years and intends to reside permanently in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.»A citizen by descent qualifies only if they have formerly resided here, which quietly excludes a second-generation Vincentian who has never lived in the country.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes passenger baggage allowances and the currency declaration threshold, the returning national concession in full with its conditions and time limits, and the texts of about thirty customs and revenue statutes including the Customs (Control and Management) Act, the Customs Duties (Amendment) Act 2022 and the Common External Tariff Order 2022.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The returning national concession is described as a Cabinet decision and the department publishes no order or regulation behind it, so its conditions are the department's account rather than a citation. The baggage allowances are likewise stated without reference to a section of the Customs Duties Act. The department publishes nothing on the household effects of an arriving non-national, and its exemptions and fiscal incentives pages are empty of substance.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«A person who immediately after taking up residence in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, has
stayed in the state for a continuous period of more than twelve months, shall not qualify for the
returning national concessions.»The trap. Someone who moves home first and applies later has lost it by the time they have been here a year.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes passenger baggage allowances and the currency declaration threshold, the returning national concession in full with its conditions and time limits, and the texts of about thirty customs and revenue statutes including the Customs (Control and Management) Act, the Customs Duties (Amendment) Act 2022 and the Common External Tariff Order 2022.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The returning national concession is described as a Cabinet decision and the department publishes no order or regulation behind it, so its conditions are the department's account rather than a citation. The baggage allowances are likewise stated without reference to a section of the Customs Duties Act. The department publishes nothing on the household effects of an arriving non-national, and its exemptions and fiscal incentives pages are empty of substance.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Non-nationals who wish to take up residence and employment in the state must first obtain permission to do so. Applications should be lodged at the Prime Minister’s Office, Financial Complex, Kingstown.»About this source
The department that stamps passports and issues entry permits. Publishes the periods of stay granted on arrival by nationality, the extension procedure and its charge, the list of countries whose citizens need an entry visa in advance, the visa application requirements and fee, and the list of services the department offers. Also the registration point for nationals exercising CARICOM full free movement.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Everything it publishes is a description of practice, not a citation of the Immigration (Restriction) Act, Chapter 114, which is not published anywhere. It must never be cited as the legal basis for a period of stay, a fee or a visa requirement - only as the administering department's statement of what it does. It is silent on residence and work permits beyond naming the office that decides them, silent on students, and silent on the driving licence exemption its own government announced for full free movement nationals.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The pension exemption is read from the Income Tax Act as consolidated to 1 January 2009. The Finance Act 2023 amended section 47 and the Fifth Schedule and did not touch section 14; whether anything between 2009 and 2023 did is unknown, because the intervening amending instruments are not published.
The returning national concession is published by the Customs and Excise Department as a description of a Cabinet decision, not as a statutory instrument. The conditions quoted here are the department's own words and we did not find the order or regulation behind them.
- administersIncome Tax Act, Chapter 435 (Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Inland Revenue Department, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · consolidated to 2009-01-01
Known to be out of date. The Fifth Schedule here prints 30% on chargeable income between $10,001 and $30,000 and 32.5% on a company's, and section 47(1)(b) prints an eighteen thousand dollar allowance. The Finance Act 2023 substituted 28% in both places of the Schedule and twenty-two thousand dollars in section 47, and the Inland Revenue Department now publishes a standard deduction of $25,000. None of those changes is in this text, and the instrument that moved the company rate from 32.5% to the 30% the 2023 Act amended is one we have not read.
About this source
Administers income tax, VAT, excise and the climate resiliency levy, and - unusually - issues every class of driving permit. One of only two departments that publish the text of statutes: it posts the Income Tax Act as Chapter 435, the VAT Act, the Excise Acts, the Finance Act and the Land Tax Act. Also publishes current rates, the standard deduction by year, the PAYE tables and the driving licence fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The Chapter 435 text it posts is the Revised Edition, consolidated to 1 January 2009, and nothing on the page says so. Its Fifth Schedule prints a 30 per cent individual band and a 32.5 per cent company rate that are no longer the law, and its section 47 allowance of eighteen thousand dollars has been superseded twice. The department's own rate pages are current but are not instruments, and the standard deduction of $25,000 it publishes for 2024 and 2025 is not traceable to any published Act. Its driving licence pages give no statutory basis at all.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- administersConcession granted to returning nationals
Customs and Excise Department, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
Publishes passenger baggage allowances and the currency declaration threshold, the returning national concession in full with its conditions and time limits, and the texts of about thirty customs and revenue statutes including the Customs (Control and Management) Act, the Customs Duties (Amendment) Act 2022 and the Common External Tariff Order 2022.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The returning national concession is described as a Cabinet decision and the department publishes no order or regulation behind it, so its conditions are the department's account rather than a citation. The baggage allowances are likewise stated without reference to a section of the Customs Duties Act. The department publishes nothing on the household effects of an arriving non-national, and its exemptions and fiscal incentives pages are empty of substance.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersVisitors' Permits, Residence and Work Permits
Ministry of National Security, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
The department that stamps passports and issues entry permits. Publishes the periods of stay granted on arrival by nationality, the extension procedure and its charge, the list of countries whose citizens need an entry visa in advance, the visa application requirements and fee, and the list of services the department offers. Also the registration point for nationals exercising CARICOM full free movement.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Everything it publishes is a description of practice, not a citation of the Immigration (Restriction) Act, Chapter 114, which is not published anywhere. It must never be cited as the legal basis for a period of stay, a fee or a visa requirement - only as the administering department's statement of what it does. It is silent on residence and work permits beyond naming the office that decides them, silent on students, and silent on the driving licence exemption its own government announced for full free movement nationals.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- administersInland Revenue Department - List of Taxes
Inland Revenue Department, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
Administers income tax, VAT, excise and the climate resiliency levy, and - unusually - issues every class of driving permit. One of only two departments that publish the text of statutes: it posts the Income Tax Act as Chapter 435, the VAT Act, the Excise Acts, the Finance Act and the Land Tax Act. Also publishes current rates, the standard deduction by year, the PAYE tables and the driving licence fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The Chapter 435 text it posts is the Revised Edition, consolidated to 1 January 2009, and nothing on the page says so. Its Fifth Schedule prints a 30 per cent individual band and a 32.5 per cent company rate that are no longer the law, and its section 47 allowance of eighteen thousand dollars has been superseded twice. The department's own rate pages are current but are not instruments, and the standard deduction of $25,000 it publishes for 2024 and 2025 is not traceable to any published Act. Its driving licence pages give no statutory basis at all.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source