Most companies pay Business Tax on gross receipts rather than a conventional profits tax: 1.75% general trade, 6% professional services, up to 19% telecoms, with a 25% income tax applying instead to companies not subject to Business Tax (e.g. the oil sector).
Flat 25% on chargeable income above BZD 26,000-29,000 (threshold raised under 2025 amendments); territorial system - only Belize-source income is taxed.
12.5% General Sales Tax (GST); registration required above BZD 75,000 annual turnover.
Belize operates a territorial tax system: only Belize-source income is taxed, for both residents and non-residents, with foreign-source income (overseas investment returns, foreign pensions, profits from a business conducted entirely outside Belize) generally exempt for Belizean tax residents. Sources show a minor discrepancy on the exact day-count threshold - most cite presence exceeding 182 days in aggregate during the basis year (or domicile) as triggering residency, though at least one source states 183+ days; confirm the precise domestic statutory wording with the Belize Tax Service Department given this small but real inconsistency across sources. Alternative residency routes include permanent resident status and the Qualified Retired Persons (QRP) Programme, under which foreign pension income paid to a QRP participant is exempt from Belizean income tax. Companies may be exempted from business tax on passive income if they can prove tax residency in a non-EU-blacklisted jurisdiction and lack a Belize PE.
Belize has no CFC rules - confirmed independently across at least three sources (GSL's tax summary, and two separate CFC-comparison guides that list Belize among countries with pure territorial treatment and no CFC regime).
No thin capitalization or fixed debt-to-equity/EBITDA interest limitation rules were confirmed in available sources for Belize.
Belize has no domestic FBAR/Form 8938-equivalent requiring Belizean residents to self-report their own foreign accounts. Belize does participate in institutional cross-border transparency: it signed the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in 2015 (automatic exchange began September 2018), the CbC MCAA in 2017, and signed and ratified the OECD's Multilateral Instrument (MLI) in 2019, effective for Belize August 1, 2022.
Sources genuinely conflict on Belize's treaty count: GSL states Belize has 14 double tax treaties, while another secondary aggregator lists only 2. As a CARICOM member, Belize benefits from the CARICOM multilateral double taxation agreement, which may explain part of the discrepancy if one source counts CARICOM as a single treaty and the other counts individual member-state relationships separately. Belize has no comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States. Given this significant discrepancy, confirm the current precise treaty count and partner list directly with the Belize Tax Service Department before relying on treaty protection for any specific transaction.