Turks and Caicos residence and tax

Residence through investment: the PRC

Turks and Caicos grants investors a Permanent Residence Certificate, or PRC. Under the Immigration Regulations 2016 you need a clean record and an investment of at least US$1 million, either in a business on the islands or in your own home. For a home, a Chartered Quantity Surveyor confirms the value. If you come in through the home route, you declare that you will not work on the islands unless you expressly apply to.

The costs: a PRC fee of US$25,000, an administration fee of US$150 and US$200 for a spouse. If you have not invested yet, you can first apply for a Certificate of Undertaking for US$1,500. The government agency Invest Turks and Caicos takes the application and passes it to the immigration ministry; the Governor decides.

For a first stay without an investment there is the Temporary Residence Permit, issued by the Employment Services Department, without the right to work and usually for up to a year. A spouse and children up to 18 can be included.

Tax and property

According to the government agency, the islands levy no direct taxes on companies or individuals, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax, and there are no exchange controls. Foreigners may buy property without restriction.

The purchase itself is what costs. On Providenciales and the other main islands, stamp duty is 6.5 per cent up to US$250,000, 8 per cent up to US$500,000 and 10 per cent above US$500,000. On Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South, Middle and North Caicos it is 5 per cent up to US$100,000 and 6.5 per cent above. A US$1 million house that qualifies for the PRC therefore costs another US$100,000 in stamp duty on Providenciales.

The islands signed up to FATCA and, early on, to the Common Reporting Standard. Accounts on Turks and Caicos are visible to the tax authority where you live; you declare the income where you are tax resident. More in our article on the CRS and the islands.

The blacklist: what it means for you

Turks and Caicos was on the EU list once before, from 21 December 2022 to 19 February 2024. On 17 February 2026 the Council put the islands back in Annex I, and the revision of 9 October 2026 confirmed it. The Council's reason: the islands do not effectively enforce the substance requirements for offshore structures.

The EU list itself does not tax anyone. What counts is what your home country does with it. Your country may apply its own defensive rules to territories on the EU blacklist, for example by refusing deductions for payments there, taxing the profits of companies there in the owner's hands, withdrawing reliefs on dividends from there, adding withholding taxes or demanding extra records. Those rules typically bite on people who stay at home and keep business, holdings or a rental property in the listed territory. How the list works is set out on our page on the EU list of tax havens.

If you move to the islands for good and cut your ties at home, the listing will barely touch you. Your home country's rules on leaving still travel with you: it may tax your company shares on emigration or keep a claim on you for a period if business and assets stay behind.

Who Turks and Caicos suits

Wealthy people who want to live in the Caribbean, want a clear investment route with a manageable fee, and genuinely leave home. Less so anyone who wants to invest, let property or hold companies there while staying at home: for them the listing can get expensive. A comparable territory that is not listed is the Cayman Islands.

From twenty years with the British territories: the blacklist comes and goes. Plans that rely on it not applying right now are built on sand.

Sources: Invest Turks and Caicos: Become a TCI resident; Invest Turks and Caicos: Real estate; Invest Turks and Caicos: Top reasons to invest; Council of the EU: conclusions of 17 February 2026; Council of the EU: conclusions of 9 October 2026