Moving to Belize

Ways to hold Belize property

Whose name goes on the title changes the transfer tax you pay, what happens when you die, and how easily you can sell. Here are the options at a high level. The right choice depends on your home country's tax rules as much as Belize's, so get professional advice on both sides.

In your own name

This is the simplest option. As a foreigner you pay the 8% transfer tax on value above BZ$20,000^[1]. When a sole owner dies, the land passes only when a grant of probate or administration is produced to the Land Registry^[2]. That means a Belize court process, even if you have a will at home. Ask your attorney about a Belize will.

With someone else

For registered land, Belize law has two forms of co-ownership^[2]:

• Joint owners. When one dies, the survivor or survivors automatically take the whole property. The Registrar removes the name on proof of death. The land can only be sold by all of the joint owners acting together.
• Owners in common. Each owns a share, presumed equal unless stated. When one dies, their share goes through their estate.

Adding a co-owner later counts as a transfer, and stamp duty is normally due on the share transferred. A 2024 amendment added exemptions for some transfers between spouses, common-law spouses, parents, children and siblings, and for inheritance^[3].

Confirm: the older wording of the Act limited some family exemptions to citizens^[1], and we can't tell you whether the new ones cover foreigners. Ask a Belize attorney before relying on them.

Through a Belize company

Since the Belize Companies Act 2022, there is one kind of Belize company. The old International Business Companies (IBC) Act and Companies Act were repealed. Existing companies had to re-register by 28 November 2023 or be struck off^[4][5].

• Can a former IBC own Belize land? Yes. The old ban on IBCs owning real property in Belize was removed by a 2018 amendment, which also brought them into the domestic tax system^[6]. Former IBCs are now ordinary Belize companies^[4].
• Don't count on it avoiding the 8%. The Act applies the foreign rate on land to many companies with foreign owners or directors^[1]. Ask a Belize attorney what rate your structure would pay.
• Selling the company instead of the land. Since January 2025, share transfers pay 5% stamp duty for Belize companies and 7% for companies incorporated abroad^[3]. Other rules can apply where the company owns land^[1], so get advice before relying on a share sale.
• More paperwork. Registering a transfer to a company needs its lists of shareholders and shares^[7]. A non-resident buying shares in a local company must notify the Central Bank^[8]. The Central Bank's land-transfer form indicates that when a Belize company sells land, the proceeds go first to a local bank and sending them abroad needs a separate application^[9]; ask your attorney how this would work for you. Companies also have annual filing costs.

Confirm: many realtor websites say land can be bought "through an IBC" at 7%. Our sources don't clearly support that: the 2024 amendment's 7% rate is for shares in companies incorporated outside Belize^[3], and the Act has separate rules for land. The duty depends on how the purchase is structured, so ask a Belize attorney before you sign.

Through a trust

Under the 2020 text of the Trusts Act, an offshore trust, as the Act defines it, cannot hold land in Belize, and a trust over Belize land must be in writing to be enforceable^[10]. Land put in trust for a non-Belizean beneficiary can pay the 8% rate^[1]. Trusts can help with succession, but they cost money to set up and run. They are a matter for specialist advice.

Tax, at a high level

• Selling: we found no capital gains tax in the Income and Business Tax Act, though we didn't check the latest budget changes. Business tax applies to revenue receipts and excludes receipts of a capital nature^[11]. Your home country may still tax the gain. Americans are taxed on worldwide income.
• Renting long-term: residential rent of BZ$800 a month or more pays 3% business tax on the gross, filed monthly^[12]. Residential rents are exempt from GST^[13].
• Renting to tourists: the property must be registered with the Belize Tourism Board before you advertise. It then collects a 9% accommodation tax^[14], and business tax on tourist accommodation is 1.75% of gross revenue^[12].
• Retirees in the QRP pay no Belize tax on income from outside Belize^[15], but the QRP work rules limit running a business here, so ask the BTB and an attorney before renting out property. See Residency.
• Property tax is separate and due every year. See Buying property.

Get professional help on both sides. A structure that saves Belize transfer tax can cost more in reporting or tax at home. For example, US owners of foreign companies and trusts face extra filings. None of this is tax advice.

A rough way to think about it

• A couple buying a home to live in: personal names, often as joint owners, plus a Belize will, is the usual starting point to discuss with an attorney.
• Several unrelated buyers, or a rental business: ask about a company. Budget for its running costs and the Central Bank rules on moving money.
• Estate planning across countries: talk to specialists in both countries before you buy, not after.