Paraguay

Living in Paraguay, and being taxed by Paraguay

These are decided by different authorities, under different rules, on different clocks. The one people get wrong is the second.

Paraguay is the exception on this list. Becoming a permanent resident is what makes you a tax resident, so the two statuses arrive together rather than on separate clocks. It matters less than it sounds, because tax residency here reaches only Paraguayan-source income, and money earned elsewhere stays outside it.

The facts, each cited

• Territorial basis

  Paraguay taxes on a territorial basis. Income counts as Paraguayan-source only when it comes from activity carried out in Paraguay, assets located there, or rights used economically there. Income without those links falls outside the tax's source definition.

• Local-source only

  The personal income tax reaches only Paraguayan-source income: earnings from activity in Paraguay, assets located there, or rights used there. Personal income sourced abroad sits outside that definition, with a carve-out for services performed abroad for local taxpayers.

• 8% to 10%

  The tax authority sets personal income tax rates by category. Income from personal services is taxed at 8%, 9%, or 10%. Capital income and gains are taxed at 8%.

• Residency test

  For tax purposes, an individual counts as a Paraguayan tax resident when they hold permanent residence in the country under its migration law. That test separates residents, who fall under the personal income tax, from non-residents, who fall under a separate non-resident tax.

• Up to 2 years

  Paraguay's national migration authority grants temporary residence to foreigners who enter intending to settle and carry out lawful activity. The card is valid up to two years and renews for an equal period. Temporary residence is the prerequisite for permanent residence.

• 10-year card

  Permanent residence goes to a foreigner who intends to settle for good, granted only after completing the temporary residence period. The permanent card is definitive and renews every ten years.

• 90-day window

  The change from temporary to permanent residence must be filed starting ninety days before the temporary card expires and up to thirty days after it expires. Filing in that window preserves temporary status and secures access to permanent residence.

• 12 categories

  Migraciones updated the economic solvency rules for residence applications, effective for filings from 6 July 2026. The twelve applicant categories name remote workers or digital nomads and retirees or pensioners among them.

• Investor route

  Foreign investors can take a special direct route to permanent residence through the single-window business system, SUACE. It requires an investor certificate from the industry and commerce vice-ministry, and the resulting card is definitive, renewed every ten years.

• From USD 70,000

  The industry and commerce ministry sets the minimum investment behind that certificate in four tiers: USD 70,000 for a productive investment, USD 150,000 for a tourism project, and USD 200,000 for either financial instruments or real estate. Each is stated in US dollars or the guarani equivalent at the official exchange rate on the date of the application.

• 3 years

  The constitution lets foreigners obtain Paraguayan nationality by naturalisation on four requirements: majority age, a minimum of three years of residence in national territory, the practice of a profession, trade, science, art, or industry in the country, and good conduct as defined by law.

• Counted from permanent admission

  Those three years are counted from the date of the permanent-admission resolution rather than from arrival. The Poder Judicial, which issues the naturalisation certificate, requires a Migraciones residence certificate showing three years of permanent residence measured from that resolution date, so the total time from landing runs longer because temporary residence comes first.

• Loss of nationality

  A naturalised Paraguayan loses the nationality through unjustified absence from the Republic for more than three years, declared judicially, or through the voluntary acquisition of another nationality.

• 60 business days

  A foreigner with temporary or permanent residence can obtain a first Paraguayan identity card from the National Police. It requires the residence certificate from Migraciones plus notarized supporting documents, with delivery in sixty business days.

What an expert actually does, and when

Moving to Paraguay is four different jobs for four different people, and the order matters more than the choice of any one of them. Here is the sequence, what each person settles, and what to hold them to in writing.

1. First

   A cross-border tax adviser in the country you are leaving

   Before you sell anything, move your family, or claim to have left

   This is the one whose answer can make the rest of the plan pointless, so it is worth knowing before you spend anything on the rest. A residence permit somewhere else is not the same thing as having stopped being tax-resident where you are.

   What only they can settle

   • →Whether and when your tax residence at home actually ends
   • →Which ties (home, family, accounts, memberships, company control) have to be dealt with, and in what order
   • →What you owe on the way out, and what you can elect or defer
   • →Which transactions to complete before you go rather than after

   Ask for it in writing. A written residence and departure-date memo, with the tax on leaving set out asset by asset, and a list of the evidence your position depends on.

2. Second

   An immigration lawyer in the destination

   Six to twelve months before you intend to move

   Routes look interchangeable from outside and are not. Which one you qualify for depends on evidence you may not have gathered yet, and gathering it is often the long pole.

   What only they can settle

   • →Which route your actual income, work history, and assets satisfy
   • →Which authority handles each stage, and whether your entry status has to change first
   • →What proof each requirement takes, and what is missing today
   • →How a partner and children are included, and when

   Ask for it in writing. A route recommendation with the eligibility tested against your documents, plus a dated checklist of what is still missing.

3. Third

   Document authentication and translation

   Only after the lawyer has frozen the list

   Ordering apostilles and translations before the list is settled is the most common way to pay twice. Certified documents also expire, so starting early can be worse than starting late.

   What only they can settle

   • →Which authentication chain each document needs, in its issuing country
   • →What has to be translated, by whom, and to what standard
   • →The order to obtain things in, so nothing expires while waiting for something else

   Ask for it in writing. Authenticated originals and accepted translations, tracked so you know where every document physically is.

4. Fourth

   Local advisers where you land

   Once your status is approved

   Approval is not the same as a working life. Banking, health cover, and a tenancy each have their own requirements, and several of them want the paperwork from the earlier stages.

   What only they can settle

   • →What banking will require of you, and what to prepare before you ask
   • →Which health cover satisfies the local requirement
   • →What a lease commits you to, and what your obligations are on registering it
   • →What you now have to file locally, and when

   Ask for it in writing. A working household: identity documents, an address, cover, banking, and a calendar of what renews when.

OmniFlag is not a law firm or a tax adviser. Experts are retained independently and their engagement letter defines what they advise on, what they file, and what they deliver.

What nobody puts on the Paraguay brochure

• Paraguayan citizenship does not survive leaving. A naturalised Paraguayan loses the nationality through unjustified absence from the Republic for more than three years, declared judicially, or through the voluntary acquisition of another nationality. A passport collected and then left behind is not a durable one.

• Holding permanent residence makes you a Paraguayan tax resident under the migration law, which places you under the personal income tax on Paraguayan-source income rather than the separate non-resident tax.

• The change from temporary to permanent residence must be filed within a fixed window, from ninety days before the temporary card expires to thirty days after, and filing in that window is what preserves status.

• The first national identity card for a foreign resident is delivered in sixty business days and requires notarized supporting documents plus the Migraciones residence certificate, so official processing runs on government timelines rather than same-week turnarounds.

Common questions

Does Paraguay tax income earned abroad?

Paraguay taxes on a territorial basis. Income counts as Paraguayan-source only when it comes from activity in Paraguay, assets located there, or rights used there. Income without those links falls outside the source definition.

How do I get permanent residence in Paraguay?

Temporary residence comes first. After completing the temporary period, you change category to permanent residence, a definitive card renewed every ten years.

Is there a route for digital nomads or retirees?

Yes. Migraciones updated its economic solvency rules for residence applications, and the twelve applicant categories name remote workers or digital nomads and retirees or pensioners.

How long until Paraguayan citizenship?

The constitution sets a minimum of three years of residence in national territory. Those three years count from the date of your permanent-admission resolution, not from the day you arrive, so the total time from landing is longer because temporary residence comes first.

Can I keep my current citizenship if I naturalise in Paraguay?

Paraguay admits multiple nationality only through an international treaty on constitutional-rank reciprocity between the two states. That text does not settle what happens to a US, Canadian, or British passport on naturalisation, and this page does not claim an answer either way. Treat it as a question for an expert before you rely on it.

Who does Paraguay treat as a tax resident?

For tax purposes, an individual is a Paraguayan tax resident when they hold permanent residence in the country under its migration law. Residents fall under the personal income tax, non-residents under a separate non-resident tax.