Cape Verde Remote Working Visa

Local Tax Picture

Cape Verde uses a territorial tax regime for this visa class. In plain terms, foreign-source income sits outside the local income-tax net, and the visa facts say the local income limit is 0% of total income. That lines up with the remote-work structure: a remote salary from a US employer, contractor income from foreign clients, ETF dividends from a foreign brokerage, and rental income from property abroad are all treated as foreign-source income for this program’s tax framing. The visa facts also say Social Security does not count and pension income is not recognized for qualification, so a retiree relying on those streams does not have a clean path through the income test.

Capital gains on foreign investments are not publicly specified in the visa facts. On a pure territorial system, a foreign ETF sale is often outside local tax scope, but that exact treatment is not disclosed here, so the only accurate answer is: not publicly specified. Tax residency triggers are also not publicly specified in the visa facts, and there is no stated day count for tax residence tied to this visa. The treaty position is simpler: there is no tax treaty with the US, so there is no treaty relief layer to rely on for US-source or Cape Verde-source planning. Local filing deadlines and tax-ID registration rules are not disclosed in the provided facts.

For US Citizens and Green Card Holders

• FEIE on Form 2555 can shelter up to $126,500 of earned income in 2024, but only earned income. That means remote salary, freelance fees, and self-employment income can qualify; dividends, capital gains, pension distributions, and Social Security do not.
• The Physical Presence Test is the cleaner fit for a 6-month Cape Verde stay if you are spending enough of the year outside the US; it requires 330 full days in any 12-month period, and time in Cape Verde counts toward that total. The Bona Fide Residence Test is harder to anchor here because the visa is only 6 months and renewable.
• FTC on Form 1116 matters only if Cape Verde taxes the same income stream at a meaningful rate. For foreign income under a territorial regime with 0% local tax on that stream, the FTC gives no shelter on that income.
• FBAR, FinCEN 114, is required if foreign account balances exceed $10,000 at any point in the year. This visa does not require a local bank account, which reduces one reporting trigger but does not eliminate FBAR if you open accounts elsewhere.

A US CPA focused on expat taxation for FEIE, FTC, FBAR, and Form 8938, plus a local Cape Verde tax adviser for residence and filing mechanics, is the right two-person setup. Spending $1,500–$3,000 in year one on that guidance is cheaper than fixing a missed FEIE election or a foreign-account reporting error later.