CFAE in St. Barths: the annual business contribution explained

The CFAE, or flat annual business contribution, is the tax every business owes in St. Barths: €350 per year, plus €100 per employee, payable by March 31. It depends on neither revenue nor profit, and it is owed even by a company with no activity at all.

Who has to pay the CFAE in St. Barths?

The contribution is owed by:

• any business, whatever its legal form, with its registered office or place of effective management in St. Barths, including a dormant one;
• any French or foreign business with an establishment carrying on an activity on the island.

Landlords who simply own and rent out property are excluded.

Each distinct activity, identified by its French business activity code (NAF), carried on in a distinct establishment gives rise to one contribution. The same activity carried on in several establishments gives rise to only one.

How much is the CFAE in St. Barths?

The contribution adds a fixed portion of €350 per business and a variable portion of €100 per employee on the payroll on December 31 of the previous year. These amounts were confirmed for 2026 by the Collectivity’s notice of January 12, 2026.

Business	Calculation	CFAE
Holding company, no employees	€350	€350
Company with 3 employees	€350 + 3 × €100	€650
Retail business with 10 employees	€350 + 10 × €100	€1,350

CFAE: the March 31 deadline and payment

The contribution falls due on January 1 and is payable by March 31. Headcount is taken from the company’s payroll filing (the déclaration sociale nominative) as of December 31 of the previous year. The manager or the accountant provides a sworn statement based on the staff register, which must be produced in the event of an audit.

Payment is made on the online platform, by card or by bank transfer. For a card payment, the date that counts is the date of the transaction. For a transfer, the SIRET number, the company’s French identification number, must appear in the payment reference. Without it, the transfer is rejected.

Formation, conversion, deregistration

Situation	Rule
Created between January 1 and September 30	Fixed portion due within 90 days of the start of business declared on the one-stop business portal
Created after September	Nothing is owed for the year of creation
Change of legal form, or a sole proprietorship becoming a company, in the same year	A single contribution
Deregistration	The date that counts is the date the formality is recorded, not the date stated on the filing
Dissolution	Exempt from the date it is noted on the Kbis (the official registration certificate) or on any official document, for amounts not yet paid

The formation steps are set out in our insight on setting up a company in St. Barths. See also our insight on executive pay.

Example: the CFAE for a company with four employees

Take Sophie, who runs a consulting company from an office in Gustavia. Her payroll filing as of December 31 lists four employees. This is a simplified example, for illustration only.

1. Fixed portion of the CFAE: €350.
2. Variable portion: 4 × €100 = €400.
3. CFAE for the year: €350 + €400 = €750.
4. Waste disposal tax, covered below, for an office of two to ten people: €180.
5. Total payable by March 31: €750 + €180 = €930.

The company’s revenue and profit play no part in the calculation.

Another case: Marc sets up his company, with no employees, in May. He owes the fixed portion of €350 within 90 days of the start of business declared on the one-stop business portal. Had he set it up in October, he would owe nothing for that year, and would pay his first contribution the following year, by March 31.

What are the penalties if the CFAE is not paid on time?

An 80% penalty applies for non-payment or underpayment, failure to file, or a late or incorrect filing. Late-payment interest of 0.75% per month comes on top. These rules are set out in our insight on tax penalties and audits.

When a business is sold, the buyer is jointly liable for any CFAE left unpaid by the seller.

CFAE exemptions

They are few:

• nonprofit associations with no commercial activity;
• a declared cessation of business;
• exemptions granted by a reasoned resolution of the territorial council.

The waste disposal tax for businesses

The second recurring tax is owed for each business establishment with its head office or an establishment on the island. It falls due on January 1 and is payable by March 31. Late payment triggers the standard interest and penalty.

Activity	Annual amount
Office of fewer than two people	€120
Office of two to ten people	€180
Office of more than ten people	€240
Craft and trade businesses	€390 to €780
Retail, depending on floor area	€390 to €10,000
Restaurants and bars	€1,000 to €6,000
Hotels and rental villas	€200 per room

Exemptions include licensed taxis, building cleaning businesses, nonprofit associations, firms formed by independent professionals where each practitioner is already taxed under their own SIRET number, and family-owned SCIs (civil real estate companies) on proof of the family relationship. A temporary cessation of business qualifies for exemption if requested before March 15, for up to two consecutive years.

CFAE: common mistakes

• Assuming a company with no revenue owes nothing. A holding company or a dormant company owes the contribution from the moment it is created.
• Paying by transfer without the SIRET number. The transfer is rejected, and the contribution remains unpaid.
• Relying on the date written on the deregistration filing. Only the date the formality is recorded counts.
• Taking over a business without checking its contributions. The buyer is jointly liable for unpaid amounts.
• Missing March 31. Non-payment and late filing both carry the 80% penalty.

CFAE: the bottom line

The CFAE, the flat annual business contribution, is owed in St. Barths by any business with its registered office or place of effective management on the island, even a dormant one. It amounts to €350 per business, plus €100 per employee on the payroll on December 31 of the previous year. It falls due on January 1 and must be paid by March 31, through the Collectivity’s online platform. Non-payment or a late filing triggers an 80% penalty plus late-payment interest of 0.75% per month. The waste disposal tax is owed on the same deadline. The CFAE belongs to a system in which a business is not taxed on its profit, subject to the five-year residency condition, as explained in our overview of taxes in St. Barths.

A note for U.S. readers: this article covers French and St. Barths rules only. U.S. citizens and green card holders remain subject to U.S. tax on their worldwide income wherever they live.