Tax residency in North Korea

How to become a tax resident — and how hard it is to leave.

How easy is it to become a tax resident of North Korea?

Becoming a tax resident in North Korea is considered hard. The country has no income tax with a top personal income rate of 0%.

Common questions

Does North Korea have an income tax?
North Korea has no income tax. The personal income top rate is 0%.
Does North Korea impose an exit tax?
North Korea does not have an exit tax.

How to become a tax resident

Day-count presence is the main trigger.

hard to get residency

North Korea does not offer any public residence-by-investment, digital-nomad, or ordinary long‑term settlement route for foreign individuals, and only grants tightly controlled, purpose‑specific short- or long-term visas (e.g., for invited workers, investors, diplomats) with permanent immigration or naturalization remaining exceptionally rare and discretionary.

Estimate — confirm against the linked sources. See methodology.