Gibraltar · Tax regime
Category 2 Individual status (Qualifying (Category 2) Individuals Rules)
Repriced. On 18 June 2026 the Government announced that new applicants must show net worth above GBP 5,000,000 (previously GBP 2,000,000) and that the application fee rises from GBP 1,233 to GBP 5,000. Existing certificate holders are fully grandfathered on the old threshold. The published tax figures are unchanged. The announcement did not state an effective date — confirm before filing.
Category 2 is the cleanest capped-tax deal in Europe: a hard GBP 42,380 ceiling on a nine-figure income, no CGT, no inheritance tax, no wealth tax, in English, under English-derived law. What changed in June 2026 is who can buy it — GBP 5m of net worth more than doubles the bar, and the timing alongside the UK-EU treaty is not coincidental. Gibraltar is deliberately filtering for a wealthier, more permanent population.
Qualifying routes
Assessable income capped at GBP 118,000 per annum, taxed under the Allowance Based System only. Minimum annual tax GBP 37,000; maximum GBP 42,380. Worldwide income above the cap is effectively untaxed in Gibraltar.
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- £37k
- Total landed cost
- GBP 37,000–42,380 a year in tax, plus a GBP 5,000 application fee and Gibraltar's substantial residential property costs — approved accommodation must be available exclusively to the applicant and family for the whole tax year
- Timeline
- 1–4 months — Gibraltar Finance processing is fast; securing qualifying approved accommodation is usually the critical path
- Physical presence
- no minimum stay, but qualifying approved residential accommodation must be available exclusively for the entire tax year — you pay for the house whether or not you use it
- Family
- spouse and dependent children are covered by the principal's certificate and the same accommodation
- Permanent residency
- Category 2 status does not itself lead to permanent residence; it must be maintained continuously or the right of residence lapses
- Citizenship
- no direct route — Category 2 confers no path to British citizenship
- Language test
- not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- net worth in excess of GBP 5,000,000 for new applicantsapproved qualifying residential accommodation in Gibraltar available exclusively to the applicant and family for the full tax yeargenerally not resident in Gibraltar in the previous 5 yearstwo character references, including one from a bankcurriculum vitae and evidence of net worthapplication fee of GBP 5,000status must be maintained continuously
- Net worth requirement more than doubled to GBP 5m on 18 June 2026 for new applicants. Existing holders are grandfathered — but any advisory material quoting GBP 2m is now describing a closed door.
- The Government did not publish an effective date for the change in the announcement itself. Anyone close to filing should confirm with Gibraltar Finance whether they fall before or after the cut.
- Category 2 explicitly confers NO entitlement to publicly funded schooling or healthcare — the Government reaffirmed this in the same announcement. Budget private school fees and private medical cover for the whole family; this materially changes the total cost versus the GBP 37,000 headline.
- Lose the status, lose the right to reside. The Government confirmed that a person who does not maintain Category 2 status has no right to continue residing in Gibraltar. This is not a residence permit that survives its tax basis.
- The approved accommodation must be available exclusively to you and your family for the entire tax year and cannot be let out — a real and recurring cost in a market with very constrained supply.
- Applicants must generally not have been resident in Gibraltar in the five years preceding the application.
- The UK-EU treaty applying provisionally from 15 July 2026 removes routine land border checks with Spain. This is a lifestyle upgrade and a tax risk: living in Spain while claiming Gibraltar status has always been the classic error, and a frictionless border makes it easier to make. Spain's 2019 tax treaty with Gibraltar contains specific residency tie-breakers aimed squarely at this.
- No CGT and no inheritance tax are genuine, but Gibraltar is a full CRS participant and information flows to your other jurisdictions of connection.