São Tomé and Príncipe

Separately from the reduced tax base for basic foodstuffs, businesses whose turnover in the prior calendar year was below Dbs 1,000,000 fall under a distinct small-taxpayer regime outside the standard VAT system: those with turnover of Dbs 100,000 or more pay a flat monthly 7% charge on turnover instead of standard VAT, with no right to deduct input tax, while those below Dbs 100,000 pay only a small fixed annual amount.

A short, defined list of domestic exemptions covers life insurance and life-reinsurance premiums, financial intermediation services such as lending, currency exchange, deposit-taking and fund management, the transfer of investment gold, and the resale or residential leasing of immovable property (excluding a dwelling's first transfer); none of these confer a right to deduct input tax.

São Tomé's IRS Code exempts 50% of the gain from an onerous transfer of real estate that is the taxpayer's own permanent residence, provided the property is located in São Tomé and the taxpayer lived there for at least five years. The withholding-tax article makes this partial exemption conditional on the seller declaring that the property was their permanent home.