Paraguay

Paraguay works on the territoriality principle (Ley 6380/2019): personal income tax applies only to income from a Paraguayan source - from activity carried out in the country, from property located in the country, or from rights economically used in the country. IRP rates on income from personal services: 8% up to PYG 50 million a year, 9% from 50,000,001 to 150 million, 10% from 150,000,001 and above; capital gains 8%. Income of extraterritorial origin and dividends from abroad are not taxed in Paraguay. An important correction to this attractive picture: no tax does not mean no reporting. Paraguay is a party to the MAAC convention and exchanges information with more than 140 jurisdictions, and the tax transparency law obliges financial institutions to report. In practice the risk has shifted from tax to proving the origin of the money: without a tax residency certificate, foreign company documents, statements and bank confirmations of the transfer, foreign income can be called into question, and a bank may ask for a justification of the source of funds.

Migration fees in Paraguay are set not in guaraníes but in minimum daily wages (jornales mínimos), so they are recalculated each time the government raises the minimum wage, usually once a year. The table in force from 1 July 2025 (Decreto 4122/2025 and Resolución DNM 513/2025) was calculated from a minimum wage of PYG 2,899,048 and a daily rate of 111,502: permanent residency 25 rates - 2,787,550 guaraní, extension of temporary residency 11 rates - 1,226,522, extension of transit stay and restoration of a resident card 5 rates each - 557,510. Meanwhile Decreto 6225/2026 of 17 June 2026 raised the minimum wage by 5%: from 1 July 2026 it is PYG 3,044,000 a month and the daily rate is 117,077. Practical takeaway: you cannot plan a relocation budget a year ahead from the published table; amounts must be checked before paying. For a benchmark in dollars: an exchange office in Asunción on 28 September 2026 was selling the dollar at PYG 5,875, so the minimum wage is about $518.

The average monthly income from the main job of all employed people according to the EPHC household survey of the statistics institute INE: in Q2 2026, 3,313,700 guaraníes; in Q1, 3,440,700. Private-sector employees earned an average of 3,465,100 in Q2, state employees 5,320,000. Men: 3,638,600; women: 2,859,200. Caveats: this is an average, and INE does not give a median in its quarterly releases; the figure includes the self-employed and informal workers; it is a survey, not data on salaries actually paid. The average is only 9% above the minimum wage. The minimum wage under Decreto 6225/2026: from 1 July 2026, 3,044,000 guaraníes a month, a daily rate of 117,077. In dollars at the end-of-September 2026 rate (5,923.87): the average is about 559, the minimum wage about 514.

The minimum wage under Decreto 6225/2026: from 1 July 2026, 3,044,000 guaraníes a month, a daily rate of 117,077. The average income of all employed people per INE (3,313,700 guaraníes in Q2 2026) is only 9% above the minimum wage. In dollars at the end-of-September 2026 rate (5,923.87): about 514.

Stories like “came for three days and got a permanent residence permit” refer to the former law and do not work in 2026. Under Ley 6984/2022 the usual path has two steps: first temporary residency (a card for 2 years), and after it ends, an application to change category to permanent, which extends the status for up to 10 years. The state fee for permanent residency with a change of category is 25 minimum daily wages; under the table in force from 1 July 2025 this is PYG 2,787,550 in cash or 2,864,208 by card (about $474 and $487). Citizens of MERCOSUR countries have a separate regime with a fee of 2,230,040 guaraní. The law sets no minimum period of physical presence in the country for temporary residency, but you do have to come in person: biometrics and signature are given at the DNM. The DNM does not publish official average processing times, nor a limit on permitted absence from the country while the case is pending - this is a legal gap worth knowing about in advance. The load on the system is growing: in the first quarter of 2026 the DNM accepted 18,071 residency applications, 85% more than in the same period of 2025.

The old mechanism of “put $5k in a Paraguayan bank and get residency” is absent from the current procedure. Resolución DNM 407/2026 rewrote the procedure for proving economic capacity for permanent residency: it applies to cases filed from 6 July 2026 and covers both regimes - the general one under Ley 6984/2022 and the MERCOSUR residency agreement, where previously proof of income was formally waived. Documents are needed that confirm income and that the person really does the stated activity: a general statement of means of subsistence is no longer enough. There are 12 proof categories, among them separate ones for remote workers and digital nomads, the self-employed, property owners, pensioners and dependants. Income from foreign sources is acceptable for proving solvency. At the same time, the resolution sets no minimum amounts per category: instead of a threshold there is a coherent history of contracts, invoices for recent months and bank statements. Official amounts exist only for the investor routes: the Paraguay Investor Pass, launched on 30 April 2026, gives permanent residency directly without temporary residency for $200k in Paraguayan real estate or in securities on the BVPASA exchange, or $150k in certified tourism projects; the SUACE route requires $70k and the creation of at least 5 real jobs.

Article 148 of the Paraguayan Constitution sets four conditions for naturalisation: being of legal age, at least three years of residence in the country, practising some profession, trade, science, art or production in the country, and good conduct as defined by law. That is, the requirement of presence in the country is real, not formal, and so is the requirement to do something inside Paraguay. The three years are counted from permanent residency, so the usual path from arrival to passport is about five years. Next, two restrictions that are rarely written about. Article 150: naturalised Paraguayans lose citizenship if they are unjustifiably absent from the country for more than three years, when this is established by a court decision, or if they voluntarily acquire another citizenship. Article 149: multiple citizenship is allowed only under an international treaty of reciprocity that has constitutional rank. Article 152: a naturalised citizen receives political rights two years after obtaining citizenship. Cases on the acquisition and loss of citizenship are heard exclusively by the judiciary (Article 154).