Context: Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi, who is facing charges of money laundering and tax evasion, has filed an application with the Indian High Commission in London to surrender his Indian passport. He is known to have acquired citizenship of Vanuatu.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Location of Vanuatu.
About Vanuatu
- Vanuatu is an archipelagic nation made up of roughly 80 islands.
- Location: Oceania, South Pacific Ocean.
- Capital: Port Vila
- Located in the Pacific-Ring of Fire, making it prone to Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Vulcanic Eruptions.
- Vanuatu is mountainous and covered with tropical rainforests.
- Most of the islands are inhabited; the population is roughly 3 lakhs.
- Vanuatu was once an Anglo-French condominium. It became an independent country in 1980.
- Political system: Parliamentary Democracy.
Why is Vanuatu so lucrative?
- Golden passport program:
- Vanuatu has a golden passport program through which wealthy individuals can purchase its citizenship and obtain a passport by just paying USD 150,000 (Rs 1.3 crore).
- The process takes just one month and one can get a passport remotely.
- Tax Haven:
- Vanuatu does not impose any personal tax on its citizens. Any income earned (stocks, real estate, other), locally or internationally, is entirely tax free. The country neither has inheritance tax nor corporate tax.
- Henley Passport Index ranks the Vanuatu passport as the 51st strongest in the world (out of 199 countries).
- As per the 2024 Happy Planet Index, Vanuantu claimed the top spot as the happiest country out of 150 nations.