Data-center law in Bhutan

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06

Bhutan has no data-center-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; the closest instrument is the ICT-sector indirect tax incentive under the Fiscal Incentives Act of Bhutan 2021, which exempts sales tax and customs duty on plant, machinery, construction material, and ICT tools and equipment for ICT service providers, and separately for an IT park developer's infrastructure.

Neither the Act nor its implementing Rules names a data centre as such, and no provision addresses electricity grid interconnection, water use, or air emissions specifically.

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Instruments on record

1 instrument on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Fiscal Incentives Act of Bhutan 2021, ICT sector and IT park indirect tax incentives

In force

Fiscal Incentives Act of Bhutan 2021, s.50 (ICT sector); Rules on the Fiscal Incentives Act of Bhutan 2021, rules 95-96

Effective 2021-11-29 · Applies to private

Rule 95, implementing section 50 (ICT sector) of the Fiscal Incentives Act of Bhutan 2021, grants a Sales Tax and Customs Duty exemption on plant and machinery, construction material, and ICT tools and equipment for an IT service provider such as a software development entity, business process outsourcing operation, multi-system operator, or cable operator, conditioned on a recommendation letter from the Ministry of Information and Communications and on the imported items matching the licensed business activity.

The exemption does not apply to a telecommunications business.

Rule 96 separately grants the same exemption to an IT park developer, covering plant and machinery for developing the IT park's infrastructure, construction materials that are a direct input to that development, and capital goods that are a direct input for IT and IT-enabled-services companies within the park such as air conditioning and firefighting equipment, conditioned on a Ministry of Information and Communications recommendation letter and on submitting a bill of quantities to the Department of Revenue and Customs.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.