Offshore Company Formation

An offshore company’s first-year cost has three parts. The registry sets one and publishes it, the licensed agent sets the second, and we set the third. Most pages in this field quote one number containing all three, which is why you cannot tell what you are paying for.

Every government figure below links to the registry’s own published schedule, so you can check it without taking our word for it. Figures are in the currency each registry publishes, unconverted.

Our fee, the agent’s fee and the first-year total show as ⟨…⟩ because our published price list is not final. We would rather show you a gap than an estimate you might rely on.

The Seychelles row carries one correction. The IBC Act 2016’s Second Schedule sets a flat US$130, and no authorised-capital fee band exists in the Act, so the “US$100 up to US$5,000 of authorised capital” tier still published in this field has no statutory basis. Two vendors sell a Seychelles IBC at US$990 and US$999 for the first year against that US$130 registry fee, and neither tells you which 13% is the government’s.

Renewal triggers differ and no two jurisdictions share one. Seychelles runs from your incorporation anniversary and adds 10% if you pay within 90 days of the due date and 50% after that, under section 12 of the IBC Act 2016. Watch the annual column as well as the incorporation one: a BVI Business Company renews at the same US$550 it cost to register, so year two is not cheaper than year one.

Fees verified 7 August 2026.

Every provider in this field lists “proof of identity, proof of address”. Almost none states the standard those documents must meet, which is what actually causes delays.

The standards below are the ones we and the licensed agents we work with apply at onboarding. They are due-diligence requirements rather than a single statutory rule, and the receiving registry or bank can ask for more. One row is statutory, and it is marked.

We do not tell you that originals are never needed. Certification requirements differ by jurisdiction and by who is signing, and where the difference is real we name the jurisdiction and link its page. The beneficial ownership details go to a register that is not public, and who receives them is set by statute: the BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 sets the identification threshold at 10% or more. The reporting section below sets out who can see that register.

This section routes rather than ranks. Cost is in the price table above, and the full picture is on compare all 17 jurisdictions.

Two of those carry a label and we put it on the page. The British Virgin Islands is on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring as at 19 June 2026. Panama is on Annex I of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes as at 17 February 2026, per Council document ST-5821-2026. A listing does not make a jurisdiction unusable, but it does affect how banks and counterparties treat it, so you should know before you choose.

Motive sorts these better than country does. For a future creditor claim, Nevis and the Cook Islands are the relevant statutes. For investment holding or a fund, Cayman. For trading and banking access, the mid-shore jurisdictions carry more weight with banks.

If what you need is a trust rather than a company, that is a different structure and not a cheaper version of this one. See Cook Islands International Trust.

The first-year fee covers incorporation and twelve months of the statutory functions the company cannot exist without.

Documents arrive digitally first. Where a jurisdiction or a bank needs wet-ink originals, we courier them. A bank account is a separate engagement, described at offshore bank account introduction. Taking both together is also separate, at company and bank account together.

Nominee director and shareholder arrangements are separate, handled under corporate administration. They are a governance and privacy arrangement that is lawful where we offer it: a nominee does not conceal beneficial ownership from regulators, banks or tax authorities, and is not intended to.

A register that is not public is not an absent register. Your registered agent holds your beneficial ownership details, the registry holds them, the regulator can request them, your bank will ask for them, and your own tax authority can receive them through the Common Reporting Standard or FATCA. Read every privacy claim on this topic as a question about who has access.

One correction applies before any of the country rules: “no accounts required” is false as a general statement. Seychelles repealed its section 171 annual return and made the section 350 filing of financial statements optional, but section 174 of the IBC Act 2016 still requires reliable accounting records, and section 175(1B)(a) requires an annual financial summary held at the registered office within six months of the financial year end. Records kept abroad must be lodged there at least twice a year and retained for seven years. A JAFZA Offshore Company carries a mandatory annual audit under the Offshore Companies Regulations 2023. A RAK ICC company files an annual return within 30 days of its incorporation anniversary under regulation 262 of its Business Companies Regulations 2018, with no financial statements and no audit, and retains records for at least five years.

If you are a US person

If you are a US person, forming a company offshore does not change what you report to the IRS: Form 5471, FinCEN Form 114, Form 8938 and controlled-foreign-corporation income can all apply.

FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting is narrower than most pages on this topic still say. Since the interim final rule of 26 March 2025, a reporting company means only an entity formed under foreign law that has registered to do business in a US State or Tribal jurisdiction, and such a company does not report US persons as beneficial owners. See FinCEN’s alert and 31 CFR 1010.380. A Seychelles or Nevis company that has not so registered files no BOI report. That is a fact about FinCEN rather than about beneficial ownership registers generally, and the register described above still applies.

If you are UK resident

If you are UK resident you normally pay tax on your foreign income and report it through Self Assessment, and the split that matters is who holds the company: the Part 9A TIOPA 2010 CFC charge falls only on UK-resident companies holding at least 25% of a controlled foreign company’s chargeable profits, while a UK-resident individual who transferred assets into the structure is instead within the transfer of assets abroad rules at ITA 2007 sections 714 to 751.

If a UK company holds it

The CFC charge is restricted to UK-resident companies meeting the conditions at TIOPA 2010 s.371BD, per HMRC INTM194500. Apportionment is not the charge: amounts can be apportioned to individuals and to non-residents, and the charge is still imposed only on UK-resident companies.

If you hold it personally

The transfer of assets abroad legislation at ITA 2007 ss.714 to 751 applies instead, per HMRC INTM600120. Only one of the two rules can apply to you.

Since 6 April 2025 the remittance basis is gone. The 4-year foreign income and gains regime replaces it, and it is open only within your first four years of UK residence after at least ten consecutive years non-resident. A claim costs you your personal allowance and your capital gains annual exempt amount.

Foreign income goes on the SA106 Foreign pages of your return. Two points before you pick a jurisdiction on reputation. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are classed as foreign for this purpose, so a mid-shore choice buys perception rather than a different reporting position. And a Seychelles company run day to day from a UK desk can become UK tax resident by central management and control, per HMRC INTM120030.

If you are resident in India

The eligibility gates are above. These are the obligations that continue once the company exists.

An Annual Performance Report is due by 31 December each year, under regulation 10(4) of the FEM (Overseas Investment) Regulations 2022. It is not required where your holding is under 10% without control, and a resident individual has it certified by a chartered accountant where statutory audit does not apply.

Tax is collected at source on LRS remittances above ₹10 lakh in a financial year, at 20% for purposes other than education or medical, per the Ministry of Finance’s Budget 2025-26 summary. Funding an offshore company sits in that other-purposes bucket. TCS is creditable against your Indian tax liability, which is the part usually left out: a timing cost rather than a 20% loss. The New Income-tax Act 2025 takes effect from April 2026, so we cite the rate and threshold to the Ministry rather than to a section number.

You also disclose foreign assets and interests in your Indian return. Budget 2026-27 announced a one-time disclosure scheme, and because it is a proposal we are not publishing its window or deadlines here.

If you are UAE resident

If you are UAE resident, economic substance notifications were cancelled for financial years ending after 31 December 2022, but corporate tax registration and the 9% rate above AED 375,000 still apply.

Corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it, from the first financial year beginning on or after 1 June 2023. See the UAE government’s corporate tax page and the Federal Tax Authority.

A resident juridical person incorporated on or after 1 March 2024, including a Free Zone Person, must apply to register for corporate tax within three months of incorporation. A new company is a new registration rather than an addition to your existing licence.

One point most of this field states backwards: a Qualifying Free Zone Person is not entitled to the 0% rate on its first AED 375,000 of taxable income. The Federal Tax Authority’s free zone persons guide says so directly. Qualifying also requires adequate substance in the free zone, meaning core income-generating activity there plus adequate assets, qualified full-time employees and operating expenditure.

If what you are really asking is whether any of this is legal rather than what it costs, that question has its own page: is an offshore company legal.

Is it legal to have an offshore company?

Yes, owning one is legal. An offshore company is a legal entity formed under the laws of a jurisdiction outside your country of residence, and no country we serve prohibits its residents from owning a foreign company. What each country does regulate is how you fund it and what you report: India, for one, gates the funding through exchange control. Legality is rarely the question that decides anything. Reporting is.

How much does it cost to form an offshore company?

Three components: the government registry fee, the licensed agent's fee, and ours. Government incorporation fees run from US$130 in Seychelles to AED 10,000 at JAFZA, each linked on this page to the registry's own published schedule. Our fee is not published yet, so it shows as a placeholder rather than an estimate.

How long does it take to open an offshore company?

The clock starts when your complete documents are received. From there it depends on the registry: Seychelles publishes 1 to 2 hours, Hong Kong 1 hour electronically, RAK ICC 1 to 2 working days, and Cayman 3 to 5 business days or 24 hours express. The British Virgin Islands, Belize, Nevis, Cyprus and Panama publish no service standard, so we quote no number for them.

Will my name be on a public register?

In the jurisdictions we cover the beneficial ownership register is not public. It is also not absent, and here is who can see it: your registered agent, the registry, the regulator, law enforcement through a defined legal route, your bank as part of its own checks, and your own tax authority through the Common Reporting Standard or FATCA. Anyone promising more than that is describing something the statutes do not provide.

Do I pay no tax on an offshore company?

No. Several jurisdictions we cover charge 0% corporate income tax on foreign-source income and several do not. Nevis levies 25% corporate income tax as of 1 January 2024, and the UAE charges 9% above AED 375,000. Whatever the company pays where it is registered, you still report your interest in it where you live.

Can I set up an offshore company myself?

Partly. You can choose the jurisdiction, prepare your documents and have them certified. In the jurisdictions we cover you cannot make the incorporation filing yourself: the statute reserves it to a licensed registered agent, and being that agent is a licensed activity in its own right. A permission question rather than a difficulty question.

Do I need to file a FinCEN BOI report for my offshore company?

Probably not, and the rule changed. Since the interim final rule of 26 March 2025, a reporting company means only an entity formed under foreign law that has registered to do business in a US State or Tribal jurisdiction, and a foreign reporting company does not report US persons as beneficial owners. A company that has not so registered files nothing. That is a fact about FinCEN specifically rather than about beneficial ownership registers generally.