SEYCHELLES IBC

international Business Company

Seychelles overview


Seychelles is an independent country and a member of the Commonwealth. Seychelles gained its independence in 1976, having been a British colony since 1812. Seychelles has a population of 83,000 and comprises a group of some 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, most of which are situated between 4 and 5 degrees south of the equator.


The country has good political stability with a democratically elected Government. Seychelles has comprehensive and modern international financial services laws. The Seychelles legal system is based on English Common Law and French Civil Law. The company, banking, trust and other financial services legislation is heavily based on English common law and on laws in the successful Caribbean offshore jurisdictions.


The Seychelles economy is primarily based on tourism, commercial fishing and a thriving offshore financial services industry. Encouraged by favourable tax policies, inward investment has increased significantly over recent years, especially in the financial services sector and the hotel and resort industry.


Why choose Seychelles IBCs?


The Seychelles IBC (International Business Company) is one of the most popular offshore company entities in the world (based on comparative annual incorporation numbers). Attractive Seychelles IBC benefits include:

  • Value for money: low annual Government licence fee of US$100, irrespective of the amount of the authorised share capital of the company

  • Fast incorporations and name approvals – same day incorporations

  • Nil Seychelles taxation on foreign income and also exempt from Seychelles withholding tax and stamp duty

  • Privacy and asset protection: including no requirement to file details of shareholders, beneficial owners or directors at any Seychelles Government Registry

  • Ease of administration: no requirement to file financial accounts or annual company return in Seychelles

  • Registered or Bearer shares permitted

  • Acceptability to international banks - Seychelles is not on any OECD or FATF blacklists

  • Seychelles is a stable and independent Country - not being a dependent overseas territory of a European state, Seychelles is not subject to ever-growing EU Directives.
     

Seychelles IBCs - Uses

 

  • Seychelles IBCs are companies incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 1994 (the “IBC Act”). IBCs are commonly used for:

  • the holding of investments and assets, such as real estate, shares or other property

  • commercial transactions and international trading operations

  • asset protection vehicles

  • consultancy and personal service companies.

 

Features of Seychelles IBCs Fiscal advantages

 

  • Exempt from Seychelles taxation on foreign income and exempt from Seychelles withholding tax

  • Exempt from Seychelles stamp duty on - the transfer of IBC shares, other IBC securities and on all other transactions relating to the business of an IBC

  • Annual Seychelles Government Licence fee: US$100 (irrespective of the amount of authorised share capital).
     

 Features of Seychelles IBCs:

May be incorporated by just one person:   one person may be the sole director and sole shareholder of an offshore company [IBC]

Zero Taxation: In Seychelles, nil taxation is levied on income and profits made by an offshore company [IBC]. No stamp duty on transferring shares in an IBC.

Privacy:  No public register of shareholders or directors is maintained. In addition, the name of the beneficial owner (the client) is not required to be filed with either the Seychelles offshore company registry.

Nominee Corporate Shareholders and Directors are permitted: Use of nominee shareholders and directors, gives added protection for clients seeking to maximize privacy.

Minimal Paperwork: No public filing of Accounts or Annual Company Return. This means less cost, less inconvenience and very limited publicly available information on the IBC; which in turn gives clients a high degree of protection against third party claimants.

Asset Protection: In view of an IBC's privacy features, any third party claimant pursuing an IBC owner personally will face difficulties in both finding assets held offshore by an IBC and proving that an owner beneficially owns the IBC.

Offshore Banking: Offshore bank accounts maintained by IBCs allow the client to hold assets offshore in a private banking environment which affords the client a high degree of asset protection.

The EU Savings Tax Directive:  This does not apply to Seychelles.    Seychelles (already a very popular location for offshore companies) does not infringe any anti-ring fencing policies because:

  • Seychelles IBCs may be used and/or owned by Seychelles residents or non-residents, though they are both subject to a statutory prohibition against using an IBC to carry on business in Seychelles (i.e. there is no advantage to non-residents over residents)

  • In contrast to the “world-wide” income tax regimes in place in most OECD and EU states, Seychelles has in place a “territorial” tax system whereby residents’ income is only taxed on Seychelles sourced income. As such, like for IBC owners, Seychelles residents also enjoy no tax on foreign derived earnings.

To establish an Offshore Bank Account 

We are also able to arrange a suitable introduction for a bank account for the company if this is required.  However, it can be difficult to establish a bank account where a company has issued bearer shares, and banks will sometimes require the company to issue a corporate resolution to the effect that it will never exercise it's option to issue bearer shares.

Further information

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions, or would like to discuss incorporating in Seychelles, or would like us to send you a Company Proposal Form and full details of Fees.  Click on this link for more information