🇸🇨 Seychelles
A Seychelles International Business Company is quick and inexpensive to form and pays no local tax on income earned outside the country.
Who it suits
Who it does not
Living
An Indian Ocean island nation better known as a corporate domicile than a relocation destination, though it offers a tropical lifestyle.
Business
The International Business Company (IBC) is a flexible, low-maintenance vehicle widely used for holding and international trading.
Tax
IBCs are exempt from local tax on foreign-sourced income. Economic-substance and reporting rules increasingly apply.
Figures are indicative and change over time. We confirm the current rules, rates and requirements for your specific situation before you commit.
How incorporation works
- Registered agentEverything runs through a licensed Seychelles registered agent. You do not file with the registry yourself — the agent does, and the agent is also where the company’s records live.
- Name and structureClear the name and settle directors, shareholders and beneficial owners. Corporate directors are permitted, but a bank will still ask who the human being behind them is.
- Due diligenceThe agent completes its own KYC before incorporation: certified passports, proof of address and a clear description of the business. This is the step that takes the time, not the registry.
- IncorporationThe agent files the memorandum and articles. An IBC is usually registered within a day or two.
- RegistersThe registers of directors, members and beneficial owners are prepared. The register of directors is filed with the registry; the beneficial-ownership register sits with the agent.
- Accounting recordsSet up bookkeeping from the start. Seychelles law requires accounting records and the underlying documents to be kept at the registered office in Seychelles and lodged with the agent on a regular cycle.
- Substance reviewCheck whether the company carries on a relevant activity for economic-substance purposes, and whether any Seychelles-source income will arise. Both change what the company has to do and pay.
- Bank or EMI accountOpen the account. This is the hard part: a Seychelles IBC is a difficult name to bank, and the realistic route is an EMI, or a bank where the underlying business genuinely operates.
What we need from you
- Certified passport copies for every director, shareholder and beneficial owner
- Certified proof of address for each of them
- A description of the business, its counterparties and its markets
- Source-of-funds and source-of-wealth information
- Two or three preferred company names, in order
- The share split and the intended capital
- Parent-company documents where a corporate shareholder is used
- Bank or professional reference, where the agent asks for one
What you end up with
- Certificate of incorporation
- Memorandum and articles of association
- Share certificates and the statutory registers
- Register of directors, as filed
- Registered office and registered agent in Seychelles
- Appointment documents and the first resolutions
- A corporate pack counterparties will accept — within the limits of what an IBC is
Every year after that
- An annual return, filed with the registered agent
- Accounting records and underlying documents kept in Seychelles and lodged with the agent
- The annual government fee, through the agent
- An economic-substance position where the company carries on a relevant activity
- A tax return where the company has Seychelles-source income
- Keeping the beneficial-ownership register current
Common questions
Is a Seychelles IBC still tax-free?
On foreign-source income, yes. Seychelles moved to a territorial system, so Seychelles-source income is taxable and foreign-source income generally is not. It is not a paperwork-free status — it depends on where the income genuinely arises.
Do I have to keep accounts?
Yes. Seychelles requires accounting records and the underlying documents to be kept at the registered office in Seychelles and lodged with the agent on a regular cycle. This is the change most people miss, and the penalties for missing it are real.
Is the ownership public?
No, but it is recorded. The beneficial-ownership register is held by the registered agent and is accessible to the authorities, and the register of directors is filed with the registry. Offshore no longer means unrecorded.
Will I get a bank account?
Not easily, and usually not in Seychelles. Most working structures pair the IBC with an EMI, or bank where the real business is. If the whole plan depends on a bank account appearing, this is the wrong jurisdiction.
What about economic substance?
It applies to defined relevant activities rather than to every company. Whether you are in scope turns on what the company actually does, and that is worth checking before incorporating rather than after.
How fast is it?
Registration takes a day or two. Due diligence before it and banking after it are what actually set the timetable.
Set up your company in Seychelles
Tell us about your business and we will confirm whether Seychelles is the right fit — and handle the full incorporation.
- A reply within one working day
- The first consultation is 30 minutes
- Confidential, no obligation