Offshore jurisdiction in Seychelles
Reasons to choose Seychelles offshore jurisdiction:
- Independent republic, member of the Commonwealth
- English – one of the official languages
- Easy company formation procedure
- Presence of many well-known offshore industry practitioners in Seychelles
- Very good investment climate and state-of-art communication infrastructure
- Seychelles is the ideal hub for investments into Africa
- Government pro-active approach to stay compliant and thus protecting Seychelles reputation
- Modern corporate legislation based on Common Law
- New legislation for trusts, mutual funds and free trade zones
- Seychelles based in same time zone with Moscow, Dubai, Muscat, Tbilisi, Baku and Yerevan, also its convenient to reach Seychelles within business hours from majority of European capitals
Reasons to buy Seychelles offshore
- Tax free offshore jurisdiction: all income received outside of Seychelles is tax-free
- Directors and shareholders can be of any nationality and residents of any country
- Company incorporation process is quick and straight-forward
- Low maintenance cost
- Good alternative for redomiciliation from BVI, Bahamas or Cayman Islands
Seychelles as an Offshore Jurisdiction
The Seychelles is a unique jurisdiction and very reasonable alternative for such jurisdictions like BVI, Bahamas or Cayman Islands. Seychelles is undoubtedly a leader of international business companies formation in terms of volume.
It is interesting that Seychelles economy followed the same path as many Caribbean and Pacific Island nations’ – from dependency on export of a few commodities: fish and agriculture to a transition into better diversified economies including real estate/construction, tourism and international financial services.
Seychelles historically was dependent on revenue generated from export of agriculture and fish, however thanks to systematic reforms, the government managed to stimulate tourism which became one of the most sizable sources of revenue and carefully continued to create its financial services industry. According to the industry experts, in next few years Seychelles financial services industry will become primarily source of revenue.
It is worth to mention that as an jurisdiction Seychelles has a full spectrum of financial services products to cater all segments of international clients: classic international business companies, partnerships, special-purpose investment vehicles etc. Also a comprehensive legislations for mutual funds, trust and free trade zones were introduced recently, which allow Seychelles to compete with large and well-established offshore financial centers.
Politically Seychelles chose a niche to become a bridge between China and Africa. Seychelles is intending to become a gate for international investors looking corporate structures to investments into Africa.
Seychelles offshore jurisdiction. General overview
Location: Archipelago in the Indian Ocean lies 1500 kilometres east of mainland Southeast Africa, northeast of Madagascar
Time zone: SCT (UTC +4)
Language: English, French and Seychellois Creole
Legal: Mixed legal system – Civil Law governed by the Civil Code of Seychelles put in place in 1975 and which followed the French Civil Code (Code Napoléon ) and criminal law substantially based on common law. Procedural law is primarily based on British case law.
Tax
Personal income: none for non-residents. Once person resides less than 180 days in Seychelles, there is no Personal income tax applicable
Corporate tax: generally all Seychelles source income is taxable, however any income received outside of Seychelles is tax free. There are no capital gain, interest and dividend taxes payable on all non-Seychelles income
Exchange restrictions: no
Tax information exchange agreements: Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden
Share capital
Permitted currency: any currency
Minimum authorised capital: 1 USD
Shareholders Disclosure: no (data about shareholder is not available through the public registry)
Shareholders Requirements: Minimum 1, any nationality, resident of any country, legal entities are allowed, nominees are allowed
Bearer shares: not allowed
Shareholder meetings: not required, can be held in any country and normally conveyed on shareholders discretion.
Directors Requirements: Minimum 1, any nationality, resident of any country, legal entities are allowed, nominees are allowed
Residency requirements: none
Meetings: pursuant to memorandum and articles of incorporation
Accounts & Returns
Annual return: Yes, but only to the registered agent and not on public registry.
Filing of Accounts: No
Audit requirements: no
Note: Accounting records should be kept in the registered agent office or other address designated by the director of the company.
Documents:
Documents kept at Companies Registry: Certificate of Incorporation Memorandum and Articles of Association and their amendments
Documents kept at Registered Agent Office: Minutes of the First meeting and Director’s appointment, Registers of Directors/Shareholders, Share certificates, Register of mortgages and encumbrances, Beneficial Owner Declaration and Due Diligence
Other
Timescale for new entity: 2-3 business day
Annual fees: payable upon anniversary of incorporation
Shelf companies: available
