Seychelles company formation in 2026: US$130 to register, and a bank that may never open

The Seychelles IBC is the cheapest credible offshore company in the world, and the price is the problem. US$130 buys a company in a day or two. It does not buy a bank account, and for many people the bank account was the entire point.

Here is the short version. A Seychelles International Business Company is registered in about one to two business days through a licensed registered agent. Government fees are US$130 to register and US$140 annually under the FSA schedule. There is no minimum capital — nominal US$1 issued against US$100,000 authorised is the convention. No resident director is required, but a licensed Seychelles registered agent is mandatory. Foreign-source income is taxed at 0% under a territorial system; Seychelles-source income is taxable at 25% up to SCR 1,000,000 and 33% above. There is no general audit requirement, but accounting records must be kept at the registered office and lodged twice a year.

How to register a Seychelles IBC

1. Appoint a licensed registered agent. Incorporation cannot be filed directly with the registry.
2. Clear the name and prepare the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
3. Complete KYC and due diligence on beneficial owners, directors and shareholders.
4. The agent files the incorporation with the FSA Registrar and pays the US$130 fee.
5. Receive the Certificate of Incorporation and set up the registered office, share register and beneficial-ownership register.
6. Open a corporate bank or EMI account — a separate and usually much slower step.

The bi-annual filing is new to a lot of people

Compliance has tightened considerably and the old picture of a Seychelles IBC as a fire-and-forget vehicle is out of date.

Accounting records must be kept at the registered office and lodged twice a year, with penalties running up to US$10,000 for failure. A beneficial-ownership register is mandatory. Someone therefore has to maintain books for the company throughout the year, which is an administrative cost that a US$140 annual fee does not cover.

The 0% is territorial, and territorial has conditions

Foreign-source income is untaxed. Seychelles-source income is taxed under the Business Tax Act at 25% up to SCR 1,000,000 and 33% above.

There is a further layer that catches groups: passive foreign income of a member of a multinational group requires adequate economic substance in order to stay exempt. A standalone founder-owned IBC is generally outside that, but a company sitting inside a larger group structure is not, and the analysis should be done before rather than after.

More consequential still, an IBC is very likely a controlled foreign company from your home country's perspective, and may be tax resident wherever it is effectively managed. The 0% describes Seychelles' claim on the income, not anybody else's.

One positive development worth noting: the EU removed Seychelles from its Annex II grey list on 17 February 2026, which improves the jurisdiction's standing modestly.

Banking is the reason people regret this

Many banks treat Seychelles IBCs as higher-risk. Corporate accounts are slow to open and are frequently declined outright, and electronic money institutions are commonly used instead.

That is a workable outcome for straightforward payment flows and a poor one if you need a real bank, a credit facility or a counterparty who will not accept an EMI. It is also a risk that compounds: EMIs close accounts with limited recourse, and a company with no banking is a company with no operations.

Test banking appetite before incorporating. This advice applies to every offshore jurisdiction and applies to Seychelles more than most.

Who this is actually for

A zero-tax holding or international trading vehicle for genuinely foreign-source income, held by someone who already has a working banking arrangement and a defensible answer to their home country's CFC rules. As a low-cost component inside a larger structure it does its job.

It is a poor choice as a standalone answer for a founder who needs to receive payments, and a poor choice for anyone selecting it on price alone. The British Virgin Islands cost roughly four times as much — US$550 to register and US$550 annually — and buy meaningfully better acceptance from banks and counterparties. Belize sits in between at around US$150 with similar banking difficulty. If the vehicle has to transact with anyone who performs due diligence, the extra few hundred dollars is not where you should be saving.