Seychelles's company rules: quick facts
- Entity
- International Business Company (IBC)
- Tax model
- Territorial, 25% Source: src.gov.sc, checked September 29, 2026. Companies under the business tax regime pay 15% on the first SCR 1,000,000 (about $68,200) of taxable income and 25% above. Only Seychelles-sourced income is taxed: income from activities conducted, goods situated or rights used in Seychelles (Seychelles Revenue Commission, Tax System page)Headline corporate tax rate
- Tax on $100,000 of profit kept in the company
- 0% to 18.2% Source: src.gov.sc, checked September 29, 2026. Income from activities conducted outside Seychelles is non-taxable business income (SRC Tax System page), and an IBC that derives no Seychelles-sourced income has no business tax return to file (SRC IBC FAQ brochure). Tax on $100,000 (SCR 1,466,720 at SCR 14.6672 per USD) is SCR 0 when the founder works abroad. If the work were done in Seychelles: SCR 150,000 + 25% of SCR 466,720 = SCR 266,680, 18.2%
- Tax on $100,000 of profit paid out to a non-resident owner
- 0% Source: src.gov.sc, checked September 29, 2026. 0% when the founder works abroad: no Seychelles business tax on the profit and no withholding tax on dividends paid out of foreign-sourced profit
- Dividend withholding for a non-resident owner
- 0% Source: src.gov.sc, checked September 29, 2026. 0% on dividends an IBC pays out of profit earned outside Seychelles (seychellesinc.com, What is a Seychelles IBC). Dividends paid to a non-resident out of Seychelles-sourced profit carry the 15% withholding tax the Seychelles Revenue Commission lists
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Stripe available
- No Source: stripe.com, checked September 29, 2026. Seychelles is not on Stripe's list of supported countries
- Bank or EMI account
- Workable
- Audit required
- Not stated
- EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions
- Not listed Source: data.consilium.europa.eu, checked October 12, 2026. Substance scope from the SRC Tax System page
- FATF grey list
- Not listed Source: data.consilium.europa.eu, checked October 12, 2026. Substance scope from the SRC Tax System page
- Economic substance rules
- No
Seychelles IBC: the company a non-resident forms
The vehicle is the International Business Company, formed under the International Business Companies Act 2016. It needs at least 1 director and at least 1 member, a director can be an individual or a company, and the Act sets no nationality or residence rule for either. A founder abroad can be the only director and the only shareholder.
What the company must have at all times is a registered agent in Seychelles: a corporate service provider licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), whose office is the company's registered office and holds its records. The agent is also the only way in, because the FSA registers an IBC only through a licensed provider.
How a Seychelles IBC is taxed
Seychelles taxes business income only where it is sourced in Seychelles. The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) treats income as Seychelles-sourced when it comes from activities conducted, goods situated or rights used in Seychelles, and income from activities carried on abroad is non-taxable business income. An IBC whose founder does all the work from another country owes no Seychelles business tax, and an IBC with no Seychelles-sourced income has no business tax return to file.
Income that is Seychelles-sourced is taxed like a local company's: 15% on the first SCR 1,000,000 (about $68,200) of taxable income and 25% above, which comes to about 18.2% of $100,000 of profit. Under the IBC Act's rule for assessable income, the IBC must also tell the Registrar within 1 month of its first Seychelles income and file an annual return with the Registrar within 1 year.
Paying the profit out adds no Seychelles tax when the profit was earned abroad: an IBC pays no withholding tax on dividends paid out of foreign-sourced income. Dividends paid to a non-resident out of Seychelles-sourced profit are different: on those, the Seychelles Revenue Commission lists 15% withholding tax.
The foreign-income exemption has an exception for owners of more than 1 company. Since September 16, 2021, a company that belongs to a multinational group keeps the exemption on foreign passive income such as dividends, interest and rents only if it passes an economic substance test in Seychelles. A one-person IBC owned by an individual is outside that rule, but an IBC that sits beside another company its owner controls abroad can fall inside it.
VAT covers goods and services supplied in or imported into Seychelles, and registration becomes compulsory once taxable supplies reach SCR 2,000,000 (about $136,400) a year, so an IBC that sells nothing in Seychelles stays outside it.
David's note
I would use a Seychelles IBC only if you live in a country that does not tax a foreign company's profit before it reaches you, or you are holding investments through it. For a founder in a high-tax country, the IBC's 0% is a line on a form: your home country taxes the profit anyway, and you have given up Stripe and a normal bank account for nothing.
Cost and timeline to set up in Seychelles
| IBC registration fee (Financial Services Authority)Official fee | $130 Source: fsaseychelles.sc, checked September 29, 2026. FSA consolidated fee schedule, version of July 5, 2022, Appendix A (Registry), still the posted version on 2026-09-29. An IBC set up as a protected cell company pays US$500 |
|---|---|
| IBC annual fee (Financial Services Authority)Official fee | $140 Source: fsaseychelles.sc, checked September 29, 2026. Same schedule. Protected cell company IBCs pay US$500 a year |
| Setup, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $770 to $2,500 |
| Running cost per year, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $775 to $2,175 |
Official fees come from the government or registry schedule. Market ranges cover formation and yearly upkeep through a provider, including a registered agent and filings. Timeline: The founder never deals with the Financial Services Authority directly: a Seychelles corporate service provider licensed by the Authority files the registration. Providers usually complete it within a few working days.
How to register a Seychelles IBC from abroad
No step of forming an IBC needs you in Seychelles. You choose a licensed provider, which files the registration with the FSA and acts as registered agent from the first day, and most providers finish within a few working days once your documents clear their checks. Your identity documents and the provider's due diligence are what take the time.
Forming a Seychelles IBC as a non-resident
- Choose an FSA-licensed corporate service provider as registered agent and pass its due diligence: your passport, proof of address and a description of what the company will do and where its money comes from.
- Settle the name and structure: the company name, the directors and shareholders (1 of each is enough) and the shares.
- Approve the memorandum and articles, which the agent files with the FSA together with the registration fee.
- File the register of directors with the Registrar within 30 days of appointing the first directors; the Registrar keeps it off the public record.
- Record the beneficial owners with the agent, which keeps the register under the Beneficial Ownership Act 2020 and uploads it for the authorities; it is not public.
- Declare any nominee shareholder: since the 2025 amendment, a nominee member must give the company a declaration naming the nominator within 21 days of appointment.
- Apply for a tax identification number (TIN) through the agent if a bank or a tax residency certificate needs one; the SRC charges no fee for the TIN.
- Open the account with the certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles, the registers, your passport and proof of address.
Seychelles IBC annual filings and deadlines
An IBC owes the FSA a fee every year and owes its registered agent its records; it owes the SRC nothing unless it earns in Seychelles. The financial year is the calendar year unless the directors change it and tell the agent within 14 days.
Yearly duties for a Seychelles IBC (International Business Companies Act 2016, consolidated to July 11, 2025)
| Filing | Filed with | Deadline | Cost of missing it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee, $140 | FSA, paid through the registered agent | Each anniversary of incorporation | 10% more if paid within 90 days, 50% more after that, and strike-off if still unpaid 180 days after the due date |
| Accounting records, when kept outside Seychelles | Lodged at the registered agent's office | At least twice a year | Up to $10,000 for the company and up to $10,000 for a director who knowingly allows it |
| Annual financial summary (not required of a small pure holding company) | Kept at the registered agent's office | 6 months after the financial year end | Up to $10,000 for the company and for a director who knowingly allows it |
| Updated register of directors | Registrar | 30 days after any change | Up to $5,000 |
| Notice of Seychelles income, then an annual return | Registrar | 1 month after the first Seychelles income; the annual return within 1 year | Up to $10,000 |
| Business tax return, only for a year with Seychelles-sourced income | SRC | March 31 of the following year | Penalties and interest on the tax |
| Your own tax return, with the IBC's profit or dividends on it | The tax authority where you live | Your country's deadline | Your country's penalties and the tax itself |
Opening a bank account for a Seychelles IBC
Traditional banks, in Seychelles and abroad, often turn IBCs away, and Stripe does not serve Seychelles companies. Most founders open the first account with an e-money institution instead, usually through an introduction that Seychelles formation providers sell as part of a package, and accept a payment account rather than a bank.
Expect every institution to ask where you live, who your clients are, where the money comes from and why a company with no one in Seychelles is registered there. Seychelles came off Annex II of the EU list on February 17, 2026, which helps at the margin, but many banks, marketplaces and payment platforms still treat a zero-tax offshore company as high risk.
Seychelles also exchanges account information under the Common Reporting Standard, so your country of residence is asked for on every account form. A founder who needs card payments usually runs that side of the business through a company Stripe serves, such as a US LLC owned by a non-resident.
Where a Seychelles IBC's profit is really taxed
The 0% is Seychelles's bill, and Seychelles is rarely the only country with a claim. Most high-tax countries tax a foreign company's profit when it is managed from their territory, when the owner's work there creates a permanent establishment, or under controlled foreign company (CFC) rules that attribute low-taxed profit to the owner before it is paid out. At $100,000 of profit, this is where the tax lands.
Tax on $100,000 of profit in a Seychelles IBC by owner situation (Seychelles column from the SRC rules above)
| Owner situation | Tax in Seychelles | Where else the profit is taxed |
|---|---|---|
| Lives in a high-tax country with CFC rules and runs the IBC from home | 0% | Your country, at its full rates: as the profit of a company managed there, or attributed to you under CFC rules |
| Lives in a country that taxes only local income and serves clients abroad | 0% | Often nowhere, as long as your country treats the fees as foreign income; work done on its soil can still count as local |
| Has no tax residence anywhere | 0% | No country claims the profit on paper, and every account form asking where you live becomes the problem |
| Has clients or does the work in Seychelles | About 18.2%: 15% up to SCR 1,000,000 (about $68,200), 25% above | Also your country of residence, if it taxes worldwide income |
The version that holds up is an IBC owned by a founder who lives in one of the countries that tax only local income and serves clients abroad, or an IBC that holds investments for an owner whose country has no CFC rules. In both cases the records reach Seychelles on time and the owner reports the company wherever home rules ask.
Zero in Seychelles is not zero at home
A founder in France who invoices through a Seychelles IBC and decides everything from an apartment in Lyon has a company France can treat as run from France, or whose profit French CFC rules can attribute to the owner. The 0% then becomes French tax on the profit and on the distribution, usually with penalties for every year the income went unreported.
A non-resident's Seychelles IBC, set up right and wrong
Works
You live in a country that taxes only local income, the IBC sells to clients abroad or holds your investments, the records and financial summary reach your agent on time, and you report the company as your country's rules require.
Fails
You live in Berlin, invoice German clients through the IBC, keep no records in Seychelles, rely on a nominee shareholder to keep your name off the paperwork and declare nothing at home.
