Gibraltar

General Information

Area – 6.8 sq. km

Population – 30,001 people

Capital – Gibraltar

Official language – English

Official currency – Pound Sterling, Gibraltar Pound

Key Aspects

A special permission is required to perform banking and insurance activity. No treaties for the avoidance of double taxation were signed. Only income earned on the territory of Gibraltar or transferred to the bank in Gibraltar can be qualified as taxable. Gibraltar is the EU member, met the conditions of compliance in terms of cooperation and exchange of tax information. Gibraltar is on the ‘white list’ of the OECD since 2009. In Gibraltar, there is no value added tax. It is a classical offshore jurisdiction.

Company Type

The most popular type of a Gibraltar company is a Non-Resident Company.

Corporate Legislation

Decree of Companies 1984 with amendments made in 1992 and 1996.

Main Requirements for Company Directors and Shareholders

There should be at least one director. Directors may be residents of any country.

Directors may be both natural persons and legal entities.

There should be at least one shareholder. Shareholders may be residents of any country.

Shareholders may be both natural persons and legal entities.

Nominee shareholders and directors are allowed to be used.

Authorised Capital

There are no requirements as to the mandatory payment of the company capital. The authorised capital of a company is specified according to a resolution. There is no minimum or maximum authorised capital stipulation. The standard share capital amounts to GBP 2,000 divided into 2,000 shares with par value of GBP 1 each.

Accounting

A shortened version of annual accounts has to be prepared and filed even if a company carries out its economic activity outside Gibraltar.

Cost of accounts:

Active (with the provision of extracts) – from EUR 1,200 per year (depending on complexity)

Taxation

Corporate tax – 10%

A company is exempted from the payment of all taxes if a company carries out its economic activity outside Gibraltar. Sometimes, incoming payments from other Gibraltar companies registered with the tax authority may be recognised as taxable income as well as some forms of passive income, for instance, license payments.

Questions that need to be answered to prepare incorporation documents

– Beneficiary’s passport notarised and translated into English. Notarisation of the original document.

– A document confirming the beneficiary’s address with a notarised translation into English made not more than three months ago – original document.

– Original bank reference in English

– Detailed description of business

– Several proposed firm names

Originals of all documents are required before an order is submitted for completion – these are the stringent requirements in Gibraltar.