Seychelles Seychelles 
A Seychelles IBC is simple to set up and inexpensive to keep, provided someone keeps it. We handle the setup and then look after the renewals, accounts, secretarial work, and records, so you have one partner instead of a list of vendors.
Expanship is an independent corporate services provider, not a government agency, and is not affiliated with the Government of Seychelles or the Financial Services Authority (Seychelles). We advise, prepare, and coordinate on your behalf; those authorities alone decide what they approve.
The Jurisdiction
Seychelles runs a French-derived civil code alongside English common law, and commercial matters sit on the common law side under an International Business Companies Act in force since 2016. The Supreme Court in Victoria hears commercial disputes and the Court of Appeal is the final appellate body; there is no appeal beyond the islands.
The rupee is the local currency, but an International Business Company holds capital and accounts in whatever currency you choose. Funds move in and out in any currency without a permit, and there are no repatriation restrictions.
Members are recorded at the registered office and beneficial owners are filed with the Financial Intelligence Unit. Neither record is published. Authorities can ask for both; the public can search neither.
A registered agent and a registered office are the whole of the local presence, with no resident director test. Seychelles does insist that accounting records reach the islands rather than staying wherever they were made, which is the one obligation that catches owners out.
Accounting records go to the registered office by 31 July and 31 January. The annual government fee falls on the anniversary of incorporation, and the financial summary follows six months after the financial year end. A business tax return is due on 31 March, and only on income sourced inside Seychelles. Foreign-sourced income is not charged to business tax.
Our services
Our Seychelles services, from forming the company to the records and returns it must keep. Each branch opens the page that explains it.
The company
Formed once through a registered agent, whichever structure you choose, then maintained by us through each annual renewal and records deadline.
Overview
The entity
Existing company
After incorporation
Pricing
Overview
Annual filings
The record
Pricing
In the islands
The two seats
How we rate Seychelles on twenty measures in five categories, scored out of ten, with the republic's current standing at the international bodies that review it.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Average 7.3
Banking & Financial
Average 7.0
Regulatory & Compliance
Average 8.1
Business Environment
Average 8.6
International Recognition
Average 6.9
Seychelles scores 7.6 overall
Seychelles
What the beneficial ownership register holds, who is allowed to see it, and what leaves the jurisdiction automatically each year.
How readily international banks open and hold accounts for entities formed here, and how freely money moves once they do.
The governing law, the bodies that supervise it, and where the jurisdiction sits on the international tax and transparency regimes.
What it takes to form and run an entity here: how fast, what it is taxed, and how stable the law behind it has proved.
How the jurisdiction is regarded outside its own borders, and how far its treaty and trade arrangements actually reach.
Start your company
The incorporation is a single engagement with a single fee. The International Business Companies Act adds two standing appointments, and two more are yours to choose.
One legal structure in Seychelles, and every piece of work between your enquiry and the day the company exists.
Seychelles International Business Companies Act, 2016
Already have a Seychelles company with another agent? Bring it to us for US$350, one time. Its number, its date and its contracts do not change. About transferring your company
The Financial Services Authority (Seychelles) does not accept applications from the public: the filing must be made by a registered agent. Expanship is not a government agency and is not that agent — we prepare and check your file and instruct that provider to file it, and the decision, with its timing, rests with the authority.
Seychelles keeps a registered agent and a registered office attached to the company throughout its life. Both are inside the incorporation fee for the first year and renew annually after that.
Appointment A
A company must at all times have a registered agent in Seychelles. We arrange and hold that appointment for you through a registered agent, so everything the authority sends arrives at one desk and the record with the authorities stays current.
About registered agentsAppointment B
An address in Seychelles that is recorded as your company’s address. Your statutory registers and your accounting records are held there, and your correspondence is forwarded on.
About the registered officeTaken at formation rather than bought afterwards. Two arrangements, kept separate: one for who sits on the board, one for who holds the shares, each in writing before a share is allotted.
On the board
On the share register
Account opening follows incorporation, because the bank needs the company to exist first. Every package already carries help opening a multi-currency account; a bank relationship is arranged alongside it.
Commonly opened in Seychelles, Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong, or with a digital provider. There is no requirement to bank in the islands, and an International Business Company sits outside exchange control either way.
Ongoing compliance
A Seychelles company is formed once and maintained for as long as you own it. Its records must reach the islands twice a year, and we hold that work, with the rest, under one annual package.
Documents that leave your company on dates the islands set. Each one is drafted from records we already hold, sent to you for a single approval, and filed.
The thing every filing above draws on, and the one Seychelles asks to see for itself. Kept month by month, so the figures already exist on the day the records are due at your registered office.
Accounting and bookkeeping Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled and financial statements kept current, with the records lodged twice a year at your registered office in Seychelles, where the law expects to find them.Why Expanship
A Seychelles IBC is simple to keep, and we keep it that way: the annual return, the business tax return, the books and the local address, from the team that set it up, at one price agreed before we started.
What every engagement includes
Setup, the local presence and the year’s two filings in one figure, agreed first.
One person who knows your file and answers for it, not a ticket queue.
What we need from you, and what happens next, set out before the work starts.
Annual return, business tax return, books and records, by the people who set it up.
Onboarding to signing, all online. No trip to the islands unless the law demands one.
Strict security protocols and professional confidentiality throughout the process.
FAQ
Six questions about the islands and four about working with us.
A French-derived civil code alongside English common law, with commercial matters on the common law side. The Supreme Court in Victoria hears commercial disputes and the Court of Appeal is the final court. There is no appeal beyond the islands.
No. Seychelles taxes on a territorial basis, so business tax applies only to income sourced inside Seychelles. Foreign-sourced income is outside the charge. A business tax return is due each March where local income arises.
Seychelles was removed from the EU's Annex II in February 2026 and now sits on neither list. It is not under FATF increased monitoring, and the OECD Global Forum rated it Largely Compliant in January 2026.
No. Members are recorded at the registered office and beneficial owners are filed with the Financial Intelligence Unit. Neither record is published. The authorities can ask for both, and the public can search neither.
Yes. Every share can be held by a non-resident, whether a person or a company, and nothing requires a director to live in Seychelles. The registered agent is the only local role.
No. Expanship is a privately owned corporate services company. We are not a government agency, registry, or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Government of Seychelles or the Financial Services Authority (Seychelles). Company registrations, certificates, and registry documents are issued solely by those authorities, at their discretion. Our fee is for our own work; government fees are set by those authorities and not by us.
No. The Financial Services Authority (Seychelles) does not accept incorporation filings from the public — the filing must be made by a registered agent. Engaging a provider is therefore a requirement of local law rather than a shortcut past something you could do yourself. Expanship prepares and checks your file and instructs that provider to make the filing; the decision, and its timing, rest with the authority.
Yes. The registered agent and registered office, which we hold, are the whole of the local presence. Seychelles does insist that accounting records physically reach the islands twice a year, which is the one obligation that catches owners out, and we lodge them for you.
In Seychelles, Mauritius, Singapore or Hong Kong, or with a digital provider. There is no requirement to bank in the islands and the company sits outside exchange control. We prepare the application and the bank makes the decision.
Seychelles is the least expensive jurisdiction we serve. Formation starts from US$649, including the government fee, the first year of registered agent and office, and the company documents, and the annual package starts from US$599 a year. Our fee and the government fee are shown separately on the pricing page.
Contact Us
A first IBC, a switch from another provider, or the yearly upkeep of an existing company. Send us a note and our Seychelles team replies.
