Filing a Business Tax Return in Seychelles Explained

Understanding the Business Tax Return Obligation in SeychellesCopy link to section

The Business Tax Return is the annual income declaration that businesses lodge with the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), governed by the Business Tax Act 2009 (Cap 20). It applies on a self-assessment basis, meaning the taxpayer, not the authority, determines whether income arose within the jurisdiction during the year and reports it accordingly.

This obligation reaches sole traders, partnerships, domestic companies, and International Business Companies (IBCs) that derive any Seychelles-sourced income. The reform of the territorial regime over the past decade has changed how foreign-owned structures are treated, so the question of whether your entity must file is no longer answered by its legal form alone.

This article explains who files, what the return must contain, when it is due, how to pay, and what happens if you miss the deadline. It is written for foreign owners and their advisers who hold or operate an entity registered in Seychelles and need to keep its tax position in order. The SRC publishes the governing framework and current forms on its official portal.

Who Must File a Business Tax Return: Sole Traders, Partnerships, and CompaniesCopy link to section

Any person carrying on a business with Seychelles-sourced income falls within the return lodgment obligation. That includes sole traders, partnerships, onshore companies, and IBCs that earn income arising in the jurisdiction.

Standard corporate rates run at 15% on the first SCR 1,000,000 of taxable income and 25% on the balance above that figure. Companies in telecommunications, banking, and insurance are charged at 33%.

Losses are not wasted under this system. Where allowable deductions exceed assessable income in a year, the excess is treated as a net loss and carried forward as a deduction against the following year's taxable income.

A separate track exists for the smallest firms. Businesses with annual turnover below SCR 1,000,000 may fall under the Presumptive Tax Regime, which replaces business tax with a flat 1.5% charge on turnover and sits outside the standard Business Tax Return process.

No government filing fee is charged for lodging the return itself.

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How IBCs and Multinational Groups Are Treated for Business Tax FilingCopy link to section

The most significant shift for foreign owners concerns the IBC. An IBC is now tax resident in Seychelles and is no longer exempt; if it carries on business in the jurisdiction, it pays business tax on the relevant income. An IBC that earns only foreign-sourced income, by contrast, remains outside the tax net entirely.

The territorial principle still protects companies that are not part of any multinational group. Income such a company derives from activities conducted abroad is not taxable in Seychelles.

The exception arrives with the Business Tax (Amendment) Act 2020, in force 15 September 2021, which widened what counts as Seychelles-sourced income for members of a multinational group. A company caught by these rules is termed a "covered company."

To be a covered company, an IBC must belong to a multinational group and derive passive foreign-sourced income in the financial year. A group qualifies where it has two or more enterprises with tax residences in different jurisdictions, or an enterprise taxed through a permanent establishment abroad, and where the ultimate parent must produce consolidated accounts.

Membership of such a group is itself sufficient to bring a company within scope. The connecting test applies regardless of revenue, asset values, or any other financial threshold.

For covered companies, the treatment of income depends on substance:

• Active income not attributable to a permanent establishment outside Seychelles may be taxed locally.
• Passive foreign income may be deemed Seychelles-sourced where the company fails the substance test in Schedule 11.
• Pure equity holding and real estate holding IBCs are held to a "light substance" expectation: local statutory filings, a registered agent, and a registered office.
• Other IBCs must show full substance, including strategic decision-making, risk management, and expenditure tied to acquiring, holding, or disposing of assets.

Companies that are multinationals or part of a group must complete the full Business Tax Return set out in Schedule 3 of the Act. That form carries the Transfer Pricing Related Party Dealings (RPD) Schedule for taxpayers in a controlled arrangement with annual turnover above SCR 1,000,000, including members of an enterprise group whose consolidated turnover exceeds EUR 100 million. The first RPD lodgment covers the 2024 tax year, due by 31 March 2025.

Seychelles has not enacted domestic Country-by-Country Reporting, and there is no statutory requirement to prepare a Master File or Local File. Seychelles entities of in-scope groups will instead be subject to such reporting in their ultimate parent jurisdiction. Appleby's published analysis sets out how the covered-company framework operates in practice.

Registering with the Seychelles Revenue Commission for Business TaxCopy link to section

Every new business must register with the SRC within 28 days of beginning to trade. On successful completion, the SRC allocates a Tax Identification Number (TIN), usually within 24 hours.

The TIN is distinct from the Business Registration Number (BRN) issued by the Financial Services Authority. You need both: the BRN to operate legally and the TIN for all tax filings and payments.

Registration is handled through the SRC e-service gateway at eservice.egov.sc, with separate forms for companies, IBCs, partnerships, and individuals available on the SRC downloads page. Companies, partnerships, trusts, and other organisations all register for the TIN through that portal.

One additional step applies to an IBC that begins earning Seychelles-sourced income. Within one month of deriving that first assessable income, the IBC must notify the Registrar in writing of the nature of the activities producing it.

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What Must Be Reported in the Business Tax ReturnCopy link to section

The return is a true and correct statement of income from all sources, computed under the Business Tax Act 2009 and the Revenue Administration Act 2009 for the tax period shown on the form. The person making the return declares the particulars true and complete, and discloses the full statement of taxable income derived in Seychelles without reservation.

In practical terms, the filing draws together several categories of information:

• A breakdown of Seychelles-sourced revenue, covering trade income, service fees, and passive income.
• Allowable deductions such as operational costs, employee expenses, and depreciation.
• The business registration number, TIN, registered address, and applicable tax period.
• Books of account, sales and purchase ledgers, bank statements, and asset registers for the year.

The form itself comes in two versions. Under S.I. 108 of 2024, applied retrospectively to the 2024 tax year, small businesses and medium or large businesses that are neither part of a group nor in a controlled arrangement use the simplified return; multinationals and group members complete the full Schedule 3 form with the RPD Schedule where it applies.

Prepare a full set of accounts before compiling the figures, since the declaration is made on your own assessment. The return must be signed by a Public Officer or Authorised Person, and where a tax agent prepares it, a preparer declaration is also required. Supporting records are retained for at least seven years.

The 31 March Filing Deadline and Tax PeriodCopy link to section

The tax year follows the calendar: 1 January to 31 December. The Business Tax Return for that year is then due no later than 31 March of the following year, the three-month window set by the Act.

For the year January to December 2024, the return and payment fall due by 31 March 2025. The same pattern repeats annually, with one return per tax year.

Companies also make provisional payments through the year under the Pay As You Go instalment system, typically monthly. Where a business operates on a substituted or transitional tax year, the lodgment date is fixed by reference to the same statutory rule rather than the calendar default.

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Requesting a Filing Extension from the Commissioner GeneralCopy link to section

There is no automatic extension. The 31 March deadline stands in every case unless the Commissioner General has specifically approved a later date, a discretion that sits within section 26 of the governing Act.

Any approval must be secured before the standard deadline passes, not after. An extension granted retrospectively is not contemplated, so a request left until April serves no purpose.

In practice, an extension request should be made in writing to the SRC ahead of 31 March, and the outcome rests entirely on the Commissioner General's discretion. No prescribed extension form is published, and the SRC Advisory Centre at Maison Collet, Victoria, Mahé, is the point of contact for such queries.

Filing a NIL Return When There Is No Liability or LossCopy link to section

A return is required even when no tax is owed. An entity that did not trade or generated no taxable result still lodges a NIL Business Tax Return before 31 March, declaring zero income and zero liability on the same form it would otherwise use.

The obligation reaches all in-scope entities: domestic companies, IBCs with Seychelles-sourced income, sole traders, and partnerships, regardless of activity during the year. Missing the deadline on a NIL return exposes the business to the same late-filing penalties as any other return.

One grey area deserves caution. There is no clear published confirmation on whether a genuinely dormant IBC that has never derived Seychelles-sourced income, and sits outside the covered-company rules, must lodge a NIL return at all.

Paying Business Tax Due After FilingCopy link to section

Filing and payment are a single deadline. Tax due for the year is payable by the same 31 March date on which the return is lodged, with the annual return reconciling earlier PAYG instalments against the final liability.

The return and payment may be submitted electronically through the SRC E-Service portal, or as a hardcopy delivered to the SRC. Payment options include the online portal, direct payment at SRC offices on Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue, and bank transfer.

Where a debt cannot be settled at once, instalment arrangements are available under the Revenue Administration Act 2009. The SRC may propose such an arrangement, or the taxpayer may request one.

Penalties for Late or Incorrect Business Tax FilingCopy link to section

Late filing and late payment carry separate consequences, and they stack. The framework sits in the Revenue Administration Act 2009, with the principal late-payment charge set at 15% on the outstanding amount plus daily interest until it is cleared.

Failure to file on time also attracts an administrative fine of SCR 1,000 to SCR 5,000, scaled to the length of the delay. If no return arrives, the Commissioner General may issue an estimated assessment from whatever information is available, and continued default can lead to legal proceedings and prosecution.

The typical escalation runs as follows:

1. Late filing triggers the administrative fine of SCR 1,000 to 5,000.
2. The 15% late-payment penalty and daily interest accrue on unpaid tax.
3. The Commissioner General issues an estimated assessment where no return is filed.
4. Persistent failure may end in prosecution by the SRC.

Where an SRC adjustment produces additional tax, late-payment penalties and interest follow, and heavier sanctions apply where an understatement is found to be deliberate or fraudulent. The SRC may generally reassess business tax for up to seven years, with no time limit in cases of fraud or wilful default.

Keep one distinction in mind. Breaching duties under the IBC Act, a separate statute, can attract penalties of up to USD 5,000 per violation, and any strike-off for IBC Act failures is administered by the FSA Registrar through its own process, not by non-filing of a return alone.

ConclusionCopy link to section

The reform that made every IBC tax resident is the point that matters most: filing in Seychelles now turns on where your income arises and whether your structure touches a multinational group, not on the label your company carries. A foreign-owned entity with only foreign-sourced income may have a light obligation or a NIL return, while one drawing local income or sitting inside a group can face full Schedule 3 reporting and a substance test.

Before the next 31 March passes, establish precisely which category your entity falls into and confirm it in writing where any doubt exists. That single determination governs the form you file, the substance you must hold, and the tax you owe.

How Expanship Can Help Your Business in SeychellesCopy link to section

Expanship supports foreign owners through the full Business Tax Return cycle in Seychelles, from confirming whether your entity has a filing obligation to preparing accounts, completing the correct form, and lodging it with the SRC ahead of the deadline. The same team manages the wider compliance picture for a foreign-owned company, so the tax filing connects to everything else the entity must maintain.

• Company incorporation and IBC formation
• Registered agent and registered office services
• Ongoing compliance and filing management, including the annual Business Tax Return
• Accounting and bookkeeping to support self-assessment
• Economic substance and beneficial ownership assistance for covered companies
• Banking introduction for newly formed entities

To discuss your filing position or set up support for an existing company, contact Expanship Seychelles.

Frequently Asked QuestionsCopy link to section