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An Antigua company sits on one of two registers. The international business corporation, or IBC, under the International Business Corporations Act, Cap. 222, is registered with the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) and serves owners abroad as a holding, trading or services company, and it is the vehicle for licensed online gaming, international banking, trust and insurance business. A company that will have customers, staff or premises in the country is formed at ABIPCO, the Antigua and Barbuda Intellectual Property and Commerce Office, under the Companies Act 1995.
The IBC changed character at the end of 2018. It lost its tax exemption and, in exchange, may now trade at home under section 4A after obtaining a certificate from the FSRC and lodging its papers and beneficial ownership details at ABIPCO; it is then taxed at the domestic rate.
| Form | Register | Point to know |
|---|---|---|
| International business corporation | FSRC | Incorporated only by a licensed corporate management and trust service provider; registered shares only; the form sold ready made |
| Companies Act 1995 company | ABIPCO | One or more founders, one director and one shareholder; an annual return every year, trading or not |
| International limited liability company | FSRC | Membership interests closed to domiciliaries of Antigua and Barbuda |
| External company | ABIPCO | A foreign company trading in the country, and since 2022 an IBC that does so |
Name approval, the documents and the filing order for each are on our page on Antigua company incorporation.
| Item | Position |
|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 25% of chargeable income (Income Tax Act, section 32(1)(b)) |
| IBC tax exemption | Repealed with effect from 31 December 2018 without grandfathering, so an IBC formed before then has none either |
| IBC managed from abroad | Turns on how the Income Tax Act’s charge applies to its facts; take advice first |
| IBC trading at home under section 4A | Taxed at the domestic rate |
| Withholding, customs and stamp duty reliefs in the IBC Act | Removed by the same 2018 Act |
| ABST (sales tax) | Registration required when taxable supplies reach 300,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars a year |
| Stamp duty on share transfers | Charged under the Stamp Act, Cap. 410, by reference to the consideration |
| Double tax treaties | The CARICOM multilateral agreement and an old arrangement with the United Kingdom; none with any EU or EEA state |
What ended in 2018 was a tax status, not a company form: the IBC Act was amended in 2018, 2020 and 2024 rather than repealed, and bearer shares can no longer be issued. An offer of a tax exempt Antiguan IBC describes a regime that has gone.
Shareholders face no nationality or residence test on either register. An IBC needs at least one director, who may be a company and may live anywhere, although banking, trust and insurance corporations must include a director who is both a citizen and a resident. What has to be in the country is the registered office and, for an IBC, a resident agent to accept service of process and the licensed provider acting for it; the FSRC’s Class A licence covers incorporation, registered agent and registered office services, and every licensee keeps a physical office in Antigua and Barbuda. For a Companies Act company no residency or nationality condition appears in the Act or in ABIPCO’s requirements.
Beneficial ownership is recorded but not published. An IBC’s agent files an attestation for each year to 31 December by 31 January, naming anyone owning 15% or more, every controller, the directors and officers and any nominee, and changes are notified within 15 days; a local company keeps its own register of beneficial owners and attests with its annual return. Searchers can obtain an IBC’s name, number, registered address, agent and purpose, and the FSRC’s corporate status report adds the directors.
For an IBC, the law lets only an FSRC-licensed corporate management and trust service provider supply the resident agent and, if you want them, a director or nominee shareholder as a business, so we work solely through such a provider; that director is bound by section 95 of the IBC Act to act honestly, in good faith and with care, and every director, controller and nominee, together with the person a nominee holds for, is named in the yearly attestation.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s register lists four commercial banks in Antigua and Barbuda: Antigua Commercial Bank, Caribbean Union Bank, Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank and CIBC Caribbean. None publishes criteria for an IBC owned from abroad, and CIBC Caribbean opens business accounts online for sole traders only. The Eastern Caribbean dollar has been fixed at 2.70 to one US dollar since 1976, Antiguan accounts carry no IBAN, and Airwallex does not list Antigua and Barbuda among eligible countries. Companies sold with an account already open are not readily available in Caribbean offshore jurisdictions. The banks are compared on bank accounts for Antigua companies.
The transfer itself, and the checks worth making, are covered on our page on ready made companies in Antigua.
We set up new IBCs and local companies and supply ready-made ones, prepare the incorporation or transfer papers and the filings at the FSRC or ABIPCO, lodged for an IBC by the licensed provider, help you put together the bank application and, where we have a working contact at a bank that suits the company, introduce you, while the bank alone decides. Our guide to off the shelf companies compares Antigua with other jurisdictions.
The Financial Services Regulatory Commission oversees the international sector: its Director of International Business Corporations keeps the IBC register, it licenses the corporate management and trust service providers that incorporate and administer IBCs, and its Division of Gaming supervises online gaming. ABIPCO, the Antigua and Barbuda Intellectual Property and Commerce Office, acts as Registrar of Companies under the Companies Act 1995 and registers external companies, including IBCs that trade at home.
Very few. It is party to the CARICOM multilateral double taxation agreement, which covers fellow Caribbean Community members, and to an arrangement with the United Kingdom signed in 1947 and amended in 1968. There is no comprehensive treaty with any EU or EEA state, and the EU parent subsidiary and interest and royalties directives do not apply. Its tax information exchange agreements support transparency rather than reduce withholding tax abroad.
A company formed under the International Limited Liability Companies Act 2007 by filing articles of organisation with the FSRC and owned through membership interests rather than shares. Domiciliaries of Antigua and Barbuda may not hold its membership interests, so it serves owners abroad. Since 2024 its registered agent must be a licensed provider, it attests its beneficial owners every year, notifies changes within 14 days and keeps accounting records for six years.
An IBC can apply for one. The FSRC’s Division of Gaming oversees interactive gaming and wagering under the IBC Act and the Interactive Gaming and Interactive Wagering Regulations, and Antigua and Barbuda was among the first jurisdictions to license such operators, in 1994. The licence is a separate review of the company and its owners, a licensed corporation keeps its own office in the country with staff, and gaming companies have their accounts audited externally.
By default yes, but the shareholders of an ordinary IBC may resolve unanimously, until the next annual meeting, not to appoint one, and can renew that choice each year. International banking, trust and insurance corporations cannot dispense with an auditor, and the FSRC expects audits from licensed institutions. A local company under the Companies Act instead prepares financial statements or, depending on its size, a certificate of solvency signed by a director.
Deciding between an Antigua IBC and a local company, new or ready made? Tell us where the owners and the customers are, and we will say which register fits and which companies are available now, using our contact page, Telegram or WhatsApp (+48 663 247 166).