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A Guernsey company is registered under the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 on an island outside the European Union that has its own Registry, Revenue Service and financial regulator. In practice the term means the non-cellular company limited by shares, whose name ends in Limited or Ltd. Owners use it to hold shares in other companies, as a family or investment company, and for trading outside the taxed sectors, since most company income on the island is taxed at 0%; cell companies carry insurance and fund structures.
It is not a door into the EU single market: EU directives do not reach it, there is no VAT number to obtain and its treaty list is short. Anyone weighing offshore Guernsey structures sets that against a 0% standard rate and a company law in which one shareholder and one director, living anywhere, are enough.
| Form | Liability of the members | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Non-cellular company limited by shares (Ltd) | Up to any amount unpaid on their shares; no minimum capital, any currency, a single share is enough | Holding, trading, family and investment companies; the form sold ready-made |
| Company limited by guarantee | A guarantee in place of share capital | Bodies that have no need for shares |
| Unlimited and mixed liability companies | Unlimited for all or some of the members | Specialist cases |
| Protected cell and incorporated cell companies | Separated cell by cell; the GFSC must consent in writing before one is incorporated | Insurance and fund structures |
| LLP, limited partnership, foundation | Governed by their own laws of 2013, 1995 and 2012 | Not companies; each still needs a resident agent |
A licensed corporate service provider applies to the Registrar of Companies for each of these forms; the documents and their order are on our page on Guernsey company registration.
| Tax | Position in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Company income tax | 0% standard rate on everything outside the two bands below |
| 10% intermediate rate | Regulated financial income such as banking, fiduciary and insurance business, custody and investment management for individual clients |
| 20% higher rate | Income from Guernsey land and buildings, utilities regulated by CICRA, hydrocarbon supply, cannabis cultivation, and large retail above a taxable profit threshold of GBP 500,000 |
| Pillar Two groups | 15% domestic minimum tax since 1 January 2025 |
| VAT or GST | None at present; a goods and services tax at 3% is planned for the first quarter of 2029 |
| Dividends to non-residents | No withholding tax; on dividends to Guernsey-resident individuals the company accounts for their tax at 20% |
| Stamp duty | None; document duty reaches Guernsey real property and, since November 2017, shares in companies that own it |
| Double taxation agreements | 14 comprehensive agreements; EU directives do not apply |
A resident company earning income from financing and leasing, fund management, banking, insurance, shipping, headquarters or distribution and service centre work, intellectual property or pure equity holding must also pass the economic substance test: the activity directed and managed in Guernsey, with adequate people, premises and spending there. Under the reform package the States of Deliberation approved in October 2026, the 10% rate widens from 1 January 2027 to certain professional firms and to whole-company profits rather than listed activities.
Shareholders and directors may hold any nationality and live anywhere, one of each is enough, and the Registry accepts a corporate director; minors and people disqualified in Guernsey or abroad cannot serve. The local requirements are institutional. The company keeps its registered office in Guernsey and appoints a resident agent, which can only be a director living on the island or a corporate service provider holding a GFSC fiduciary licence, unless it is a listed, supervised or investment company or a States trading company. Only such a licensed provider can file the incorporation. The register of companies is kept by the Registrar of Companies through the Guernsey Registry, not by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), which licenses the providers and supervises financial business.
The resident agent reports every individual holding more than 25% of the shares or votes, or able to remove a majority of the board, to the central register created by the Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons (Guernsey) Law 2017, and reports changes within 14 days. Only the Registrar, the GFSC, the Financial Intelligence Service and law enforcement and tax authorities can consult it; access for people with a legitimate interest was consulted on in 2026 but is not in force. The public company search shows the registered office, registration date, status and economic activity code, and no shareholders, whom the Registry does not record.
Unless an island-resident director takes the role, we arrange the resident agent, and any director or nominee shareholder you ask for, only through a holder of a GFSC fiduciary licence, because the Fiduciaries Law of 2020 makes each of those services licensed business; a director appointed that way carries the duties and liability of every other director, and the resident agent reports you to the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership as the beneficial owner.
The GFSC lists 21 licensed banks and describes most of them as wealth management banks or banks serving the local finance sector. Island business accounts, such as HSBC’s referral route and NatWest International’s account, expect owners and directors who live in the islands, while Butterfield offers its Guernsey corporate banking to trust companies, fund administrators and other intermediaries, so a company owned from abroad usually banks through an intermediary route. Guernsey IBANs begin with GB, and money held by a company is outside the Guernsey deposit compensation scheme. Each bank’s published criteria are on our page on bank accounts for Guernsey companies.
Registering a new company is the usual answer here. The Registry’s standard service incorporates within 24 hours, with rapid and special levels above it, and a new company carries the name and articles you choose. Buying a shelf company in Guernsey fits one case: a bank, counterparty or tender that asks for a registration date in the past, a date the public search shows and no owner can change. The Registry supplies no ready-made companies itself, and a purchase still passes the provider’s due diligence and the 14-day filings. Buying an older company in general is covered in our guide to aged shelf companies.
We can form a new Guernsey company, with the application filed by a licensed corporate service provider as Guernsey law requires, or supply a ready-made one. We prepare the formation or share transfer documents and the Registry filings, help you prepare the bank application and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, make an introduction; the bank alone decides whether to open an account.
In tax terms it often behaves like one: most income is taxed at 0% and dividends paid to non-residents carry no withholding tax. In legal terms it is a resident company with duties. It files an annual validation and a tax return every year, its beneficial owners sit on a central register, and a company with financing, holding, headquarters or similar income must show economic substance on the island.
Usually still in Guernsey, because registration there is enough. The company counts as non-resident only if it proves to the Revenue Service that it is resident and centrally managed and controlled in another territory whose highest company rate is at least 10%, or resident there under a treaty tie-breaker, and that there is a genuine commercial reason for it. Board meetings abroad may also lead another country to treat it as resident.
Only if its members want one. Company law requires audited accounts, a directors’ report and an annual general meeting, but members holding 90% can waive all three by a waiver resolution filed with the Registrar. For tax, the Revenue Service still expects certified accounts whether or not the audit was waived, so a waiver removes the auditor but not the accountant.
Yes, but a modest network: the States of Guernsey list 15 double taxation agreements, including those with the United Kingdom, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Singapore, Hong Kong and Qatar, a set of limited-scope agreements and around 60 tax information exchange agreements. Being outside the EU, a Guernsey company gains nothing from the Parent-Subsidiary or Interest and Royalties Directives.
Considering a Guernsey company? Tell us what the company will hold or do and where its owners and directors live, and we will tell you which Guernsey requirements apply to it, from the resident agent to economic substance. You can also reach us on Telegram or WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166.