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A Jersey company is formed under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 and entered on the register that the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) keeps. The island is a Crown Dependency outside both the United Kingdom and the European Union, with its own tax system and regulator. That is what a Jersey offshore company usually means: taxed at 0% on most income and owned and directed from anywhere, yet registered, supervised and recorded on the island.
The usual vehicle is the private company limited by shares, the Jersey Ltd. Owners use it to hold shares in other companies, as a family or investment company and for trading outside the taxed sectors, while cell companies carry fund and insurance structures. EU directives do not apply to it, and Jersey levies GST rather than VAT.
| Form | What distinguishes it | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Private company (Jersey Ltd) | One member and one director suffice; shares either par value or no par value, never both; no minimum capital and no bearer shares | Holding, family, investment and trading companies; the form sold as a reserved company |
| Public company (PLC) | A minimum of two directors and two members; its secretary must be qualified; accounts audited and filed | Businesses that list or have many shareholders |
| Protected cell company | A single legal person whose cells hold assets and liabilities apart from one another | Fund and insurance structures run by a regulated provider |
| Incorporated cell company | Every cell is a company in its own right | Fund and insurance structures |
| Guarantee, unlimited and limited life companies | Variants under the same 1991 Law | Non-profit bodies and specialist structures |
LLCs, foundations and limited partnerships sit under separate laws. How a regulated provider applies through myRegistry is set out on our page on Jersey company formation.
| Rate | Who pays it |
|---|---|
| 0% | Every Jersey company by default, on all income outside the bands below |
| 10% | Some financial services companies |
| 20% | Utilities, and any company on income from renting out or developing Jersey land, importing or supplying hydrocarbon oil, or quarrying |
| 0% to 20% | Jersey retailers with retail turnover of £2 million or more: nil on profit under £500,000, then a sliding scale up to 20% above a profit threshold of £750,000 |
| 15% | Jersey members of multinational groups with global revenue of at least 750 million euros, under the Multinational Corporate Income Tax for accounting periods from 1 January 2025 |
| 5% GST | Businesses whose taxable turnover reaches the £300,000 threshold in 12 months must register; International Services Entities stay outside GST |
| No stamp duty | On a transfer of shares; land transaction tax reaches only shares that carry a right to occupy Jersey land |
| Treaties | 16 full double taxation agreements, 14 partial agreements and 38 tax information exchange agreements |
Incorporation in Jersey makes a company resident unless it is centrally managed and controlled in a country whose top company rate is 10% or more and that country accepts it as resident. A resident company earning income from a relevant activity, holding company business and headquarters among them, must show economic substance: adequate board meetings in Jersey with a quorum present, enough staff, premises and spending there, and its core income-generating work done on the island.
Members and directors can be of any nationality and live anywhere. A private company needs one director aged 18 or over, and a body corporate may be a director only if it is registered under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 to act as one. Three things are local: a registered office in Jersey; a company secretary, who cannot also be the sole director; and a nominated person under the 2020 Disclosure Law, which is a trust company business providing the secretary or registered office, a significant person ordinarily resident in Jersey, a Jersey-resident lawyer or accountant, or a fund services business. A founder abroad files through a JFSC-regulated provider.
The public register, Jersey’s counterpart to a Companies House or a Handelsregister, lists a company’s members, their shares and its directors, though not the secretary. Beneficial owners and controllers, meaning every individual owning 25% or more or otherwise in control, are disclosed at incorporation and held centrally by the JFSC. That record is not public: the nominated person and the authorities see it, and since February 2025 Jersey businesses doing customer due diligence may consult it for that purpose alone.
We arrange the nominated person, the secretary and, if wanted, a director or nominee shareholder only through a trust company business registered with the JFSC, since Jersey treats each of those roles as regulated business; a director supplied this way owes the Article 74 duties of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 to act honestly, in good faith and with reasonable care in the company’s best interests, and your details as beneficial owner are held on the Commission’s central register.
Between 1 January and the end of February the nominated person submits the annual confirmation statement in myRegistry. Revenue Jersey, which registers each new company automatically, expects a tax return by 30 November of the following year, even at 0%. A private company prepares accounts within 10 months of its year end, with no audit unless its articles call for one and no public filing. Changes of beneficial owner, director or secretary, and special resolutions, are filed within 21 days. Missing the confirmation or an ownership update can lead to a referral to the Attorney General or to the company being struck off.
Only banks registered with the JFSC may take deposits in Jersey, and 20 of them are covered by the island’s depositor compensation scheme. Island business accounts are built for local firms: those of HSBC and NatWest International require owners and directors living in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, with NatWest International also accepting Gibraltar. A company run from abroad is usually banked through an account its Jersey administrator introduces, and company money sits outside the compensation scheme, which protects individuals and Jersey registered charities. Each bank’s rules are on our page on bank accounts for Jersey companies.
For most purposes a new company is simpler: the JFSC states that incorporation approval takes between 2 hours and 5 days depending on risk factors and service level, and you pick the name and articles. A shelf company in Jersey, which the Registry calls a reserved company, earns its place when a counterparty or bank asks how long the company has existed, since its incorporation date is fixed and public; its transfer still needs the Registry’s approval. A business for sale in Jersey, with a trading history, is a different purchase calling for full due diligence. Our guide to off-the-shelf companies sets out the general case.
We can form a new Jersey company through a JFSC-registered provider or supply an existing reserved company. We prepare the formation or transfer documents and the Registry filings, help you put the bank application together and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, make an introduction, with the bank alone deciding whether to open an account.
Neither. Jersey is a Crown Dependency with its own company law, registry and tax authority, so a Jersey company is registered by the JFSC rather than by Companies House in the United Kingdom, and it sits outside the EU. EU directives therefore do not apply, and a Jersey company relies on the island’s own treaty list, which includes the United Kingdom, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus and Singapore.
Usually, since holding shares is not among the activities taxed at 10% or 20%. Two conditions apply. The company must not be centrally managed and controlled in a country taxing companies at 10% or more that treats it as resident. And because holding shares counts as a relevant activity for substance, in any year it earns income from its holdings the company must be directed and managed in Jersey.
Only once it is registered. Jersey has a goods and services tax at 5% rather than VAT, and registration becomes compulsory when taxable supplies reach, or are expected to reach, the £300,000 threshold in 12 months; below it, registration is optional. Banks, trust company businesses, funds and other companies whose services are not linked to consumption by Jersey residents may instead become International Services Entities, which are not registered for GST.
A Jersey Ltd is an ordinary private company with one pool of assets and liabilities, the form used for almost every holding, family or trading company. A protected cell company is a single legal person whose assets and liabilities are divided into cells kept apart from each other, which suits funds and insurance, and it needs a regulated provider for its administration.
Deciding whether Jersey suits your structure? Tell us what the company will hold or trade and where its owners and directors live, and we will say which Jersey rules apply, from the nominated person to substance. We also reply on Telegram and WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166.