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In Seychelles the offshore company is the International Business Company (IBC) under the International Business Companies Act 2016. Its register is kept by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), whose chief executive is the Registrar of International Business Companies. Owners abroad use the IBC for holding and for business outside the islands; a business operating in Seychelles is normally a company under the Companies Act 1972.
Offshore no longer means outside tax. An IBC pays business tax on income from Seychelles sources like any other company, and an IBC that belongs to a multinational group can be taxed on foreign income as well unless it meets the conditions in the table below. Some activities are closed to an IBC or need a licence first: banking business is barred anywhere, insurance, securities and corporate services in Seychelles need the matching licence, and virtual asset services in or from Seychelles need a licence under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2024.
| Form | Law and register | Who uses it | Point to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Business Company | IBC Act 2016; FSA | Owners abroad, for holding and business outside Seychelles | Limited by shares, by guarantee or both; may also be a protected cell or limited life company |
| Company under the Companies Act 1972 | Registrar of Companies | A business run in the islands | Listed in the Seychelles Business Register |
| Company with a Special Licence (CSL) | Companies (Special Licences) Act 2003 | Once chosen for a 1.5% concessionary rate that no longer exists | Taxed at the general rates since 1 July 2021 (FSA Circular No. 7 of 2021) |
How an IBC is registered, and what the agent files, is on our page on Seychelles company registration.
| Tax | Position |
|---|---|
| Business tax on Seychelles-source income | 15% on the first SCR 1,000,000 of taxable income and 25% on the remainder; 25% and 33% for banks, insurers, telecommunications providers and makers of alcohol and tobacco |
| Foreign income of an IBC outside a multinational group | Not Seychelles income |
| Foreign income of an IBC in a multinational group | Business income is taxable unless it is earned through a permanent establishment outside Seychelles; foreign dividends, interest, rents and gains on shares are exempt only with adequate economic substance in Seychelles |
| VAT | Standard rate of 15% on goods and services sold in Seychelles |
| Stamp duty | IBC instruments, share transfers among them, are exempt unless Seychelles land is involved |
The source rule dates from the rewrite of section 5 of the Business Tax Act with effect from 15 September 2021, and the group rule sits in the Act’s Eleventh Schedule; a Seychelles holding company with a subsidiary abroad and an IBC owned by a foreign parent are typical group members. An IBC therefore pays no Seychelles tax only where it has no Seychelles-source income and, if it belongs to a group, meets those conditions.
One member and one director, each an individual or a company of any nationality and residence, are enough, and the Act requires no company secretary. The IBC must at all times have a registered agent licensed by the FSA under the International Corporate Service Providers Act, whose office in Seychelles is the registered office, and only that agent deals with the Registrar. Bearer shares are prohibited.
Beneficial owners are identified from a 10% holding of shares or votes, well below the 25% used in many other places, plus anyone who controls the company by other means. The register sits at the agent’s office and is uploaded to the database of the Financial Intelligence Unit. It is not public: Seychelles authorities can require it, and Seychelles banks and licensed service providers may be given access for their customer checks. The register of directors, by contrast, is filed with the Registrar, and from 1 January 2027 current directors are named in the Register and in certificates of official search. A nominee director or nominee shareholder may lawfully come only from a holder of an FSA international corporate services licence, because serving in those roles for an IBC in or from Seychelles is a licensed service, so that is the only source we use; the nominee director owes the full duties of section 144 of the Act, and both registers and the beneficial ownership annex name the nominee and the person behind them, which keeps you on file as beneficial owner.
Accounts do not reach a public file: the general annual return was repealed in 2021 and filing financial statements is optional.
The IBC Act does not require an account in Seychelles, and the seven commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Seychelles publish checklists written for businesses that operate in the islands, with a licence, a local address and a tax registration. Seychelles has no deposit insurance scheme, only a statutory preference for small deposits if a bank is wound up, and some payment platforms abroad do not accept Seychelles companies. Companies offered with an account already open are not readily available in Seychelles, as in most Indian Ocean and Caribbean offshore jurisdictions. See bank accounts for Seychelles companies.
A new IBC is the natural choice when you want to set the name, the capital and the articles yourself; the checks the agent runs on you are the same on either route. See registering a Seychelles IBC.
A ready made or readymade IBC fits when a counterparty or a platform asks how long the company has existed. Its registers, half-yearly record lodgements and yearly beneficial ownership reviews must be complete, because the buyer takes over any gap. See Seychelles shelf company and our guide to aged shelf companies.
We form Seychelles IBCs and supply ready made ones. We prepare the documents and register updates that the licensed registered agent files, help you assemble a bank application and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, introduce you, with the bank alone deciding on any account.
It lost its tax advantages. The 1.5% business tax concession and the withholding tax exemption for companies with a Special Licence were repealed with effect from 1 January 2019. Licences granted on or before 16 October 2017 kept them only until 30 June 2021, and from 1 July 2021 no CSL has any concession, as FSA Circular No. 7 of 2021 confirms. Every CSL is now taxed at the general rates of the Business Tax Act.
Act 13 of 2026 requires the first directors to be appointed within 30 days of incorporation, requires nominee directors to be entered as such in the register of directors by 31 December 2026, and from 1 January 2027 puts the name and appointment date of each current director in the Register and in every certificate of official search. Members and beneficial owners stay off the public file unless the company chooses to file its register of members.
The FSA registers IBCs and licenses the corporate service providers that act as their registered agents. The Registrar of Companies handles companies under the Companies Act 1972, the Seychelles Revenue Commission collects business tax and VAT, the Financial Intelligence Unit holds the beneficial ownership database and the Central Bank of Seychelles licenses banks. For an IBC, only the registered agent may file documents with the Registrar.
Not on its incorporation alone. Section 5 of the IBC Act allows an IBC to provide virtual asset services in or from Seychelles only if it is licensed under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2024, so the licence has to be obtained for the activity. Banking business is barred to an IBC anywhere, and insurance and securities business in Seychelles need their own licences in the same way.
Seychelles has about 28 double taxation agreements in force, mostly with African, Asian and Gulf partners, and about 11 information exchange agreements. Treaty benefits depend on Seychelles tax residence and real substance, which an IBC managed from abroad will find hard to show. Seychelles is outside the EU and the EEA, so the EU directives on dividends, interest and royalties do not apply to it.
Not sure whether a Seychelles IBC fits your structure? Tell us whether it will belong to a group, where its income will arise and who will own it, through our contact page or on Telegram or WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166, and we will explain how the source and group rules would apply.