Popular countries for the formation of a legally tax exempt company in 2024

Dubai

  • Dubai, has become one of the most important international hubs to conduct international trade especially connecting Europe, Africa and Middle Eastern markets. Unlike the mainland LLCs, Dubai offshore companies do not require to form a joint venture with a local nor appoint one as resident director;
  • Dubai offshore companies can be registered in 3 weeks, however these are slightly more expensive to set up and to maintain. For further information on Dubai, please visit this Dubai offshore page or UAE offshore page.

Singapore

  • Singapore is amongst the best jurisdictions to form a legally tax exempt company, thanks to a business friendly taxation system and an excellent compliance track record of the Singapore authorities as acknowledged by the FATF. Singapore also benefits from an extensive network of double taxation avoidance tax treaties;
  • One peculiarity of Singapore non resident companies is that only income not remitted from Singapore is legally tax exempt in the country, hence the need to open a corporate bank account outside of the country. For further information on Singapore, visit this Singapore offshore page.

Hong Kong

  • Hong Kong companies benefit from a territorial tax system, by which earnings sourced from outside of Hong Kong are legally tax exempt in Hong Kong. Consequently, Hong Kong has become the major hub for corporations willing to do business in Asia-Pacific and is notably used to trade with mainland China businesses;
  • The main inconvenient of Hong Kong is that all banks in this territory require directors and bank signatories to travel for corporate bank account opening. For further information on Hong Kong, please visit this Hong Kong offshore page.

Labuan

  • Labuan, a federal territory of Malaysia, has recently emerged as a finance and banking hub competing with Singapore for the attraction of foreign investment;
  • While Labuan is less reputed than Singapore, Labuan international business companies have the advantage of being able to access double taxation avoidance treaties, which make them good holding vehicles. For further information on Labuan, please visit this Labuan offshore page.

Jordan

  • Jordan, one of the most stable countries in the Middle East, also provides international business companies. Unlike Dubai, the types of activities which a Jordan offshore company can conduct are broad and follow business friendly regulations for foreign investors;
  • Such type of business entity is hence a good vehicle to trade with Middle Eastern customers, or to raise equity in this region. For further information on Jordan, please visit this Jordan offshore page.

Jersey

  • Jersey is the most popular place to form a legally tax exempt in Europe. While business setup is easy, corporate bank account opening in Jersey is not: the local monetary authority implements stringent AML/CFT controls and offshore companies willing to open a corporate bank account in Jersey are often required to appoint a local as resident bank signatory;
  • Consequently, we usually suggest our Clients to open the account of their company outside of Jersey. For further information on Jersey, kindly visit this Jersey offshore page;

Cayman Islands

  • Cayman Islands is the most reputable of the Caribbean jurisdictions providing offshore business entities. Such entities are however expensive to setup and expensive to maintain;
  • They however benefit from the absence of publicly available company records and are hence good entities for multinationals and financial services Firms in need of a holding vehicle. For further information on the Cayman Islands, please refer to this Cayman Islands page.

Below is a summary of company setup costs and engagement timeframes for the abovementioned offshore jurisdictions:

Singapore Hong Kong Labuan Jordan Dubai Jersey Cayman Islands
Engagement cost US$13,223 US$10,105 US$18,800 US$31,445 US$17,400 £13,230 US$17,522
Engagement timeframe 13 weeks 8 weeks 12 weeks 15 weeks 14 weeks 10 weeks 9 weeks

Contact us

For additional information on our offshore company registration services, please contact our in-house country expert, Mr. Kunal Fabiani, directly:
client relationship officer - Kunal
joint research centre for EU offshore authorities group RAK offshore - a complete offshore business and financial center OECD better policies for better lives