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The description of corporate structures and prices quoted below is serving as a general guide and may be subject to the most recent changes of the legislation in various jurisdictions. We invite you to contact us for the latest update and free quotation.

COUNTRY: Jersey

Jersey Offshore Company – Exempt Company

The term 'offshore' is not used in Jersey legislation or in describing company forms. Non-residence is the key criterion for obtaining offshore tax treatment. The main forms useful for offshore operations in Jersey are the exempt company, the International Business Company, the Limited Partnership and the Trust.

Legal form: Jersey companies are limited by shares; there are no forms comparable to those of English companies limited by guarantee or unlimited companies. A private company is any company that is not a public company.

Name of the company: Jersey companies must use the suffix Limited or Ltd. to denote limited liability and can use any name unless it includes words such as Empire, Crown, Imperial, Windsor, Royal, Assurance, Bank, Building Society or any other words deemed sensitive or offensive. Special consent is required for names such as European or International.

Memorandum and Articles of Association:  To incorporate a Jersey company application must be made to The Financial Services Department. Memorandum and Articles of Association, statement of location of Registered Office and details of the first directors and shareholders must be lodged with the Department. Memorandum specifies the activities in which the company may engage and Articles of Association specifies the rules governing the internal management of the company.

Shareholders: There eed to be at least two shareholders, however, if the company is to be a wholly owned subsidiary only one shareholder is acceptable. Details of the beneficial owners of the company must be communicated to the Jersey authorities, but that information is protected by secrecy provisions. Details of shareholders appear on the public file, but anonymity can be preserved by the use of nominee shareholders. Bearer shares cannot be issued.

The share capital: Share capital in usually GBP10,000 or above and a capital duty of 0.5% is payable, minimum GBP 50 in any case.

Registered office and secretary: Every company, registered in Jersey is required to have a registered office and address in Jersey, which should be notified to the Registry. Jersey registered companies must also have secretary, who can be corporate or individual.

Exempt status: A private company limited by shares can apply to the Controller of Income Tax to be exempt; the application costs GBP600 and is subject to the following conditions (this is a simplified statement): Jersey residents must not have any direct interest in the shares of an exempt company, but may own shares in a company which does. The exempt company's beneficial owners must be disclosed to the Financial Services Commission. The company must not have failed to pay income or corporation tax in a previous year. The company must not have been exempt in a previous period separated from the current period by one year or more, unless there has been a substantial change of ownership. Exempt status is applied for each year and lasts for one year. The main advantage is that foreign income is untaxed.

Taxation: An exempt company is exempted from income tax on its non-Jersey source income. If exemption is granted such an exempt company is liable to pay a fixed tax currently set at GBP600 per annum. Such an exempt company may be managed and controlled in the Island. Similarly a company not incorporated on the island but managed and controlled on the Island may claim exemption from income tax on its profits but would be required to pay the exempt company tax of GBP600 per year. An exempt company will be liable to income tax on any income that is derived from a source within the Island, which is 20 %, with the exception of bank deposit interest.

Audit and financial returns: All Jersey registered companies must file annual returns showing details of shareholders and directors. An exempt company is not required to file annual accounts - only such information as is necessary to quantify Jersey sources of income.

Meetings: Company meetings need not be held in Jersey.

Time needed for formation: Usually it is 1-2 weeks.

In order to proceed with the formation of the Jersey exempt company please visit our  how do I start  page and then proceed to  filling in our application form