Gibraltar

General data
Gibraltar is located in the southern part of Spain and is situated on the territory under the influence of Great Britain. Legislative drafting of Gibraltar is based on the law of England. Gibraltar has special economic status in the European Union and therefore it is released from general customs duties, there is no VAT. Official language – English. Monetary unit – pound sterling.

Taxation
Annual payments and taxes depend on type of a company.

• Gibraltar Tax Exempt Company: a company, which is registered in Gibraltar, whose owners are non-residents of Gibraltar and which does not perform transactions with other companies or persons registered in Gibraltar, may apply for acquiring the “tax-exempt” status in Gibraltar. Such companies are exempted from taxes for 25 years on condition that company accepts the terms of exemption and pays annual tax to the government in amount of 225 £.
• Gibraltar non-resident company: a company, which is registered in Gibraltar, whose owners are non-residents and which is managed by directors living in Gibraltar (hold their meetings accordingly in Gibraltar). Non-resident company may be fully exempted from a corporate tax on condition that it does not have bank accounts in Gibraltar.
• Gibraltar qualifying company: this type of company is similar to the tax exempt company, but in order not to be known as the company not paying taxes, it may freely choose the amount of taxes between 2 and 35%. Qualifying company is useful if it is necessary to show that established minimal tax rate has been paid to get reduction of tax rate in some other country.
• Gibraltar holding company: this type of company may be practically useful for natural and legal persons of non-EU countries, who want to receive income from dividends. Holding company pays taxes in amount of 35% from all income, except from dividends. Dividends received from a holding company are levied by 1% if they were obtained outside Gibraltar. Dividends are not levied by tax in case dividend is internal, obtained in Gibraltar.

Contracts made to avoid double taxation
Not available.

Legislation related to entrepreneurship
Companies Ordinance Act of Great Britain 1984, adopted in 1929, including amendments.

Types of companies
Types of company for international trade and investment:
• Non-resident Company
• Exempt Company
• Qualifying Company
• Holding Company

Fixed capital of a company
Fixed capital of a company is declared, there are no requirements for obligatory payment of capital and minimum and maximum limit of the capital.

Permitted field of activities
Commercial activity within Gibraltar is forbidden for a tax exempt company. Bank services, insurance services and reassurance services and also offer of  trust services is licensed.

State annual fee
Tax Exempt Company – 225 £

Founders of a company
There must be at least 1 (one) shareholder in a company. Company should be registered by the registered agents, who have a lawful license for such activity. Anonymity of shareholders may be guaranteed through the appointment of nominal shareholders.

Requirements to a business name
Business name of a company may be in any language. Name cannot be identical to already existing name. The following words or words arising thereof cannot be used in a name of a company: Association, Royal, Imperial. In case the name contains the following words: Bank, Assurance, Trust, Trustee, Group, Europe, International – special permit or license is required.

Directors of a company
Minimum required number of directors is 1 (one). Besides, corporate directors are permitted. Directors may have any citizenship. Anonymity of directors may be guaranteed through the appointment of nominal directors.

Secretary of a company
Obligatory (must be the resident of Gibraltar).

Meeting of shareholders/ directors
Meeting of shareholders/ directors may take place in any state but not less than 1 (once) annually.

Registered office
Company must have the registered office address in Gibraltar.

Period of registration of a company
2 (two) weeks.

Presentation and audit of financial and annual statements
Annual statement must include detailed information about directors and shareholders of a company. Tax exempt and non-resident companies must not present a public statement, qualifying and holding companies must make and present an auditor’s report to the Tax Board. Limited Liability Companies must conduct audit. Deadline of presenting reporting – 13 months after the end of the accounting year. Small enterprises may present only financial report instead of auditor’s report. Company is considered as small if number of its employees do not exceed 50, turnover does not exceed 4,8 million £ or if aggregated balance sheet (assets + profit) within the financial year does not exceed 2,4 million £.

Documents kept in a registered office
List of shareholders and directors.

Information about a company, which is available for the third persons
Names and addresses of shareholders, registered agents and registered offices, documents related to the registration of a company (memorandum and Articles of Association).