Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and headland, on Spain's south coast and overlooking the strait to Africa. It’s dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 426m-high limestone ridge.

Here, the sub -tropical climate is warm and welcoming throughout the year. There are on average 300 days of sunshine per annum.

It has an area of 6.7 km2 and is bordered to the north by Spain.

Gibraltar has know a very stable jurisdiction with an excellent reputation.

Population

The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

Language

The Gibraltar official language is English and Spanish is diversely used.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory. The British Nationality Act 1981 granted Gibraltarians full British citizenship. Under its current Constitution, Gibraltar has almost complete internal democratic self-government through an elected parliament.

The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor of Gibraltar. The Governor enacts day-to-day matters on the advice of the Gibraltar Parliament, but is responsible to the British Government in respect of defence, foreign policy, internal security and general good governance.

Gibraltar is part of the European Union, having joined through the European Communities Act 1972 (UK), as a dependent territory of the United Kingdom under what was then article 227(4) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community covering special member state territories, with exemption from some areas such as the European Union Customs Union, Common Agricultural Policy and the Schengen Area. It is the only British Overseas Territory which is part of the European Union.

Gibraltar has an attractive tax, regulatory and legal regime within the European Union which combined with its position as a leading European Finance Centre and Mediterranean lifestyle culminates in Gibraltar being regarded as an ideal location for international business.

Currency and exchange control

The official currency is sterling (GBP) and there are no exchange controls.

Financial services industry

Today Gibraltar's economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, and cargo ship refuelling services.

Gibraltar has an attractive tax, regulatory and legal regime within the European Union which combined with its position as a leading European Finance Centre and Mediterranean lifestyle culminates in Gibraltar being regarded as an ideal location for international business.

The Financial Services Commission Act 1989 established the Financial Services Commission (FSC) as part of the system set up to supervise and control financial service providers in Gibraltar. The FSC is the central supervisory body for all of Gibraltar’s financial services including banking and insurance.

Read more:

• Gibraltar merchant account
• Open bank account in Gibraltar

Type of Company/Corporation: To Incorporate a company in Gibraltar company law must be followed through the legislation The Gibraltar Companies Act 2014.

We are provide a Incorporation Services for many Gibraltar companies with the type of Private Limited Company (Ltd).

Business Restriction

Gibraltar Private Companies cannot trade within Gibraltar or remit income to Gibraltar if the Company is to retain its Non-Resident status for tax purposes. A Non-Resident company cannot undertake the business of banking, deposit taking, insurance, assurance, reinsurance, fund management, asset management, or any other activity associated with the finance industry.

The list of such business activities that both FAC and FAT consider as unacceptable and therefore shall not entertain are:

• Dealing in medications, pharmaceuticals, health products or related products;
• Pornography, adult content material;
• Dating agencies, contact web sites;
• Dealing in arms or arms parts that may be used in weapons production (including chemicals);
• Timeshare;
• Travel Agencies;
• Gaming, gambling, lotteries and raffles;
• Financial services, financing, leasing;
• Any form of unregulated business related to the taking of investments, eg. Binary Option Trading;
• Parallel trading;
• Tobacco, wines and spirits;
• Mercenary or contract soldiering;
• Security and riot control equipment, or any device that could lead to the abuse of human rights or be utilised for torture;
• Technical surveillance or bugging equipment;
• Industrial espionage;
• Dangerous or hazardous biological, chemical or nuclear materials;
• Trading in human or animal organs;
• Adoption agencies;
• Pyramid selling schemes;
• Religious cults or their charities;
• Clubs, Associations, Federations, NGO’s, etc;
• Private educational establishments, eg: Academies or Universities;
• Generic web-hosting services for multiple undefined activities;
• Call-centre marketing services for undefined products or services, or “boiler room” enterprises;
• Abortion or assisted suicide clinics.

Company Name Restriction: Gibraltar company name can be in any language, as long as the relevant translation is approved first.

(1) No company shall be registered by a name:

• which does not include the word “limited” or the abbreviation;
• which is the same as the name appearing in the Registrar’s index of company names;
• the use of which by the company would in the opinion of the Registrar constitute a criminal offence;
• which in the opinion of the Registrar is offensive; or
• which contains the words “Chamber of Commerce”.

(2) Except with the consent of the Minister no company shall be registered by a name which contains the words “Royal” or “Imperial” or “Empire” or “Windsor” or “Crown” or “Municipal” or “Chartered”or “co-operative” or in the opinion of the Registrar suggests, the patronage of Her Majesty

Company Information privacy: Company details can be disclosed even if the company is limited by shares. The names of company officers appear on public record. Nominee officers can be used to avoid the client's name appearing.

Just 4 simple steps are given to incorporate a Gibraltar Company so easily:

• Step 1: Select basic Resident/Founder nationality information and other additional services which you want (if any).
• Step 2: Register or login and fill in the company names and director/ shareholder(s) and fill in billing address and special request (if any).
• Step 3: Choose your payment method (We accept payment by Credit/Debit Card, PayPal or Wire Transfer).
• Step 4: You will receive soft copies of necessary documents including: Certificate of Incorporation, Business Registration, Memorandum and Articles of Association, etc. Then, your new company in a Gibraltar is ready to do business. You can bring the documents in company kit to open corporate bank account or we can help you with our long experience of Banking support service.

* These documents required to Incorporate Gibraltar company:

• Passport of each shareholder/beneficial owner and director;
• Proof of residential address of each director and shareholder (Must be in English or certified translation version);
• The proposed company names;
• The issued share capital and par value of shares.

Read more:

• Gibraltar company formation
• Gibraltar virtual office

Capital

The standard share capital is GBP 2,000. There is no minimum share capital, and the authorised share capital may be expressed in any currency.

Share

Authorised nominal share capital. Gibraltar companies will not be designed to accommodate bearer shares.

Director

Only one director of any nationality is required for your Gibraltar company.

Shareholder

A minimum of one shareholder of any nationality is required. The shareholder can be an individual or a corporation.

Beneficial Owner

The information of beneficial owner have been supplied to the Companies House.

Corporation tax in Gibraltar

If no profit is accrued or derived from Gibraltar, the tax rate is 0%. If any profit, however, is accrued or derived from Gibraltar, the tax rate is 10%.

Finance statement

All companies incorporated in Gibraltar are required to produce and file certain accounting information at Companies House whether they have an activity or not.

The annual return is a statutory form companies registered in Gibraltar need to file with Companies House, it is a requirement under the Gibraltar Companies Act.

Local Agent: All Gibraltar companies must appoint a Company Secretary, who may be an individual or corporate body.

Double Taxation Agreements: There are no double tax agreements between Gibraltar and any other country. However, a Gibraltar resident who is in receipt of income which is liable to tax in Gibraltar that is derived from and has already suffered tax in any other jurisdiction, shall be entitled to double taxation relief in Gibraltar in respect of that income of an amount equal to the tax already deducted or the Gibraltar tax, whichever is less.

License Fee & Levy:

• First year government filing fees.

Starting from the second and each following year. All renewals include:

• Government fees. (Payable annually)
• Registered Agent fee. (Payable annually)
• Registered Office. (Payable annually)

Business License

All companies incorporated in Gibraltar must have a Tax Identification Number, whether Resident or non-Resident, Trading or Dormant.

Without a TIN, accounts cannot be filed, and therefore the company will incur significant penalties, and the company will not be in good standing.

Companies House is also the Registrar in Gibraltar of business license in the following:

• Business Names and Domain Names
• Trade Marks
• Patents
• Limited Partnerships
• European Economic Interest Groupings
• Trusts
• Societas Europea

Penalty

Once the company has been incorporated, it has up to 18 months to choose a Financial Year end (taxation period). After the end of the Financial Year End, the company has 13 months to file the accounts every year. Should this not occur, an initial £50 penalty will be issued and six months thereafter a further penalty of £100 will be incurred against the company should the entity have not complied with regulations. Company accounts need to be filed up-to-date for all companies, should they have any activity or not.