Services · Company formation

How to set up a limited company in Gibraltar

Updated 29 September 2026

15% on profits, but only on profits earned in Gibraltar itself. The state registration fee is £100 and it normally takes 3 working days. We cover company types, director and secretary rules, taxes, licensing, filings and the link with the HEPSS and Category 2 regimes.

Is it worth setting up a company in Gibraltar

Gibraltar taxes company profits at 15%, and only the profits earned by work done in the territory itself. In neighbouring Spain and in the UK it is 25%, so a business that genuinely operates on the Rock saves 10 percentage points on every pound of profit.

Two years ago the gap was wider. On 1 July 2024 the rate rose from 12.5% to 15%, and from 1 January 2026 Cyprus raised its own rate to the same 15%. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man still charge most companies 0%.

The main trap is the principle of income accrued in and derived from Gibraltar. Gibraltar does not tax profits from work done outside the territory, but if the company is run from, say, Spain or Russia, that country's tax authority may treat the profit as its own.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory with English-based law, outside the EU since Brexit. The Gibraltar pound is at par with sterling; at the ECB rate, £1 is about €1.16 or $1.33.

It suits businesses with an office and staff on the Rock, licensed firms (online gambling, DLT, insurance), holding companies (dividends received and capital gains are not taxed) and people relocating under the HEPSS or Category 2 tax regimes. It does not suit anyone looking for a company with no people and no tax anywhere, or Spanish residents who own or run the company: if they control most of the shares or make up most of its effective management, the 2019 agreement treats the company as tax resident in Spain only.

What types of company can you set up in Gibraltar

For a foreign entrepreneur the choice is almost always the same: a private company limited by shares, governed by the Companies Act 2014. Its name must end in Limited or Ltd.

What an Ltd needs by law.

• Director: at least one (section 215), no residence requirement, and a company can act as director.
• Secretary: mandatory (section 216), and a sole director cannot also be the secretary.
• Registered office: in Gibraltar from day one (section 178); a change of address must be notified to Companies House within 30 days.
• Shareholder: one is enough, an individual or a company from any country.
• Capital: no minimum for a private company; £10 stamp duty is paid on the share capital at incorporation.

Can it all be done remotely? Yes. The Government of Gibraltar states that only licensed persons may form and manage companies by way of business. A licensed provider checks the owner's documents and files them, and the law requires no personal visit. You may still need to travel for the bank, an office or a tax status.

How to register a company in Gibraltar: steps, timeline, fees

Registration itself is cheap and fast: a £100 state fee and, according to the Government of Gibraltar, normally 3 working days. Owner checks and documents from abroad take longer.

Companies House fees have applied since 1 August 2025 (Legal Notice 211 of 2025, the government fee order).

Worked example. Mandatory state payments in year one with standard incorporation: £100 + £10 = £110 (about €128). In later years, the annual return plus filing accounts: £103 + £26 = £129. Most of the budget goes on the licensed provider, secretary, registered office and accounting; we quote the cost of our support after reviewing the documents.

What corporate tax does a Gibraltar company pay

In 2026 Gibraltar's main corporate tax rate is 15%. According to the Income Tax Office, it was 10% until 1 August 2021, then 12.5%, and 15% from 1 July 2024 (Rates of Tax (Amendment) Rules 2024). Since 2021 the rate has risen by half.

Gibraltar residents pay tax on dividends only to the extent the company's underlying income was taxable in Gibraltar.

When to pay. Two payments on account, on 28 February and 30 September, with the balance due alongside the CT1 return 9 months after the end of the month in which the accounting period ends.

Worked example. A consulting company earns £200,000 of profit, with its director and team working from an office in Gibraltar. Tax is £30,000 (about €35,000), and dividends go to a non-resident owner with no withholding. If the same work is done entirely from another country, Gibraltar collects nothing, and the question moves to the tax authority where the people work. For comparison, see taxes in Cyprus.

When profits are taxed in Gibraltar: licences, substance and Spain

Where a profit arises depends not on the client's address or the bank, but on where the work is done, as section 74 of the Income Tax Act 2010 says directly.

Licensed businesses pay on all their profit. The same section 74 deems an activity to take place in Gibraltar if it requires a local licence: all the profit is taxed at 15%, wherever the clients are (activity of the company's branches abroad is the exception). The three main sectors:

• Online gambling. The new Gambling Act 2025 has applied since 1 April 2026, replacing the 2005 Act. Advertising and marketing services for gambling are now regulated activities too.
• DLT (distributed ledger technology, the basis of blockchain). Storing or transmitting value belonging to others using DLT requires a licence from the GFSC (Gibraltar Financial Services Commission). The regime dates from January 2018; today's Financial Services (DLT Providers and VAA Providers) Regulations 2020 set 10 principles for licensees, including adequate resources and protection of client assets.
• Insurance. Insurers also need GFSC authorisation under the Financial Services Act 2019, including those using protected cell companies (PCC).

Substance, meaning real presence, is tested for an ordinary company through the same principle. With an office, a director and staff on the Rock, profit is taxed at 15% and the company can more easily show it operates in Gibraltar. Without them, Gibraltar will not tax the profit, but will not shield it from your home tax authority either.

A separate rule for Spanish residents. The UK-Spain tax agreement on Gibraltar, signed on 4 March 2019, treats a Gibraltar company as resident in Spain only if any one of these conditions is met:

• most of its assets are located in Spain;
• most of its income in a calendar year comes from Spanish sources;
• most of the people in charge of its effective management are Spanish tax residents;
• most of its capital or voting rights are directly or indirectly controlled by Spanish tax residents.

So an entrepreneur living in or moving to Spain will not swap the Spanish 25% for 15% through a Gibraltar company.

What filings a company makes and whether it needs an audit

A Gibraltar company reports to Companies House, the Income Tax Office and the beneficial ownership register, and a large company filing its tax return late can be fined up to £5,000.

Is an audit required? The threshold is set by section 30 of the Income Tax Act 2010. If a company's assessable income (income taxable in Gibraltar) for the year is £1,750,000 or more, the tax return must be accompanied by audited accounts. Below that, accounts with an independent accountant's report (from an accountant approved under the Income Tax Act) are enough. Section 259 of the Companies Act 2014 likewise exempts small companies from audit where tax law does not require one.

The beneficial ownership register runs under the Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners, Nominators and Appointors Regulations 2017. A beneficial owner is a person who directly or indirectly owns more than 25% of the company or otherwise controls it. The register is not fully private: any member of the public can request the owner's name, month and year of birth, nationality, country of residence and the nature of their interest, and the Registrar may tell the owner about the request.

Company and relocation: HEPSS and Category 2

Gibraltar's strongest argument is not the company's tax but its executive's: under HEPSS a senior manager pays no more than £39,940 of income tax a year, whatever the salary. The application comes from the employing company or public body, not the person.

HEPSS (High Executive Possessing Specialist Skills) is set out in rules dating from 2008. The conditions:

• a senior executive post and earnings in Gibraltar of more than £160,000 a year;
• skills unavailable locally that matter for the economy;
• approved accommodation in Gibraltar for the exclusive use of the person and their family;
• no work or residence in Gibraltar in the previous 36 months (the minister may waive this).

Tax is calculated on exactly £160,000, and the rest of the income from that post is not taxed. The application fee has been £1,264 since 1 August 2026. The minister decides, and there is no automatic right to the status.

Category 2 is a regime for wealthy people who do not need to work locally. Income tax rates apply only to the first £118,000 of income, with a minimum tax of £37,000 a year. On 22 June 2026 the application fee rose from £1,233 to £5,000. A Gibraltar company is not required for this status.

Both regimes grant a tax status; the right to live in the territory is obtained separately. For family wealth there is a trust and a private foundation, compared in our guide to Gibraltar trusts and foundations in 2026.

Bank accounts and Russian and Belarusian citizens

Registering a Gibraltar company follows set timelines and fees; opening a bank account does not. The bank runs its own checks and decides for itself: registration at Companies House does not oblige it to open an account for a new company.

The realistic order is a clear business model and source-of-funds documents first, then the company, then the bank. Companies with an office, staff or clients in Gibraltar and owners with resident status have better chances. Companies with no local presence may consider an account with a payment or e-money institution in the UK or the EU. More in business accounts in Gibraltar and personal accounts in Gibraltar.

Russian and Belarusian citizens. The Companies Act 2014 places no nationality restrictions on founders. The limits come from sanctions: under the Sanctions Act 2019, UN, EU and UK sanctions apply automatically in Gibraltar, and where UK and EU measures differ, the UK ones take precedence. Both the UK and the EU have separate sanctions regimes for Russia and Belarus.

For someone not on a sanctions list this is not a ban but enhanced due diligence. The provider and the bank screen every owner and director and look closely at the source of funds, business links to Russia or Belarus and tax residence. Refusals can come without reasons, so gather evidence of income and tax residence outside Russia or Belarus in advance.

What we do

• we look at your goals and say plainly if Gibraltar is the wrong fit and Cyprus, Malta or the UK would work better;
• we prepare the owner due diligence pack, memorandum and articles, plus translations and apostilles;
• we file with Companies House through a licensed partner and follow the process through to the certificate;
• we arrange the registered office and company secretary through a partner licensed in Gibraltar;
• we file beneficial ownership details and track annual return deadlines;
• we bring in Murblz accounting and tax specialists for the tax return, accounts and the independent accountant's report;
• we prepare the compliance pack for the bank and support the account opening;
• we connect the company with your relocation: HEPSS, Category 2, a trust or a private foundation.

Under Gibraltar law only licensed persons may form and manage companies by way of business, so these steps and any legal representation are handled by our partners with a local licence. Other countries are covered under company formation and company registration abroad.

Fees

See also

Business account · Personal account · Investment property

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