Setting up an Anguilla Company Formation

Thinking about going offshore but tired of the paperwork? Anguilla may be your answer. This Caribbean island lets you form a business company in about a day through a fully electronic registry. You pay no corporate tax, no income tax and no capital gains tax there. Your directors and shareholders stay off the public record. And the annual fees are among the lowest of the major offshore jurisdictions. Here is how Anguilla company formation works today — including the 2022 law change most guides still get wrong.

You might also want to read the Anguilla LLC Company Formation page

First, the Thing Most Anguilla Guides Get Wrong

The Anguilla IBC no longer exists as a separate structure.

The Business Companies Act 2022 (Act No. 2/2022) repealed and replaced three older statutes at once: the Companies Act, the International Business Companies Act, and the Protected Cell Companies Act. What people still call an Anguilla IBC is now simply an Anguilla Business Company.

You will still see "IBC" everywhere online, including on pages updated this year. The name stuck. The statute did not. Everything below reflects the 2022 Act as published by the Anguilla Commercial Registry.

Why Choose an Anguilla Offshore Company?

Most offshore islands make you choose: low cost or good reputation. Anguilla gives you both.

Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the eastern Caribbean, running on English Common Law with local statutes. Here is what you get:

• Zero direct taxation. No corporate tax. No income tax. No capital gains tax. No estate, gift or inheritance tax.
• Privacy. Registers of members and directors are held by your registered agent, not filed publicly. Only members and directors may inspect them, and directors can restrict even that.
• Speed. Incorporation runs through the Commercial Registry Electronic System (CRES), open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from anywhere in the world.
• One person is enough. A private limited company needs just one director and one member — and they can be the same person, of any nationality, resident anywhere.
• Flexible ownership. Both individuals and corporate entities can serve as directors or shareholders.
• Full legal capacity. Your company has the full rights, powers and privileges of an individual, and can be re-domiciled abroad.
• Reserve directors. A sole owner-director can nominate a reserve director who takes office automatically on their death.

What People Use an Anguilla Company For

• Offshore savings and investments
• E-commerce and online company trading
• Holding company
• Asset protection company
• International trading
• Financial management
• Captive insurance and money services businesses (licence required)

What Type of Company Should You Form in Anguilla?

Picking the right type of company sets your liability and your filing duties. Section 4 of the Act gives you five:

1. A company limited by shares — the one most people want.
2. A company limited by guarantee, not authorised to issue shares.
3. A company limited by guarantee, authorised to issue shares.
4. An unlimited company, not authorised to issue shares.
5. An unlimited company, authorised to issue shares.

Two specialist variants sit on top: a restricted purposes company (locked to stated purposes, useful for holding IP — and only registrable as such on the day of incorporation), and a segregated portfolio company, which needs Commission approval first.

Anguilla also offers separate vehicles under their own statutes:

• Anguilla LLC — under the Limited Liability Company Act. Strong limited liability protection, good when you have partners. Anguilla LLCs stayed outside the 2022 consolidation.
• Limited Partnership — under the Limited Partnership Act.

Key Corporate Features

What Are the Requirements in Anguilla?

Good news: the list is short.

You cannot file on your own. Under section 5, only your proposed registered agent may apply to incorporate. That agent must hold a licence, must have a physical address on the island, and provides your registered office. Filing runs through CRES, which replaced the older ACORN system in April 2022.

To start your company incorporation, you send us:

• Your proposed company name
• A physical address
• A valid passport
• A character reference

Your Articles must state the company name, which of the five types it is, the address of the first registered office, the name of the first registered agent, and — if it can issue shares — the maximum number of shares and the classes. Your by-laws are prepared alongside but are not filed on CRES. The Registrar then allots a company number and issues your certificate of incorporation, which is conclusive evidence that the company exists.

There are no residency requirements for directors or members. Section 104 does disqualify anyone who is under 18, an undischarged bankrupt, convicted of fraud or dishonesty in connection with running a company, declared of unsound mind, or under a disqualification order. A director must consent in writing before taking office.

How Does the Anguilla Registration Process Work?

Five steps. One business day.

1. Step 1 — We secure your company name with the Registry. You can reserve a name for 90 days.
2. Step 2 — We prepare your Articles and by-laws.
3. Step 3 — We file for company registration through CRES and appoint your first directors.
4. Step 4 — We prepare the KYC and AML documents needed to open a corporate bank account.
5. Step 5 — We deliver your certificate of incorporation.

Want the detail? Read our guide on how to set up an Anguilla company.

Can You Open a Bank Account for an Anguilla Company?

Yes — and you are not limited to the island.

You can open an offshore bank account for your Anguilla company in dozens of countries. We have banking connections worldwide. The right bank depends on you. Some want an in-person visit, higher capital, deeper due diligence and references. Others keep it light.

One warning from the market: not every bank is eager to take on a company from a classic offshore centre, and Anguilla's EU listing (below) makes that harder, not easier. Account opening is a conversation, not a form. Get in touch and we will match you to the right institution.

Taxation: What Do You Actually Pay?

On Anguilla, nothing — provided you do not trade there.

Anguilla applies no direct taxation to companies or individuals. Your offshore company in Anguilla is exempt from corporate tax, income tax, capital gains tax, withholding tax, inheritance tax, gift tax and estate tax.

Three things to know, because rival pages get these wrong:

• "No VAT" is out of date. Anguilla introduced a 13% Goods and Services Tax on 1 July 2022, replaced on 1 August 2025 by a General Services Tax at the same 13% rate, with a registration threshold of XCD 300,000 in annual turnover. It bites on supplies made in Anguilla. A non-resident business company making no local supplies does not register — but the island is no longer a no-consumption-tax jurisdiction.
• The 3% levy is payroll, not corporate. The Interim Stabilisation Levy — now the Universal Social Levy — is 3% on the gross wages of employees earning over EC$2,000 a month, matched by the employer. If your company has no Anguilla staff, it does not touch you. Competitor pages list it as "a form of income tax" without saying so.
• The 0.75% property tax is on land in Anguilla. Your company cannot own local real estate without a licence anyway.

No double tax treaties, but 16 tax information exchange agreements, CRS reporting since 2016, and FATCA under a Model 1B agreement. Anguilla is not a way to avoid tax at home. You still report to your own tax authority.

How Is Anguilla Company Formation Changing in 2026?

Anguilla's reputation, not its rules, is the story right now.

The stat. On 17 February 2026, the Council of the EU updated its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. Anguilla remained on Annex I — the blacklist — which now holds 10 jurisdictions: American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Panama, the Russian Federation, Turks and Caicos, the US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu and Viet Nam. Source: European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, 17 February 2026. Anguilla has been listed continuously since October 2022.

Two structural shifts sit alongside it. The 2022 Act brought economic substance into primary legislation at Part 18: companies file an economic substance return, the Registrar can demand further evidence, and financial penalties escalate for continuing non-compliance. The same Act killed bearer shares outright. Both moves point the same direction — Anguilla is buying transparency credit.

What 25 years of formation work tells us. Blacklisting rarely changes what a company can do. It changes who will bank it. In our experience the practical cost of an EU listing shows up months later, at the compliance desk of a European bank, not at the Registry. Clients who plan their banking before they incorporate almost never feel it. Clients who form first and ask about banking afterwards do.

What we expect next. The EU list is reviewed twice a year, and delistings have historically followed a positive supplementary review by the OECD Global Forum — that is the path Antigua and Barbuda and the Seychelles took off Annex II in February 2026. If Anguilla's exchange-of-information practice clears review, a move to Annex II is plausible. That is a reading of the trend, not a promise. Build your banking plan as if the listing stays.

Corporate Details

Anonymity, Confidentiality and Disclosure

An Anguilla company gives you real confidentiality — with one honest caveat. Registers of members and directors are kept at your registered agent's office, not published. Only directors and members may inspect them, and directors may refuse or limit a member's inspection where it would be contrary to the company's interests. Anguilla's confidentiality legislation carries significant penalties for unauthorised disclosure, and the High Court can order disclosure where illegal or wrongful activity is alleged.

The caveat: CRES includes a Beneficial Ownership Register. Your beneficial owner details are held there. It is not accessible to the public in the way European registers are, but licensed service providers with a qualifying legitimate interest can obtain information from it, and members of the public may apply to the Registrar to inspect it — the company is notified when they do. Privacy here is real but it is not secrecy.

Company Shares

Shares may be issued with or without par value, in any currency, redeemable, voting or non-voting, preferential or common, and in classes or series. Fractional, bonus, partly paid and nil paid shares are all permitted. Treasury shares are allowed up to 50% of a class.

Bearer shares are prohibited. Section 37 bars issuing a bearer share, converting a registered share into one, or exchanging a registered share for one. The penalty is a $10,000 fine. If a page still tells you Anguilla bearer shares are available with a custodian, it is describing the repealed IBC Act. Use nominee shareholder services instead — we provide them.

Required Capital

No minimum and no maximum share capital. One issued share is enough. Your Articles state the maximum number of shares you are authorised to issue, or that the number is unlimited. Note that authorising more than 50,000 shares generally moves you into a higher annual fee tier.

Directors

A private company needs one director; a public company needs three, two of whom must not be officers or employees. Directors may be individuals or corporate bodies of any nationality, resident anywhere. Your registered agent appoints the first directors on the day of incorporation. Where you change the register, you must notify your registered agent within 15 days.

Members

At least one member at all times. A shareholder may also be the director. Members' liability in a limited company is capped at any amount unpaid on their shares.

Company Meetings

Not mandatory. If held, anywhere in the world — a member is deemed present if participating by phone or electronic means and everyone can hear each other. Seven days' notice is the default. Written resolutions are permitted without notice.

Principal Corporate Legislation

• Anguilla Business Companies Act 2022 (Act No. 2/2022) — repealed and replaced the International Business Companies Act, the Companies Act and the Protected Cell Companies Act
• The Limited Liability Company Act
• The Limited Partnership Act
• The Trust Companies and Offshore Banking Act
• Commercial Registry and Beneficial Ownership Registration System Act and Regulations

Trading Restrictions

Banking, insurance, trust and company management services need the appropriate licence. So do money services businesses. A company may not own local real estate without permission, and licensed activities within Anguilla are regulated by the Financial Services Commission.

Exchange Controls

None. The US dollar circulates freely.

Powers of the Company

Full capacity to carry on any business and the full rights, powers and privileges of an individual. Directors may also transfer company assets into trust for the benefit of the company, its creditors or its members.

Registered Office and Records

A physical Anguilla address is required at all times. Your registered agent's office holds the Articles and by-laws, the register of members, the register of directors, and copies of everything filed with the Registrar in the last 6 years. Accounting records may sit elsewhere, but if they do, the registered office must hold accounts adequate to determine the company's position on a bi-annual basis, plus a written record of where the originals are. Records must be kept for 6 years.

Audit and Annual Reporting

No audit. No filing of accounts. The general annual returns obligation under s.114 applies only to an unlimited company not authorised to issue shares, which must file an annual return of its directors within the calendar quarter of its registration. Every relevant entity, however, files an economic substance declaration with the Registrar as part of its usual annual renewal, stating whether it conducts relevant activities and, if so, whether it meets the substance test. Reporting requirements here are light but they are not zero — that is the part most pages still get wrong.

Economic Substance

Part 18 of the Act. Relevant business activities include banking, insurance, fund management, financing and leasing, distribution and service centres, shipping, intellectual property, headquarters and holding business. Pure holding companies face a reduced test — broadly a registered office and local compliance. A company can be out of scope if it proves tax residence and substance in another jurisdiction.

Name Restrictions

Your name cannot undermine another enactment, duplicate or closely resemble a registered or reserved name, use a restricted word without the Registrar's written consent, or be one the Registrar considers offensive or objectionable. Restricted words are published in the Gazette after consultation with the Commission.

Language of Name

A company may hold additional foreign character names, but they need the Registrar's approval — this is not an unrestricted "any alphabet you like".

Permitted Limited Liability Suffixes

A limited company must end with Limited/Ltd, Corporation/Corp, Incorporated/Inc, Societe Anonyme/S.A., or Sociedad Anonima/S.A. An unlimited company ends with Unlimited/Unltd; a restricted purposes company with "spv limited"; a segregated portfolio company carries "spc". A company may also be named "Anguilla Company Number" plus its number.

Time Required to Form

1 business day with Offshore Protection. CRES operates 24/7, and the wider market generally quotes 2 to 3 business days.

Anguilla vs the British Virgin Islands and Cayman

Same benefits, smaller spotlight, lower bill.

Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands are all British Overseas Territories with English-law roots and no direct tax. The practical differences:

• Cost. Formation and maintenance in Anguilla generally run lower than the BVI.
• Privacy. In the BVI, registers of members are kept with the Registrar of Companies as well as the registered agent, and third parties can request information. In Anguilla the register stays with your agent.
• Penalties. Economic substance penalties are reported at roughly double the Anguilla level in the BVI.
• Reputation. The BVI holds the largest number of registered offshore corporations and the deeper bench of top-tier law firms. But note where each sits with the EU: as of February 2026 the BVI is on Annex II, the grey list, while Anguilla is on Annex I. On this measure the Virgin Islands currently look better to a bank.

The BVI also abolished the concept of issued share capital first; Anguilla and Cayman followed.

Anguilla Business Company Incorporation with Offshore Protection

One price. Everything in the box.

Your incorporation package includes:

1. Government Registration Fee (first year)
2. Registered Office Address (first year)
3. Registered Agent Services (first year)
4. Company Secretarial Maintenance
5. Certificate of Incorporation
6. Articles and By-laws
7. Appointment of 1st Directors
8. Consent Actions of the BOD
9. Share Certificates
10. Register of Directors
11. Register of Officers
12. Register of Members
13. FREE phone and/or email consultations

Market pricing for formation services runs from about USD $1,199 to USD $2,250 for the first year, with second-year renewal from about USD $1,900. 

Join thousands of clients who have used the Offshore Protection advantage for more than 25 years. Every offshore company formation product comes with free lawyer support for your day-to-day questions. Start your Anguilla incorporation today — with or without a bank account.

How Can Offshore Protection Help You?

Offshore Protection is a boutique consultancy that specialises in offshore solutions, creating bespoke global strategies using offshore companies, trusts and second citizenships so you can internationalize and diversify your business and assets.

We help you every step of the way, from start to finish, with a global team of dedicated consultants. Contact us to see how we can help you.

Anguilla Company Formation FAQs

• Can a foreigner start a business in Anguilla?

  Yes. There are no nationality or residency requirements for directors or members of an Anguilla business company. A single foreign owner can be both, and can be an individual or a corporate entity. You must use a licensed registered agent — under section 5 of the Act, only your proposed registered agent may file the application. Trading inside Anguilla or owning local property is a separate matter requiring a licence.

• How much does it cost to form and renew an Anguilla company?

  Market pricing for formation runs from roughly USD $1,199 to USD $2,250 in year one, with renewals from about USD $1,900. That covers the government fee, your registered agent, your registered office and the filings. Renewal falls on your company's anniversary date, and authorising more than 50,000 shares moves you to a higher government fee tier. Get in touch for our current package price.

• Is the Anguilla IBC still available?

  Not under that name. The Anguilla Business Companies Act 2022 repealed and replaced the International Business Companies Act, the Companies Act and the Protected Cell Companies Act. What was the IBC is now the Anguilla Business Company. The benefits carried over; the statute did not. Companies formed under the old Acts are treated as former Act companies and re-register under the 2022 Act.

• Can an Anguilla company still issue bearer shares?

  No. Section 37 of the 2022 Act prohibits issuing a bearer share, converting a registered share into one, or exchanging a registered share for one. It is an offence carrying a $10,000 fine. Any guide telling you Anguilla bearer shares are available with a custodian is describing the repealed IBC Act. Use nominee shareholder services for privacy instead.

• Does an Anguilla company pay tax?

  Not in Anguilla, provided it does not trade there. There is no corporate tax, income tax, capital gains tax, withholding tax, estate tax, gift tax or inheritance tax. Anguilla does levy a 13% General Services Tax on supplies made on the island above a XCD 300,000 threshold, and a 3% Universal Social Levy on the wages of Anguilla employees — neither reaches a non-resident company with no local operations. You remain responsible for tax in your own country of residence.

• Are director and shareholder names public in Anguilla?

  No. Registers of members and directors are held at your registered agent's office and are not published. Only members and directors may inspect them. That said, CRES includes a Beneficial Ownership Register: it is not open to the public in the European sense, but licensed service providers with a qualifying legitimate interest can access it, and a member of the public may apply to the Registrar to inspect it — with the company notified of the request. Nominee services are available for an extra layer of privacy.

• Do I need to file an annual return in Anguilla?

  Every relevant entity files an economic substance declaration with the Registrar as part of its annual renewal, stating whether it conducts relevant activities and, if so, whether it meets the substance test. The separate annual return of directors under section 114 applies only to an unlimited company not authorised to issue shares. You must also keep financial records for 6 years, though you do not file them. Speak to us about your specific structure.

• Can I open a bank account for my Anguilla company?

  Yes, and it does not have to be in Anguilla. We have banking connections in dozens of countries. Requirements vary by bank — some want an in-person visit, higher capital and references. Anguilla's presence on the EU's Annex I list means some European banks apply extra scrutiny, so plan your banking before you incorporate, not after.

• Is Anguilla better than the BVI?

  It depends on your goal. Anguilla generally costs less, keeps the register of members with your agent rather than the Registrar, and carries lighter economic substance penalties. The BVI has greater name recognition with banks and, as of February 2026, sits on the EU's grey list while Anguilla sits on the blacklist. Both are British Overseas Territories with no direct tax.

Ready to Form Your Anguilla Company?

Anguilla gives you a zero-tax, private, low-cost company from a British Overseas Territory — formed in a single business day, with one director and one member who can be the same person. It remains one of the simplest ways to form an offshore structure without the BVI price tag. The rules moved in 2022 and the reporting is real, so get it right from day one. Book a consultation and we will build your structure and your banking plan together.