People from all over the world who want to do business come to Liechtenstein, which is a small, independent country. Liechtenstein has business laws that are 100 years old and offer non-resident companies flexible ways to pay taxes.
A company from outside of Liechtenstein
People sometimes call Liechtenstein a first-class offshore jurisdiction. Companies registered here have to pay at least 1,800 Swiss francs per year in taxes, so it’s not a tax-free country. However, if you compare Liechtenstein to other countries in Western Europe, you’ll see that taxes are generally lower there. In this country, you can start a business whose name ends in AG I GmbH. People all over the world know what these German abbreviations mean. The first one means that it is a public company, and the second one means that it is a limited liability company. About 33,000 people live here as a whole. The processing industry and making precision instruments are important to the economy of the area. Financial services and registering foreign companies do not bring in a lot of money for the country.
Liechtenstein is different from other countries because of the following:
- In terms of foreign investments, the government only has control over real estate.
- The country does not make deals with other countries to avoid double taxation.
It costs more than in many other European countries to register a business.
The costs of keeping a business running are also pretty high. When a company is set up, the full amount of registered capital must be put down.
Pick a name for the business
The state register of companies needs to approve the name choice. The name has to be unique, and it shouldn’t include any geographical names or references to banking, insurance, or investment services. Depending on how the company is owned, its name will end with the appropriate acronym.
Gather the application materials
A person who wants to register a business in Liechtenstein must submit the following papers:
- Apostilled and notarized copies of passports.
- A recent bill from a utility company or a bank statement.
- Police clearance from the home country of the company’s founder.
- Possible business by-laws.
- A bank statement that shows that the registered capital was put into the bank.
Start a business bank account
Liechtenstein’s corporate law says that the registered capital must be deposited before a company can be registered in the country. You will need a bank account in Liechtenstein or another country to do that.
Put down the capital that is on file
The full amount of the registered capital has to be put down. The amounts that must be paid depending on how the company is owned:
- GmbH, Anstalt, Stiftung is 30,000 Swiss francs.
- AG: Fifty thousand Swiss francs.
In fact, you can choose to put the registered capital down in francs, euros, or dollars. The numbers (amounts) will stay the same. In Liechtenstein, you can also use real estate, intellectual property, or things that are not made of matter as the registered capital for your company. After the company is registered with the State Register, you can do whatever you want with the registered capital. If you start a public business in Liechtenstein, you can give out different kinds of shares.
Company registration with the state register
InternationalWealth partners in Liechtenstein will help you find a company director who is a citizen of the country. He or she will be a “nominated director” who will give the real company owner their ownership rights (in writing, with an open date). If you want to hire a nominee shareholder, he or she will also have to sign a trust declaration that gives the real company founder all ownership rights.
How quickly can a business be set up in Liechtenstein
About one month is needed to register a business in Liechtenstein. Preparatory work will take one week, the Liechtenstein government will take two weeks to process the application, and it will take one more week for the courier to bring the corporate documents to the company owner.
