Belize IBC · for holding and trading
The offshore company, minus the outdated pitch.
Two rounds of reform since 2019 changed what a Belize company can and can't do, and most guides haven't caught up.
Best as a low-cost, private holding company with a legitimate commercial purpose, with your banking and payments run somewhere else.
Who this is for
Who a Belize IBC still works for.
Low-cost international trading.
Invoicing non-Belize clients, with banking handled elsewhere.
Passive holding.
Non-regulated assets, real estate stakes, equity, contracts, with minimal banking needs.
Separating assets from operations.
An asset-holding entity kept apart from operating companies in other jurisdictions.
Lawful corporate privacy.
Where a nominee on the public record matters and annual cost is a genuine constraint — privacy with full regulatory compliance, not anonymity.
What we handle
The formation, through a licensed agent.
- 1
A licensed registered agent
Required for the life of the company, we engage an FSC-licensed agent and confirm the license is current.
- 2
Your KYC
Certified ID, proof of address and source of funds for every owner and director. Usually 5–10 business days, longer if enhanced due diligence is needed.
- 3
Incorporation
Once KYC clears, the registry issues the Certificate of Incorporation, usually in 1–2 business days.
- 4
Company records
The Memorandum & Articles of Association, and the registers of directors and shareholders, kept whether or not they’re filed publicly.
Three packages
Three ways to have us form it.
One payment, the licensed agent and first-year fees included. The company formed, your KYC handled, the registers and the Memorandum & Articles done. The company’s own yearly upkeep — the agent and the government fee — is separate, and the ‘$99 IBC’ you still see advertised sits below the government’s own $150 incorporation fee.
The company, formed.
One payment
- FSC-licensed registered agent, year one
- KYC handled end to end
- Incorporation and Certificate of Incorporation
- Memorandum & Articles of Association
- Registers of directors and shareholders set up
Not in this package
- Certified or apostilled copies
- Physical corporate kit
Formed, papers certified for use abroad.
One payment
- Everything in Formation
- Hard copies, couriered to you
- Certified copies, apostilled for use abroad
- Notarized set and certificate of good standing
Not in this package
- Physical corporate kit
Formed, papered, and bound.
One payment
- Everything in Formation + certified docs
- Corporate seal and embosser
- Bound corporate kit: register, minute book, share certificates
Not in this package
- Banking for the Belize entity itself, that's the operating company's job.
You pay the package once, and the formation is done. After that, only the company's own yearly upkeep, paid to others, not us: the registered agent, renewed, and the government fee ($250 a year, $1,000 with share capital above 50,000) to keep it in good standing. A nominee director or shareholder is available on request and quoted separately.
What most guides still get wrong
2019The year Belize IBCs came under the domestic tax regime. Annual tax returns are now required, with or without taxable income.
The 2022 reform then merged IBCs and domestic companies into one framework, and economic-substance rules cover activities such as holding and shipping; even a pure holding company’s requirements are lighter but not nothing — an annual economic-substance filing, and the company must be genuinely managed. FATF and EU pressure drove it, the same way it did across BVI and Cayman. The ‘$99 zero-filing IBC’ describes a Belize that no longer exists.
What recurs, every year
- The corporate annual return.A yearly filing to the Registrar confirming the company’s basic details, which keeps it on the register. We keep you on the date.
- The Business Tax return.Filed with Belize’s tax department now, even at zero income, since the 2019 reform. We introduce the accountant.
- The economic-substance filing.The annual substance declaration; lighter for a pure holding company, but not nothing.
- Beneficial-owner updates.Keeping the register of who really owns the company current with the agent and the Registrar.
- Registered agent + government fee.Renewed with the licensed agent and paid to keep the company in good standing — $250 a year, $1,000 with share capital above 50,000.
- One address for every question.The agent, the filing, the pairing, the next entity. Ours.
Where a Belize IBC genuinely works.
A private holding entity
The real owner is filed with the Registrar, a nominee can stand in on the public record, and the annual upkeep stays low — lawful corporate privacy, not anonymity, is its core strength.
Offshore and EMI accounts
Specialist banks in Mauritius, Singapore or Georgia, and some EU-regulated EMIs, case by case, take Belize entities with real KYC.
The holding half of a pair
Set up alongside a Delaware LLC or Dubai company that runs the banking and payments, the structure that actually works in practice.
The one thing it isn't is a payments entity: Stripe and PayPal don't currently support Belize companies, and many mainstream Tier-1 banks decline them. So the operating company, Delaware or Dubai, does the banking, and we map what sits where before you form. And the operating company has to be a real business that genuinely trades — this structure is for legitimate holding and operations, not a way to route payments around a bank's or processor's rules.
Before you pay
The questions people ask first.
- Is a Belize IBC still zero-tax?
- Not automatically. The 2019 reform brought IBCs under Belize’s tax law and added economic-substance rules; annual returns are required. A low-tax position is still possible for the right structure, but even where Belize exempts the company, that says nothing about your home country, whose CFC rules still reach the profit. Zero-maintenance and zero-filing are gone.
- Can I form it remotely?
- Yes. KYC and signing are all done remotely through a licensed registered agent. You never need to visit Belize.
- How long does it take?
- Incorporation is 1–2 business days after KYC clears; total elapsed time is usually 10–14 business days, depending on how fast you submit documents.
- Can a Belize company open a bank account?
- Yes, but with difficulty. Mainstream US, UK and EU banks often decline. Most operators use EMIs or banks in Mauritius, Singapore or Georgia. Plan banking before forming, not after.
- What about nominee directors and shareholders?
- A nominee is a stand-in director or shareholder who appears on record in place of the beneficial owner, so your name stays out of ordinary public company searches. It's arranged only through the licensed agent, under a separate FSC authorisation the agent renews each year, and the real owner is still filed with the Registrar and disclosed to the agent under KYC — so a nominee buys public-facing privacy, never regulatory anonymity. Whether a bank account is reported to your home tax authority under CRS depends on the bank's jurisdiction, how it classifies the account, and your own tax residence, not on the nominee. It's a separate service, arranged on request and priced separately, since the fee depends on the structure.
- Does forming a company give me residency?
- No. Company formation has no link to Belize residency. Belize has separate programs, the QRP and an investment-based residency route, that are entirely distinct.
Official sources
- Company incorporationBelize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry
- Fees scheduleBelize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry
- Belize Companies Act 2022 (PDF)Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry
- Belize Companies (Amendment) Act 2023 (PDF)Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry
- International Business Companies (Amendment) Act 2018 (PDF)Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry
- Economic Substance Act, Cap. 273:01 (PDF)Financial Services Commission
- Nominee Regulations 2025 (PDF)Financial Services Commission