Company Incorporation Guide

Belize company registration for foreign owners

Applicable country/region: BZ - Belize

Published: October 1, 2026Updated: October 1, 2026

Written by our advisory team
Belize rules and requirements
Checked against official sources

Belize

Most popularBelize Company Registration

Guide overview

What the 2022 Act changed and what you decide next

Belize company registration usually means incorporating a company limited by shares under the Belize Companies Act 2022 (Act No. 11 of 2022). It is filed on the Online Business Registry System (OBRS) of the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR), through a licensed registered agent when a shareholder or director is foreign. The International Business Companies Act was repealed from 28 November 2022, so no International Business Company (IBC) can be formed now. Reserving a name first is optional. The process then turns on who the identity checks must cover, what the law requires locally and what drives the base cost, how tax works without the old exemptions, and what the company owes each year.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Why the file has to reach the real owners

Identity documents tell the agent who stands behind the company. The agent, a formation provider, is a reporting entity under the Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) Act, supervised by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), with a compliance duty to verify customers. Through corporate shareholders, the check reaches the people who ultimately own or control them. Registers of members, directors and beneficial owners are filed with the Registrar under s.93(1), as amended by Act No. 27 of 2023, but stay off the public Short Extract. A nominee director must be an individual, and the 2025 Nominee Regulations make the agent name each nominee and nominator to the Registrar. With bearer shares banned (s.9(2)), every share has a registered holder.

Reading the documents

Rows are document types grouped by who provides them; each entry ends with its process and format.

Natural Person Shareholders & Directors's Required Documents

Passport:

Shareholders' and directors' scanned copies of the first page of the passport, notarized in English.

Process: NotarizationFormat: Scan Copy

Proof of Address:

Shareholder and director address proof: Scan of water, electricity, and gas bills or bank statements. It needs to be translated into English and the document should clearly show the shareholder/director's name, address, and a date not exceeding one month.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Legal Entity Shareholders's Required Documents

Proof Of Registration / Business License:

Need to do English translation + English notarization

Process: NotarizationFormat: Scan Copy

Passport:

The legal representative of the holding company and shareholders holding more than 25% of the shares need to provide a notarized English translation of their passport.

Process: NotarizationFormat: Scan Copy

Proof of Address:

Proof of address for the legal representative of a holding company and shareholders holding more than 25% of the shares: water, electricity, and gas bills or bank statements scanned copies. Translation into English is required, and the documents must clearly indicate the name, address, and date of the legal representative, dated no more than 1 month ago.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

REQUIREMENTS AND ESTIMATED COST

What Belize company registration requires locally

The one requirement, a Belize address, comes from s.79 of the Belize Companies Act 2022: every company keeps a registered office at a physical address in Belize. A company may be wholly foreign-owned, but if any shareholder or director is foreign, meaning not of Belizean nationality, it also needs a local registered agent licensed by the FSC (s.80(2)), and the office can be the agent's. Both legal requirements are ongoing, so they recur as yearly costs, and more than six months without an agent means strike-off (s.81(2)). The scheduled government fees move with a share capital band, and a foreign-owned company pays the registered-agent tariff, not the one for Belizean owners filing themselves.

Reading the requirements

Base cost is the service and government fees; each requirement shows if it is included and what solving it costs; the estimate adds them up.

Base Cost

Service Fee:

EUR 1,150

Requirements

Registered Address: Need to have a Belize address

To register a Belizean company, it is necessary to have a Belizean address. If you do not have a Belizean address, you can choose the Virtual Address service provided by TKEG Expat ™ (US).

Included: No · Solution availableEstimated Cost: EUR 1,400

Estimated Cost

Estimated Cost:

EUR 1,150 – 2,550

Check Eligibility And Calculate Price

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TAX

Tax after the end of the offshore exemptions

Act No. 24 of 2018 ended the IBC tax exemptions, and the transitional ones lapsed on 30 June 2021. Act No. 29 of 2023 did the same for LLCs, so a company whose owners and business are abroad has no separate offshore tax status. Business tax bites first: it falls on gross receipts with no deduction for expenses, so it is due even in a loss-making month. Receipts count whether received in Belize or elsewhere, so relief for foreign-sourced income must be claimed. Tax registration with the Belize Tax Service (BTS) is required whatever the revenue: form BTS100 for the company, BTS101 for each shareholder, director and employee. General Sales Tax (GST) registration is separate and depends on turnover.

Reading the tax data

Rows cover corporate income, withholding, value-added and capital gains tax, plus effective rates, for each jurisdiction.

PwC World Tax Summary OECD Statistics

Corporate Income Tax (CIT)

CIT Return Due Date:

Annual tax returns must be filed by March 31 of the subsequent tax year.

CIT Payment Due Date:

Monthly business tax payments must be filed by the 15th day of each month, covering receipts for the previous month.

CIT Estimated Payment Due Date:

Estimated tax payments follow the same monthly schedule as business tax payments.

Withholding Tax (WHT)

Resident Withholding Tax (Dividend/Interest/Royalty):

15/NA/NA

Non-Resident Withholding Tax (Dividend/Interest/Royalty):

15/15/0

Value-Added Tax (VAT)

General VAT Rate:

12.5%

Learn More Value-Added Tax (VAT)

Capital Gain Tax (CGT)

General Capital Gain Tax Rate:

No separate capital gains tax. A company pays business tax at 5% on its annual net gain from realising real estate outside Belize, assets of a permanent establishment outside Belize, or debt, equity or other instruments issued by non-residents.

Conclusion

After the certificate: yearly filings and the bank

Registration ends with a certificate of incorporation, an e-certificate downloaded from OBRS. The annual return is due each year by 30 June, made up to the previous 31 December, and only the registered agent can file it, with the annual fee. Financial statements are not generally filed with BCCAR, but accounting records must stay in Belize at the registered office for at least five years, open to the FSC on request. A corporate bank account is a separate approval with its own know-your-customer review, and the bank asks for a self-certification of tax residence under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Agree with the agent early where the records will sit and who prepares each 30 June return.

Belize

Most popularBelize Company Registration

Jurisdiction Overview

About Belize

Belize is a low-tax Latin American offshore jurisdiction where foreign nationals form IBCs fast, with flexible structures, no audits and confidentiality.

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