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Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Seychelles. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with between 10 and 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 189 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

No.		Procedure	Time to Complete	Associated Costs
	1	Verify the uniqueness of the proposed company name Agency: Companies Division of Registrar General Company owner must visit the Companies Division of the Registrar General in order to propose and register the company name. The proposal of new company name is made in person, and is either accepted or rejected on the spot by the Companies Division representative. Once acceptable name is selected, company name is reserved for 30 days.	1 day	no charge
	2	Notarize Memorandum of Association Agency: Notary Seychelles law does not require companies to notarize the Memorandum or Articles of Association, but most companies choose to do so in practice, before submitting their documents to the Registrar of Companies as part of the application for incorporation. Memorandum should be signed by all shareholders of the company and the number of shares held by each shareholder must be specified. The cost for this procedure varies by notary, starting at about SR 10,000.	1 day	SR 10,000
	3	Deposit documents at the Companies Division of the Registrar General for stamp duty and registration fee assessment Agency: Companies Division of Registrar General Companies must submit the Memorandum and Articles of Association to the Companies Registry for stamp duty assessment. The process takes between 4 and 6 days on average, as the lawyer must first deposit the documents and then, the registrar would take several days to assess the submission and issue stamp duty and registration fee decision. According to the Seventh Schedule of the Companies Ordinance Act of 2012, the fees for company registration with nominal share capital in excess of SCR 1,000,000 is 0.5% of nominal capital plus SCR 5000. Fees for company registration with nominal share capital less than SCR 1,000,000 are as follows: • For registration of company where the nominal share capital is SCR 5,000 or less: SCR 1,000; • For registration of a company where the nominal share capital exceed SCR 5,000 but does not exceed SCR 25,000: SCR 1,500; • For registration of a company where the nominal share capital exceed SCR 25,000 but does not exceed SCR 250,000: SCR 2,000; • For registration of a company where the nominal share capital exceed SCR 250,000 but does not exceed SCR 1,000,000: SCR 3,000.	4-6 days on average	see comments
	4	Pay stamp duties and registration fees at the Registry Agency: Companies Division of Registrar General Notaries or accountants retained by the company for the registration process pay the assessed stamp duty and the company registration fee as a lump sum at the Companies Registry. The cost of this procedure is rolled into notarization fees for preparing incorporation documents.	1 day	included in procedure 2
	5	Obtain Certificate of Incorporation Agency: Companies Division of Registrar General Upon registration of the memorandum of a company, the Companies Division of Registrar General verifies the name of the company, the signature of lawyers, the date of registration and issues a certificate of incorporation as prescribed by the Companies Act. This process typically takes over 1 week.	8 days on average	no charge
	6	File the particulars of the directors, company secretary, and the registered office Agency: Companies Division of Registrar General According to the Companies Ordinance, Part V, Articles 100 and 102, the company must file the particulars of its directors, secretary and registered office within 14 days of the appointment of directors. According to the Seventh Schedule of the Companies Ordinance Act of 2012, the fee is SR 100 per documents – therefore for 5 directors, a company secretary and the registered office the total cost is SR 700.	3 days on average	SR 100 per document
*	7	Obtain business license Agency: Seychelles Licensing Authority Business license is required from the Seychelles Licensing Authority. To apply for a license, the following documents must be submitted: • Proof of business address (ownership or lease agreement); • Certificate of occupancy from the Planning Authority, if the premise is newly constructed. • Certificate of change of use from the Planning Authority, if there is a change of use of the premises outside the class specified in the schedule to the Town & Country Planning (Use of classes) Regulations; • Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum of Association, if the applicant is a corporate body; or Certificate of Business Registration, if a business name is to be used to carry on the business. The Licensing Authority would inspect the premises to verify the address and make sure the office space meets the necessary safety requirements for works. The Licensing Authority would also forward the application to the Fire Brigade and Planning Authority and these agencies would conduct a site inspection. The Planning Authority would assess the building standards while the Fire Brigade would assess the safety of the building. The business license fee is SCR 1,200 as of 7 May 2012. The license is renewed annually. For certain sectors, companies must obtain approval by the investment authority. The approval is generally obtained before obtaining the license and takes about a month to obtain.	14 days on average (simultaneous with previous procedure)	SR 1,200 (for retail)
	8	Register for taxes at the Revenue Commission Agency: Seychelles Revenue Commission All new businesses must register with the Seychelles Revenue Commission within 14 days of commencing their business operations. -A copy of their business license is required only if the commercial activity it is engaged in is considered to be a licensable activity under the Seychelles Licensing Act and Regulations (2010) -A copy of the Certificate of Incorporation, and the full name and ID of the Public Officer must be submitted.	1 day	no charge
*	9	Register as an employer with the Pension Fund Agency: Pension Fund All new businesses must register as employers within 7 days of hiring an employee. As of the January 1, 2014 an employer must contribute 2% of salary toward social security payments (per employee) and an employee must contribute an additional 2%. Both contributions are calculated based on the employee's gross salary: - Up to SCR 1,000: 10%. - SCR 1,001–2,000: 20%. - SCR 2,001–10,000: 30%. - Over SCR 10,000: 40%.	1 day, (simultaneous with previous procedure)	no charge