Company Setup Cost Calculator: Fees and Time

Company setup cost

Malta

Official fees only, at setup EUR 100 + firms' fees (on request)

Official fees only, every year EUR 85 + firms' fees (on request)

Registration time About 1 day once the application is complete

Official fees are paid to the authorities in any case. The total cost depends on the firm's fees for formation, accounting, registered office and company secretary, which firms in Malta quote on request.

Get quotes from firms in Malta Free. We email you the detailed report and share your request with firms we select in Malta, who quote their fees.

Services from a firm

Starting prices published by firms on Accountanty, one price per firm.

Company formation by a firmincluded by default Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (3)
Accounting and annual accounts (small company)included by default Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)
Registered office or legal addressrequired by law Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)
Company secretaryrequired by law No published prices
Bank account opening assistance Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (2)

Breakdown of the estimate

Registration fee (authorised capital up to EUR 1,500, online)	EUR 100	Official, at setup	mbr.mt
Annual return fee (authorised capital up to EUR 1,500, online)	EUR 85	Official, every year	legislation.mt
Company formation by a firm	Price on request	Firms, one-off	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (3)
Accounting and annual accounts (small company)	Price on request	Firms, per year	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)
Registered office or legal address	Price on request	Firms, per year	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)
Company secretary	No published prices	Firms, one-off
Bank account opening assistance	Price on request	Firms, one-off	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (2)

Base: a private company with authorised capital up to EUR 1,500 (the legal minimum is EUR 1,164.69), registered online.

Get your detailed report and quotes from firms in Malta

We email you a PDF with the official fees and their sources, the firms' starting prices, the steps, the documents, the yearly obligations and the firms offering company formation in Malta. We also share your request with firms we select there, who may contact you with quotes.

Email * Name (optional)

Country of residence (optional) Phone (optional)For a quicker reply from firms. Choose your country and we add the code, or type it with +.

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Taxes in Malta

Your country of residence may tax the dividends you receive, and it may also tax the company's profits under its rules on foreign companies controlled by its residents. A company managed from your country may be treated as resident there. This is general information, not tax advice.

Corporate tax

Companies are taxed at a flat rate of 35% on chargeable income. mtca.gov.mt
When dividends are distributed, shareholders may claim a refund of part or all of the tax paid by the company. mtca.gov.mt
Refunds are set by article 48(4) and (4A) of the Income Tax Management Act; the fraction depends on the kind of income and on the structure. legislation.mt
From year of assessment 2025 a company may elect a final 15% tax instead of 35%: no refunds, at least five years, and never less than the 35% tax net of shareholder refunds. legislation.mt

Tax on dividends paid abroad

15% is deducted only from dividends paid out of untaxed profits to Malta residents other than companies, or to non-residents controlled by persons resident and domiciled in Malta. legislation.mt
A dividend paid from taxed profits to a non-resident individual not controlled by Malta residents has no withholding. legislation.mt

VAT

VAT standard rate 18%. legislation.mt
A taxable person established in Malta applies for VAT registration within 30 days of its first taxable supply; small undertakings can register under article 11 up to EUR 35,000 of domestic turnover. legislation.mt

Try a yearly profit

Assumption: one shareholder, an individual who is not resident in Malta, holds 100% of the company.

Yearly profit before tax (EUR)

Paid out as dividends NoneHalfAll

Destination taxes only, before tax treaties and before any tax in your country of residence.

	35% rate (refunds not computed)	15% final tax election
Corporate tax in Malta	EUR 35,000 (35%)	EUR 15,000 (15%)
Dividend paid	EUR 65,000	EUR 85,000
Tax withheld in Malta on the dividend	EUR 0	EUR 0
Dividend received, before any tax in your country	EUR 65,000	EUR 85,000
Profit kept in the company	EUR 0	EUR 0

35% rate (refunds not computed)

Corporate tax in Malta	EUR 35,000 (35%)
Dividend paid	EUR 65,000
Tax withheld in Malta on the dividend	EUR 0
Dividend received, before any tax in your country	EUR 65,000
Profit kept in the company	EUR 0

15% final tax election

Corporate tax in Malta	EUR 15,000 (15%)
Dividend paid	EUR 85,000
Tax withheld in Malta on the dividend	EUR 0
Dividend received, before any tax in your country	EUR 85,000
Profit kept in the company	EUR 0

The 35% figures show the tax paid by the company before any shareholder refund. Refunds are claimed by the shareholder after a dividend and depend on the kind of income and on the structure, so they are not computed here.

Shareholders may be entitled to refunds that reduce the effective tax, depending on the structure of the company and its income. Ask firms in Malta to assess your case.

Ask firms in Malta for an assessment

Tax facts checked on 2026-10-23 from the official sources linked above. Rates change: check them with a firm before you act.

How the estimate is built

What the figures include

Firms' figures are starting prices published by firms listed on Accountanty, read from their websites in October 2026: the range runs from the lower to the upper quartile, with at least 8 firms; "from" means 5 to 7 firms; below 5 the price is on request.
Official fees are added up only for the base option named in the breakdown. Other options and fees that apply only in some cases are listed separately.
Registration and annual return fees depend on the authorised share capital, in ten bands from EUR 100 (registration) and EUR 85 (annual return) up to EUR 1,900 and EUR 1,200 above EUR 2,500,000.
Since 1 March 2025 incorporations are filed online, so paper-format fees are not shown.
A small company can be exempt from audit under the Companies Act, but the tax rules may still require an auditor's report, so the calculator assumes an audit.

All official fees

Registration fee (authorised capital up to EUR 1,500, online)	EUR 100	At setup	mbr.mt
Registration fee (authorised capital over EUR 1,500 to EUR 5,000, online): EUR 210 plus EUR 12 per EUR 500 over EUR 1,500	EUR 210	At setup	mbr.mt
Name reservation, per name (optional)	EUR 10	At setup	legislation.mt
Annual return fee (authorised capital up to EUR 1,500, online)	EUR 85	Every year	legislation.mt
Annual return fee (authorised capital over EUR 1,500 to EUR 5,000, online)	EUR 120	Every year	legislation.mt

Not published by the authorities: Residence rules for directors and the company secretary (the Companies Act sets none and no official page states the position); Whether the registered office must be a physical office (stated only by firms); How long MTCA takes in practice to pay shareholder tax refunds.

Time to register: Within 24 hours of a complete online application, including due diligence documents. Minimum share capital: At least EUR 1,164.69 authorised, 20% of each share taken up paid up at signing.

Steps

Draw up the memorandum and articles, naming the objects, the registered office in Malta, the first directors and the company secretary legislation.mt
Subscribers sign the memorandum and pay up at least 20% of each share taken up legislation.mt
Prepare the beneficial owner declaration (Form BO1) where needed mbr.mt
Submit the incorporation online to the Malta Business Registry with the due diligence documents mbr.mt
Receive the certificate of registration; the company exists and may start business from that date legislation.mt
An income tax number is generated automatically once the company is registered mtca.gov.mt
Register for VAT, which all companies registered in Malta must do mtca.gov.mt

Documents and requirements

Memorandum of association subscribed by at least two persons, or by the single member legislation.mt
Articles of association legislation.mt
Each director's signed consent to act, on the memorandum or in a separate written consent legislation.mt
Beneficial owner declaration (Form BO1), unless all shareholders are natural persons disclosed in the memorandum mbr.mt
At least one director legislation.mt
Every company must have a company secretary, who cannot be its sole director (except in an exempt company) legislation.mt
The memorandum must state a registered office in Malta and an email address legislation.mt
Anyone providing company formation, directors, secretaries or a registered office as a service must be authorised by the MFSA legislation.mt
The objects may not be stated simply as any lawful purpose or trade in general legislation.mt

Every year

Annual return within 42 days of the anniversary of registration legislation.mt
Annual accounts with the auditors' report and directors' report delivered to the Registrar within 42 days of the period for laying them legislation.mt
Tax return and self-assessment within nine months of the financial year end, submitted by a registered tax practitioner mtca.gov.mt
Late annual return or accounts: maximum penalty EUR 2,329 plus EUR 46 a day legislation.mt
Companies Act audit exemption for small private companies under 2 of: balance sheet EUR 46,600, turnover EUR 93,000, 2 employees legislation.mt

Company setup cost

Saudi Arabia

Setup cost From SAR 11,900 about From EUR 2,830

First year in total From SAR 13,100 + firms' fees on request for accounting and registered office about From EUR 3,120

Registration time Not published once the application is complete

Official fees of the base option plus the starting prices published by firms for the services switched on below. The figures do not include the firm's fees for accounting and registered office, which firms in Saudi Arabia quote on request.

Get your detailed report and quotes from firms in Saudi Arabia

Services from a firm

Starting prices published by firms on Accountanty, one price per firm. Most firms do not say whether government fees are included.

Company formation by a firmincluded by default From SAR 10,000 one-offStarting prices published by 6 firms
Accounting and annual accounts (small company)included by default Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (4)
Registered office or legal addressrequired by law Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)
VAT registration Price on requestFewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)

Breakdown of the estimate

Commercial registration, LLC under an investment licence (Ministry of Commerce)	SAR 1,200	Official, at setup	mc.gov.sa
Publication fee (Ministry of Commerce)	SAR 500	Official, at setup	mc.gov.sa
Trade name reservation, Arabic name	SAR 200	Official, at setup	mc.gov.sa
Annual confirmation of the commercial registration, LLC (Ministry of Commerce)	SAR 1,200	Official, every year	mc.gov.sa
Company formation by a firm	From SAR 10,000	Firms, one-off	Starting prices published by 6 firms
Accounting and annual accounts (small company)	Price on request	Firms, per year	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (4)
Registered office or legal address	Price on request	Firms, per year	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)
VAT registration	Price on request	Firms, one-off	Fewer than 5 firms publish a price (1)

Base: Ministry of Commerce fees for an LLC with an Arabic trade name, before 15% VAT. The MISA investment licence fee is set on approval and not published, so it is not included.

Get your detailed report and quotes from firms in Saudi Arabia

We email you a PDF with the official fees and their sources, the firms' starting prices, the steps, the documents, the yearly obligations and the firms offering company formation in Saudi Arabia. We also share your request with firms we select there, who may contact you with quotes.

Email * Name (optional)

Country of residence (optional) Phone (optional)For a quicker reply from firms. Choose your country and we add the code, or type it with +.

Anything firms should know (optional)

Taxes in Saudi Arabia

Corporate tax

Income tax is 20% of the tax base of a resident capital company, on the shares held directly or indirectly by non-Saudi persons. zatca.gov.sa
Zakat is 2.5% of the zakat base on the shares of Saudi partners and of those treated as GCC citizens. zatca.gov.sa

Tax on dividends paid abroad

Withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents is 5%. zatca.gov.sa

VAT

VAT standard rate 15%; registration is mandatory above SAR 375,000 of taxable supplies in 12 months and voluntary above SAR 187,500. zatca.gov.sa

Try a yearly profit

Assumption: one shareholder, an individual who is not resident in Saudi Arabia, holds 100% of the company; the shareholder is not Saudi or a GCC citizen, so the whole company is subject to income tax and not to zakat.

Yearly profit before tax (SAR)

Paid out as dividends NoneHalfAll

Destination taxes only, before tax treaties and before any tax in your country of residence.

Corporate tax in Saudi Arabia	SAR 100,000 (20%)
Dividend paid	SAR 400,000
Tax withheld in Saudi Arabia on the dividend	SAR 20,000
Dividend received, before any tax in your country	SAR 380,000
Profit kept in the company	SAR 0

The figure applies 20% to the profit. The tax base is set by Saudi tax rules and can differ from the accounting profit.

Tax facts checked on 2026-10-23 from the official sources linked above. Rates change: check them with a firm before you act.

How the estimate is built

What the figures include

Firms' figures are starting prices published by firms listed on Accountanty, read from their websites in October 2026: the range runs from the lower to the upper quartile, with at least 8 firms; "from" means 5 to 7 firms; below 5 the price is on request.
Official fees are added up only for the base option named in the breakdown. Other options and fees that apply only in some cases are listed separately.
Euro amounts are approximate: Euro equivalents at the ECB reference rate of 2026-10-22; AED and SAR via their US dollar pegs.
Ministry of Commerce fees are stated before 15% VAT.
The MISA registration and annual update fees are set by the ministry on approval; no amount is published.
No official end-to-end time is published; bank account, chamber, municipal licence, GOSI and visas are not in the figures.
No minimum capital is published for services or consulting activities outside the MISA table.
Reserving a trade name takes 10 days, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

All official fees

Commercial registration, LLC under an investment licence (Ministry of Commerce)	SAR 1,200	At setup	mc.gov.sa
Publication fee (Ministry of Commerce)	SAR 500	At setup	mc.gov.sa
Trade name reservation, Arabic name	SAR 200	At setup	mc.gov.sa
Trade name reservation, English name	SAR 500	At setup	mc.gov.sa
Annual confirmation of the commercial registration, LLC (Ministry of Commerce)	SAR 1,200	Every year	mc.gov.sa

Not published by the authorities: MISA investment registration fee (set by the ministry on approval; no amount published); MISA annual update fee (set by the ministry on approval; no amount published); Chamber of Commerce subscription and renewal; Municipal licence fees; Document authentication at Saudi missions abroad.

Time to register: MISA registration: estimated 10 working days. The Ministry of Commerce then establishes the company within 72 hours. No official end-to-end figure is published. Minimum share capital: No minimum is set for most activities. Trading activities need SAR 26,666,667 with a Saudi partner, or SAR 30,000,000 when 100% foreign.

Steps

Have each foreign partner's documents authenticated through a Saudi mission abroad misa.gov.sa
Register the investment with the Ministry of Investment (MISA) before investing misa.gov.sa
Pay the MISA registration fee within 15 business days of notification, or the registration is void misa.gov.sa
Reserve the trade name with the Ministry of Commerce mc.gov.sa
Establish the company with the Ministry of Commerce once the investment certificate has at least 30 days of validity mc.gov.sa
Open files with the labour ministry, ZATCA and GOSI, register the national address with Saudi Post and join the chamber mc.gov.sa
Open a bank account linked to the establishment mc.gov.sa

Documents and requirements

Copy of the foreign partner's commercial registration, certified by the Saudi embassy misa.gov.sa
Financial statements of the foreign partner for the last fiscal year, authenticated by the Saudi embassy misa.gov.sa
Articles of association, authenticated electronically through the Ministry of Commerce misa.gov.sa
A foreign investor registers with MISA before engaging in any investment misa.gov.sa
Whether a local partner is needed depends on the activity misa.gov.sa
Professional companies need licensed Saudi partners holding at least 25% mc.gov.sa
The company has Saudi nationality and its headquarters in the Kingdom misa.gov.sa
An LLC can be set up by one or more natural or legal persons misa.gov.sa

Every year

Electronic confirmation of the commercial registration every 12 months; a delay of 3 months suspends the register mc.gov.sa
Annual update of the investment registration with MISA misa.gov.sa
Financial statements deposited within six months of the end of the fiscal year misa.gov.sa
Income tax return within 120 days of the end of the taxable year zatca.gov.sa

How the estimate is built

The calculator keeps two kinds of figure apart, because they come from different places and change for different reasons.

Official fees are the amounts that free zone authorities, registries, courts and tax authorities publish themselves: the registration fee, the annual return or licence renewal, a regulated notary fee. Each one is listed with a link to the page it comes from and the date it was read. They are shown item by item and never added together, since some are alternatives (an online or a paper filing, a faster service for a higher fee) and some apply only in the case the label names. When an authority publishes no amount, the page says so instead of filling the gap with an estimate.

Firms’ fees come from the price pages of the accounting firms and corporate service providers listed on Accountanty. For each service the calculator takes one price per firm, the lowest it publishes, so the figures are starting prices: a quote for your own company can be higher once the volume of transactions, the number of shareholders or the licence activity is known. A range from the lower to the upper quartile is shown when at least eight firms publish a price for that service, a “from” figure when five to seven do, and “price on request” below five. Most firms do not say whether their price includes government fees, so the breakdown lists official fees and firms’ prices on separate lines.

What the total means

The setup cost and the first-year total add the official fees of the base option named in the breakdown to the lower and upper quartiles of the firms’ starting prices for the services switched on. Services required by law are always counted; the others can be switched on or off. It is a way to see the order of magnitude before you ask for quotes, not a price. Services without published prices are left out of the total and named under it.

Time, capital and the steps

The registration time is the one the authority states for a complete application. Collecting documents, legalising them, opening a bank account and registering for tax usually take longer than the filing itself, and they are listed in the steps. The minimum share capital, the documents, the yearly obligations and the main taxes come from official pages too, each with its source.

Before you rely on a figure

Fees and rules change. Check the official page linked next to each figure, and confirm the full cost with a firm before you decide. Your country of residence may also tax the company’s profits or your dividends, so a figure that looks low in one destination says nothing about your total tax position. This tool gives general information, not legal or tax advice. To compare firms, open the guide for each destination or send one request for quotes.

Frequently asked questions

Where do the official fees come from?

Each official fee is taken from the free zone authority, registry, court or tax authority that charges it. The link next to the amount opens that page, and the date shows when it was last read.

Why are the firms' prices called starting prices?

For each service the calculator uses the lowest price each firm publishes, which is usually its entry package. A quote for a specific company can be higher once the activity, the number of shareholders and the volume of bookkeeping are known.

Are government fees included in the firms' prices?

Most firms do not say. That is why official fees are shown in their own table. Ask any firm you contact to list government fees, its own fee and any third-party costs as separate lines.

Why is a destination I need not in the list?

The calculator covers the destinations where both official fees and enough published firm prices are available. Other jurisdictions have a guide and a list of firms on Accountanty, and you can request quotes there.

Does a lower fee mean lower tax overall?

No. The calculator shows setup and running costs in the destination only. Your country of residence may tax the company or your dividends under its own rules, so ask a tax adviser in that country before deciding.