For founders comparing jurisdictions
Offshore jurisdiction comparison: where should you incorporate?
Four things decide this before tax rates do: where your customers are, your personal tax residence, whether you will raise institutional venture capital, and where the work is done. Every figure here is read at source; none is tax advice.
Question 1
Will the business carry on a regulated activity?
Financial services, payments and e-money, insurance, lending, crypto services, gambling, healthcare, and anything needing a licence to serve customers in a given country.
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Registry and tax authority figures, read at source
Last updated
The five jurisdictions founders shortlist most, with formation cost and headline corporate tax from the body that publishes them. 'Not published here' means we could not read it at source today: check the registry rather than a secondary source.
| Jurisdiction | Registry and tax authority | Formation cost, from the registry's own fee list | Headline corporate tax position, from the tax authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Companies House; HM Revenue and Customs | £100 online, £124 on paper, £156 same day via software; confirmation statement £50 | 25% on profits over £250,000; small profits rate 19% at £50,000 or less; marginal relief between |
| Ireland | Companies Registration Office; Revenue | Not published here: cro.ie could not be read today, check cro.ie directly | 12.5% on trading income; 25% on non-trading income such as rental and investment income |
| Estonia | e-Business Register (RIK); Estonian Tax and Customs Board | Not published here: the state fee was not readable at source today, check the e-Business Register | No corporate income tax until profit is distributed, then 22/78 of the net amount, equal to 22% of profit; no annual corporate income tax return |
| Delaware, United States | Delaware Division of Corporations; Internal Revenue Service | State filing fee from $109 for incorporation, varying with authorised stock (fee schedule revised 1 August 2026) | State franchise tax minimum $175 by the authorised shares method, plus a $50 annual report fee, due by 1 March. Federal corporate income tax is separate: check the IRS |
| United Arab Emirates | Federal Tax Authority; the relevant mainland authority or free zone | Not published here: fees are set by each emirate and each free zone, check the licensing authority | 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000, 9% above; existing incentives preserved for qualifying free zone businesses meeting the conditions |
- Incorporating a company online at Companies House costs £100, with paper filing at £124 and a same-day service at £156 through software, per the statutory fee list published on gov.uk.
- Ireland charges corporation tax at 12.5% on trading income and 25% on non-trading income such as rental and investment income, per Revenue.
- Estonia taxes company profit only when it is distributed, at 22/78 of the net amount, which equals 22% of the profit earned, and a resident company files no annual corporate income tax return.
How this was compiled, and how to cite it
Every figure was read on 15 August 2026 on the registry or tax authority named in the row: Companies House fees on gov.uk, HMRC's Corporation Tax rates page, Revenue's basis of charge page, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board's income tax page, the Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule revised 1 August 2026 and its annual report and franchise tax page, and the UAE government platform u.ae. Two gaps are recorded rather than filled: Ireland's Companies Registration Office refused automated requests at every path including its own root, so we publish no Irish registration fee; and we could not locate the Estonian state fee for company registration on the e-Business Register today, so we publish none. Rates and fees change on each country's own cycle. This table is a starting point for a conversation with an adviser, not a substitute for one, and nothing in it is tax advice.
Cite this page
“Registry and tax authority figures, read at source”, Incorporate Where, https://incorporatewhere.com/ (updated 2026-08-15). Every figure was read on 15 August 2026 on the registry or tax authority named in the row: Companies House fees on gov.uk, HMRC's Corporation Tax rates page, Revenue's basis of charge page, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board's income tax page, the Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule revised 1 August 2026 and its annual report and franchise tax page, and the UAE government platform u.ae. Two gaps are recorded rather than filled: Ireland's Companies Registration Office refused automated requests at every path including its own root, so we publish no Irish registration fee; and we could not locate the Estonian state fee for company registration on the e-Business Register today, so we publish none. Rates and fees change on each country's own cycle. This table is a starting point for a conversation with an adviser, not a substitute for one, and nothing in it is tax advice.
What it does and does not check
The 5 things it checks
- The four questions that decide jurisdiction: customers, personal tax residence, funding plans and substance
- The UK, Ireland, Estonia, Delaware and the UAE, plus the case for your own country
- Where regulatory licensing overrides the tax argument entirely
- What a US flip is and when it is worth doing later rather than now
- Figures cited only to the registry or tax authority that publishes them
Incorporate Where is an information site. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Companies House, HM Revenue and Customs, the Companies Registration Office, Revenue, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, the Centre of Registers and Information Systems, the Delaware Division of Corporations, the Internal Revenue Service or the UAE Federal Tax Authority. Nothing here is tax, legal or accounting advice, and it must not be relied on as such: choosing a jurisdiction depends on facts about your residence, your business and your investors that no checker can see, so take advice from a qualified adviser in every country with a claim on you before you incorporate anything. Fees and rates are as published at the updated date above and change on each jurisdiction's own cycle.
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The questions we get
Where is the best place to incorporate a company?
There is no single answer, and any site giving one is selling something. The choice follows four facts: where your customers are, your personal tax residence, whether you will raise institutional VC, and where the work is done. For most founders the honest start is the country they live and work in, with the burden of proof on any alternative.
Does incorporating abroad reduce my personal tax?
Not by itself. Your personal tax follows your own residence, not the company's country of registration. Many countries also treat a company as resident where it is effectively managed, and apply controlled foreign company rules to profits left offshore. This site does not give tax advice: take it from an adviser who can see your full position.
What is a Delaware flip?
Exchanging the shares in an existing company for shares in a new US parent company, so the original company becomes a subsidiary. US investors often require it. It is legally routine but has tax consequences for every shareholder and option holder, and it is significantly cheaper before a complex cap table exists than during a funding round.
How much does it cost to incorporate in the UK?
£100 to incorporate online, £124 on paper and £156 same-day through software, with a £50 confirmation statement fee, per Companies House's statutory fee list on gov.uk. There is no residence requirement for directors or shareholders. Banking and identity verification take longer for non-residents.
Do you give tax advice?
No. This site sets out published figures from each jurisdiction's registry or tax authority and the trade-offs founders weigh. You arrive at an adviser already knowing which questions matter. Choosing a jurisdiction depends on facts about you that no checker can see.
Worth knowing
The longer answers, with sources.
- UK or Ireland: which should you incorporate in?
Formation cost, corporate tax rates and EU access from each country's own sources, plus the question that usually decides it: does a customer require an EU entity?
- Delaware C corp cost for non-US founders: fees and the test
Delaware's own fees and franchise tax, read at source, and the test for founders outside the US: incorporate there now, or operate at home and flip when a round needs it.
- Estonia e-Residency tax: what it does, and what it does not do
Estonia taxes company profit only on distribution, at 22/78 of the net amount. What e-Residency actually gives you, and why it does not change your own tax residence.
Sources
This site's own datasets, every figure quoted from its source and dated:
- The Corporate Tax Rate Table carries 6 published figures read from 6 sources' own pages, from 0 to 22 percent, read 7 November 2026.
- The Formation Cost Index carries 32 published figures read from 21 sources' own pages, from 153 to 22,540 USD, read 12 October 2026.
- Companies House. Fees, statutory filing fee list
- HMRC. Corporation Tax rates and reliefs
- Revenue (Ireland), Corporation Tax basis of charge and rates
- Estonian Tax and Customs Board, income tax and the taxation of distributed profit
- Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK), e-Business Register portal
- Delaware Division of Corporations, fee schedule revised 1 August 2026
- Delaware Division of Corporations, annual report and franchise tax
- The Official Platform of the UAE Government, corporate tax
Narrow it down before you pay for advice.
Four questions, a shortlist, and the published figures behind each one.
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