Europe · Company formation
Company formation in Monaco
This is for founders who genuinely want to relocate to Monaco and hold assets or manage a company under a 0% personal-tax residence. It is not for those seeking a fast or remote holding vehicle.
At a glance
- Entity
- Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) — private limited company; a single-member SARL is the SARLU
- Corporate tax
- 25% profits tax (ISB), cut from 33.33% for financial years from 2022; only applies to companies earning >25% of turnover outside Monaco — businesses trading essentially within Monaco pay 0%. Genuinely-new businesses get a 2-year full exemption then a phased ramp (25/50/75% of profits in years 3-6). No personal income tax.
- Incorporation time
- ~2-3 months — the mandatory government authorisation is the bottleneck (statutory review up to 45 days, but 8-12 weeks is realistic), not a same-week filing
- Minimum capital
- €15,000, fully subscribed and paid up (cash and/or in kind), deposited with a Monegasque bank before registration; minimum two partners
- Resident director
- No resident-director rule, but the gérant (manager) — a partner or an outside appointee — must personally hold the government business authorisation; foreign managers need a work/residence permit to run the company
- Audit
- A commissaire aux comptes (statutory auditor) is required if share capital exceeds €150,000, or if two of three thresholds are met over two years (assets >€1.5m, turnover >€2.5m, >20 employees); below that a Monegasque chartered accountant certifies the accounts
- Remote set-up
- Not remote-friendly. Every business needs prior Government (Minister of State) authorisation, a physical Monaco address, and a local bank account with capital deposited; expect in-person steps and full KYC. Articles are registered locally and the capital-deposit deed is notary-certified
- Government fee
- Registration with the Trade & Industry Register (RCI) and the fixed registration duty on incorporation are modest set amounts; the real spend is notary, mandatory legal-publication and domiciliation fees — commonly several thousand euros combined. There is no large single state incorporation fee
- Best for
- This is for founders who genuinely want to relocate to Monaco and hold assets or manage a company under a 0% personal-tax residence. It is not for those seeking a fast or remote holding vehicle.
The process
- Apply to the Government for authorisation to carry on the business activity (declaration for Monegasque partners; business permit for foreign partners), submitting the draft articles
- Secure a Monaco business address (own premises or a licensed domiciliation company) and open a local bank account, depositing the €15,000 capital
- Register the articles and the notary-certified subscription/capital-payment deed, then enrol in the Trade & Industry Register (RCI) and obtain the NIS statistical number
- Declare the company to Tax Services and register the manager(s) with Monegasque social security (CAMTI/CARTI)
What can go wrong
- The prior authorisation is discretionary and can take months or be refused; you cannot trade until it is granted, and it is personal to the named manager and defined activity
- 'Formation' here effectively assumes relocation — physical premises, a real local bank account (Monaco banks run strict onboarding), and a resident manager are practical necessities, not formalities
- The 25% ISB only bites on out-of-Monaco turnover, so the headline rate overstates the burden for locally-trading firms; conversely the new-business exemption applies only to genuinely new activities, not relocated or acquired ones
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Form a company in Monaco?
One named person on the file, an honest read on tax and substance, and a fixed quote before you commit.