Form a Bermuda company
Bermuda exempted company, year two onward

Bermuda annual fees and filings: what January asks of your company

Updated 12 November 2026Companies Act 1981, Fifth ScheduleAbout 9 minutes to read
The short answer

A Bermuda exempted company pays an annual fee set by its assessable capital, from US$2,095, plus a US$500 corporate regulatory fee. Both go in during January, together with a short declaration about the company.

Ownership changes reach the Registrar within 30 days, a substance return follows only for nine listed activities, and the 15% tax touches only very large groups. With us the year costs US$4,490 at the lowest band.

Work out my fee What February brings
The floor 2,595 US dollars: the least any exempted company pays the government each year US$2,095 annual fee at up to US$12,000 of assessable capital, plus the US$500 regulatory fee. Bermuda dollars trade at par with the US dollar.

You picked Bermuda for its name. Counterparties recognise it, the registry acts within a day, and an ordinary company pays no income tax. The price of that name arrives every January, and it depends on a number most owners set once at formation and never look at again: authorised capital plus share premium. Enter yours and see the bill. Every figure below is taken from the Companies Act 1981 and the regulations made under it.

Key takeaways

  • The annual fee runs in seven bands from US$2,095 to US$32,676, measured on authorised capital plus share premium, with US$500 added for every exempted company.
  • It falls due during January for every company, whatever month it was formed.
  • A late payment can be accepted with a US$300 penalty; three months on, the company must stop doing business until it pays.
  • Beneficial owners of 25% or more are filed through a licensed provider within 30 days of a change. Shareholders and directors sit on registers the public may read.
  • Nothing about the accounts is filed, and the audit can be waived, but records must show the position every three months.
  • With Heirson the year costs US$4,490: US$2,595 to the government at cost and US$1,895 for the local team.
Chapter 1

Bermuda annual fee by assessable capital: find your band

Bermuda doesn't charge by turnover or profit. It charges by how big the company says it could be. Section 131 of the Companies Act 1981 adds the authorised share capital to any share premium and places the total in a band. Most small companies are formed at US$12,000 or less precisely to sit in the first one.

US$
US$

Share premium is anything shareholders paid above the par value of their shares. Most new companies have none.

  1. US$2,095up to US$12,000
  2. US$4,275to US$120,000
  3. US$6,590to US$1.2 million
  4. US$8,780to US$12 million
  5. US$10,980to US$100 million
  6. US$19,605to US$500 million
  7. US$32,676above that

The bands come from Part II of the Fifth Schedule to the Companies Act 1981, and the US$500 from the Annual Corporate Regulatory Fees Act 2024, charged since 1 January 2024. A company formed after 31 August pays half the band fee for its first year; on our reading of the Act the US$500 is not halved.

One practical warning: raising capital later moves the company up a band from the next January, and a share issue at a premium counts too. If a bank or investor asks for a bigger capital figure, ask what the band will cost before the resolution is signed. For the account itself, see the Bermuda bank account guide.

1
Key takeaway

Keep authorised capital plus premium at US$12,000 or less and the yearly government bill stays at US$2,595.

Chapter 2

The annual declaration: what you confirm each January

The fee doesn't travel alone. It is paid through the Registrar's online register together with a declaration, and Bermuda has no separate annual return for an exempted company. Here is what the declaration covers, as the Registrar's guide to filing your annual declaration sets it out.

Annual declarationExempted company, filed in January
  1. Principal businessWhat the company actually does, in a line.
  2. Relevant activityYes or no, for economic substance. Most trading and consulting companies answer no.
  3. Financial year endWhich also starts the clock for a substance return, if one is due.
  4. Constituent entity statusWhether the company belongs to a group inside the 15% corporate income tax. This answer isn't made public.
  5. Beneficial ownershipThat the owner register is up to date and filed.
  6. ListingWhether shares are listed on an exchange.
  7. Capital and feeThe assessable capital and the fee it produces.

Because a non-resident can't file on the register alone, the declaration is made through a Bermuda corporate service provider, which for our clients is our licensed partner.

Where you live: pick it

2
Key takeaway

One January filing carries the fee and seven answers. There is no separate annual return.

Chapter 3

Paying the Bermuda annual fee late: February to strike off

The Companies Act gives the Registrar choices rather than a fixed scale, which is why you'll see different numbers quoted. Pick when the fee would finally be paid and see which rules come into play.

  • s.131(3)US$300 penaltyWhere the delay wasn't wilful, the Registrar may take the fee late with a US$300 penalty in place of fines.
  • Compliance Act s.10US$100 to US$500 a dayDaily civil penalties for a company in default, which override the older US$20 a day in the Companies Act.
  • s.131(4), (5)Stop doing businessThree months after the fee falls due unpaid, the company must cease business until it pays. Carrying on costs US$100 a day.
  • s.261Strike offLetters, then a three month notice, then removal from the register.

The daily penalties come from section 10 of the Registrar of Companies (Compliance Measures) Act 2017, which also allows a civil penalty of up to US$250,000 for breach of a relevant Act.

3
Key takeaway

February costs US$300 if the Registrar is lenient. By May the company may not lawfully trade.

Chapter 4

Owners, directors and the registers: who can read what

Bermuda keeps three different lists about your company, and each has its own audience. This surprises owners who expect offshore to mean closed. The duties below don't fall in January; they are triggered by a change. Members and directors are covered by sections 65, 66, 92A and 92B of the Companies Act, and owners by the Beneficial Ownership Act 2025.

Anyone, free at the officeRegister of membersShareholder names, addresses and holdings, open to the public for at least two hours a working day. Copies cost a small fee.Update on every transfer
AnyoneDirectors and officersKept at the registered office and as a list filed with the Registrar, including the resident representative.14 days at the office, 30 days to the Registrar
Authorities, banks and approved applicantsBeneficial ownersAnyone with 25% or more, filed with the Registrar through a licensed provider. Not public, but banks can see the full entry, and since September 2026 approved applicants can see four fields.30 days after a change

Under the Beneficial Ownership Regulations 2026 and the Registrar's legitimate interest access route, the four fields a journalist, researcher or likely counterparty can now apply for are the owner's name, month and year of birth, country of residence and nationality, and the nature of their interest. Home addresses stay out.

Two rules that changed recently

No more nominee directors. Since 10 December 2025 nobody may be appointed as a nominee director in any circumstance. Every exempted company still needs one person ordinarily resident in Bermuda as director, secretary or resident representative; ours is the representative and secretary.

No separate share consent. The Monetary Authority's consent to issue or transfer shares in an ordinary company ended on 3 November 2025. The Registrar now checks owners at registration.

4
Key takeaway

Shareholders and directors are open to the public; beneficial owners go to the Registrar within 30 days and stay closed to it.

Chapter 5

Bermuda economic substance: does a yearly return apply to you?

Bermuda's substance law, the Economic Substance Act 2018 and its regulations, reaches only nine kinds of business. A company outside all nine answers "no" in its January declaration and files nothing more. Tap what your company does.

US$100 to US$500 a dayA substance declaration filed late.
US$7,500 to US$50,000First notice for failing the test.
US$25,000 to US$100,000Second notice.
US$50,000 to US$250,000Third notice, then court and possible strike off.

Supervision moved to the Corporate Income Tax Agency on 31 March 2026; returns are still lodged on the Registrar's portal. The Act refers to a prescribed date, and Bermuda advisers work to six months after the financial year end.

5
Key takeaway

No listed activity, no substance return. A holding, IP or financing company plans for one every year.

Chapter 6

Bermuda's 15% corporate income tax: who it reaches

750m

Bermuda introduced a corporate income tax for fiscal years from 1 January 2025. You'll read that "Bermuda now taxes companies". It does, but only those in multinational groups with consolidated revenue of at least EUR 750 million in two of the four years before. Enter your group's yearly revenue.

EUR

For everyone else the tax appears once a year as a single answer in the January declaration: not a constituent entity. Nothing is paid and no return is filed. Inside the tax, returns are due on the last day of the tenth month after the year end, and a small Bermuda presence below EUR 10 million of revenue and EUR 1 million of profit can elect a zero charge.

The tax assurance. Under the Exempted Undertakings Tax Protection Act 1966, the Minister of Finance can promise an exempted company that any future tax on profits or gains won't apply to it until 31 March 2035. It costs US$195 in government fees, needs an application, and can't shield a company from the 15% tax. We apply for it once, in year one.

Payroll tax, at 9.75% for an exempted employer from 1 April 2026, applies only to pay for work done in Bermuda. More in our Bermuda tax guide.

6
Key takeaway

Below EUR 750 million of group revenue, the 15% tax is one "no" in January.

Chapter 7

Records, accounts and the audit you can waive

3m

Bermuda files no accounts publicly and doesn't insist on an audit. In exchange it asks for something many owners overlook: a record of where the company stands, held in Bermuda, at least every quarter, under section 83 of the Companies Act.

Every 3 monthsPosition held in BermudaThe books may live anywhere, but the registered office must hold records showing the financial position at intervals of no more than three months.
5 yearsKeep the booksMoney in and out, sales, purchases, assets and liabilities. Fines are US$500, and US$7,500 for a knowing breach.
Each year, or neverAccounts and auditStatements and an auditor's report go before the members, unless all members and directors agree to waive them for a period.
OptionalGeneral meetingA company can elect to dispense with annual general meetings. A sole shareholder can be the meeting.

The waiver lifts the accounts and the auditor, not the record keeping in section 83. A company with a relevant activity needs proper statements for its substance return anyway.

7
Key takeaway

No filed accounts and an optional audit, but a quarterly picture must sit in Bermuda.

Chapter 8

Changes during the year, strike off and restoration

These are the government's charges from Head 16 of the Government Fees Regulations 1976, passed on at cost. Our partner's handling of any filing is quoted before it starts.

US$200New company name: US$100 to approve, US$100 to register
US$300Change to the memorandum: US$200 to apply, US$100 to register
US$100Filing an increase or reduction of share capital
US$200Certificate of compliance, the Bermuda good standing, searched and sealed
Annual feeTo discontinue the company to another country, the fee equals its annual fee
US$300Restoring a struck off company: US$200 to apply, US$100 for the order

Strike off is slow by design. Under section 261 the Registrar writes first, then publishes a three month notice, then removes the company. Restoration costs US$300 in government fees, plus the fees and penalties that built up. Letting a Bermuda company lapse doesn't end the owner register duties either: owner records must be kept five years after strike off. To close cleanly, wind up or discontinue.

8
Key takeaway

Most changes cost US$100 to US$300 at the registry; leaving abroad costs a year's fee.

Chapter 9

What a Bermuda company costs with us each year

The government's share follows your band. Ours stays the same, because the work of keeping a Bermuda company in order doesn't grow with its capital.

Inside our US$1,895 a year
  • Resident representative and secretary from a licensed Bermuda provider
  • Registered office in Bermuda
  • The January fee and declaration, paid and filed
  • Owner register upkeep and filings within the 30 days
  • Bermuda's 7% corporate services tax on our provider's fee
  • Reminders for every date in your dashboard
Not inside it
  • The government fees, at cost, from US$2,595
  • A certificate of compliance, US$200 at cost
  • A substance return and Bermuda presence, for a relevant activity
  • Accounts and an audit, if you don't waive them
  • A Bermuda resident director, US$4,600 a year if you want one

Year one is US$5,685 with formation, the tax assurance and the first fees inside, or about US$4,640 if you form after 31 August. The government's part is collected ahead of each January.

9
Key takeaway

US$4,490 a year at the first band: US$2,595 to the government, US$1,895 to keep the company in order.

Chapter 10

Bermuda annual fees and filings: questions, answered

??
How much is the Bermuda annual fee for an exempted company?
US$2,095 when authorised capital plus share premium is US$12,000 or less, rising in seven bands to US$32,676. Every exempted company adds a US$500 corporate regulatory fee, so the lowest yearly total is US$2,595.
When is the Bermuda annual fee due?
During January each year, for every company, together with the annual declaration. A new company pays its first fee when it registers, and only half the band fee if it forms after 31 August.
What happens if a Bermuda company pays its annual fee late?
The Registrar may accept it with a US$300 penalty, or impose daily penalties of US$100 to US$500. Three months after it fell due the company must stop doing business until it pays, and in the end it can be struck off.
Does a Bermuda exempted company file accounts or an annual return?
No accounts go to the Registrar and there is no annual return beyond the January declaration. Accounts and an audit are laid before members unless all members and directors waive them, and records must show the position every three months.
Do I need to file a Bermuda economic substance return?
Only if the company carries on one of nine relevant activities, such as holding subsidiaries, intellectual property, financing, distribution or headquarters work. Otherwise it answers no in the January declaration.
Does Bermuda's 15% corporate income tax apply to a small company?
No. It applies to Bermuda entities of multinational groups with consolidated revenue of EUR 750 million or more in at least two of the four previous years. A small company simply declares that it isn't part of such a group.
Is the Bermuda shareholder register public?
Yes. The register of members can be inspected free at the registered office, and directors are public too. Beneficial owners are filed with the Registrar and are not public, though banks and approved applicants can see some details.
What does Heirson charge each year for a Bermuda company?
US$4,490 at the first band: US$2,595 in government fees at cost and US$1,895 for the resident representative, secretary, office, January filing and owner register. At a higher band only the government part rises.
Will an unpaid annual fee show to people checking the company?
It can: unpaid fees cost the company its good standing, and no certificate of compliance issues until they are paid. What a search of the register shows: Bermuda company search.

Changelog

  • 12 November 2026: first published.
  • 13 November 2026: official sources linked inside the text.
Your Bermuda company

A Bermuda company that is paid up by the end of January.

Our licensed partner files the declaration and pays the fee each January, for US$4,490 a year at the first band.

See the Bermuda company Bermuda tax guide