Gibraltar is located in the western Mediterranean at the southern tip of Spain, and the coast of Morocco is only 14 miles across the Strait of Gibraltar. Gibraltar has an area of two and a quarter square miles and is connected by a narrow isthmus to mainland Spain. The population is about 30,000 people, of which 20,000 are migrants. People are mainly of Genoese, Maltese and Portuguese descent and speak two languages in English and Spanish. There is a small but significant Jewish population, some Indian merchants, and more recently a large influx of Moroccan workers. The official language is English, the official currency is pound sterling, and the coins of Great Britain and Gibraltar are in circulation.

Since 1704, Gibraltar has been under the protectorate of the British crown. It was transferred by the Kingdom of Spain “forever” to the British Crown in accordance with the Utrecht Treaty of 1713. In 1967, and before the adoption of the new Constitution, the people of Gibraltar held a referendum to determine whether they want to remain British or fall under Spanish sovereignty. The result of the referendum, which was overwhelmingly in favor of the British, and the new Constitution of 1969 angered the dictatorship of General Franco so that the Spanish border with Gibraltar was closed in 1969 and was not fully open until February 1985 (as a precursor to Spain's accession to the European Union in 1986).

Gibraltar entered the European Union in 1973 by virtue of the entry of the United Kingdom into the Union in accordance with the provisions of Article 227 (4) of the Treaty of Rome, which extends the provisions of the Treaty to those "European territories for which external relations are a member state".

At the time of Gibraltar's entry into the EU, the Government of Gibraltar agreed to exempt from the common external tariff (Customs Union), general agricultural policy and value added tax (VAT) in accordance with Article 28 of the British Act of Accession. Confirmation of the exclusion of Gibraltar from the Customs Union is carried out in accordance with Article 3 of the Customs Code (as amended).

The 1969 Gibraltar Constitution gives legislative power to the Governor, who is the Queen's representative, and to the Gibraltar Parliament. In the preamble to the Constitution, the British government guarantees the people of Gibraltar that this territory will remain part of Her Majesty’s possessions, unless otherwise provided in an act of parliament, and that “Her Majesty’s government would never enter into an agreement under which the people of Gibraltar would transfer under the sovereignty of another states contrary to their freely and democratically expressed desires. ”

Although this is by definition a dependent territory, Gibraltar enjoys greater independence in economic policy. The British Foreign Office is directly responsible for Gibraltar's foreign policy, defense, and security affairs, and the Gibraltar government and members of the Gibraltar parliament, who report to the Gibraltar parliament, are involved in internal affairs. Gibraltar has its own legal system, similar to the UK system and based on English common law, but with its own laws, which are called ordinances, which are passed by the Gibraltar Parliament.

The Gibraltar Companies Act derives from the English Companies Act of 1929 and has evolved independently from that date. The latest consolidated version of the Gibraltar Companies Act 2004 has just been published and is still a hallmark of the English Companies Act.

There is no such thing as a non-resident or offshore company in Gibraltar. All Gibraltar companies are automatically considered to be residents in Gibraltar for tax purposes and receive tax identification numbers in Gibraltar. However, some companies will be treated differently with respect to revenue from Gibraltar tax authorities, depending on whether it is considered taxable in Gibraltar or not. In fact, those companies that can meet the criteria described below that would make them “non-resident controlled” without “Gibraltar income” will not be taxed on income in Gibraltar.

Gibraltar companies are not always taxed in Gibraltar. If a Gibraltar company can prove that it is “controlled by a non-resident”, Gibraltar tax authorities will consider such a company to be tax-free in Gibraltar. This can be determined by the following parameters:

• beneficial owners of the company are non-residents of Gibraltar;
• The directors and shareholders of the company are non-residents of Gibraltar or professional licensed Corporate Directors and/or Nominee Shareholders;
• the company operates EXCLUSIVELY outside of Gibraltar, does not establish a physical operational presence in this jurisdiction, and does not have revenue from a source in Gibraltar.

It is possible, however, due to the inexpediency of providing the service by residents of Gibraltar as part of tax optimization, we do not provide this service.

The identities of directors and shareholders of Gibraltar companies must be registered with the Gibraltar Companies Register. It can be nominal persons.

The 1999 Companies Ordinance introduced the 4th and 7th EU directives, which require the public disclosure of certain corporate financial information on an annual basis.

Gibraltar companies must determine the start dates of their fiscal year from April 1 to March 31, as well as submit a balance sheet to the Register of Companies for the selected annual financial period within 13 months of the selected financial year. These balance sheets must be signed by company directors. An audit of these balance sheets is not required.

As of January 1, 2016, all Gibraltar companies are required by law to file an annual tax return with the Gibraltar Tax Inspectorate along with the company's annual reports. Previous regulations required a company to file reports and tax returns with the Gibraltar tax office only if they had taxable income in Gibraltar. The new rules do not distinguish between companies that may or may not be taxable in Gibraltar.

Reports should be prepared on the following basis:

• Large companies: full reports, including balance sheet, income statement, notes, director's report and auditor's report. The concept of a large company is defined by the Law and implies compliance with any two of the following three parameters:1) Net turnover exceeds 36 million pounds; 2) The total balance sheet (total assets) exceeds £ 18 million; The average number of employees in each year exceeds 250.
• Medium-sized companies: the same as for large companies, except that the income statement may be in abbreviated form. The concept of an average company is defined by the Law and satisfies any two of the following three parameters: 1) Net turnover should not exceed 36 million pounds; 2) The total book value (total assets) should not exceed 18 million pounds; 3) The average number of employees per year should not exceed 250.
• Small companies: only a reduced balance. A small company is determined by law if it satisfies any two of the following three parameters: 1) Net turnover should not exceed 10.2 million pounds; 2) The total book value (total assets) should not exceed 5.1 million pounds; 3) The average number of employees in each year should not exceed 50.

Banks in Gibraltar focus on providing customer capital management services rather than retail or commercial banking services. Many banks have only recently introduced remote account management technologies. As a result, most banks based in Gibraltar only consider customers when they are willing to place large amounts of deposits.

Banking subject:

• GIBRALTAR INTERNATIONAL BANK (www.gibintbank.gi) - the only bank in Gibraltar currently capable of corporate banking without a minimum initial deposit requirement.
• MONEYCORP BANK (https://global.moneycorp.com/bank) - may be useful for accounts requiring operations in the Forex market in different currencies.
• TURICUM BANK (https://www.turicum.com/) - focused on investment capital management, but can support settlement services.

1. Fill out the registration form.
2. Please provide us with the original utility bill, bank statement, credit card statement, a copy of your driver’s license or an identity card or similar document (no older than 3 months) to indicate proof of address for each proposed director, shareholder, beneficial owner of the company.
3. In the case of corporate directors and/or shareholders, it is necessary to provide: a certified authentic copy of the registration certificate; a certified true copy of the memorandum and articles of association, a certificate of location, which indicates the names and addresses of the directors and shareholders of the company.
4. Provide us with a letter of recommendation to the director and beneficiary of the company.
5. Please provide us with certified true copies of passports for each proposed director, shareholder, beneficial owner and/or authorized person.
6. Please provide us with an accurate and detailed description of the company’s activities, as well as a CV for each of the beneficial owners + a company presentation, business plan or details of the client’s website.
7. Choose a company name from the existing ones or tell us the name of your company.

Vita Liberta Company is pleased to provide legal address and mail forwarding services:

• For providing a legal address EUR 650 per year.
• The provision of mail/forwarding services (depending on frequency, but not less than 600 EUR per year).