Jersey
Jersey is a British Crown Dependency, not the EU and not the UK, with an English-derived legal system and a REPUTABLE tier posture. Companies incorporate at the JFSC registry under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991, and Jersey is on no EU Annex I or Annex II list and on no FATF grey or black list, so it reads clean to a compliance desk. The defining structural fact is that a Jersey entity owned by non-residents must be administered by a JFSC-licensed Jersey trust company business (a TCSP), which supplies the registered office, company secretary, and statutory administration; that regulated administration and its annual responsibility fee is the main recurring cost and cannot be self-provided from offshore. Under the 0/10 regime a plain holding company pays 0% Jersey income tax, beneficial ownership is held centrally by the JFSC and is not a public register, and the platform offers two SKUs here: the Jersey Company and the Jersey Foundation, a premium private-client estate-planning vehicle.
- Tier
- REPUTABLE
- Formation
- 5 business days
- Apostille
- Supported
- UBO register
- Private
- EU / FATF
- Clean
Can a non-resident form a Jersey company?
Yes. A non-resident can form a Jersey entity. Jersey is a REPUTABLE jurisdiction. It onboards at a bank without the reflexive offshore-flag conversation. Formation is $17,900 all-in / ₿0.22487437 / 22,487,437 sats, paid in Bitcoin or USDT, and takes 5 business days.
- Tier
- REPUTABLE
- From price
- $17,900 all-in
- Formation time
- 5 business days
- EU / FATF status
- off both EU lists, off the FATF lists
- Public UBO register
- No
- Apostille
- Supported
What makes Jersey different
- British Crown Dependency on no EU Annex I or Annex II list and no FATF grey or black list: REPUTABLE acceptance, not an offshore flag.
- 0/10 tax regime: a plain holding company pays 0% Jersey income tax (financial-services companies 10%, utility and large-retail 20%).
- Beneficial ownership is held centrally by the JFSC and is not a public register, a privacy advantage over the public UK, Cyprus, and Estonia registers, though authorities and obliged entities still access it.
- English-derived law, no minimum share capital, at least one director who may be non-resident or corporate, and no statutory audit for a small private company.
- Formation about 5 business days standard, with apostille supported under the Hague Convention; a Jersey Foundation is also available as a separate HNW private-client vehicle.
What you are actually buying with Jersey
REPUTABLE means institution-grade acceptance. A compliance desk onboards this entity without the reflexive enhanced-due-diligence conversation an offshore flag triggers.
Jersey banks within a reputable Crown Dependency framework, which is a genuine advantage over a grey-listed IBC, but the constraint is due diligence, not access: Channel Islands banking is conservative and relationship-driven, so expect a documented source-of-funds file and a slow onboarding. Major US business-banking rails do not onboard a Jersey company; they serve US-domiciled entities only. Mercury and Relay are US-FDIC rails that decline Bitcoin-business categories, so they are not a route here. Plan banking before you form. See the Banking page for named rails.
This is a premium, recurring-fee-heavy structure, and it is the wrong choice for a budget solo founder. A non-resident-owned Jersey entity must be administered by a JFSC-licensed trust company business that supplies the registered office, company secretary, and statutory administration, and that mandatory regulated-TCSP annual fee is the main recurring cost and cannot be self-provided from offshore. If you want privacy on a budget, form a Wyoming or New Mexico LLC instead; if you want cheap zero-tax, a Seychelles IBC is the right tool. Jersey is for genuine holding, fund, asset-protection, and estate structures, not a cheap shell.
It is reputable, not anonymous, and not maintenance-free. The JFSC holds beneficial ownership centrally and the licensed TCSP identifies the UBO regardless of platform tier, so anonymous formation is not available; an annual confirmation statement is due to the registry by end-February; and the ongoing regulated administration is a real cost every year. If you expected a zero-maintenance offshore shell, this is a different category of tool.
What we collect, and what Jersey filing requires
- Email, country of residence, intended use statement
- OFAC + EU + UN sanctions screen (every order)
- Tier 1 KYC (ID + proof of address + source-of-funds attestation): required on this SKU
- Beneficial owner identification per Jersey AML law, filed to the JFSC central beneficial-ownership register (non-public)
- Notarized passport copy and recent proof of address for each beneficial owner, director, and (for a foundation) the founder and named beneficiaries
- Director consent and first subscriber resolutions for a company, or the foundation charter, regulations, guardian, and qualified-member details for a foundation
The honest note: Jersey holds beneficial ownership centrally at the JFSC, and that register is not public: authorities and obliged entities access it, but owner names are not published the way the UK, Cyprus, and Estonia publish them. That is a real privacy advantage over those jurisdictions, not anonymity. The JFSC-licensed trust company business (TCSP) that administers the entity is a regulated firm statutorily required to identify the UBO regardless of our platform-level tier, and it runs substantive KYC on every formation. Anonymous formation is not available on either Jersey SKU.
Where Jersey entities bank
Jersey banks within a reputable Crown Dependency framework, which is a genuine advantage over a grey-listed IBC, but the constraint is due diligence, not access: Channel Islands banking is conservative and relationship-driven, so expect a documented source-of-funds file and a slow onboarding. Major US business-banking rails do not onboard a Jersey company; they serve US-domiciled entities only. Mercury and Relay are US-FDIC rails that decline Bitcoin-business categories, so they are not a route here. Plan banking before you form. See the Banking page for named rails.
Full banking rankingWhen this jurisdiction is right (and wrong)
If you need a genuine holding, fund, or asset-protection structure in a REPUTABLE jurisdiction that EU, UK, and institutional counterparties treat as a known quantity rather than an offshore flag, Jersey is purpose-built for it. It is a British Crown Dependency on no EU or FATF list, English-derived law applies, and under the 0/10 regime a plain holding company pays 0% Jersey income tax, so the structure is tax-efficient and clean at the same time.
If privacy from a public register matters but you still want a reputable home, Jersey gives you something the UK, Cyprus, and Estonia do not: beneficial ownership is held centrally by the JFSC and is not published. Authorities and obliged entities still access it and the licensed TCSP identifies the UBO regardless, but your ownership is not on a public-facing record. For a holding company that needs reputational standing plus non-public ownership, that combination is the reason to choose Jersey over a public-register EU company.
If you are doing real private-client work, a Jersey Foundation under the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009 is a civil-law vehicle for estate planning, asset segregation, philanthropy, and tokenized-asset structures. It has no shares and no minimum endowment, needs no statutory audit and no company secretary, and is steered by its charter and regulations through a council that includes a JFSC-regulated qualified member, plus a guardian and a nominated person. For genuine succession and asset-separation planning, that is the right tool.
This is a premium, recurring-fee-heavy structure, and it is the wrong choice for a budget solo founder. A non-resident-owned Jersey entity must be administered by a JFSC-licensed trust company business that supplies the registered office, company secretary, and statutory administration, and that mandatory regulated-TCSP annual fee is the main recurring cost and cannot be self-provided from offshore. If you want privacy on a budget, form a Wyoming or New Mexico LLC instead; if you want cheap zero-tax, a Seychelles IBC is the right tool. Jersey is for genuine holding, fund, asset-protection, and estate structures, not a cheap shell.
It is reputable, not anonymous, and not maintenance-free. The JFSC holds beneficial ownership centrally and the licensed TCSP identifies the UBO regardless of platform tier, so anonymous formation is not available; an annual confirmation statement is due to the registry by end-February; and the ongoing regulated administration is a real cost every year. If you expected a zero-maintenance offshore shell, this is a different category of tool.
If you are a US person, a Jersey entity does not reduce your US tax. CFC and Subpart F rules can apply to a company, a Jersey Foundation can trigger foreign-trust-style reporting, and you may carry FBAR, Form 5471, Form 8938, or Form 3520 and 3520-A obligations. We do not provide tax services or file those returns; route tax to a US Enrolled Agent and get cross-border counsel before forming. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Common Jersey questions
Is my ownership public in Jersey?
No. Jersey holds beneficial ownership centrally at the JFSC on a register that is not public, so your ownership is not published the way the UK, Cyprus, and Estonia publish theirs. That is a genuine privacy advantage over those jurisdictions. It is not anonymity, though: the JFSC-licensed trust company business that administers your entity is statutorily required to identify the UBO regardless of our platform tier, and authorities and obliged entities can access the central register. General information, not legal advice.
How is a Jersey company taxed?
Jersey runs the 0/10 regime. The standard company income-tax rate is 0%, financial-services companies are taxed at 10%, and utility and large-retail companies at 20%, so a plain holding company pays 0% Jersey income tax. Your personal tax depends entirely on your country of residence, and if you are a US person CFC and Subpart F rules can still apply. We do not provide tax services; route tax questions to a US Enrolled Agent. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Why do I have to use a licensed Jersey trust company business, and what does it cost?
A Jersey entity owned by non-residents must be administered by a JFSC-licensed trust company business (a TCSP), which supplies the registered office, company secretary, and statutory administration. This is a regulatory requirement, not an add-on, and it cannot be self-provided from offshore. For the Jersey Company, $17,900 is the all-in Year-1 price and Year-2 onward is $13,499/yr, which covers that mandatory regulated administration, the company secretary, and the registered office. The annual TCSP responsibility fee is the main reason the recurring cost sits where it does.
How much is a Jersey Foundation and how is it different from the company?
The Jersey Foundation is $19,900 all-in for Year 1 and $13,999/yr from Year 2. It is filed under the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009 and is neither a company nor a trust: a self-owning legal person with no shares and no minimum endowment, steered by its charter and regulations. Its council must include a JFSC-regulated qualified member, plus a guardian and a nominated person, and it needs no statutory audit and no company secretary. It is a high-net-worth private-client vehicle for estate planning, asset segregation, philanthropy, and tokenized-asset structures, not an operating company.
How long does formation take, and is apostille available?
About 5 business days standard for the company-formation step once we have your completed Tier 1 KYC and the director and shareholder documentation; a foundation runs on a similar timeline once the founder, council, guardian, and beneficiary details are in. Apostille is supported under the Hague Convention and adds 5 to 10 business days where your bank requires legalized documents. Bank-account opening is a separate process and is the real gate: Channel Islands banking is conservative, so budget extra time for source-of-funds review.
Can I form a Jersey entity in Bitcoin?
Yes via OffshoreGuy. You settle the single all-in invoice in BTC (on-chain and Lightning) or USDT via BitSettle, the ecosystem's settlement rail, with a 15-minute rate lock and a 5% Bitcoin discount; card and ACH via Stripe are a secondary rail. The JFSC registry and the licensed trust company business are paid in fiat from our operating account, and we handle that leg off-platform. The apostille bundle is sold separately at $189 where your bank requires legalized documents.