Company Formation Costs: What to Expect in 2026

Company formation cost splits into two numbers that almost nobody separates. The fee to register the company, which is small, public and the same for everyone. And the cost of having that company exist for a year, which is several times larger, varies enormously by country, and is the number that decides whether the structure was worth building.

Registering a UK limited company costs GBP 100 at Companies House. Keeping it compliant for a year costs more than that in accountancy alone. A Cyprus company registers for EUR 195 in government fees and then carries a mandatory audit whatever its size. That gap between the advertised price and the real one is where company formation costs go wrong.

This guide gives the government fees for each jurisdiction, what a fixed-price formation actually includes, the recurring lines nobody quotes, and the year one all-in figure. It also covers the three fee increases that landed during 2026. Figures are current as at August 2026.

Company Formation Cost by Country in 2026

Registration is cheap almost everywhere. The table below is the government fee to bring the company into existence, then the realistic year one total once the things a company cannot legally operate without are included.

Government Registry Fees Are the Small Number

These are published, fixed and identical whoever files them. In the United Kingdom, digital incorporation at Companies House is GBP 100. In Cyprus it is EUR 30 for name approval plus EUR 165 to register. In Malta the Business Registry charges from EUR 100 where authorised share capital does not exceed EUR 1,500, rising on a scale to EUR 1,900 above EUR 2.5 million. A Delaware LLC files its Certificate of Formation for USD 110. Singapore charges SGD 15 for the name and SGD 300 to incorporate.

Every one of those is under EUR 400. If a provider quotes you four figures and calls it the registration fee, most of that number is their margin and their service, not the state's.

The last column is the one that moves the year one number most. A mandatory audit adds four figures annually and it applies in Cyprus, Malta and Hong Kong regardless of how small the company is. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Singapore exempt small companies, which is worth more over three years than any difference in registration fee.

What a Fixed-Price Formation Actually Includes

A fixed-price formation is the registration fee plus the work and the statutory items a company cannot exist without: the incorporation filing, the memorandum and articles, the registered office for the first year, the company secretary where one is required, and the identity verification that is now mandatory in several registries. At EUR 350 for a UK limited company, EUR 1,200 in Cyprus and EUR 1,299 in Malta, the price is quoted in full before anything starts and nothing is taken until the scope is agreed.

Where a jurisdiction runs through advisory instead of a listed price, it is because a structuring question comes before the formation, not because the price is hidden. Ireland needs the director question settled first, the UAE needs the free zone and activity chosen, and a US entity needs the tax filing position understood. The full UK breakdown sits in the cost of setting up a UK company, and Ireland in the cost of starting a company in Ireland.

The Company Formation Costs Nobody Puts in the Headline Price

Four recurring lines decide the real cost of company formation, and none of them appears in an advertised formation package. Together they usually exceed the formation fee inside the first year.

Registered Office and Company Secretary

Every company needs a registered address in its jurisdiction, and several require a company secretary as a legal office rather than an administrative convenience. Budget EUR 300 to EUR 500 a year each in Cyprus. In Singapore a registered office runs SGD 110 to SGD 420 and a corporate secretary SGD 280 to SGD 900 annually. Hong Kong requires a local company secretary outright. These are usually bundled into year one and then invoiced separately from year two, which is where the renewal surprise comes from.

Resident Director Requirements and Bonds

This is the single largest hidden line in company incorporation cost, and it only applies to some countries. Singapore requires a director ordinarily resident there under section 145 of its Companies Act, and a nominee costs SGD 1,800 to SGD 4,000 a year, every year. Ireland requires a director resident in the European Economic Area or a Section 137 bond instead, typically EUR 1,500 to EUR 2,000 every two years.

On a small company either of those can exceed the entire formation fee in year one and then repeat. The United Kingdom, Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong and the UAE impose no such requirement, though in Cyprus and Malta a local director is advised for tax residence rather than by company law. Which countries carry which requirement is set out in the guide to setting up a company as a non-resident.

Accounting, Audit and the Annual Levy

Bookkeeping and annual accounts run EUR 1,200 to EUR 2,400 in Cyprus for a small company. A statutory audit adds EUR 800 to EUR 1,500 and, unlike most of Europe, it is mandatory for every Cyprus company whatever its turnover. Cyprus also charges a EUR 350 annual levy that is payable whether or not the company traded. Add the pieces up and a dormant Cyprus company still costs roughly EUR 3,000 to EUR 5,000 a year to keep alive.

That figure is the honest comparison point, not the EUR 195 registration fee. Where the structure is a holding vehicle rather than a trading business, the tax treatment usually justifies it, which is the argument made in holding company formation in Cyprus and in the guide to what a special purpose vehicle is.

The Cost of the Gap Between Incorporation and Banking

The cost nobody models is time. Formation takes days. A business bank account for a foreign-owned company takes four to eight weeks in Cyprus and six to twelve in Malta. Every week in that queue is a week of paying for a company that cannot invoice, and any contract signed in the meantime has nowhere to be paid into.

Price that as lost trading rather than as an administrative delay, and start the account application in parallel with the formation rather than after the certificate arrives.

What Changed in Company Formation Costs During 2026

Three governments raised the cost of holding a company in the same year, in three different ways. If you budgeted from a guide written in 2025, all three numbers below are wrong in your spreadsheet.

UK Companies House Fees Doubled on 1 February 2026

Digital incorporation went from GBP 50 to GBP 100, and the annual confirmation statement from GBP 34 to GBP 50. Companies House operates on cost recovery, and the increase funds its new powers under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: querying suspicious filings, removing false information, and running the mandatory identity verification for directors and people with significant control that became compulsory in November 2025.

In absolute terms it is still the cheapest serious registry in this comparison. The point is the direction of travel, since the same Act is what added the verification step that now catches non-resident founders out. The current process is in the UK company registration guide.

Delaware Raised Its Franchise Tax to USD 400 in August 2026

The annual LLC franchise tax rose from USD 300 to USD 400 with effect from 1 August 2026. Add the USD 75 state business licence and a Delaware LLC now costs at least USD 475 a year to keep, against a USD 110 one-off to create. A registered agent adds USD 100 to USD 300 on top.

For a foreign owner the arithmetic is worse than that, because a single-member LLC owned by a non-US person must file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 annually, and the penalty for a late or substantially incomplete filing starts at USD 25,000. The full picture is in the cost of forming a Delaware LLC, with the alternative in the cost of forming a Wyoming LLC.

Hong Kong Ended Its Levy Waiver on 1 April 2026

The HKD 150 Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund levy had been waived since April 2024. It resumed on 1 April 2026, so a one-year business registration certificate is now HKD 2,350, being HKD 2,200 plus the levy, and a three-year certificate is HKD 6,170. The fee attaches to the certificate commencement date rather than the payment date, so any table still showing HKD 2,200 is out of date. Detail sits in the cost of setting up a company in Hong Kong.

Cheapest Company Formation, and When Cheap Costs More

Cheapest company formation is a real and sometimes correct goal. It stops being correct the moment the cheap jurisdiction carries a recurring obligation the expensive one does not.

Year One All-In, Which Is the Number That Matters

Compare total first-year cost including the things a company cannot legally skip, and the ranking changes from the registration-fee ranking almost completely.

Read this against the first table and the inversion is obvious. Delaware is near the cheapest to register and carries a five-figure penalty exposure for one missed form. Singapore is inexpensive at the registry and the most expensive here to run, because the nominee is mandatory rather than optional. The United Kingdom is cheapest on both, which is why it is the default answer for a founder with no reason to be elsewhere.

When the Cheapest Option Is Genuinely Right

If you are trading, invoicing in a major currency, and have no requirement to be inside a particular market, the cheapest real option is also the best one. A UK limited company at EUR 350 registers in about a day, has no residence requirement, no minimum share capital and no audit below the small-company thresholds, and every UK bank and payment provider already has a process for it. Options at that end of the market are compared in cheap company formation services in Ireland and in the UK company formation for non-residents guide.

When Cheap Turns Expensive

Three situations reverse it. If you need EU VAT and the One Stop Shop, a licence you intend to passport, or directive relief between group companies, then you need an EU member state and the cheaper non-EU option does not substitute at any price. If your structure is a holding or intellectual property vehicle, the tax treatment is worth more than the compliance cost and the more expensive jurisdiction wins. And if the cheap jurisdiction is one where a foreign-owned company struggles to open an account, the saving is theoretical. Which of the EU three fits is worked through in the European company formation guide, with routes in Cyprus company formation with a bank account and the Malta company formation guide.

Company Incorporation Cost by Business Type

The same jurisdiction costs different amounts depending on what the company is for, because the compliance attached to the activity varies far more than the registration fee does.

A Simple Trading Company

The cheapest case and the most common. One or two shareholders, a service or product business, no licence required and no local presence needed. Budget the formation fee plus accountancy and nothing else in most jurisdictions. A UK limited company at EUR 350 with an accountant on a monthly retainer is a complete answer, and the cost of company formation here is genuinely the number advertised.

A Holding or Intellectual Property Structure

More expensive to run and usually worth it. The compliance is heavier because the value sits inside the entity rather than flowing through it, so audit, substance and transfer pricing all matter. Cyprus and Malta carry mandatory audit, which is a cost, and also carry the participation exemptions and treaty network that are the reason to be there. Judge this on the tax outcome across three years, never on the setup fee.

A Regulated or Licensed Business

A different order of magnitude. A payments, gaming, fund or investment business pays for the licence application, the regulatory capital, the compliance officers the regulator requires, and professional fees through a process measured in months. The company formation cost is a rounding error against the licensing cost, and choosing the jurisdiction on formation price would be the wrong basis entirely. Jersey structures for asset holding are set out in the cost of Jersey company formation, and Singapore in the cost of incorporating a company in Singapore.

Common Mistakes When Budgeting Company Formation Costs

Four, and each one shows up as a real bill rather than as a theoretical risk.

Budgeting the Formation Fee and Nothing Else

The most common error by a wide margin. Someone budgets EUR 195 for Cyprus because that is the registry fee, then meets a EUR 350 annual levy, a mandatory audit at EUR 800 to EUR 1,500, bookkeeping at EUR 1,200 to EUR 2,400, and registered office and secretary on top. The real year one figure is fifteen to twenty times what was budgeted. The fix is trivial and almost nobody does it: ask for the year two number before you pay the year one invoice.

Choosing on Price and Paying for It in Year Two

Formation packages are priced to win the first sale, so the registered office, the secretary and sometimes the first annual filing are bundled into a headline number and then invoiced separately at renewal. A EUR 99 formation followed by EUR 600 of renewals is more expensive over three years than a EUR 350 formation with nothing hidden behind it. Compare three-year totals, not entry prices.

Using Figures From Before the 2026 Increases

Three of the numbers in this article changed during 2026, and most cost guides still carry the old ones. UK incorporation is GBP 100, not GBP 50. The Delaware franchise tax is USD 400, not USD 300. Hong Kong business registration is HKD 2,350, not HKD 2,200, because the levy waiver ended. None of these individually breaks a budget, but a guide that has all three wrong is telling you it has not been checked this year.

Forgetting What Being Late Costs

Filing penalties are not proportionate to the paperwork, and a non-resident owner is the most likely to miss a deadline because there is no local accountant reminding them and no post arriving at an address they check. A late or substantially incomplete Form 5472 on a foreign-owned US LLC starts at USD 25,000 and accrues further penalties every 30 days. Against that, the cost of an accountant who files on time is not really a cost at all.

How Much Does Company Formation Cost?

Government registration is under EUR 400 almost everywhere worth using. A fixed-price formation including the statutory items runs from EUR 350 for a UK limited company to about EUR 1,300 in Malta. Year one all-in, which is the figure that actually matters, runs from roughly EUR 350 in the United Kingdom to EUR 5,000 in Cyprus or Malta and higher again in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The spread is not caused by registration fees. It is caused by mandatory audit, resident director requirements and annual levies, none of which appear in an advertised price. So budget the year two number, not the year one headline, and compare across three years.

For a straightforward trading business the United Kingdom is both the cheapest to start and the cheapest to keep. If you need the EU, the higher running cost of Cyprus, Malta or Ireland is the price of membership rather than a worse deal, and it buys something the cheaper option cannot supply at any price.

Frequently Asked Questions About Company Formation Costs