St Lucia IBC Annual Fee, Annual Return and Compliance Calendar

The short answer: what a St Lucia IBC must do every year

A Saint Lucia International Business Company (IBC) has a small but fixed set of yearly duties. Pay the annual fee by 15 January, give your registered agent your shareholder and beneficial owner return by 15 February, keep your registers and records up to date with the agent, keep a registered agent and office in St Lucia at all times, and file an annual tax return. If you miss the fee, a penalty applies from 15 February. If you miss the return, your agent reports the company to the Registry after 31 March, and the company can then be struck off.

That is the whole calendar. Most of it is handled through your registered agent, because under the International Business Companies Act (Cap. 12.14) only a licensed registered agent deals with the Registry for you. Your job as owner is to send the agent the right information and instructions on time, and to keep your own books so the tax return can be prepared.

This guide covers each duty, gives you a month-by-month compliance calendar, explains what happens if you fall behind, and shows how annual compliance links to the documents MetaQuotes asks for when you apply for an MT5 licence. It deliberately contains no fee amounts: the Registry publishes its official fee schedule, and fees have changed recently, so always check the current figure with your agent or at the source.

St Lucia IBC compliance calendar at a glance

The table below lists the fixed dates that apply to every St Lucia IBC, based on the Registry’s published fee schedule and the IBC Act. Dates repeat every calendar year.

A simple rule for busy founders: send your agent funds and your updated ownership details together in early December. That clears both January and February deadlines in one step, before holiday closures in December and January slow everything down.

The annual fee: due 15 January, penalty from 15 February

Every St Lucia IBC pays an annual fee to the Registry of International Business Companies, which is run by Pinnacle St. Lucia (the government-owned body that also operates the international financial centre). The fee keeps the company on the register for the year.

Key points

• Due date: the annual fee is due by 15 January each year.
• Penalty: if it is still unpaid, a late-payment penalty applies from 15 February.
• Payment route: you pay through your registered agent, who pays the Registry. You do not normally pay the Registry yourself.
• Recent change: the IBC (Amendment) Regulations, SI 147 of 2024 (in force 1 November 2024), raised the annual fee from 2025. Old quotes or blog posts may show out-of-date figures.

We do not publish fee amounts on this site. The official numbers are in the Registry’s fee schedule, and your agent’s yearly invoice will usually combine the government fee with the agent’s own service fee for keeping the registered office.

Does the first year count?

Agents generally collect the first year’s government fee at incorporation, and the 15 January cycle starts in the following year. How this applies to a company formed late in the year (for example in November or December) depends on the agent and the fee schedule, so ask for a written renewal date when your company is formed and put it in your calendar straight away.

The shareholder and beneficial owner return: due 15 February

The second fixed deadline is the return of shareholders and beneficial owners. Every IBC must file this with its registered agent by 15 February. The agent then reviews the filings it holds and, by 31 March, reports to the Registry any IBC that has not filed.

This return is not a public filing. St Lucia keeps beneficial ownership information private: the only public items for an IBC are its memorandum and articles, its registered agent and its registered office. The return sits with your agent, who must be able to give it to the competent authorities when lawfully asked.

What the return usually covers

• Every registered shareholder, with the number and class of shares held.
• Every beneficial owner — the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the company, including through a nominee or a holding company.
• Identification details your agent needs to match the return to its customer due diligence (CDD) file.
• Any change since the last return, with supporting documents (for example a share transfer form).

The exact form and layout come from your agent. If you use a nominee shareholder, the return still has to show the real beneficial owner behind the nominee. For how nominees work in a broker structure and what MetaQuotes expects to see, read our guide on nominee directors and shareholders for brokers.

Why agents chase this early

Your agent is a licensed entity supervised by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) under the Registered Agent and Trustee Licensing Act. Since the IBC (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2022 added compliance monitoring powers, including inspection of agents, agents have a strong reason to keep complete files. Expect reminders from December onward, and expect your agent to ask for updated ID or address proof if what they hold has expired.

What happens if you miss a deadline: penalties and strike-off

Missing a deadline rarely ends a company overnight, but the consequences grow over time. The IBC Act allows the Registrar to strike a company off the register (section 28) where it fails to meet its obligations, including paying fees and filing the information the Act requires.

1. Fee unpaid after 15 January: the company is in arrears. Your agent will chase you.
2. Still unpaid on 15 February: a late-payment penalty is added on top of the annual fee.
3. Return not filed by 15 February: the agent records the company as a non-filer.
4. 31 March: the agent reports non-filers to the Registry.
5. Continued default: the Registry can start strike-off. A struck-off company cannot lawfully carry on business, and its directors may not be able to act for it.
6. Restoration: restoring a struck-off company is usually possible within a time limit, but it means paying the arrears, penalties and restoration charges, and going through due diligence again. It also leaves a gap in your company’s history that banks and partners will ask about.

There is a second, quieter risk. Agents can resign if a client stops paying or stops responding. An IBC must have a registered agent and registered office in St Lucia at all times (sections 38–39 of the Act), so an agent resignation that is not fixed quickly puts the company in breach on its own.

We are not a law firm. The rules on strike-off, restoration periods and penalties are set by the IBC Act and the Registry; for a specific case, take advice from your registered agent or a St Lucia lawyer.

Registers, records and the registered agent

A St Lucia IBC keeps its statutory registers at the office of its registered agent in St Lucia. In practice this means the agent holds, and you keep up to date:

• Register of directors — names, addresses and dates of appointment and resignation.
• Register of members (shareholders) — names, shareholdings and dates of entry.
• Beneficial ownership information, through the annual return and CDD file.
• Memorandum and articles, with any amendments.

Separately, the company must keep accounting records that show its transactions and financial position. These records do not have to be public, but they must exist, because the annual tax return is prepared from the company’s financial statements.

Why the registers matter outside St Lucia

Two of the ten documents in the MetaQuotes pack are a register of directors and a register of shareholders showing the ultimate beneficial owners. If you appoint a new director in June and forget to tell your agent, the register your agent issues will be wrong, and the MetaQuotes check — or your bank’s — will stall. Treat every change of director, shareholder or beneficial owner as a same-week task. Our page on MetaQuotes requirements lists all ten documents.

Form your St Lucia IBC with us — and keep it MetaQuotes-ready

We help forex brokers, prop firms and trading businesses form a Saint Lucia IBC through licensed registered agents, then prepare the document pack MetaQuotes asks for when you apply for an MT5 licence. Annual compliance is part of that picture from day one, because a company that is not in good standing cannot produce the certificates MetaQuotes and banks rely on.

• Company formation: name check, CDD file, incorporation through a licensed St Lucia agent (typically 3–5 business days after due diligence is complete).
• MetaQuotes document pack: certificate of incorporation, registers of directors and shareholders, proof of registered and physical address, activities confirmation, and guidance on the bank reference letter and website checklist.
• Add-ons through the agent: legal opinion, certificate of good standing or incumbency, nominee services and bank-account assistance, generally within about a week.
• Calendar reminders: we flag your 15 January fee and 15 February return so the company stays in good standing.

We are an independent service, not affiliated with MetaQuotes, and we cannot promise any approval by MetaQuotes, a bank or a payment provider — but we can make sure your paperwork is complete and consistent. Tell us what you are building at our contact page or by email at info@stluciacompany.com, and compare what is included in each option on our packages page.

Tax return and economic substance

St Lucia IBCs are no longer outside the tax system. According to the Registry, “Effective July 1, 2021 all IBCs became subject to income tax and must file annual tax returns.” IBCs incorporated before 2019 were grandfathered under the old regime only until 30 June 2021. IBCs incorporated from 1 January 2019 onwards are tax resident in St Lucia.

What this means each year

1. Register with the Inland Revenue Department after incorporation, so the company has a tax number. Your agent can usually assist.
2. Keep accounting records throughout the year.
3. Prepare financial statements after the financial year-end. Based on the information we have from agents, unaudited financial statements are normally used for the IBC tax return; check whether your own lender, bank or regulator wants audited ones.
4. File the annual tax return with the Inland Revenue Department by the deadline that applies to your year-end. We have not verified a single fixed date that applies to every IBC, so confirm it with a St Lucia accountant.

We do not quote tax rates here; they depend on the type of income and any treaty or exemption, and they should come from a qualified St Lucia tax adviser.

Economic substance

For IBCs incorporated from 1 January 2019, section 5A of the IBC Act requires adequate employees, operating expenditure and investment or capital in St Lucia, in line with the company’s activity, and a statutory declaration at incorporation covering the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism and Income Tax Acts. Substance is not a once-only box: if your activity grows, your substance should match it, and your agent may ask you to confirm it during annual reviews.

How annual compliance affects your MT5 licence application

For brokers and prop firms, annual compliance has a direct practical effect: it decides whether you can produce the documents MetaQuotes asks for. Among the ten documents in the pack, MetaQuotes asks for a certificate of good standing or incumbency if the company is more than six months old. Your agent can only issue that if the annual fee is paid and your filings are up to date.

MetaQuotes licence fees are paid for 3 months up front and the account tiers are capped at 1,000, 25,000 or 200,000 real accounts, so a delay caused by a lapsed company is a real setback. If you are planning the licence, read how to get an MT5 licence and our guide to the bank reference letter for MetaQuotes.

A reminder on regulation: a St Lucia IBC is a company, not a forex licence. The Registry states that “Saint Lucia does not currently regulate or licence Forex Trading or Binary Options business,” and the FSRA has issued warning notices stating that “forex business is not licensed in Saint Lucia.” Staying compliant with the IBC Act keeps your company in good order; it does not create any licence to deal with clients. See St Lucia IBC for forex brokers for what that means in practice.

A yearly compliance checklist you can copy

Use this as a standing routine. It fits on one page and covers every fixed obligation.

1. November: ask your agent for the renewal invoice and confirm the current annual fee under the latest fee schedule.
2. Early December: pay the agent and send the shareholder and beneficial owner return, with updated ID or proof of address if anything has expired.
3. By 15 January: get written confirmation that the annual fee has been paid to the Registry.
4. By 15 February: confirm the agent has received and accepted your return.
5. After year-end: close the books, prepare financial statements and file the tax return with the Inland Revenue Department.
6. Every quarter: check that your registers match reality — directors, shareholders and beneficial owners.
7. Before any MetaQuotes, bank or PSP application: order a fresh certificate of good standing or incumbency from your agent.
8. Any time something changes: tell your agent within days, not at the next annual return.

Keep one shared folder with the certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, current registers, last return, fee receipts and the latest good standing certificate. When MetaQuotes or a bank asks for documents, you will be able to send them the same day. If you are still at the formation stage, our St Lucia company formation page explains how the company is set up in the first place.

Sources

Primary sources used for this guide:

• Registry of International Business Companies (Pinnacle St. Lucia), fee schedule — annual fee due date and penalty date.
• Registry, frequently asked questions — income tax for IBCs from 1 July 2021; forex not regulated or licensed in St Lucia.
• Registry, legislation page — IBC (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2022 and SI 147 of 2024.
• International Business Companies Act, Cap. 12.14 — registered agent and office, strike-off, substance (s.5A).
• Financial Services Regulatory Authority, about the FSRA and forex warning notices.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; confirm current requirements with your registered agent.

Frequently asked questions