Maldives

Starting a Business in

Maldives

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Maldives. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Maldives to 184 other economies.

YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 6.1794,050

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Limited Liability Company
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: MVR 2,000
  • City: Malé

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Search for a unique company name and pick up standard application forms for incorporation

The Companies Act 1996 governs the rules on acceptable company names. To make the incorporation process easier, the Registrar of Companies provides standard memorandum and articles of association. The standard forms cost is freely downloadable on the web. No fees apply for the name confirmation.
1 day no charge
2 Pay registration fees

Since January 2010, registration fees are paid at the Ministry of Economic Development
1 day fees included in procedure 3
3 Register with the Registrar of Companies

The Schedule to the Companies Act 1996 provides for company registration fees, based on a sliding scale on authorized share capital, as shown below.

If the authorized capital is MVR 10,000 or less, the fee is MVR 1,000. If authorized capital is more than MVR 10,000, an additional fee is payable on every MVR 4,000/- or part thereof of the authorized capital, as follows:

• Between MVR 10,000/- and MVR 500,000/- : MVR 10/-.
• Between MVR 500,000/- and MVR 4,000,000/-: MVR 4/-.
• Between MVR 4,000,000/- and MVR 8,000,000/-: MVR 2/-.
• Above MVR 8,000,000/-: MVR 1/-.

In addition to this sliding-scale fee, public companies must pay an annual fee of MVR 10,000 before the end of March every year; private companies must pay MVR 2,000.

The Ministry of Finance and Treasury is drafting a system for imposing revenue-based corporate taxation but implementation is likely to take several years. Hence, start-up companies do not need to apply for a tax identification number.
5 days MVR 2,000 annual company fee + registration fee (see the comment) + MVR 500 stamp duty
4 Make a company seal

The Companies Act 1996 requires all companies to have and register the company seal with the Registrar of Companies.
1 day MVR 250
5 Register company seal with Registrar of Companies


1 day no charge
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