New Zealand

New Zealand serves as a corporate gateway to Oceania. Commercial and investment companies choose it as their headquarters. New Zealand is characterized by very accommodating legislation requiring a minimum of administrative actions and a favorable tax system. The advantage is the very quick establishment of companies and easy changes in the commercial register.

Reasons to do business in New Zealand

• NZ is the least corrupt nation in the world (along with Denmark), according to the Corruption Perceptions Index.
• The city of Auckland is one of the cheapest cities in the world to live.
• NZ is an extremely developed country with a market economy.

New Zealand is heavily dependent on international trade, particularly in agricultural products. Major export partners include Australia, the United States, Japan, China and the United Kingdom. Oil, gas and coal generated approximately 69 % of New Zealand's gross energy supply, while 31 % came from renewable energy.

Corporate income tax decreased from 33 % in 2006 to 28 % in 2012 and has been stable since then. As part of the World Bank's Doing Business analysis, which compares the world's juris­dictions according to the favorable conditions for doing business for small and medium-sized companies, New Zealand ranks 2nd out of 189 countries.

In terms of foreign trade, New Zealand ranked 27th. In the field of export and import, the administrative burden and the associated time are similar to those in other OECD countries, but the financial costs of export and import are lower.

In the Paying Taxes category, New Zealand ranks 22nd. It stands out mainly because of the lower time required to process the tax agenda (152 hours per year) than the average of OECD countries, it also requires a lower frequency of tax payments and a minimum rate of employment tax and related fees (labor tax).

Company Formation

The company issues shares and the liability of shareholders is limited to the amount of their shares. However, the statutory body is the executives. The share capital of the company is not limited in any way, in the case of Ltd. you only need to repay 1 NZD. However, the usual amount of share capital is NZD 1000. Bearer shares are not permitted to be issued in New Zealand. A New Zealand offshore company must be domiciled in New Zealand at the address of its registered agent.

Types of trading companies
Offshore business in New Zealand can be done through trusts and Ltd. companies.

Company name
A New Zealand company name is usually approved within one day. Royal, national, international and commercial names and names of an offensive nature are prohibited. The only permitted company name ending is Limited and its abbreviation is Ltd.

Company Structure

Managers
The statutory body of a New Zealand offshore company is the directors, with the minimum number being one director. Only a natural person can perform this function. The nationality of the executives is not restricted in any way. Information about executives is publicly available.

Only a resident of New Zealand can act as company secretary, but it is not compulsory to elect them.

Shareholders
The minimum number of shareholders is one. Information about shareholders is publicly available.

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