Offshore SAL · Decree-Law 46/1983
Invoice the world from Lebanon.
An offshore SAL pays no tax on profit and nothing when it pays you. One flat annual amount instead. Formed end to end for $2,950.
Six to ten weeks. You do not need to be in Lebanon, or Lebanese.
A Lebanese offshore SAL is a joint stock company registered under Decree-Law 46/1983. It is exempt from corporate income tax on profit and the 10% withholding on distributed dividends. It pays an annual lump sum of LBP 50,000,000, about US$560, instead. It may serve clients outside Lebanon only. One shareholder is enough. Minimum capital is LBP 30,000,000, about US$335. A quarter of each share is paid at subscription. Formation takes six to ten weeks.
Brought to you by taktek, in collaboration with Hobeich Legal.
Why this structure
Built for income that comes from outside.
01
Exempt from tax on profit
Corporate income tax does not apply. One annual lump sum of LBP 50,000,000, about US$560, takes its place.
02
Nothing withheld on dividends
A SARL or an SAL withholds 10% on distributions. An offshore SAL withholds nothing.
03
One shareholder is enough
An ordinary SAL always needs three. An offshore SAL needs one. That one can be foreign and hold every share.
04
A real registered company
A number in the Commercial Register, a bank account and a tax number. Not a freelancer's receipt.
Honest first
This does not suit everyone.
It works if
- Every client you invoice is outside Lebanon.
- You want a company that can open a bank account and sign contracts.
- You are comfortable with an annual lump sum instead of a profit tax.
It does not work if
- Any part of your revenue comes from inside Lebanon. An offshore company may serve clients outside Lebanon only.
- You want capital below LBP 30,000,000, about US$335. That is the floor.
- You want it this month. Six to ten weeks is the honest range.
If something else is right for you, you hear it before you pay anything beyond the $500. And the $500 comes back.
How it works
Four steps. The first one is refundable.
-
$500 opens the file
You pay $500 and answer three questions: what you do, where your clients are, and roughly what you invoice a year. Nothing else is due yet.
Day 0 -
Hobeich Legal reviews the case
Gracia reads what you sent. She checks your intended activity against the rules for an offshore company. If this is the wrong structure for you, she says so. The $500 is refunded in full. Nothing proceeds until she signs off.
Days 1–3 -
Documents drafted and notarised
She drafts the founding documents and the appointments. She sends exact signing instructions, then legalises before the notary. Wet ink, blue pen, three originals. The balance falls due here.
Weeks 2–5 -
Bank, registry, Ministry of Finance
Capital is deposited and certified. The file goes to the Commercial Registry of Beirut for your number, then to the Ministry of Finance for your tax number. You get the certificate and register extract.
Weeks 4–10
The registry keeps its own clock. Documents that come back late are rejected. So are documents signed in the wrong colour pen. Redoing them can cost a month, and filings made late attract penalties. Everything after your documents arrive is ours to chase.
Price
One number, with the government fees shown.
$500 opens the file. Hobeich Legal reviews your case and your documents before anything else happens. If this is wrong for you, the $500 is refunded in full. The balance falls due when your documents are ready to sign.
This is the standard price. It covers most formations. Some businesses need a licence or a regulator’s consent. Some documents need legalising abroad. A few activities carry conditions of their own. If yours is one of those, you hear it at the review, in writing, with the cost, before anything beyond the $500 falls due.
Then, every year
Reference
Where all of this comes from.
Every figure on this page comes from the texts below, and from the firm’s own guides. Gracia writes and reviews those, and they are free to read. If you want the law rather than the offer, start there. Nothing here replaces them.
The governing texts
- Decree-Law No. 46 of 24 June 1983 on offshore companies, as amended.
- Lebanese Code of Commerce, Legislative Decree No. 304 of 24 December 1942, as amended by Law No. 126 of 29 March 2019.
- Lebanese Income Tax Law: corporate income tax at 17% on profit, withholding at 10% on distributed dividends.
- Commercial Registry of Beirut filing practice.
The firm’s guides on this
- Lebanese offshore companies: the full reference on what an offshore SAL may and may not do
- Company types in Lebanon: how this compares with a SARL, an SAL and a holding company
- Company tax in Lebanon: the lump-sum tax, and what an offshore company is exempt from
- Registering a company in Lebanon: the documents, the sequence and what sets the pace
The full Lebanese company law reference · Glossary of Arabic terms · Hobeich Legal
General information, not legal advice. Statutory references are stated in good faith as at September 2026 and change.
Questions
The ones people actually ask.
Gracia Hobeich of Hobeich Legal, licensed by the Beirut Bar Association. You sign her engagement letter. She owes you the duties a lawyer owes a client. Taktek runs this website and takes the payment. Taktek is not a law firm and gives no legal advice.
The $500, in full, if the review finds this is not the right structure for you. That is the only thing you have paid at that point. Once the documents are drafted and the balance falls due, the $500 is earned.
No. An offshore company may serve clients outside Lebanon only. That is the trade for the tax treatment. If local work matters, a SARL is the honest answer.
No. A power of attorney legalised at your nearest Lebanese consulate lets the firm sign and file for you. Tell us where you are. You will get the exact list that consulate requires.
You can, and the link is in the nav. It is the same firm at the same legal fee. What this site adds is one total with the third-party costs shown. An intake that asks for the right documents the first time. And a card payment.
Lebanese banks treat offshore companies as higher risk and review each file on its merits. Nobody can guarantee approval. You should be sceptical of anyone who promises otherwise.
Start with a call.
Fifteen minutes with Gracia before you pay anything. You will leave knowing whether an offshore SAL is right for you. If not, you will know what is.
Replies within one business day. Arabic, English or French.