Oceania · Pty Ltd
Cost to register a company in Australia
Australia is mid-range to incorporate and noticeably more expensive than the UK or New Zealand to run — and the reason is almost entirely the resident-director requirement. The ASIC registration fee is A$611, there is no notary and no minimum capital, so the government side is straightforward. But a non-resident must usually pay a professional resident-director (nominee) service, often A$3,000–6,000+/yr, which dwarfs every other line item and is the defining cost of an Australian Pty Ltd for a foreign founder. Add the A$329 annual ASIC review and an accountant, and the recurring burden is real even before the company earns a cent.
- Country
- Australia
- Topic
- Cost breakdown
- Reviewed
- June 2026
By the Lanzamo Editorial Team · Reviewed June 2026 · How we research
| Item | One-time | Recurring | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government registration fee (ASIC Form 201) | $400 | — | A$611 to register a proprietary company (from 1 July 2025), CPI-indexed each 1 July — expect a small rise in later years. |
| Notary / apostille | $0–$100 | — | No notarial deed is required to register. The only likely notary cost is certifying identity documents for a non-resident's paper Director ID application. |
| Director ID | $0 | — | Free from the ABRS. Cost for a non-resident is the time and the certified copies of ID, not a government fee. |
| Resident director (nominee) service | $0–$500 | $2,000–$6,000 | Mandatory for a foreign founder with no Australian co-director: a professional resident director, often plus a security deposit or indemnity. The single largest cost. |
| Registered office / address service | — | $150–$500 | Mandatory Australian registered office and principal place of business; usually bundled into the resident-director or formation package. |
| ASIC annual review fee | — | $215 | A$329/yr for a proprietary company (from 1 July 2025), payable on the registration anniversary. Late payment triggers automatic ASIC penalties (~A$98 / A$411). |
| Accountant — company return + BAS | — | $1,000–$2,500 | Roughly A$1,500–3,500/yr for a small company: the annual ATO company return plus quarterly BAS if GST-registered. Small Pty Ltds are usually audit-exempt. |
| GST registration & BAS | $0 | $0–$500 | ASIC/ATO charge nothing to register for GST; the ongoing cost is the accountant's fee for quarterly BAS, only once you must register (A$75,000 turnover). |
| Formation agent package (optional) | $100–$500 | — | Bundles the ASIC Form 201 filing, name check, registered office and often the resident-director introduction — what most non-residents actually buy. |
Realistic all-in first year
$2,400 – $9,000
After year one the A$611 registration fee drops away, but the resident-director service is a permanent recurring cost — and it dominates everything. Budget roughly the resident director ($2,000–6,000/yr), the A$329 ASIC review (~$215/yr), the registered office (~$150–500/yr) and the accountant ($1,000–2,500/yr): call it $3,500–9,000 a year ongoing, or roughly $11,000–27,000 over three years all-in. That recurring resident-director line is exactly why Australia is materially more expensive to maintain than the UK or New Zealand, where you can be the sole non-resident director.
Frequently asked questions
What is the absolute minimum to register an Australian company?
The ASIC fee of A$611, plus an Australian registered office address — you cannot use a foreign one. The Director ID is free. But the unavoidable real cost for a non-resident is the resident director: without an Australian co-director you must pay a nominee service (typically A$3,000–6,000+/yr), so a genuine bare-minimum first year is several thousand dollars, not a few hundred.
Why is Australia more expensive than the UK or New Zealand?
Almost entirely the resident-director rule. The UK requires no resident director, and New Zealand lets a single non-resident director qualify in limited cases — so in both you can avoid a nominee. Australia forces every Pty Ltd to have an Australian-resident director, and for a foreign founder that means a recurring professional fee that becomes the largest single cost of the company.
Do I have to deposit any share capital?
No. There is no minimum paid-in capital. The standard structure is a single A$1 ordinary share — a nominal figure, not cash you must wire into an Australian account before registering. The capital requirement is genuinely trivial; it is the resident-director and banking steps, not capital, that cost money.
Are there hidden recurring fees I should expect?
The unavoidable annual ones are the resident-director service, the A$329 ASIC Annual Review (with automatic penalties if late), your registered-office renewal and accounting. There is no state corporate income tax and no annual franchise tax, but the resident-director fee is the recurring cost that catches foreign founders off guard.
Sources
- ASIC — 201 Application for registration as an Australian company
- ASIC — Fees for commonly lodged documents
- ASIC — Late fees
- ABRS — Apply for your director ID
- Corporations Act 2001 s.201A — Minimum number of directors (AustLII)
- ATO — Registering for GST (A$75,000 threshold)
- PwC Tax Summaries — Australia corporate income tax (25%/30%)
- PwC Tax Summaries — Australia withholding taxes (franking, dividends, interest, royalties)
- ATO — Dividends paid or credited to non-resident shareholders
- business.gov.au — Register for goods and services tax (GST)
More on Australia
Comparing Australia with other countries?
See Australia next to 12 other startup-friendly jurisdictions — fee, tax, capital and the resident-director catch — in one table.
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