SARL · Code of Commerce, Law 126/2019
The default, and usually the right one.
A SARL trades anywhere, takes one partner or twenty, and starts at LBP 5,000,000 of capital, about US$56. Formed end to end for $2,450.
Four to eight weeks. One partner is enough since Law 126/2019.
A Lebanese SARL is a limited liability company under the Code of Commerce, as amended by Law 126/2019. It may serve clients anywhere, inside Lebanon and outside it. Minimum capital is LBP 5,000,000, about US$56, paid in full at registration. One partner is sufficient since Law 126/2019, up to a maximum of twenty. It pays 17% corporate income tax on profit and 10% withholding on distributed dividends. An auditor becomes mandatory above LBP 30,000,000 of capital, about US$335. Formation takes four to eight weeks.
At a glance
| Governing text | Code of Commerce, as amended by Law 126/2019 |
|---|---|
| Clients | Anywhere |
| Minimum capital | LBP 5,000,000, about US$56 |
| Paid at registration | In full |
| Partners | 1 to 20 |
| Corporate income tax | 17% |
| Dividend withholding | 10% |
| Annual lump-sum tax | None |
| Auditor | Above LBP 30,000,000 of capital, about US$335 |
| Management | Manager, a natural person |
| Foreign ownership | Permitted, up to 100% |
| Formation time | Four to eight weeks |
Why this structure
For doing business inside Lebanon.
01
Clients anywhere
Unlike an offshore company, a SARL may invoice inside Lebanon and outside it.
02
One partner is enough
Law 126/2019 introduced the single-partner SARL. You sign decisions on your own. They go in the Commercial Register.
03
The lowest capital floor
LBP 5,000,000, about US$56. It has not moved since 1992. Most companies register more, because the figure is read as a signal.
04
No auditor when you start small
An auditor is mandatory above LBP 30,000,000 of capital, about US$335. It is also mandatory if partners holding a fifth ask for one.
Honest first
But it is not right for everyone.
It works if
- Some or all of your clients are inside Lebanon.
- You want the cheapest and quickest route to a real registered company.
- There are between one and twenty of you, and you do not need transferable shares.
It does not work if
- Every client you invoice is outside Lebanon. An offshore SAL pays no tax on profit and nothing on distributions.
- Your activity is banking, insurance, savings schemes or scheduled air transport. Those are closed to a SARL.
- You need freely transferable shares or outside investors. That is an SAL.
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 -
Case reviewed
Our partner law firm reads what you sent and checks your intended activity against the rules for a SARL. If this is the wrong structure for you, you are told so. The $500 is refunded in full. Nothing proceeds until the review is signed off.
Days 1–3 -
Documents drafted and notarised
Our partner law firm drafts the founding documents and the appointments, 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 the register extract.
Weeks 3–8
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
Two packages, with the government fees shown.
Standard
Fixed price
$2,450
Legal work and every third-party cost. This is what nearly every formation costs.
- The founding documents drafted and notarised.
- Capital deposited and the bank certificate obtained.
- Filed at the Commercial Registry of Beirut for your number.
- Registered at the Ministry of Finance for your tax number.
- Every government fee and third-party cost, included above.
Bespoke
Starting from
$3,450
Priced on the file. Write with what you are doing and you get a quote in writing, before anything is due.
- Everything in Standard.
- A licence or a regulator’s consent, obtained rather than pointed at.
- Documents legalised at a Lebanese consulate abroad.
- Nationality, capital or ownership conditions checked and structured around.
- Bylaws drafted to your terms rather than to the template.
$500 opens the file on Standard. Our partner law firm reviews your case and your documents before anything else happens, and if this is the wrong structure for you the $500 is refunded in full. The balance falls due when your documents are ready to sign. Bespoke is quoted first: write, and you get the figure in writing before anything is due.
The first line is our partner law firm’s work on your file: drafting, the notary appointment, the registry and the Ministry. The three below it are paid to third parties and shown on your receipts.
Then, every year
Reference
Where all of this comes from.
Every figure on this page comes from the texts below, and from the guides our partner law firm writes and reviews. They are free to read. If you want the law rather than the offer, start there. Nothing here replaces them.
The governing texts
- Lebanese Code of Commerce, Legislative Decree No. 304 of 24 December 1942, as amended by Law No. 126 of 29 March 2019.
- Law No. 126 of 29 March 2019, introducing the single-partner SARL.
- Lebanese Income Tax Law: corporate income tax at 17% on profit, withholding at 10% on distributed dividends.
- Commercial Registry of Beirut filing practice.
Guides on this
- Company types in Lebanon: the comparison table setting a SARL against the other three forms
- Registering a company in Lebanon: the documents, the sequence and what sets the pace
- Company tax in Lebanon: the 17% and the 10%, the VAT threshold and payroll
- Glossary of Lebanese company law: the Arabic terms the registry and the notary will use
The full Lebanese company law reference · Glossary of Arabic terms · Our partner law firm
General information, not legal advice. Statutory references are stated in good faith as at September 2026 and change.
Questions
The ones people actually ask.
A lawyer at our partner law firm, licensed by the Beirut Bar Association. You sign our partner law firm's engagement letter, and the lawyer owes you the duties a lawyer owes a client. This site handles the intake and the payment. It 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.
Yes. Law 126/2019 introduced the single-partner SARL. The one catch is that a sole-partner SARL cannot be the sole partner of another SARL.
Yes. A SARL's capital is paid up in full at registration. An SAL needs only a quarter of each share at subscription.
Yes, and wholly. Certain regulated activities carry Lebanese ownership requirements. Holding real property has its own rules. The answer depends on your object. We check that before drafting.
Start with a call.
Fifteen minutes with our partner law firm before you pay anything. You will leave knowing whether a SARL fits, what it involves, and what it costs.
Replies within one business day. Arabic, English or French.