The entity renewal is the main requirement to keep your entity in good standing, so it is important to get this right. The renewal ensures that you are up to date with the payment of annual government fees as well as the renewal for your registered address.

While a renewal on an entity’s anniversary seems most logical, this is not always the case.

In general, there are a few different renewal rules:

• Anniversary
• Fixed Date
• Semesters

Anniversary

This simply means the entity will need to be renewed on the company's anniversary. Meaning, if your entity was incorporated on November 18, 2025, the next renewal date will be November 18, 2026.

This renewal rule is applicable to most entities including US LLCs.

Fixed Date

A fixed date for the entity renewal literally means that the entity renews on the same date of each calendar year. It does not matter what the incorporation date is. This means that a poorly timed incorporation date can result in a renewal payment very soon after the entity is incorporated.

Example

Entities in the Cayman Islands have a renewal date of January 1st of each year. So, If you register your entity on November 18, 2025, the next renewal date will be January 1, 2026.

We therefore guide our clients to register a Cayman entity at the start of a new year when October comes around. If you really have an urgent need for the entity, we generally can get an exemption to get the registered address fees waived. The government fees will still need to be paid.

Semesters

The semester rule works a bit differently, for this there are two windows: the first semester and the second semester. Meaning, all entities incorporated between January 1 and June 30 are within the first semester group and the entities registered between July 1 and December 31 are in the second semester.

Each of these two groups have their own set renewal date. For the BVI this is on May 31 and November 30. For Panama it is July 15 and January 15.

Example

If your entity is registered on November 18, 2025, your entity falls in the 2nd semester. So, if your entity is in the BVI your next renewal date will be November 30, 2026.

So, if you register your entity at the start of a semester, your next renewal will be at the end of the semester in the next year. This means that you essentially can get 5 months free of fees.

It is therefore always good to know what renewal rules apply to an entity that you want to register, because you can save a lot of fees if you time the registration correctly.

Get in touch with us today to see what entity suits you best and when you should register it!