The calculator allows you to calculate the approximate cost of maintenance of accounting services to support and audit the company.
CalculateCompanies operating in Liechtenstein must provide their financial statements annually. Financial statements consist of a balance sheet, profit and loss statement and notes to accounts. Annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements must be audited and filed with the Office of Justice.
After the documents have been filed, the Office of Justice declares the registration number under which the documents have been filed in the Electronic Official Gazette (Elektronisches Amtsblatt). It is done at the company’s expense. Companies whose shares or bonds are listed on a stock exchange must publish their (consolidated) annual financial statements in printed form and must make them available to the press and any interested party at request.
Financial year corresponds to tax year. A reporting period can end on any day of a calendar year.
The following companies must disclose their annual financial statements:
General partnerships and partnerships limited by shares are allowed to not file accounts with the Office of Justice but must keep financial statements at the registered address in Liechtenstein and be ready to provide them immediately after they receive a request from inspection authorities (for instance, the tax inspectorate).
Micro companies can be exempt from requirements regarding annual financial statements, can be exempt from audit and can be allowed to file a condensed report if the following conditions are met.
Conditions for classifying a company as a micro company (2 or more criteria must be met simultaneously):
Micro companies must file:
A company is considered small in the first financial year if it meets at least two of the following three conditions in that year.
A company is considered small in subsequent financial periods if:
Conditions for classifying a company as a small company (2 or more criteria must be met simultaneously):
Small companies must file:
IFRS are necessary for local public companies and for listed foreign companies. Small and micro companies are not required to comply with IFRS.
Annual financial statements and an annual report must be prepared in German and in Swiss francs, euros or US dollars.
Legal entities that must keep accounts but do not conduct business can also make annual financial statements and an annual report only in English, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese and in any freely convertible foreign currency.
If a company must disclose its annual financial statements, its official representatives must provide the Office of Justice with relevant documents by the end of the 15th month after the reporting date of the balance sheet.
A tax return shall be filed by 1 July of the calendar year following the end of the tax year. Based on the tax return tax authorities issue a tax payment notice. The tax must be paid within 30 days after its receipt.
At a reasonable written request, tax authorities can extend the deadline for filing documents by six months. A preliminary bill must be paid in order to extend the deadline. In especially well-grounded cases, the deadline can be extended once more. Such a request must be made before the end of the first extension of the deadline.
The Office of Justice imposes a penalty on everyone who breaches their obligation to disclose information. In the case of deliberate intention, the penalty can amount to 5,000 CHF, and in the case of negligence, 1 000 CHF.
If a breach of the obligation to disclose information takes place as part of the legal entity’s business activity, the penalty is personally imposed on directors, authorized representatives, liquidators or members of the board that have not fulfilled their duties.
Companies that breach obligations to register and file documents can be imposed with a penalty of up to 250 000 CHF for an intentional breach and up to 100 000 CHF for a breach caused by negligence.
A company is considered medium-sized in the first financial year if it meets at least two of the following three conditions in that year:
Conditions for classifying a company as a medium-sized company (2 or more criteria must be met simultaneously):
Medium-sized companies must file:
A company is considered large in the first financial year if it meets at least two of the following three conditions in that year:
Conditions for classifying a company as a large company (2 or more criteria must be met simultaneously):
Large companies must file:
In Liechtenstein criteria that make audit necessary do not apply to most small and micro enterprises.
Such companies, however, must follow a simplified review, i.e. in such a case auditing duties can be fulfilled by shareholders that are not managers of the company.
Annual financial statements of medium-sized and large enterprises must be audited by an auditor.
If a company exceeds the following criteria in two of the three cases during two consecutive financial years, it is considered medium-sized and must be audited annually:
Medium-sized companies must file:
Conditions for classifying a company as a large company (2 or more criteria must be met simultaneously):
Large companies must file:
Consolidated financial statements consist of a consolidated balance sheet, consolidated profit and loss statement and notes, which are a coherent whole.
Consolidated annual financial statements must give truthful and objective representation of the assets, financial position and profits in general of the companies included in consolidation.
In certain circumstances such companies as investment or holding companies are exempt from the obligation to make a consolidated annual report. Exemption from consolidation obligations must be preapproved by the Office of Justice.
A parent company is exempt from the obligation to make a consolidated annual report if at least two of the following three criteria apply on the date of the balance sheet of the annual financial statements and on the date of the previous balance sheet:
At least two of the following three characteristics apply on the reporting date of the consolidated annual financial report that must be prepared and on the previous reporting date:
A parent company (intermediate company) that at the same time is a subsidiary of a parent company whose registered office is located in a member state of the European Economic Area does not need to prepare a consolidated annual report.
However, a parent company (intermediate company) that is also a subsidiary of a parent company whose registered office is located in a member state of the European Economic Area must prepare a consolidated annual report if its securities are for trading in a member state of the EEA, in spite of the fact that there are exemption requirements.
