Holding SAL · Decree-Law 45/1983
One roof over everything you own.
A holding SAL does not trade. It holds participations in other companies. It pays no withholding when it distributes to you. Formed for $3,250.
Six to ten weeks. Three shareholders. Foreign ownership is permitted.
A Lebanese holding SAL is a joint stock company registered under Decree-Law 45/1983. It does not trade in its own right. It holds participations in other companies. It is exempt from the 10% withholding on distributed dividends. Instead of the 17% corporate income tax, it is assessed on a sliding scale against its capital and reserves. It requires three shareholders. 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.
At a glance
| Governing text | Decree-Law 45/1983 |
|---|---|
| Clients | Its own subsidiaries |
| Minimum capital | LBP 30,000,000, about US$335 |
| Paid at registration | One quarter of each share |
| Shareholders | 3 minimum |
| Corporate income tax | Sliding scale on capital and reserves |
| Dividend withholding | Exempt |
| Annual lump-sum tax | None |
| Auditor | Required |
| Management | Board and chairman |
| Foreign ownership | Permitted |
| Formation time | Six to ten weeks |
Why this structure
For a group, not for trading.
01
Nothing withheld on distributions
A holding SAL is exempt from the 10% withholding that a SARL or an ordinary SAL pays on distributed dividends.
02
Taxed on capital, not on profit
It does not pay the 17% corporate income tax. It is taxed on its capital and reserves instead, on a sliding scale.
03
Built to own subsidiaries
This is the correct structure for a group holding several operating companies in Lebanon or abroad.
04
Foreign ownership permitted
Shareholders can be foreign. The structure is a joint stock company. Shares can move.
Honest first
It is a holder, not an operator.
It works if
- You own, or will own, stakes in more than one company.
- You want distributions to reach you without the 10% withholding.
- You can find three shareholders, which the form requires.
It does not work if
- You want the company to trade in its own right. A holding company does not.
- You are one person and intend to stay one. A holding SAL needs three shareholders.
- Your only activity is invoicing clients abroad. An offshore SAL is the cheaper answer.
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 state 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 your answers and checks your intended activity against the rules for a holding company. 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 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
Two packages, with the government fees shown.
Standard
Fixed price
$3,250
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
$4,250
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
- Decree-Law No. 45 of 24 June 1983 on holding 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.
Guides on this
- Company types in Lebanon: the comparison table setting a holding SAL against the other three forms
- Company tax in Lebanon: what a holding company is assessed on, and what it is exempt from
- Registering a company in Lebanon: the documents, the sequence and what sets the pace
- Glossary of Lebanese company law: sharika qabida and the rest of the Arabic terms you will meet
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 has been earned.
No. A holding company does not trade in its own right. It holds participations in other companies. If you want to invoice clients, that belongs in an operating company underneath it.
Three, minimum. This holds for the life of the company, not just the day you sign. Capital is LBP 30,000,000, about US$335. A quarter of each share is paid at subscription.
Not the 17% corporate income tax. A holding company is assessed on a sliding scale against its capital and reserves. Distributions to shareholders carry no withholding.
Start with a call.
Fifteen minutes with our partner law firm before you pay anything. You will leave knowing if a holding company works for you. If it does not, you will know what does.
Replies within one business day. Arabic, English or French.