Setup Your Company in Nevis: Protect Your Wealth in the World’s Last Tax Haven

Do you want the best protection for your assets while not paying taxes with your company? Then Nevis may be the answer.

It has been a long time since we last talked about any of the typical offshore jurisdictions in Denationalize.me. That is because offshore solutions are dead, or so some say. The blame lies with the multiple international regulations that have emerged in recent years, such as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the BEPS guidelines of the OECD, the obligation to have economic substance and transparency registers or the increasingly tougher sanctions against non-cooperative countries (blacklists of tax havens)… All this pressure has practically killed off the classic offshore jurisdictions.

We have also talked on the blog about “onshore” being the new offshore: a giant like the United States of America, with its fiscally transparent LLCs, is much more difficult to put on the ropes through international pressure than a small Caribbean state, for example. The USA enjoys a much better reputation, both when it comes to acquiring new customers and for opening accounts with banks and payment service providers. Moreover, hundreds of millions of Americans use these same LLCs and are subject to income tax as citizens or green card owners. This makes it impossible for anyone to know at the outset whether LLC owners pay taxes or not.

The usefulness, quality and sustainability of LLCs is unquestionable, and we can guarantee that they will retain all their advantages for a long time to come.

However, it is worth taking another look at the classic tax havens that the USA cleverly got rid of: their strategy was to create the CRS, an international exchange of data, and, when it materialised, to decide not to apply it to themselves. Because of that, hardly anyone talks about the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands or St Vincent anymore.

However, we want to change the image of Nevis, a destination to which we devoted an extensive article some time ago. After all, there is still life left in this old solution. So much life, in fact, that we have decided to set up our own company incorporation and assistance service on this beautiful island – yes, at a time when we see classic offshore agencies going bust left and right.

Nevis: The Ultimate Tax Haven

Nevis is a small island of just 12.000 inhabitants located in the Caribbean. Nevis is a federal constituent state of neighbouring St. Kitts – which is about 4 times larger – at the upper end of the Lesser Antilles. Together they form the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, better known as St. Kitts and Nevis.

St. Kitts is especially known for the option to buy its citizenship. Launched just a year after independence from the UK, the citizenship by investment programme was one of the first in the world back in 1984. It remains one of the most popular and easiest Caribbean passports to obtain by donation or investment, despite setbacks in terms of freedom to travel.

Although Denationalize.me also offers support in this regard, we do not wish to focus on St. Kitts in this article. This small digression, however, shows the advantages of the federal structure of St. Kitts and Nevis: both islands enjoy wide autonomy from each other and have specialised in different areas. What St. Kitts is to its passports, Nevis is to its corporate law.

Please note: St. Kitts is a much larger island than Nevis, with significantly more inhabitants and a profitable sale of citizenships. However, offshore companies on St. Kitts are not an option at all. St. Kitts only has local companies that religiously pay their taxes. Those who want to benefit from business and tax advantages should do so on the neighbouring island of Nevis. What is interesting here is that, in global terms, St. Kitts and Nevis are one state: since St. Kitts (a much larger island) fully complies with all international regulations and lacks tax-advantaged structures, Nevis (which is autonomous in this respect) benefits enormously. Nevis has never been included on the EU blacklist or the grey list of tax havens.

Nevis is a small world unto itself. While cruise ship tourists regularly flood St. Kitts, Nevis is much more remote and ancestral. It is arguably, and rightly so, one of the most colonial and traditional islands in the British Caribbean. A vote in favour of full autonomy was held in 2002 with a simple majority, but went nowhere when it failed to pass the required 2/3rds. However, this failure should be seen as a resounding success in terms of the island’s prospects in corporate law.

At first glance, the island competes with many other Caribbean jurisdictions. English as the official language, the time zone of the East Coast of the United States, British common law, and political stability with low party ideology (resulting in greater political stability) are small and important positive factors, but they are also found in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas. However, a closer look reveals Nevis’ greatest virtues, which have nothing to do with this list of small advantages.

So far, Nevis has escaped the numerous regulations that have affected the offshore world in recent years. We see that countries and territories such as Panama, the British Virgin Islands or the Bahamas, despite more and more increased regulations, are still on the blacklist. Nevis, however, continues to remain attractive and out of the list: there are still no accounting obligations, no business substrate requirements and no transparency register. The spirit of the offshore company, which died with the Panama Papers in 2017, lives on in Nevis.

Despite its federal advantages, Nevis applies a strict Know Your Customer banking process. Anyone can incorporate a company in Nevis, but the paperwork required is much more extensive than in other similar destinations. We will go into more detail later, but we can tell you in advance that these requirements, while strict, are within acceptable limits even for Perpetual Travellers, and will ensure that you enjoy the benefits of Nevis for the long term.

When St. Kitts began selling citizenship in 1984, Nevis focused on corporate law. As such, it is one of the oldest classic offshore jurisdictions in the Caribbean, and has brought many innovations to the sector. It is also considered the best jurisdiction in the world for asset protection.

Not a single claimant or creditor has ever been able to penetrate a Nevis structure, not even the USA authorities. We could end this analysis of Nevis here and now so as not to confuse you with the details. However, in order to give you a better understanding of how this destination works, we will now explain the most ingenious and interesting aspects of Nevis’ asset protection legislation.

Asset Protection in Nevis

Several years ago, we talked on this blog about the fantastic asset protection Nevis allows, and little has changed since then. The detailed explanations in the article “17 Reasons why you should never sue a Nevis company (and how you can use it to your advantage)” still mostly hold true. Do not worry if you do not remember everything we told you then, because we will summarise the key points from that article below.

As a former British colony, Nevis is governed by the common law. Historically and analytically, common law is much more favourable to the defendant than continental positive law (such as that of Spain for example). Under common law, there is generally a stronger presumption of innocence. The burden of proof is on the claimant, who has to prove the guilt of the accused “beyond reasonable doubt”. This system allows virtually no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.

The law of other states is irrelevant in this respect, as Nevis does not recognise any foreign court judgments. The claimant must obtain justice on the spot in Nevis, which is extremely complicated given the obstacles that this small island places in the process. First, they mus locate the legal form with all its details: a completely anonymous and non-transparent trade register makes this task quite complicated, and an asset management construction does not usually need a commercially branded website.

Of course, claimants need local legal assistance, but the best things are that Nevis’ lawyers only work on commission, their fees are extremely high and there is no profit sharing system. In addition, the losing party bears all legal costs.

With a 99.99% chance of losing the case, one must have a very bulky wallet to pay costs that often run into the six figures. A good savings is also needed for the mere fact of being admitted to court, because the claimant must personally deposit a sum of money in cash at the local court.

Typically, this amount amounts to USD 100,000 for claims against a trust. Since the reform that took place some time ago, in the case of other entities or structures (e.g. LLCs), the amount to be deposited is at the discretion of the courts. However, the deposit can be higher than the usual amount, and up to USD 500,000.

Still want to sue? Well, lawsuits are only possible on an individual basis, since class actions are not allowed. Moreover, only the legal form itself can be sued, never its owners.

It is therefore of no use to know that I have a trust in Nevis: as long as I do not disclose the name – and this cannot be verified and publicly disclosed – the claim will fail from the outset because of the very lack of this information.

We have already seen that the claimants have virtually no possibility of seizing the assets of a Nevis company, so it remains to be seen whether they can at least challenge the transfer of those assets.

However, here too Nevis has incorporated elements that make it stand out from other good asset protection jurisdictions, such as the Cook Islands in the Pacific. So-called “Mareva Injunctions” or “Freezing Orders” are not permitted in Nevis. In almost all other jurisdictions in the world – including the Cook Islands – claimants can freeze the assets of the defendant structure. In these cases, the frozen assets cannot be used to fund a lawsuit, which helps the claimant to reach a settlement more easily.

In Nevis, however, not only can assets not be frozen, but they can continue to flow to the beneficiary without the possibility of seizure to pay insurance premiums, school and college tuition, and many other expenses.

On the other hand, Nevis’ trusts are subject to a duress clause. They can only release assets if doing so is at the free will of the owner. The director of an LLC or nominee of a trust MUST reduce to do so if the owner orders it under duress from a court. Even in this unlikely event, Nevis still has an ace up its sleeve: nominees are automatically removed and reappointed at the discretion of the Nevis courts if they violate this duress clause.

This leaves us with the question of impeachment, the only possibility Nevis offers to potential creditors. It is not as categorical as its Belizean competitors, which make any challenge impossible. Nevis remains faithful to international law and gives claimants a minimal opportunity to challenge asset transfers: at the international level, it is common that asset protection is only given several years after the transfer. Thus, assets are only protected from creditors 2, 3 or 4 years after an irrevocable gift to a family foundation, whereas in Nevis this impeachment period is only 1 year.

This is related to the legal term “fraudulent conveyance”. This concept refers to an attempt to secure assets against creditors below this period (before an unexpected divorce, for example). Nevis structures are set up by means of a one-day summary procedure and can try to hide assets as we have already explained.

Even if you lose the lawsuit, the claimant will have to prove, in addition to all the aspects already mentioned, the fraudulent transfer down to the smallest detail, and has a maximum of 2 years to do so. The transaction must have taken place without any doubt. Moreover, unlike in many other jurisdictions, the mere attempt to protect one’s own assets is not punishable and cannot be prevented by any measures taken by the creditor.

But that is not all: if someone were to break into a Nevis structure during this millennium, he can do nothing against the protection of the Charging Order. This means that the claimant can neither seize nor control the company. The creditor can only intervene in possible distributions of profits to the defendant – and this for a maximum of 2 years. The other beneficiaries continue to have access to their share of the assets, so as long as there is no need for money, the creditor will probably continue to receive nothing.

Other aspects of asset protection underlie the particular structures of each legal form, and will be discussed in the following sections of this article.

For example, LLCs – such as series LLCs – may form a cellular structure for individual assets that must be sued separately with all the efforts described.

In the case of Nevis trusts, for example, founder and beneficiary may be the same person – something that in many other jurisdictions completely removes the protective effect of such structures.

It is worth noting what we discussed at the beginning of this article: no owner of a Nevis structure has ever lost a lawsuit or had to give up assets. In fact, it is highly unlikely that this will ever happen.

The best thing is that almost everyone can afford to protect their assets: the costs of setting up and administering structures in Nevis are quite low, in fact, Denationalize.me can take care of the whole process directly. The administrative effort by the client concerned less than 5 minutes per year.

The Nevis LLC

The first of Nevis’ really interesting corporate forms is the Limited Liability Company. The LLC is a well-known structure in the United States, and Nevis’ LLC is comparable to its USA version. In fact, Nevis was the first jurisdiction to introduce the LLC outside the United States. We find some aspects of Nevis asset protection also in the legislation of states such as Wyoming and South Dakota. However, the protection offered by Nevis corporate law is broader and, more importantly, there are no tax risks such as those proposed by the IRS.

The Nevis LLC, unlike the USA LLC, is always tax exempt – even if it has multiple members. In fact, it can have as many members as it wishes, and they can assign their shares to third parties at any time. This makes Nevis particularly interesting as an international investment holding company for many investors from different countries. Each member pays taxes on its shareholding in accordance with the laws of its home country. The Nevis LLC is fiscally transparent and has no accounting obligations and no balance sheets to submit.

The difference with the Nevis International Business Company (IBC) is minimal. The latter also has no corporate tax or accounting obligations and is completely anonymous too.

However, unlike the IBC, a Nevis LLC can be classified as a partnership and, therefore, be more advantageous for tax purposes. In addition, the LLC allows you the option of using the structure of a series LLC, for example.

The series LLC is, so to speak, a set of LLCs nested within a single LLC. The LLCs form a cell structure to which individual assets can be allocated. Each of these cells must be separately sued and convicted in order to access the distribution of these assets.

The Nevis LLC can be managed by its members, but it can also have a director who does not own the company. This is especially important in the typical combination of Nevis trust and LLC, because it is generally easier to manage one’s own assets in the LLC than in a local trust – also in terms of KYC procedures of banks and other financial institutions.

With an LLC, the beneficiary of the trust can, as nominee, retain the power of signature and manage the assets himself. Only in the case of a lawsuit, and in accordance with the trust rules, can there be an automatic change of the manager’s role, with the beneficiary leaving this position to a nominee so that the LLC is not compromised.

For asset management through Nevis, we always recommend an LLC combined with trusts and foundations. For operational purposes, you can use an LLC without any problem, of course, but an IBC is often a more interesting option.

IBC (LTD) in Nevis

International Business Companies in Nevis can legally use the suffix LTD. Those who prefer to use the suffix SL, GmbH, SA etc. for their Nevis company can of course also do so. The important thing is that it must always be a limited company.

As there is no corporate income tax or withholding tax in Nevis, this IBC is tax exempt. As a corporation, it can issue common and preferred shares flexibly and, like the LLC, enjoys full limitation of liability, even without depositing a minimum initial capital (although asset protection is slightly worse in that case).

In contrast to the LLC, the issuance of bearer shares is still possible. However, these must be deposited with a local bank.

Basically, the IBC offers more possibilities to structure the functions within the company and is, therefore, more suitable for larger operating companies. With that being said, let us return to the subject of the LTD: could you simulate a British LTD in Nevis and operate it effectively? Yes, in principle, you could.

Any company can rent a virtual office with mail forwarding for a few tens of euros per month in any jurisdiction, including UK, Hong Kong, Ireland… Such a purely virtual office will not give rise to a permanent establishment and therefore no tax obligations.

Therefore, if you want to enjoy maximum protection while paying no taxes, but at the same time improve the image of your company, you could create a company in Nevis with the suffix LTD and put its name in the legal notice on your website, with any address in the country you are interested in. After all, who is going to bother looking for registration in the commercial register?

But, even if you wanted to avoid that problem, you could register in the commercial register by setting up a real LTD with the same name as the company in Nevis. Of course, you would not use that LTD.

On the other hand, when it is a real and operational use (beyond the name appearing on our website or marketing brochures), problems can of course arise. We are unlikely to get a local VAT or tax identification number, nor should we use this suffix on any invoices, since we could be accused of doing business with a British (or whatever country) LTD if we do so. Getting a UK company account with such a Nevis company is not very realistic either, although it is not impossible.

In any case, Nevis does not offer as many facilities for doing business with its companies as the United States with its LLCs. The following comparison should help you decide which option suits you better.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the USA LLC

From an operational point of view, the USA LLC is still the best option for your business. The Nevis LLC can be a useful trick for you if it works out well, but it can also become a very serious matter, and in any case requires considerably more effort to find reasonable payment service providers and banks. In contrast, the USA LLC has several online banks at its disposal, both in the USA and in Europe.

Nevis offers you the option of opening accounts in Europe for its companies, but even if it is whitelisted and not a tax haven, in the eyes of most bankers, it will still have the same reputation as any jurisdiction on the list of tax havens.

On the other hand, companies in Nevis do not find it as difficult to use the services of crypto brokers and crypto exchanges as is the case for USA LLCs (due to FATCA). Therefore, you have relatively many options for real asset management. In addition, due to the strict KYC requirements at the time of founding, many of the documents needed to open an account can be obtained here automatically.

Please note that with Nevis companies you will not be able to use PayPal, Stripe or any other well-known payment service providers. However, it is possible to open accounts with High-Risk Merchant Accounts to process credit card payments. Apart from slightly higher fees, there are not so many disadvantages compared to PayPal and stripe. You will be able to use reseller services such as Digstore, Clickbank or Copecart.

All this makes Nevis a very attractive destination, especially for online commerce with digital products. More than one coach may also like this Caribbean solution, and even more so with an American approach. Private clients can invoice relatively solidly through Nevis.

The B2B sector finds it somewhat more difficult to operate structures from Nevis, especially in Europe, and even more so if they are trying to simulate an LTD. In these cases, we would generally advise you to go for a USA LLC, so you will avoid having to mislead anyone or getting into trouble with your clients because they have not been able to deduct your invoices.

Strict USA consumer protection is an obstacle you must take into account, especially with cryptocurrencies (but also with other investments). That is why we usually recommend not to use the USA LLC for asset management, but to do it privately.

With a Nevis company, there are no regulatory difficulties in this regard. Nevis could therefore offer LLC owners the perfect additional option to protect and manage their assets. More on this later. Currently, cryptocurrencies are still viewed rather critically in Nevis, but we expect legislative changes that should change this situation.

USA LLCs are always at least semi-public, as we can find the name of the LLC in the commercial register, but not usually the owners or managers. Nevis offers more anonymity but, of course, the lack of a public register can also be problematic.

Unlike USA banks, Nevis banks are obliged to exchange information. Nevis signed up to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and actually applies it. This was a wise decision to comply with banking compliance in Nevis, as local banks are not a major economic factor. After all, the Nevis company’s business account can be in another country without exchange of information. In fact, it is much easier to let the automatic exchange fall through the cracks by identifying oneself with a fictitious address.

We have tax and accounting freedom in both the USA and Nevis. However, in Nevis, potential reporting requirements such as the 5472/1120 and FBAR bank statement are omitted. There is an annual CIT (Corporate Income Tax) return in Nevis, but it is equivalent to a zero return, and is included in the service we offer.

There is also little difference in the formalities of incorporation, administration and amendment. The Nevis registry works quickly, but because compliance requirements take much longer, there are significant delays in practice (although, on paper, Nevis claims that incorporation is much quicker than in many USA states). For an additional fee, it is possible to make an urgent registration within a day. However, the slowness of the formalities during incorporation is problematic. Virtually no documents are required for the formation of an LLC in the USA: in our case, we will only ask you for a scanned passport to obtain the EIN tax number within a short period of time. Nevis also requires proof of address, proof of assets and income, 2 reference letters and some original documents signed by courier. However, none of this should prevent you from incorporating. We will explain the details of KYC in Nevis at the end of this article.

Trust in Nevis

Trust are a very complex matter, and we have already dealt with it somewhat in this other article. For most readers of Denationalize.me, the subject is of little relevance because trusts are only valid in a few European countries, at least for tax purposes. However, they can be very interesting for Perpetual Travellers, residents of tax havens and people living in high-tax UK countries. In addition to the many asset protection advantages that each jurisdiction offers (which we have already discussed) Nevis trusts also benefit from being uniquely structured in the world.

Importantly, the “founder” can be the same person as the beneficiary of the trust. In almost all other jurisdictions in the world, this leads to the invalidity of the trust. In Nevis, however, it is sufficient to have an independent nominee to avoid this problem.

Unlike foundations, trusts are not legal persons: in practice, a trust involves entrusting your assets to a third party. This third party is strictly regulated and licensed, and is obliged to make decisions in the interests of the settlor (founder) under the most severe penalties. Many people rightly have problems trusting people, so they cannot even imagine handing over their assets to a stranger and letting them manage their wealth. However, this is done strictly in accordance with the settlor’s wishes through the statutes, and Nevis allows for the appointment of a so-called “protector”, who supervises the nominee and can give instructions for action. Unlike in other jurisdictions, this function is merely optional in Nevis, and can help you avoid many problems.

Of course, it can often be sufficient to use a trust as a mere straw man for a company’s shares. The trust owns nothing except the shares and has no accounts that a nominee can control. As manager of the companies, you would remain entitled to subscribe to them and can manage them independently. Only in the event of a lawsuit, for example, does management automatically pass to the trust and the nominee. Several options are possible here.

Nevis trusts can exist indefinitely. This also distinguishes them from many other states. Incorporation is relatively quick – 48 hours – and requires only a name, a nominee and an address. There can be an unlimited number of beneficiaries, and they can get paid even if the trust has been sued, as explained above. Several trusts can be merged into one, and one trust can be separated into several trusts. Redomiciliation to or from other jurisdictions is also possible. However, with the best trust laws on the planet, it makes the most sense at the moment to move trusts to Nevis, rather than the other way around. It is a simple process that also costs less than reincorporation.

Instead of a trust, it is also worth considering an innovative creation of Nevis company law: the Multiform Foundation.

Nevis Multiform Foundation

Foundations are themselves a creation of continental law, and are quite unusual in British-influenced countries. However, many tax havens have chosen to offer family foundations alongside their trusts, as European clients are more familiar with them. Nevis has handled this particularly cleverly with its Multiform Foundations.

The Multiform Foundation is, so to speak, the chameleon of asset protection: t can adopt all the usual legal forms throughout its existence and switch from one to another flexibly depending on the statutes. Thus, depending on the needs of the moment, you can enjoy the advantages of a partnership, a limited company, a trust or a foundation. Any legal form from other countries can also be transferred to such a structure. If you find your Liechtenstein foundation too expensive, convert it into a Nevis foundation and take advantage of its flexibility.

In addition to a name, an address and a registered agent, a foundation requires a foundation structure and board members (no matter who or where). There is no endowment capital, and the very secure asset protection is the same as we have already discussed. Like companies and trusts, foundations are, of course, anonymous, and are exempt both for taxed and accountancy as long as they are run from Nevis or other tax havens.

In Europe, nonetheless, their use has only limited benefits. While trusts are not recognised at all, except in Switzerland, family foundations can be used profitably in most countries. However, this requires a domicile or an address of the foundation in the EU or EEA area.

Tax aspects aside, you can always protect your assets in Nevis. From a tax point of view, almost all European countries (and also in LATAM) would treat a trust or foundation as if it were transparent: i.e. it would attribute any income to the beneficiaries privately, and possibly also apply a wealth tax. There is no tax protection against the country of residence: under property law, avoidance periods and other circumstances of the country of residence apply. However, since Nevis does not recognise these, one can at least take the risk, or simply deregister.

Combinations with Other Jurisdictions and Uses in Europe

Nevis fits perfectly into our category “jurisdictions of maximum interest”: to the list formed by the United States, Dubai and Romania we now add this classic tax haven that can avoid certain disadvantages of the other three jurisdictions. In this section we will briefly discuss some additional possible uses of this destination.

The combination of USA LLC with Nevis is obvious, and can take many forms. A USA LLC can be a member of a Nevis company or vice versa. However, the companies do not necessarily have to be related (own each other).

For example, if you use a USA LLC for your business and want to protect your private wealth, you can set up a Nevis structure totally independent from the LLC (beyond the fact that they have the same owner) and donate or sell the assets of the LLC to it. In principle, an independent structure guarantees less complications with respect to the KYC requirements of financial institutions. We could speak of Nevis LLC as an asset holding company, even though it does not actually own shares in the USA LLC.

In principle, a USA LLC could be used in combination with a Nevis structure, but would not really be really interesting. USA LLCs are not particularly useful investment vehicles, as they are fiscally transparent, and their anonymity adds nothing to the even more anonymous Nevis structure. Thus, the combination of companies only makes KYC much more complex, especially as many financial institutions do not want to open accounts for USA residents or nationals (and the USA LLC would be considered a USA person). Therefore, we do not advise using the USA LLC as a holding company for a Nevis company.

On the other hand, it may be worthwhile to have the Nevis corporation, trust or foundation as a holding company for a USA LLC, as doing so does not take away the advantages of your single-member LLC. The USA LLC would enjoy greater asset protection by having a Nevis trust or foundation as an owner and transferring profits directly to that structure.

A rather interesting structure application option would be to have the Nevis IBC as a holding company for dividend distributions. In the case of non-dom residence in Cyprus, as well as in some other countries, only dividends are tax-exempt or have some kind of tax benefit, while ordinary income is not.

The problem is that many countries consider that fiscally transparent LLCs do not distribute dividends, i.e. they consider the profit distributed by the LLC as ordinary income, which is taxed in the normal way. Thus, the solution would be to create a tax-free company that receives the profits of the LLC in the USA and distributes dividends.

For this to work legally in Cyprus, the Nevis IBC will need a local manager: a nominee would be sufficient, which can be obtained relatively cheaply in Nevis.

Naturally, you can combine almost any jurisdiction and legal form with the structures Nevis offers.

Putting a Nevis trust or Nevis Multiform Foundation as a partner in your business around the world will be a perfect way to protect the distributed profits, and also if you set up an IBC or LLC in Nevis. However, one must always bear in mind the additional effort that will then be involved in going through the banking KYC processes when one has nested structures such as these.

For the regular reader of Denationalize.me or the typical Perpetual Traveller, we recommend separation of the operating companies from the Nevis structures: as noted above, the operating company can transfer the proceeds of the transaction to you and then you, in turn, donate them to the Nevis foundation or trust.

If you are resident in a country such as Spain, France or Portugal, for example, the foundations or trusts will not be able to contribute much (or anything) in terms of taxation, but, of course, this is different if we are talking about asset protection. The asset protection advantages discussed above will still apply no matter where the owners or beneficiaries of companies, trusts or foundations in Nevis reside. Once assets are in your Nevis structure, no one can take them away from you (but beware of fraudulent conveyancing/asset stripping).

Remember that, even if you live in Europe or any country that due to its CFC rules does not allow you to apply Nevis tax advantages, you will still be able to use a Nevis company as the owner of your website in those cases where you do not want it to be known who is really behind everything (to avoid sanctions, problems with competitors or even partners and suppliers).

Compliance and KYC

Do you want to incorporate a company in Nevis? Let us get to the big BUT: the formalities of incorporating a company in Nevis are time-consuming and much more complex than in the case of LLCs in the United States, for example.

However, with a little effort, even a Perpetual Traveller, who has no legal residence anywhere, can gather all the necessary documents to do the needed paperwork and open the desired bank accounts.

If you are thinking of setting up your structure in Nevis, you should be aware that there are several sectors that do not have it easy there. Basically, businesses in the adult sector, as well as regulated industries (banking, insurance, foreign exchange or gambling) cannot be operated with a Nevis IBC or LLC. However, it is feasible to own a holding company separate from the operating company to enjoy Nevis asset protection even on these businesses.

On the other hand, it is important for you to be aware that neither our Nevis associates nor we want to facilitate fraudsters with Nevis structures. If we suspect that our services will be used in this way, we will refuse to help you. However, bear in mind that you will not get very far considering the high documentation and KYC requirements on the island.

Individuals need the following documents for incorporation. None of the documents can be more than 3 months old, and must include each director, shareholder or beneficiary:

• Notarized copies of two forms of Government issued idenntification (passport, identity card, driving licence).
• Utility bills as proof of residence. Perpetual travellers are lucky in this regard, because we also accept bank or credit card statements and similar documents with address details.
• Bank Reference Letter (letter from a bank stating the length of the business relationship).
• Professional Reference Letter (a registered lawyer, tax advisor or similar profession).
• In certain circumstances, proof of assets and income.

For legal persons as partners, the following company documents are also required:

• Certificate of Incorporation
• Articles of Incorporation
• Register of Directors
• Certificate of Good Standing
• Company Secretary
• Notice of address of the company

All of this may seem like a lot of work at first glance, but it is relatively easy to obtain. Documents such as passports can be authenticated online through virtual notaries with a short video call. Bank references can sometimes be requested directly from online banking. For authority references, it is easy to get drafts (we can provide them) for which you just need to find someone to sign for you. Since they also accept as proof of residence documents that are easier to obtain than a utility bill (e.g. bank statement) and do not require a tax identification number, every Perpetual Traveller can take advantage of the potential possibilities offered by Nevis.

Redomiciliation: Moving Your Registered Office to Nevis without Complications

Foreign companies can take advantage of the unique provisions of Nevis’ offshore regulations and relocate to Nevis quite easily. However, they are not allowed to move their actual business operations to Nevis, i.e. they cannot physically operate in Nevis.

We will provide you with a list of the documents we need for re-registration in Nevis. This list includes your company’s current documents and KYC requirements. Upon submission of the application, the Nevis Registrar of Companies will issue a transfer certificate and the company will be registered as an IBC or local LLC. This process only takes a few days.

Of course, the company must adjust its record keeping documentation to comply with Nevis legislation. In exceptional circumstances (where the registered office of a foreign company is threatened by civil unrest, revolution, invasion or expropriation) the company may apply for an emergency transfer of its registered office. In this case, the transfer will only take 1 to 2 days, although doing so entails additional costs, of course.

You should know that any company subject to offshore regulation can also file a certificate of abandonment to be domiciled in another jurisdiction: not only can you move to Nevis, but you can also leave the island in the future if the laws become unfavourable to your construction. Redomiciliation of an existing company is slightly cheaper than registering a new company, and should be considered if you feel you can provide the necessary documents from the destination jurisdiction.

denationalize.me in Nevis: Our Service

Our local partners in Nevis will assist you individually throughout the whole process. We have developed and tested our approach with them over several months to ensure that you will receive our usual fast and competent service. As always, if you contract our service, you can count on our permanent support for any issue concerning your business in Nevis.

To start the company registration process you can write to us at christoph@staatenlos.ch telling us what you need. We will then request payment and guide you through the process. Our local partner will take care of the local aspects and incorporation after clarifying the general questions of the desired and recommended legal form for your particular case. He will again send you the necessary KYC requirements and attach sample reference letters. You will have to fill in and sign several forms. Unfortunately, the incorporation process in Nevis is much more formal than in the United States.

By the way, unlike in the USA, incorporation is not always entirely digital: in many cases, the local registration authorities want to receive all original documents by post. In this case, you will have to hire a courier to deliver these documents to the relevant authorities. These authorities will not process the incorporation of your company until they have received the original documents.

Incorporation documents are mainly issued digitally, but they can also be deposited at a local office or requested by post. This requires shipping costs of USD 130 for the most part and additional fees for any necessary certifications and apostilles.

We will send you the following documents after successful incorporation:

For your LLC

1. Articles of Formation
2. Certificate of Formation
3. Minutes
4. Operating Agreement

For your IBC

1. Articles of Formation
2. Certificate of Formation
3. By-Laws
4. Minutes
5. Resolution
6. Share Certificates

denationalize.me in Nevis: Our Offer

How much does it cost to enjoy the wonders Nevis has to offer? Depending on the type of partnership and additional services, the costs range from USD 2990 to USD 10.000. This means that the standard version of Nevis companies are only one third more expensive than a USA LLC if you do it with us. In the following, we would like to show some of the options individually.

We offer the formation of a Nevis LLC or IBC for a comprehensive fee of USD 2990. This fee includes all costs for a normal formation and the first full year’s expenses. Annual fees are always invoiced 12 months after incorporation and would be USD 2290. Our offer includes the mandatory filing of the CIT, which we take care of, and which is associated with some costs. You can also redomicile an existing company to Nevis for as little as USD 2000.

The incorporation of trusts and Multiform Foundations costs USD 3990 and includes nominee fees for the first year. From the second year onwards, the costs are USD 2290 per year (i.e. the same as for companies). Detailed assistance during the drafting of the relevant statutes is not included, but you can hire it additionally depending on your needs from USD 1000 (depending on expenses).

If you wish, you can arrange for mail forwarding through a registered agent for USD 450 or through a local law firm for USD 900 per year. A local law firm has an address not so often used, and can act immediately on your behalf in case of doubt.

You can add a bank mediation service for USD 990. We have partnership agreements with several local banks in St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as the other Caribbean countries, which are suitable for both wealth management and operational purposes. The price includes the establishment of a personal contact with the desired or suitable bank, but not assistance with the opening. You can add this assistance for a total of USD 2490.

Our local team will inform you in detail and check your application documents. However, we cannot guarantee an opening in any case. In case of refusal, we will refund your money (minus costs we might have incurred). In principle, of course, you can also open a company account anywhere in the world without our assistance.

You may also be interested in our fiduciary services. You can appoint nominee shareholders and nominee directors in Nevis. nominee shareholders are of little value, as registration is anonymous in Nevis, and at most they can offer you effective protection in the event of internal database leaks. Much more important is to have a nominee director, who can guarantee the necessary business substrate for some countries (such as Cyprus), and confirm this through signatures and so on. The nominee director is a member of the Nevis register. The engagement of a nominee costs USD 2000 per nominee as a set-up fee. In addition, you must add an annual fee of USD 4000 per position. Therefore, you can get a local director in Nevis with us for USD 500 per month for the first year.

As a special offer, we offer combinations of trust or foundation in Nevis with local or US LLC. This way, you will achieve the highest possible asset protection. A Nevis trust or foundation setup with a Nevis LLC or Nevis IBC costs only USD 6500, or USD 5500 if you opt for the USA LLC. The annual fees are the same as mentioned above.

Do not wait any longer to protect your assets: act in time. At Denationalize.me we can help you sleep soundly, knowing that your assets are safe and secure. Get in touch with us through our contact form to start setting up your asset protection in Nevis today.

Of course, if you are not sure whether Nevis is the best option for you or if you would like us to help you clarify and apply the Flag Theory in the best possible way in your life, you can book a Denationalize.me consultation.