USA - Corporation (Inc., Ltd., Co., Corp., Limited, Corporation)
Corporations are traditional joint-stock companies in the USA (e. g. Microsoft Inc., Google Inc.). They are usually used for their high credibility as holders of shares in companies in other countries, for creation of holding structures or for business in spheres of IT, marketing and trade. The U.S. have, with more than 50 states treaties forbidding a double taxation, investment protection and other international treaties or arrangements which may be beneficial for your business.
The main advantages of american Corporations are:
- no VAT
- You can perform all normal business operations without having to indicate any objects
- Limited liability - shareholders are liable for the obligations of the company only with their initial deposits
- Significantly fewer restrictions on business than in the EU
- High discretion of ownership – the real owners of companies do not have to be listed in publicly available documents
- Free transferability of shareholder rights (shares)
Registration of a company is usually done within 48 hours after submission of a complete documentation. If the whole documentation is accepted without reservation, then complete establishment of a company (including preparation of documents and delivery to Slovakia) takes from 4 days to 4 weeks depending on the state where the company is being registered.
You are free to pick up an abbreviation from the following world-wide used standards: Inc., Ltd., Co., Corp., Limited, Corporation
Price for the establishment of the U.S. Inc. company is € 900
It includes all fees for the establishment, annual state fee, annual fee for a registration agent, preparation of the “Inc. Initial List” and “Corporation Organizational Meeting” and delivery of all documents to Slovakia by a courier.
Renewal fee over the next few years is 550 €, including all state fees, charges for the seat of your company and for the registration agent.
General information about the U.S. Inc.
Managers: The minimum number of managers is one personal or legal entity and they do not have to be native.
Shareholders: The minimum number of shareholders is one personal or legal entity.
Company secretary: Not required.
Share Capital: Currency of the share capital is USD and shares are issued to a certain name. The minimal paid capital is 1 USD (included in the price for a registration).
Accounting and profits: Inc. companies are required to perform annual accounts, file tax returns and perform also audit in case of a bigger company.
Taxes, VAT: Income tax does not exist in the U.S.
Newly established companies are becoming known as “C corporation” (C corp.) and they directly become liable to federal income tax in the USA. The company can apply to change the tax status to “S Corporation” (S Corp.) after fulfilling certain criteria. In this case the company would not be liable to pay income tax. Company only submits accounting statement and the trading profit is considered to be a taxable income of the owners of the company. The basic criterion is that all owners of the company have to be resident in the U.S. and have only 1 type of shares.
Additional services
These services are provided depending on various conditions in different states of the USA. The most standard services for all states are:
- high priority treatment of the application for registration of a company within 3 days (standard is 2 or 3 weeks) € 200
- authentic copy of documents proving company establishment € 60
- authentic copy of documents proving company establishment (high priority treatment) €160
- mail forwarding (if you use the mailing address of the company) from € 150 per year (according to the quantity of shipments)
- issue of the “NV Cert. Of Good Standing Expedited” document € 200 per year
- purchase of an existing Ready-made company min. € 900 (price depends on the age of the company and the current offer)