Nevada Corporation Business License Fee Increased

As part of an overall state budget, Nevada's state license business fee for corporations will increase on July 1, 2015, from $200 to $500 per year. Nevada limited liability companies will remain at $200 per year. Both fees were slated to decrease to $100 per year until the recent lawmaking. Additionally, annual list fees for most corporations and LLCs will also increase from $125 to $150 per year.

The tax package that was enacted to balance the state budget also makes "temporary" increases in the sale tax and payroll taxes permanent.

Nevada does not have a state-level corporate tax.

For new incorporations, it may be possible to avoid the increased fee by selecting an LLC instead (when appropriate). For existing Nevada corporations, there are some other alternatives to consider, the complexity of which will vary depending on the client's circumstances - please contact me to discuss these.

Business Incorporation and LLC Formation for Non-residents of the USA

A new page has been added to the website providing information of interest to potential foreign national incorporation clients regarding LLC and corporate formations, as well as other legal services. The new content also links to this 2011 Los Angeles Times article, which features both a firm client and a preferred immigration attorney: E-2 visa helps many non-U.S. citizens start small firms

Nevada Cracks Down on Incorporation and Registered Agent Firms

Some non-attorney Nevada incorporation services are operated by convicted felons, Reuters reports:

Reuters detailed its discovery of former felons in the mass-incorporation industry to Nevada state officials. In response, [Secretary of State Ross] Miller said he plans to introduce a bill barring felons from running incorporation firms. In early September, he announced the creation of a Corporate Ownership Fraud Task Force to fight abuses of Nevada incorporation rules.

Special report: Nevada's big bet on secrecy, September 26, 2011

See also Shell games: A cautious crackdown in Nevada, Reuters, September 26, 2011:

Early this month, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller's office shut down a Las Vegas registered agent called Power Point Management and revoked the corporate status of its 427 active clients.

It was an example of how his office will "aggressively enforce our statutes and regulations," Miller said, warning that his state's 'business friendly' ethos "should not be interpreted to mean 'haven for bad actors.'"

Power Point is part of Nevada's booming industry of business incorporators and registered agents, more than 700 firms in all, whose key service is to receive on behalf of the companies they've registered any notices of litigation, tax documents and other records required by the state. Like most, it's a small operation. It has offices at the end of a winding interior hallway in a faded, stucco, two-story office park on Las Vegas' Flamingo Road. The building's rental manager, Laba Singh, says the firm sends in its "$200-something" rent check by mail each month, but he has never seen the tenant.

The issue that got Power Point in trouble seems minor: It claimed that it, and every one of its clients, was a home-based business making under $27,000 a year. Such businesses don't have to pay Nevada's $200 annual licensing fee. If all 427 of Power Point's clients falsely claimed the $200 exemption, then Nevada lost out annually on $85,400 in total. ...

Nevada incorporation attorney
Nevada registered agent service (a/k/a resident agent service)