Incorporate a Business

Why choose a corporation?

Limited liability protection and often, more tax advantages for growing your business. Corporations have become the gold standard for starting a business. The corporate business structure can help reduce your taxes and protect you against the threat of personal liability.

When registering a company, C corporation or C corp is the most common corporation type, but most often it isn’t the top choice for small business owners. C corporations provide limited liability protection to owners, who are called shareholders, meaning owners are typically not personally responsible for business debts and liabilities. C corporations may also offer greater tax advantages because of an expanded ability to deduct employee benefits, which are most often used by growing businesses.

Incorporation advantages

Corporations typically provide a number of advantages:

• Limited liability protection. Owners are not typically responsible for business debts and liabilities.
• Unlimited owners. C corps can have an unlimited number of shareholders.
• Easy transfer of ownership. Ownership is easily transferable through the sale of stock.
• Unlimited life. When a corporation’s owner incurs a disabling illness or dies, the corporation does not cease to exist.
• Raise capital more easily. Additional capital can be raised by selling shares of stock.
• Credibility. Corporations may be perceived as a more professional/legitimate entity than a sole proprietorship or general partnership.
• Lower audit risk. Generally C corporations are audited less frequently than sole proprietorships.
• Tax deductible expenses. Business expenses may be tax-deductible.
• Self-employment tax savings. A C corporation can offer self-employment tax savings, since owners who work for the business are classified as employees.

How do you form a C corporation?

In order to register a company as a C corporation, Articles of Incorporation (sometimes called a Certificate of Incorporation, must be filed with the State of Nevada and the necessary filing fees paid. Upon incorporation, C corporations are also required to adopt bylaws, hold an initial meeting of directors and shareholders, and issue shares of stock to owners.

Key benefits

C corporations are more flexible than S corporations in terms of the number of owners (shareholders) they can have and who can be an owner. That is one reason why C corporations are the business type of choice for venture capitalists when they provide funding to a business.

Some things to keep in mind

Corporations face the most extensive ongoing formalities of any business type. Corporations must adopt and regularly update bylaws, hold and properly document annual meetings of directors and shareholders and more.

You can choose any state to incorporate in, why not Nevada? Click on the Nevada Specifics for C Corp tab next.

Specifics for forming a C corporation in Nevada

Here are some key facts you should know as you consider forming a C corporation in Nevada.

Nevada corporate name

Nevada corporations are not required to use name endings such as “Incorporated” or “Inc.” A name appearing to be that of a natural person and containing a given name or initials must not be used as a corporate name, except with an additional word such as “Incorporated,” “Limited,” “Inc.,” “Ltd.,” “Company,” “Co.,” “Corporation,” “Corp.” or other word identifying it as not being the name of a natural person. If the name implies banking, trust or insurance powers, prior approval of the banking superintendent or insurance commissioner is needed. The name must not be the same as or deceptively similar to the name of any corporation, limited partnership, limited liability company, foreign corporation, foreign limited partnership or foreign limited liability company. It must also not be the same as or deceptively similar to a name reserved for use of any other proposed corporation unless written consent of the person or other entity the name is reserved for is filed with the Articles of Incorporation. There are a number of words for which usage requires approval by the applicable state department or agency, such as (but not limited to) “Accountant,” “Bank,” “Brokerage,” ‘Financial” and “Realtor.”

Director information

The following are Nevada’s requirements for directors of corporations:

• Corporations must have one or more directors.
• Nevada does not have a provision specifying where directors must reside.
• Directors must be at least 18 years old.
• Director names and addresses are required to be listed in the Articles of Incorporation.

Requirements for the Articles of Incorporation

The document required to form a corporation in Nevada is called the Articles of Incorporation. The information required in the formation document varies by state. Nevada’s requirements include:

• Officer names and addresses are not required to be listed in the Articles of Incorporation.
• Authorized shares and par value must be listed in the Articles of Incorporation. (An increase in the number of shares or par value can affect initial filing fees.)
• Corporations must list the name and address of a registered agent with a physical address (no post office boxes) in Nevada. The registered agent must be available during normal business hours to accept important legal and tax documents for the business.

Other filings required at time of incorporation

Nevada requires corporations to file an Initial List of Officers/Directors and Business License on or before the last day of the month following the incorporation. The filing fee is $125 for the Initial List and $200 for the business license registration.

Professional services businesses

Nevada allows professionals, such as accountants, attorneys and physicians, to form a professional corporation (PC).

Required information to form your corporation

Outlined is the information Resident Agents of Nevada Inc requires to form your corporation.

Should you have any questions about the information here or Resident Agents of Nevada Inc services, our Entity Formation Specialists are happy to help. Our Entity Formation Specialists are available Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific time toll free at (888) 463-8462. You may also email your questions to agents@nevada.org.

Order contact information

• Primary contact name
• Primary contact phone number
• Primary contact email address
• Primary contact phone number

Company information

• Three business name choices
• Capital stock information (number of shares to authorize and the par value of those shares)

Company management

• Director name and address
• Officer(s) name and address (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Additional information

Depending on the type of package and/or additional products and services you select, you may be asked for the following information:

Mail forwarding service

• US mail forwarding address

EIN obtainment information

• Social security number*
• Principal business type
• Specific business purpose

* Due to new regulations, our company is no longer able to assist Foreign/Non-US Citizens (without social security numbers) in obtaining EIN numbers for their entity. As part of our service, we will provide you wil a special telephone number for Foreign EIN applicants and suggestions on the information that the client may want to provide to the IRS.

International Clients add $50. surcharge.

Not sure which business type is right for you?

The following Education Center materials can help you understand C corporation formation and other business types:

• Comparing Business Entity Types—C Corp, S Corp, LLC, Sole Proprietorship

Explore Resident Agents of Nevada Inc services

The following products/services are included in our incorporation service packages or are available as add-ons:

• Registered Agent Service
• Federal Tax ID (EIN) Obtainment Service
• Compliance Kit & Seal
• Mail Forwarding Service