Nevis Offshore Company: IBC and LLC

Is Nevis an offshore jurisdiction?

Nevis is counted among the classic offshore jurisdictions: the island registers IBCs, LLCs, trusts and foundations, and the regulator’s fee schedule includes a separate service, the Tax Exemption Letter. The fee is still listed, although the tax exemption regime itself has been closed to new companies since January 1, 2019; details are in the tax section below.

The island’s secrecy is often exaggerated. The registered agent must obtain and keep identity information on beneficial owners and shareholders, and corporate and accounting records must be available to the agent and the FSRC on request. Promises of “complete anonymity” and “absolute asset protection” have nothing to do with a real Nevis structure.

In the Council of the EU conclusions of October 9, 2026, St Kitts and Nevis appears neither on the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions (Annex I) nor on the list of jurisdictions with pending commitments (Annex II).

Who Nevis suits

• owners who need a separate legal entity for stakes, real estate or an investment portfolio;
• family structures where flexible LLC management rules matter;
• long-term investment projects with a documented history of funds.

For active trading, marketplaces and payment service providers, the island is usually a poor fit: banks and PSPs scrutinise such structures more strictly. An operating business is more often better served by Hong Kong or the UK, and a holding company also by the BVI or Panama. The pairing with Panama is covered in Panama vs Nevis.

Key facts about an offshore company in Nevis

Legal forms: IBC and LLC

The choice between an IBC and an LLC depends on how the owner will manage the structure and how the owner’s country of residence classifies its income. We settle this at the questionnaire stage.

According to the FSRC, the shareholders, directors and officers of an IBC may be of any nationality and live in any country; a legal entity may be a director, and the secretary may be a legal entity or an individual. An LLC needs no initial capital, one member is enough, and that member may also be the manager. An operating agreement is mandatory only if the Articles of Organisation provide for it. An IBC may move its registration to or from the island, and LLCs and other foreign companies move here through a redomiciliation procedure.

Taxes of a Nevis company after 2018

Before the reform, IBCs and LLCs not doing business in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis were exempt from corporate and income tax, withholding tax, stamp duty and taxes on assets and foreign income (section 136 of the NBCO and section 96 of the NLLCO). Dividends and distributions to members were exempt too. On December 28, 2018, Nevis passed amendments to both ordinances at the EU’s request. According to an FSRC announcement of the same day, companies formed after December 31, 2018 do not benefit from the tax exemption. Existing companies kept it until June 30, 2021.

The EU Code of Conduct Group on business taxation found the regime abolished with a transition period, and the Council of the EU endorsed that finding on March 12, 2019. The same assessment gives the Federation’s general tax rate as 33%. A 2019 amendment to the NBCO added a condition: an older company’s exemption ends before June 30, 2021 if it acquires new assets or starts a new business that produces taxable income.

For a buyer the conclusion is simple: an IBC or LLC registered today gets none of the old regime’s benefits, and we work out its tax position before registration. The same goes for a shelf company formed before 2019: the transition period is over, and we check its current obligations separately. We compare Nevis with Belize and the BVI on the same inputs.

Moving a company to or from Nevis

According to the FSRC, any corporation may redomicile to Nevis or leave the island, and a company formed or redomiciled under the LLC ordinance can be converted into a corporation by a simple procedure. With the Registrar’s approval, emergency redomiciliation to the island is available. Fees under the schedule: redomiciliation to Nevis $200, Certificate of Departure $400, emergency redomiciliation $345, restoration of a company to the register $300.

Documents and KYC

The agent carries out checks before registration. The usual requirements are passports and proof of address for the owners and directors, an ownership chart, a description of the structure’s purpose and documents on the origin of the funds or assets it will hold. When owners or directors change, the changes are recorded in the agent’s records.

Annual obligations

• The annual renewal fee under the FSRC fee schedule is $300 (XCD 810) for both an IBC and an LLC.
• The late payment penalty on the annual fee is $200 in the first six months and $400 after that.
• Corporate and accounting records are kept so that the agent and the FSRC can obtain them on request.
• Registered agent and registered office services are paid separately from government fees.

We handle renewal, contact with the agent and updates to the records as part of offshore company maintenance.

FSRC government fees for two years

These are only the regulator’s fees under its schedule. In the 24-month estimate we add agent and office services, certifications, bank preparation and asset administration. We will send a calculation for your structure after your request.

Beneficial owners (UBO)

Under FSRC rules, the agent obtains and keeps identity information on beneficial owners and shareholders. The information is given to the agent on registration and at every change of ownership. A structure with an unknown owner will not be registered here. The FSRC carries out on-site AML/CFT inspections of agents and checks how well they know their clients. What other jurisdictions require on beneficial ownership is collected in our guide on beneficial owners (UBO).

Bank account

Banks and payment service providers check Nevis structures particularly closely, so preparing for an account usually takes longer. The bank will ask you to show the origin of capital, the group structure, documents on the assets and clear scenarios for incoming funds. We prepare the package and choose the bank as part of our bank account for an offshore company service.

The owner’s taxes and CFC rules

The tax regime of a Nevis structure is separate from the taxes of its owner. The owner’s country of residence may tax the profits of a controlled foreign company (CFC); on the exchange of account information under the CRS standard, see our article on CRS in 2026. Before registration we work out the consequences for your country. The general principles of CFC taxation are described in our guide on controlled foreign companies, and the role of a holding company in a group in our guide on the international holding company.

Nevis, as part of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, is on the list of states (territories) approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers for transfer pricing: Resolution No. 1045 of December 27, 2017, with the annex as amended by Resolution No. 1505 of December 27, 2024. For a Ukrainian company, transactions with a Nevis company are controlled transactions under Article 39 of the Tax Code of Ukraine when the Ukrainian company’s annual income exceeds UAH 150 million and the volume of transactions with that counterparty exceeds UAH 10 million a year. If a Ukrainian resident owns the company and it qualifies as their CFC (Article 39-2 of the same code), its transactions with non-residents from this list are disclosed in the CFC report, and the related income and expenses are measured at arm’s length when the adjusted profit is calculated.

Asset protection: what to expect

The island is often marketed as “absolute protection from the courts”. The outcome depends on the nature of the claims, the timing of the asset transfer, the creditors, the applicable law and the good faith of the transaction. That is why we document an asset transfer with evidence of the source of funds and the business purpose, and compare direct ownership, a local SPV and an offshore company in Nevis in terms of tax on sale, inheritance and banking restrictions. Which asset protection tools work and where their limits lie is covered in our guide on asset protection.

Timelines and offshore company formation in Nevis

The registration time depends on the checks on the people involved and the chosen form; we give a date after the questionnaire. If you need the structure sooner, we will look at a Nevis shelf company transferred to the new owner through the agent.

Frequently asked questions