Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area but also the second most densely populated. The state has land borders with Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound. Providence is the state capital and most populous city in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island has a total area of 1,214 square miles. (3,144 km2).

Population

Rhode Island has a population of 1.06 million people as of 2019.

Language

84% of the population aged 5 and older spoke only American English, while 8.07% spoke Spanish at home, 3.80% Portuguese, 1.96% French, 1.39% Italian and 0.78% speak other languages at home accordingly.

The government of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is modeled on the Government of the United States in having three branches: executive, legislative,and judicial.

• The legislature of Rhode Island is the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives;
• The Executive branch headed by the Governor;
• The highest judicial power is the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, and 6 lower courts.

According to The Bureau of Economic Analysis, the GDP of Rhode Island estimates for 2019 was $55.05 billion. Rhode Island's per capita personal income in 2019 was $56,542.

Rhode Island's traditional manufacturing economy has diversified and is now also based on services, trade, and finance. In spite of this, many of the products for which Rhode Island is famous are still being manufactured. These include jewelry, silverware, textiles, primary and fabricated metals, machinery, electrical equipment, and rubber and plastic items. Tourism and gambling are also important.

Currency:

United States Dollar (USD)

The corporate laws of Rhode Island are user-friendly and often adopted by other states as a standard for testing corporate laws. As a result, the corporate laws of Rhode Island are familiar to many lawyers both in the US and internationally. Rhode Island has a common law system.

Type of Company/Corporation:

One IBC supply incorporation in Rhode Island service with the common type Limited Liability Company (LLC) and C-Corp or S-Corp.

Business Restriction:

The use of the bank, trust, insurance, or reinsurance within the name of the LLC is generally prohibited as limited liability companies in most states are not allowed to engage in a banking or insurance business.

Company Name Restriction:

The name of each limited liability company as set forth in its certificate of formation: Shall contain the words "Limited Liability Company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or the designation "LLC";

• May contain the name of a member or manager;
• Must be such as to distinguish it upon the records in the office of the Secretary of State from the name on such records of any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, statutory trust or limited liability company reserved, registered, formed or organized under the laws of the State of Rhode Island or qualified to do business.

• May contain the following words: "Company," "Association," "Club," "Foundation," "Fund," "Institute," "Society," "Union," "Syndicate," "Limited" or "Trust" (or abbreviations of like import).

Company Information privacy:

No public register of company officers.

Just 4 simple steps are given to start a business in Rhode Island:

• Step 1: Select basic Resident/Founder nationality information and other additional services that you want (if any).
• Step 2: Register or log in and fill in the company names and director/ shareholder(s) and fill in the billing address and special request (if any).
• Step 3: Choose your payment method (We accept payment by Credit/Debit Card, PayPal, or Wire Transfer).
• Step 4: You will receive soft copies of necessary documents including Certificate of Incorporation, Business Registration, Memorandum and Articles of Association, etc. Then, your new company in Rhode Island is ready to do business. You can bring the documents in the company kit to open a corporate bank account or we can help you with our long experience of Banking support service.

* These documents required to incorporate a company in Rhode Island:

• Passport of each shareholder/beneficial owner and director;
• Proof of residential address of each director and shareholder (Must be in English or certified translation version);
• The proposed company names;
• The issued share capital and par value of shares.

Read more:

How to start a business in Rhode Island

Share Capital:

There is no minimum or a maximum number of authorized shares since Rhode Island incorporation fees are not based on the share structure.

Director: 

Only one director required 

Shareholder:

Minimum number of shareholders is one 

Rhode Island company taxation: 

Companies of primary interest to offshore investors are the corporation and the limited liability company (LLC). LLCs are a hybrid of a corporation and a partnership: they share the legal features of a corporation but may choose to be taxed as a corporation, partnership, or trust.

• Us Federal Taxation: US Limited Liability companies structured for partnership tax treatment with non-resident members and which conduct no business in the US and which have no US-source income are not subject to US federal income tax and are not required to file a US income tax return.
• State Taxation: US limited liability companies that conduct no business in the recommended states of formation with non-resident members are generally not subject to state income tax and are not required to file a state income tax return.

Financial statement

Local Agent:

Rhode Island law requires that every business have Registered Agent in the State of Rhode Island who may be either an individual resident or business that is authorised to do business in the State of Rhode Island

Double Taxation Agreements:

Rhode Island, as the state-level jurisdiction within the US, has no tax treaties with non-US jurisdictions or double tax treaties with other states in the US. Rather, in the case of individual taxpayers, double taxation is minimised by providing credits against Rhode Island taxation for taxes paid in other states. 

In the case of corporate taxpayers, double taxation is minimised through allocation and appointment rules related to the income of corporations engaged in multi-state business. 

License Fee & Levy:

The filing system in Rhode Island is very standard and can be accomplished in a matter of minutes. Once the filing has been completed, you will be able to pay the filing fee (ranging from US$ 150-310)

Read more: 

• Rhode Island trademark 
• Rhode Island business license 

Payment, Company return due date:

Rhode Island corporation tax returns are due by the 15th day of the 3rd month following the end of the tax year (March 15 for calendar year filers). If you cannot file on time, you can get a Rhode Island business extension.