West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the northeast, Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. The capital and largest city is Charleston.

West Virginia has a total area of 24,230 square miles (62,755 km2).

Population

The United States Census Bureau estimates West Virginia's population was 1,792,147 in 2019.

Language

Only 1.1% of the state's residents were foreign-born, placing West Virginia last among the 50 states in that statistic. It also has the lowest percentage of residents who speak a language other than English in the home (2.7%).

The Government of West Virginia is modeled after the Government of the United States, with three branches:

• The executive, consisting of the Governor of West Virginia and the other elected constitutional officers;
• The legislative, consisting of the West Virginia Legislature which includes the Senate and the House of Delegates;
• The judicial, consisting of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and lower courts.

According to The Bureau of Economic Analysis, West Virginia had a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 72.16 billion in 2019. Its per capita personal income was US$ 42,336.

The state is a global chemical hub, cited by the Council of American States in Europe as one of North America's premier destinations. Tourism is one of West Virginia's largest industries. Farming is not extensive. West Virginia has extensive natural resources; it is among the nation's leading producers of bituminous coal, although coal production has declined. Natural gas, stone, cement, salt, and oil are also important.

Currency:

United States Dollar (USD)

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

Type of Company/Corporation:

One IBC supply incorporation in West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia, USA:

• 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia:

• 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 West Virginia

Share Capital:

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

Director: 

Only one director required 

Shareholder:

Minimum number of shareholders is one 

West Virginia 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:

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

Double Taxation Agreements:

West Virginia, 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 West Virginia 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 registration fee for opening a new Corporation and Limited Liability Company (LLC) in West Virginia is US$ 100.

Read more: 

• West Virginia trademark 
• West Virginia business license 

Payment, Company return due date:

West Virginia Filing Due Date: Corporation tax returns are due by March 15 — or by the 15th day of the 3rd month following the end of the taxable year (for fiscal year filers).