How to incorporate in West Virginia

There are three ways to incorporate your business in West Virginia: hire a lawyer to do the job for you (a very expensive option), walk in to the State Department office and do it by yourself or to use a professional incorporation company, like Active Filings. Whatever method you chose, this section will provide you the basic information you need to know about WV filings.

WV Articles of Incorporation Requirements

Corporate Name Endings

The name must not be same as or deceptively similar to name already in use by another existing corporation of, or foreign corporation qualified to do business in West Virginia, without written consent of the other corporation or court order establishing right of applicant to use name.

The name must not imply purpose other than that stated in articles of incorporation. The name must contain one of the following words: "company", "corporation", "incorporated", or "limited" or an abbreviation of one of such words. Words "engineer", "engineering" cannot be used unless corporate purpose is professional engineering and one or more of incorporators is registered professional engineer.

The name of a limited liability company must contain “limited liability company” or “limited company” or the abbreviation “L.L.C.”, “LLC”, “L.C.” or “LC”. “Limited” may be abbreviated as “Ltd.” and “company” may be abbreviated as “Co.”.

Director Information

* Minimum Number - One or more.

* Residence Requirements. - No provision.

* Age Requirements - None.

* Directors are required to be listed in the articles of incorporation.

Officer Information

* The officers are not required to be listed in the articles of incorporation.

Stock Information

* An increase in the shares may cause an increase in the initial filing fee.

Yearly Requirements

* Annual Statements

* The rate of tax is the greater of: (1) $50 or (2) seventy-five one-hundredths of one percent of the value of the corporation's capital.

Income Tax Rate

* 9.0% of taxable income. Also an annual tax is due based upon capital stock. For domestic corporations, the rates are as follows.

Capital Stock Tax
$5,000 or less $20
$5,000 to $10,000 $30
$10,000 to 25,000 $40
$25,000 to 50,000 $50
$50,000 to $75,000 $80
$75,000 to $100,000 $100
$100,000 to $125,000 $110
$125,000 to $150,000 $120
$150,000 t0 $175,000 $140
$175,000 to $200,000 $150
$200,000 to $1,000,000 $180 plus $0.20 per $1,000 or fraction thereof over $200,000 $1,000,000 to 15,000,000 $340 plus $0.15 per $1,000 or fraction thereof over $1,000,000 $15,000,000 and over $2500

* No par stock is valued at $25 per share unless it was originally issued for a greater consideration [W.V.C. S:11-12C-2].

For more information on taxes, visit www.state.wv.us/taxrev

We work every day with the WV Department of Business by filing corporations, limited liability companies, non profit corporations, filing articles of amendment, obtaining certificates of good standing (certificates of status), apostille certifications, filing DBAs, and more.

We also provide Registered Agent services to Foreign (out of state), and local companies as well as Foreign Qualifications (companies from other states setting a branch in West Virginia).

Starting Your Business in West Virginia:

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