Anonymous Corporation Or LLC

Do you want to ensure your ownership interest in a business is completely anonymous? This could be for a number of different reasons, including avoiding baseless lawsuits. Perhaps your buddy the Internet marketer got sued last month and you believe you can avoid the same fate if people can’t find out who you are.

There are a number of Internet incorporation services touting certain privacy benefits, namely personal asset protection, by organizing your business under the laws of a certain state. Nevada and Wyoming and Delaware are usually the states being sold as “privacy and asset protection havens.” These states do not require the disclosure of the identities of the shareholders of a corporation, or members of a manager-managed LLC in the required initial corporate filings (public records). In fact, Wyoming does not require the disclosure of the managers of the LLC in the initial organizing documents (articles of organization) or in any subsequent annual report filings.

Usually, these “privacy” states only require that the directors and officers of the corporation, or the managers of the LLC, be disclosed on the Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization and all future annual reports. Essentially, these states are touted by incorporation and asset protection services as having laws that better protect the personal assets of shareholders and LLC members from attack by corporate or LLC creditors due to these disclosure limitations.

But, is this accurate?

The single greatest benefit of a state’s privacy protections is that it can help prevent frivolous litigation. Preventing the average Joe from finding out what companies you may own by searching public records is a good thing. This may save a few baseless claims. The plaintiff will have to spend more money and most lawsuits are a simple game of pure economics. So, privacy can sometimes make it more expensive for a potential plaintiff to find your assets. However, any personal creditor willing to spend the money will not have any trouble finding your assets in most cases, and you would be compelled to disclose your assets if you are sued personally and your creditor is awarded a judgement against you.

There are a ton of myths out there regarding privacy and asset protection. Guaranteed asset protection simply through anonymous ownership of a business entity is a myth. Organizing in Wyoming, Nevada or Delaware may or may not provide better asset protections than any other state. Unfortunately, many new entrepreneurs get lured into believing what often amounts to false hype.

I try to dispel a few of these myths below.

Myth# 1: You Can Maintain Complete Privacy by Organizing in Nevada or Wyoming (or elsewhere)

The stated advantages to organizing under Nevada or Wyoming law for privacy purposes include:

-Privacy for stockholders and members by not requiring that their names become part of the public corporate or LLC records. Nevada and Wyoming do not require shareholders or the members of an LLC to be disclosed in any initial or annual corporate or LLC filings. Only the director(s) and officer(s) of a corporation and the manager(s) of the LLC need to be disclosed. I discuss this in detail later;

-Permits use of nominee stockholders, directors, and officers of corporations and nominee members and managers of LLC’s;

-Nevada does not share its data with the Internal Revenue Service. It is one of a handful of states that do not have a sharing arrangement in place with the IRS (33 states have an “Information Sharing Agreement” in place with the IRS). But, just because Nevada does not share information with the I.R.S. does not mean your information will be kept private. You will need to provide the I.R.S. with the name and social security number of the person responsible for all tax issues involving the company in order to obtain an EIN. Also, the company will be required to prepare a tax return (informational returns for S-corp’s and most LLC’s), on which the names and social security numbers of the owners will be provided. Thus, the I.R.S. will end up with this information regardless.

-Wyoming only shares information with the IRS when real property is owned within the state of Wyoming.

But, you can lose this privacy in a variety of ways. Business owners may be required to disclose their identity in the following instances: 1) registering to do business in your home state; 2) Issuing stock; 3) Obtaining any required business licenses (which the State of Nevada requires for most activities and charges an additional fee to obtain); 4) Opening a bank account; 5) Being an employee or independent contractor to the corporation or LLC; or 6) Entering into other contracts or agreements where you sign individually, such as entering into any loans. Nevada now also requires the disclosure of the entity’s taxpayer ID number and requires a personal guarantee on the state’s business license.

Thus, it may not make sense for the average Internet business to organize in Nevada solely to take advantage of privacy for these reasons.

Also, business owners may have to personally guarantee any debt on behalf of your business and will likely enter into contracts on behalf of your business. This means providing your name and signature on certain documents. These are all ways in which you could possibly disclose your identity. The average owner of a business is going to operate his/her own business and really has no way to avoid these things. Of course, when business owners don’t take an active role in operating the business or sign any such contracts or guarantees, these concerns may not apply.

Myth #2: Privacy Alone Protects Your Assets

The “privacy” afforded to those organizing in Nevada, Wyoming or any other state with similar privacy features simply will not protect your interest in a corporation or LLC from your creditors. For example, pursuant to Nevada Civil Code NRS 21.080, all real and personal property of a judgment debtor (not otherwise exempt by law) is liable to execution, including “shares and interests in any corporation or company.” If a creditor obtains a judgment against you, your interest in a Nevada or Wyoming corporation/LLC is subject to attachment in order to satisfy the debt. You can either ignore the court order to testify regarding your assets (or refuse to answer questions after appearing) and face imprisonment for contempt of court or commit perjury by lying about the extent of your assets. Obviously not appealing choices and why the notion of privacy does not protect your assets by itself. Do not be fooled by websites that tell you otherwise.

Basic rule: In terms of personal liability protection, there is no real benefit for a business to organize in another state where it has no assets or conducts no business activities. Online asset protection services tout Nevada or Wyoming (and sometimes Delaware) as having better laws that provide more personal asset protection against creditors. But, the statutes of each state can usually be superseded or at least augmented to the benefit of the owners through a well-written LLC operating agreement or (to a lesser degree) corporation bylaws anyways. This means that the business owners can accomplish what they want by way of personal liability protection afforded by default under another state’s laws without resorting to that state’s “default” statutes. Further, and not mentioned by online business formation/asset protection services, courts may apply the law of their jurisdiction and not the laws of the jurisdiction where the entity was established when trying to determine whether to pierce the corporate veil of a corporation or LLC shell.

Establishing your corporation or LLC in Nevada, Wyoming or some other state will not shield all of your personal assets from a creditor that seeks to ultimately liquidate your interest in the business to satisfy a judgment against you. (Internal governance matters are a different story and, as a rule of thumb, the laws of the state of organization will generally be honored by foreign state courts for internal disputes.) Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware can offer some benefits over other states in terms of piercing the corporate veil lawsuits (avoiding creditor attacks on the personal assets of the business owners). But, that is always assuming the laws of the state the business has been formed in will apply.

UPDATE: Nevada, Delaware, and now Wyoming, have adopted laws protecting single member LLCs in the same manner as multi-member LLCs (partnerships) by limiting creditors to charging order protection. This means that any creditor who has obtained a judgement against the individual member of the LLC (and not against the business) cannot step into that member’s shoes and control the LLC (and potentially liquidate its assets). This protection does not exist for shareholders of a corporation.

Myth #3: Using Nominees Is a Bullet Proof Strategy

Many online services also claim that the use of nominees is a bulletproof method of privacy and asset protection. Nevada and Wyoming law, for instance, allows for the use of nominee directors and officers and managers of an LLC, and nominee shareholders and members. The theory is that you can use a third party to conceal your identity as an owner and corporate officer or manager. Then, you can maintain control over the entity by using a proxy or some other instrument to control the corporation or LLC over the nominee. You should generally avoid using nominees or at least understand there are holes in this “bulletproof strategy.”

While you will gain some layer of privacy from having a nominee officer, shareholder, director, etc. this privacy will be lost once the nominee is served a subpoena and asked to provide the contact information for the owners of the company. The nominee will then be legally required to provide this information, and your privacy is gone. Nevada civil procedure law makes it clear that the failure to obey a subpoena shall be punished for contempt. The law leaves no room for discretion unless the records to be disclosed are privileged. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a nominee who is going to want to spend some time in jail for the small fee you pay for the services.

But, some services do offer the use of an attorney to act as an intermediary between you and the incorporation service. That attorney can then invoke attorney-client privilege, adding a layer of privacy anytime there is an inquiry about your identity. Dealing directly with the incorporation service creates no such privilege. However, in some instances, the attorney may be ordered by the court to divulge your identity in cases of fraud or criminal conduct.

Myth #4: Using Bearer Shares Provides Asset Protection

There are many asset protection and incorporation websites still promoting the use of bearer shares in the state of Nevada and elsewhere. Bearer shares are now illegal under the laws of the states of Nevada and Wyoming and every other state! Regardless, the bearer share strategy does not prevent creditors from recovering your stock if a judgment is obtained against you. There are far too many holes with the use of bearer shares as a way to maintain privacy and protect your assets. This “strategy” creates all kinds of fraudulent transfer issues in the first place, as well as possible income and/or gift tax ramifications. There is really no need to go into any more detail other than to say you should you avoid services/websites touting the use of bearer shares as an asset protection vehicle. Also, for most small businesses, the most negative aspect of bearer shares is the inability to make an S-election due to the limitations on the number and type of shareholders. Not to mention bearer shares are not permitted by most states. This is not a good practice and should be avoided.

Actually Understanding Business Owner Privacy

If you feel strongly about privacy, at least on the surface, then you should understand what this really means. “Privacy” actually boils down to what shows up in public records after filing the initial corporate or LLC organizing documents and any annual reporting requirements. Keep in mind, this applies to both the state of organization and any foreign state in which the business must qualify to do business. Would-be business owners truly concerned about staying anonymous can use any state that allows no disclosure of members in a manager-managed LLC or shareholders on the initial or annual corporate filings.

Nevada’s privacy protection protects members and shareholders from disclosure on corporate filings, but this privacy does not apply to certain officers, directors, and in the case of LLCs, managers. Nevada requires an incorporator or organizer to appoint by name at least one initial director in a corporation’s articles or in the case of an LLC, at least one member or manager in the articles of organization. In both cases, the articles are public record, and anyone can request copies by paying a small fee. Nevada, like most other states, requires that every corporation and LLC file an “Annual List of Officers and Directors” each year. This requires disclosure of the full names of at least some of the officers and the directors of a corporation and the managers of an LLC. This information is then posted on the Nevada Secretary of State’s Web site, which is a searchable public database and easy for anyone to figure out who is operating the corporation or LLC.

UPDATE: Wyoming does not require the disclosure of either members or managers of an LLC in the initial organizing documents or in any annual reports. This means owner information is not visible in any publicly accessible database. Wyoming does not require the officers or directors to be listed in the Articles of Incorporation, but is required to be listed in the corporation annual reports.

Most states will allow you to designate a manager of your LLC and designate directors of a corporation and only list the information of those persons on the organizational documents. So, in a state like Illinois, for example, an outside manager who is not a member (owner) of an LLC can be the individual of record as the manager of a manager-managed LLC. But, depending on state law, the shareholders or members of an LLC may be required to be listed on the annual reports go forward. This prevents the actual business owners from remaining anonymous.

Foreign Business Registration

Finally, under state foreign business qualification laws, the “anonymous” business may then have to qualify to do business in a foreign state. This may be triggered in any states where any employees located, where contracts are accepted, where the business is physically located, etc. For example, a sole shareholder S corporation organized in Wyoming where the shareholder/employee lives in Illinois and runs the business from Illinois would have to register the corporation to do business in Illinois. With LLCs that are not taxed as S corporations, generally, member-owners are not considered employees under federal or state law so it is less clear. However, having a physical location and accepting contracts within the foreign state (and otherwise conducting/operating the business there) is enough to trigger required registration in that state.

Regardless of state laws, it is very difficult for an ongoing business to maintain the privacy of all owners. It can also be an administrative and financial burden to establish and maintain a corporation or LLC in another jurisdiction. The fees paid to the state and these nominee type services will add up quickly.

Privacy can still be a factor in avoiding frivolous lawsuits and avoiding public disclosure of what you may own in general. Just understand that anonymous corporation or LLC ownership is meaningless for asset protection and avoid the snake oil!