Saint Lucia

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Overview

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Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Saint Lucia and submit them as strings on the application body. Tax ID: Six-digit numeric identifier issued by the IRD to every taxpayer (individual or legal entity) upon registration; remains assigned for the entity’s lifetime. Each TIN may have multiple Tax Account Numbers (TANs) appended as two-digit suffixes (e.g. TIN 123456, TAN 123456-01 = Corporate Income Tax, TAN 123456-27 = VAT). Mandatory on tax returns, remittance forms, Customs declarations, and certain bank account applications. Issued under the Income Tax Act Cap. 15.02. Effective 1 July 2021, all IBCs are deemed resident companies subject to corporate income tax at 30% (or 1% by irrevocable election); TIN registration with the IRD is mandatory for all IBCs within 30 days of incorporation. Registration number: Sequential numeric identifier assigned by the Registrar of Companies at incorporation under the Companies Act Cap. 13.01 (domestic companies and LLCs) or the International Business Companies Act Cap. 12.14 (IBCs). Appears on the Certificate of Incorporation and all subsequent filings. No publicly confirmed fixed-length or prefix standard; appears as a plain integer assigned in sequence.

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Sector regulators

Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) · Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) · Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) · Inland Revenue Department (IRD)

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Legal structures

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How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

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Documents to collect

The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.

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Collection notes

• Legal Registration: Issued by ROCIP under the Companies Act Cap. 13.01 (domestic companies and LLCs) or under the International Business Companies Act Cap. 12.14 (IBCs). Contains company name, registration number, date of incorporation, and type of company. LLCs receive a Certificate of Organization. External companies receive a Certificate of Registration. IBCs receive a Certificate of Incorporation issued through the licensed registered agent. All domestic certificates are issued on ROCIP-headed paper, sealed by the Registrar of Companies.
• Constitutive Documents: Domestic companies incorporated under the Companies Act Cap. 13.01 file a Memorandum and Articles of Association with ROCIP at incorporation; these set out the company’s name, objects, share capital, and governance rules. LLCs file Articles of Organization; the internal governance instrument is an Operating Agreement (private, not filed). IBCs file a Memorandum and Articles of Association with ROCIP through the registered agent; the memorandum must state the IBC name ending in ‘International Business Company’ or ‘IBC’. All constitutive documents are kept at the registered office.
• Tax Registration: The IRD issues a TIN (up to six digits) upon registration; the TIN registration confirmation letter/certificate is the primary tax registration evidence. Businesses making taxable supplies meeting or exceeding XCD 400,000 in any 12-month period must register for VAT (standard rate 12.5%; 10% for hotel and related services; 7% for tourism accommodation services, effective 1 December 2020) and receive a VAT Registration Certificate. Effective 1 July 2021, all IBCs are deemed resident companies under the Income Tax Act and are subject to corporate income tax at 30%; no IBC may elect full income tax exemption. IBCs may irrevocably elect a 1% rate to obtain a Tax Residency Certificate for CARICOM treaty access. All IBCs must register with the IRD and file annual tax returns.
• Operating Permit: Saint Lucia requires a Trade Licence (issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Consumer Affairs) for foreign-owned businesses — specifically companies where more than 49% of shares are owned by non-Saint Lucian or non-CARICOM nationals. The licence is issued annually (expiring 31 December) and costs EC$500–$1,000. Purely domestic companies owned by Saint Lucian or CARICOM nationals do not require a Trade Licence to operate. Conduit’s customer base will likely include foreign-majority-owned entities requiring this licence, but the absence of the licence does not prevent incorporation — it is a condition of commencing trading operations.
• Sector-Specific License: Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA): regulates and issues licences for international banks, international insurance companies, international mutual funds, registered agents and trustees, money services businesses, credit unions, and virtual asset businesses under the Financial Services Regulatory Authority Act Cap. 12.07. Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB): supervises licensed commercial banks and deposit-taking entities in Saint Lucia as part of the OECS/ECCU monetary union (Banking Act). Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA): supervises AML/CFT compliance for all reporting entities under the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act Cap. 12.20.
• Governance Records: Domestic companies under the Companies Act Cap. 13.01 must maintain a Register of Directors at the registered office; changes filed with ROCIP. IBCs must maintain a Register of Directors at the registered agent’s office; director information is confidential and not publicly searchable — only the registered agent’s address is a public record. LLCs maintain a Register of Managers per the Limited Liability Companies Act Cap. 13.07. Annual returns submitted to ROCIP (domestic) or the registered agent (IBC) confirm current directors.
• Signing Authority: No statutory prescribed form. A board resolution on company letterhead — signed by the directors (and certified by the company secretary if applicable) — is the standard instrument authorizing a named signatory to act. A notarized Power of Attorney is used for external delegation. For LLCs, a manager’s resolution in equivalent form is used. Saint Lucia acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention; documents may be apostilled for international use.
• Address: Standard KYB practice: lease agreement (no time limit) OR utility bill OR bank statement dated within 90 days. Domestic utility providers include LUCELEC (Lucelec — Saint Lucia Electricity Services) and WASCO (Water and Sewerage Company Inc.). The document must show the company’s registered or principal operating address in Saint Lucia.
• Good Standing: Issued by ROCIP (Registrar of Companies) for domestic companies and LLCs under the Companies Act Cap. 13.01; confirms the company is validly registered, current with annual return filings, and has paid all due fees. For IBCs, an equivalent Certificate of Good Standing is issued by the licensed registered agent (through the St. Lucia International Finance Centre / ROCIP); it confirms compliance with financial obligations under the International Business Companies Act Cap. 12.14. Documents may be apostilled for international use through the Attorney General’s Chambers.

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Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

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Notes

• Saint Lucia has a dual company regime: domestic companies (Companies Act Cap. 13.01 + LLC Act Cap. 13.07) are subject to local corporate income tax and open to public inspection at ROCIP; IBCs (IBC Act Cap. 12.14) were historically tax-exempt but effective 1 July 2021 are deemed resident companies subject to corporate income tax at 30% (or 1% by irrevocable election) under the Income Tax Act, and must register with the IRD and file annual returns. Saint Lucia operates a territorial system — foreign-source income is excluded from the tax base for resident companies. IBCs remain subject to FSRA supervision through licensed registered agents and are subject to economic substance requirements under the Economic Substance Act No. 19 of 2019.
• The Trade Licence requirement applies exclusively to foreign-majority-owned businesses (non-Saint Lucian or non-CARICOM nationals owning more than 49% of shares). CARICOM nationals and Saint Lucian citizens are exempt. The licence is issued annually by the Ministry of Commerce and expires 31 December.
• Economic Substance Act No. 19 of 2019 requires entities conducting ‘relevant activities’ (banking, insurance, fund management, financing, leasing, HQ, shipping, IP holding) to demonstrate genuine economic substance in Saint Lucia and file an annual declaration. Non-compliance risks deregistration.
• Saint Lucia is a CARICOM member state and uses the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (XCD) pegged to USD at 2.70:1. It is a member of the OECS and uses the ECCB as its monetary authority and banking supervisor. FATCA/CRS compliance is administered by the IRD.
• Saint Lucia adopted the OECS Model Companies Act framework for domestic companies, which is closely aligned with the Caribbean common law tradition. The jurisdiction has French civil law influences on property/land tenure law (derived from the Code Napoléon era) but company law is firmly English common law.