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Overview

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Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and submit them as strings on the application body. Tax ID: 9-digit structured identifier in the format 99-999/9999, automatically generated by SIGTAS (the IRD’s tax data management system) upon registration for any tax type. The core TIN is permanent; when an entity registers for additional tax types (e.g. VAT, PAYE) supplementary digits are appended to the root to distinguish each registration. Mandatory on all tax returns, payment receipts, and VAT filings. Issued under the Income Tax Act (Cap. 435) and Value Added Tax Act. Business Companies and LLCs registered through the FSA must separately register with the IRD to obtain a TIN. Corporate income tax rate is 28% (with a further reduction announced in the December 2025 budget); VAT registration is compulsory when annual taxable supplies exceed XCD 300,000. Registration number: Sequential numeric identifier assigned by the Registrar of Companies at incorporation under the Companies Act, 1994 (domestic companies). Appears on the Certificate of Incorporation and all subsequent CIPO filings (Forms 1, 4, 9, 28). For Business Companies and LLCs registered through the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under the International Business Companies (Amendment and Consolidation) Act (Cap. 149) and the Limited Liability Companies Act (Cap. 151), a separate registration number is assigned by the FSA Registrar. No publicly confirmed fixed-length or prefix standard for either registry; assigned sequentially.

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Sector regulators

FSA · ECCB · ECSRC · FIU · IRD

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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: For domestic companies: issued by CIPO under the Companies Act, 1994 within approximately 2 working days of filing Articles of Incorporation (Form 1 for commercial; Form 2 for non-profit), Notice of Registered Office (Form 4), and Notice of Directors (Form 9). For Business Companies (BCs): issued by the FSA Registrar within 24 hours via a licensed Registered Agent under Cap. 149. For LLCs: FSA issues a Certificate of Formation under Cap. 151. All certificates confirm the entity name, registration number, and date of incorporation/formation. CIPO base incorporation fee: XCD 950; FSA BC registration fee: USD 125.
  • Constitutive Documents: For domestic companies (CIPO): Articles of Incorporation (Form 1 for commercial companies; Form 2 for non-profits) constitute the primary constitutive document; must specify company name, share classes and authorized amounts, share transfer restrictions, number of directors, and any business restrictions. By-laws (adopted by the board post-incorporation) supplement the articles. For Business Companies (FSA/Cap. 149): Articles of Incorporation filed with the Registrar via a licensed agent; must specify name, registered office, authorized shares, and objects. For LLCs (FSA/Cap. 151): Articles of Formation (not Articles of Incorporation); the Operating Agreement governs management and profit/loss allocation and is the functional equivalent of by-laws.
  • Tax Registration: The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) issues a TIN to every business entity upon registration for any tax type. The TIN is a 6–10 digit numeric code generated by SIGTAS. A separate VAT Registration Certificate is issued when annual taxable supplies exceed XCD 300,000 (standard VAT rate 16%, in effect since 1 May 2017). The TIN appears on all IRD-issued receipts, tax returns, and the VAT certificate. Entities incorporated through the FSA (BCs and LLCs) must register with the IRD independently to obtain a TIN; the FSA incorporation alone does not result in automatic TIN assignment.
  • Operating Permit: A Trader’s Licence is required for retail and wholesale trading activities; issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce. There is no single general municipal operating permit required by all businesses; the trader’s licence is the closest general-purpose operating authorization for commercial trading entities. Professional activities (doctors, lawyers, accountants) require a separate professional licence from the Income Tax Department. Service businesses (e.g. restaurants) may require sector-specific permits (e.g. food handler’s licence from the Ministry of Health). Foreign nationals conducting business may additionally require an immigrant business licence. Because the trader’s licence applies only to trading entities rather than to all businesses universally, this slot applies=true but only for relevant entity types.
  • Sector-Specific License: The Financial Services Authority (FSA), established under the Financial Services Authority Act, 2011 (No. 33 of 2011), issues sector-specific licences for: international banking (Class A and Class B under the International Banks Act, Cap. 99); mutual funds (Mutual Funds Act, Cap. 154); international insurance (International Insurance Act, Cap. 307; Insurance Act, Cap. 306 for domestic); money services businesses (Money Services Business Act, Cap. 260); credit unions and cooperative societies (Cooperatives Societies Act, 2012); building societies (Building Societies Act, Cap. 450); virtual asset businesses (Virtual Asset Business Act, 2022, eff. 2025-05-31); registered agents and trustees (Registered Agent & Trustee Licensing Act, Cap. 105). The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) supervises domestic commercial banks. The Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC) oversees securities activities. Entities not engaged in regulated activities do not require an FSA licence.
  • Governance Records: Domestic companies (CIPO): Form 9 (Notice of Directors) filed at incorporation; changes within 15 days; the Register of Directors and Secretaries is maintained at the registered office and is not publicly searchable. Business Companies (FSA/Cap. 149): director notices required within 10 days of appointment or any change; maintained at the Registered Agent’s office; not publicly accessible. LLCs (FSA/Cap. 151): manager/member information maintained by the Registered Agent. Registry information for domestic CIPO companies is filed on Form 9; the form captures full name, residential address, and substantive occupation of each director.
  • Signing Authority: No statutory prescribed form; standard practice is a company-letterhead board resolution or a notarized power of attorney. For external companies registered at CIPO, a local attorney is appointed via Form 23 (Power of Attorney) as a condition of registration. For BCs and LLCs, board/member resolutions are retained at the Registered Agent’s office per the filing history requirement.
  • Address: No jurisdiction-specific statutory form is prescribed; standard KYB practice for SVG entities follows the same conventions as other Caribbean common-law jurisdictions: a lease agreement (no time limit) OR a utility bill or bank statement dated within 90 days. The same document satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
  • Good Standing: Two parallel issuers: (1) For domestic companies under the Companies Act, 1994, the Certificate of Good Standing (also called Certificate of Status at CIPO) is issued by the Registrar of Companies at CIPO; it confirms the company was properly formed, legally exists, and maintains statutory compliance with annual return and fee obligations. (2) For Business Companies (BCs) under Cap. 149, the Certificate of Good Standing is certified and stamped at the FSA Registrar and can be Apostilled at the FSA. Both certificate types confirm active status and compliance. SVG acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention; certificates can be apostilled for international use.

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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

  • SVG has two parallel company registration regimes: (1) CIPO (cipo.gov.vc) for domestic companies under the Companies Act, 1994 — processing approx. 2 working days; (2) FSA (fsasvg.com) for international structures (BCs, LLCs, mutual funds, trusts) — incorporation within 24 hours via a licensed Registered Agent. The Conduit-facing entity is almost always a BC or LLC registered through the FSA.
  • The former IBC regime (tax-exempt offshore company) was abolished effective 2018-12-31 (Act No. 36 of 2018). All existing IBCs were grandfathered until 2021-06-30. Post-2019 incorporations are Business Companies (BCs) subject to the territorial tax regime — only SVG-sourced income is taxable.
  • The Virtual Asset Business Act, 2022 entered into force on 2025-05-31. VASPs operating in SVG must register with the FSA. Entities that were conducting virtual asset business before the Act came into force had until June 2025 to comply. The Act covers exchanges, wallet providers, custodians, brokers, and advisory services.
  • The Preservation of Confidential Relationships (International Finance) Act, 1996 (Cap. 481) formally protects the confidentiality of records held by Registered Agents; disclosure is only permissible to foreign competent authorities under treaty or court order. This limits the direct documentary evidence obtainable for BO verification in onboarding.
  • Large domestic companies (> XCD 2M total assets or > XCD 4M gross revenue) must file audited comparative financial statements with CIPO; smaller entities may file a Certificate of Solvency. Annual returns (Form 28) are due by April 1 each year.
  • SVG is a member of CARICOM and the OECS; commercial banks are supervised by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Capital markets are regulated by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC). Anti-money laundering supervision is conducted by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2013 and related legislation.