US LLC for Non-Resident Cost: What You Actually Pay
Most quotes you will see are a single number for year one, which is the least useful way to think about this. An LLC is a subscription, not a purchase — the second year costs money whether or not the business made any. Here is the whole bill: the fees that are fixed by the state, the ones that recur forever, and the four that nobody puts on a price list.
US LLC for non resident cost: the fixed part
Two costs are genuinely unavoidable in year one, and only two.
The state filing fee, which depends entirely on which state you choose and is a one-off.
The registered agent, at roughly $50 to $150 a year. This is the one cost that does not vary by state — every non-resident pays it wherever they form, because every state requires an agent with a physical address there. It never stops.
And one thing that is free, despite being sold constantly: the EIN. The IRS does not charge for it. Services asking $150 to $300 to “get your EIN” are charging you to fax a form.
What the state actually charges, over five years
State fees only. The registered agent comes on top wherever you form.
| State | Filing fee | Annual fee | 5-year state total |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | $50 | $0 — no annual report | ~$50 |
| Wyoming | $100 | $60 | ~$400 |
| Florida | $125 | $138 | ~$815 |
| Delaware | $110 | $300 franchise tax | ~$1,610 |
The spread is real but smaller than it looks in percentage terms: about $1,500 between the cheapest and the most expensive over five years. That is worth optimising, and it is not worth letting it override the privacy and banking questions covered in the four-state comparison.
Wyoming is the sensible default for most remote non-resident owners. New Mexico is cheaper and has no annual report at all, at the cost of less-tested asset-protection case law and slightly less familiarity at banks. Delaware's premium buys you something only if US venture capital is a real plan.
The recurring bill nobody quotes you
Year two is where the surprise lives, because by then the provider who quoted you is out of the picture.
The registered agent again — $50 to $150, every year, forever.
The state annual report, where the state has one. Wyoming's $60 falls on the first day of your LLC's anniversary month. Florida's $138 is due 1 May. Delaware's $300 franchise tax is due 1 June. New Mexico has no annual report at all.
US federal tax preparation. This is the one people genuinely do not budget for, and it is not optional — see the next section. An accountant in your own country generally will not file it, because it is a US federal return, so this is a separate professional you are paying.
The $25,000 line item
A foreign-owned single-member US LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, including years with no revenue and no transactions at all.
The penalty for missing it, or filing it late or incomplete, is $25,000 per form. Your choice of state makes no difference to it. This is not a tax bill — it is a reporting requirement, and the penalty applies regardless of whether you owed a cent.
Treated properly it is a modest annual accounting fee. Ignored, it is the largest number on this page by a wide margin, and it is the single most common expensive mistake non-resident owners make. Detail in Form 5472 for foreign-owned LLCs and annual compliance for a non-resident LLC.
US company formation cost: the four hidden ones
These do not appear on any provider's pricing page, and between them they usually exceed the fees.
1. Time, measured in failed attempts. The EIN by fax takes one to four weeks when it goes right. A rejected SS-4 restarts that clock. A bank that declines after three weeks of back-and-forth costs you a month. This is the real cost of the process and it is denominated in weeks, not dollars.
2. Choosing a state your bank dislikes. Cheap to form, expensive to unwind — you may end up refiling elsewhere and paying twice.
3. Converting later. Starting as a Wyoming LLC and converting to a Delaware C-corp because investors want shares runs $3,000 to $8,000 in legal and filing costs and adds four to six weeks. That is not an argument for starting as a C-corp — a C-corp is taxed in its own right and most founders should not choose one — but it is worth knowing the exit price.
4. The infrastructure around the company. A US business address and phone number get asked for by banks, card issuers and the platforms you sell through. Small monthly amounts, easy to forget, and awkward to improvise mid-application.
Closing it down costs money too
Nobody includes this in a cost comparison, and it is the reason a fair number of founders end up with a $25,000 problem.
Walking away from an LLC does not end it. The company continues to exist in the eyes of the state until it is formally dissolved, which means articles of dissolution filed with the state and, for the final year, the Form 5472 and pro-forma 1120 filed one last time. Stopping payment to the registered agent does not dissolve anything — it just means the legal mail stops reaching you.
The filing fee for dissolution is small. The cost of skipping it is not: an undissolved LLC keeps accruing the annual reporting obligation, and the penalty for each missed Form 5472 is $25,000.
Budget one final round of accounting when you close, and actually file the dissolution.
So what is the realistic number?
Doing it entirely yourself in Wyoming: $100 to the state, $50 to $150 for the agent, $0 for the EIN. Year two onwards, $60 to the state, the agent again, and your US tax preparation.
Using a service, you are paying for the two steps where experience is worth something — the EIN and the bank account. That is a legitimate thing to charge for. What you should insist on is an itemised quote and a straight answer to two questions: what happens if the bank says no, and is year-two compliance included or is it your problem?
A single figure with no breakdown is hiding either the margin or the scope. Usually the scope.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a US LLC cost a non-resident in the first year?
The unavoidable part is the state filing fee plus a registered agent at roughly $50 to $150. In Wyoming that is $100 to the state; in New Mexico $50; Florida $125; Delaware $110 plus its franchise tax. The EIN is free from the IRS. Anything above that is service.
What does it cost every year after that?
The registered agent again at $50 to $150, the state annual report where one exists (Wyoming $60, Florida $138, Delaware $300 franchise tax, New Mexico none), and US federal tax preparation for the Form 5472 filing. That last item is the one most people fail to budget for.
Which state is cheapest for a non-resident LLC?
New Mexico, at around $50 over five years in state fees, because it has no annual report. Wyoming is about $400 over five years and is the more common default, since its asset-protection statutes are better tested and banks see Wyoming entities constantly. The registered agent fee is the same wherever you form.
Is the EIN really free?
Yes. The IRS charges nothing for an EIN. As a non-resident you file paper Form SS-4 by fax and write “Foreign” on the responsible-party taxpayer ID line. Services charging $150 to $300 for it are charging for the administration, not the number.
What is the most expensive mistake?
Missing Form 5472. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must file it every year with a pro-forma 1120, even with zero revenue and zero transactions, and the penalty is $25,000 per form. It dwarfs every other number here and it catches people who assumed a dormant company had no obligations.
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