Can a Non-US Resident Own a US LLC? What It Involves

Yes, a non-US resident can own a US LLC, and can own all of it. State LLC laws don't require owners to be US citizens or residents. You don't need a visa or an SSN, and you don't have to travel to the US. The catch is in the paperwork that comes with owning the company from abroad.

Living abroad changes a few practical steps. What you need:

• a registered agent in the state
• an EIN (the company's federal tax number) from the IRS
• a habit of filing state and IRS reports every year

Forming the LLC is usually the quick part. For most foreign owners, the real risk shows up later, in the yearly filings. The biggest one is Form 5472, which carries a $25,000 penalty if you miss it.

Choosing a state for a non-US resident LLC

Your first real decision is the state. You don't have to live there. But the state you pick decides what you pay to form the LLC and what you pay every year after. Three states come up most often in searches by foreign owners: Wyoming, Montana and Delaware. These are their 2026 fees from the official state websites.

Registered agent fees come on top in every state. A full comparison is in Best State to Form an LLC: Fees, Taxes and When Your Home State Wins. It also covers when your home state is the better choice.

Wyoming

The filing fee is $100. The annual report carries a license tax of $60 or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming assets, whichever is greater. It's due on the first day of the month the LLC was formed. Say you form on January 15. Your report is then due by January 1 each year, and you can file up to 120 days early.

Wyoming is strict about lateness. The report becomes delinquent on the second day of the month after the due date. If it isn't filed within 60 days after the due date, the state dissolves the LLC. After two years of dissolution, the company can't be reinstated.

Montana

Articles of Organization cost $35. The annual report is due April 15. The state fee page shows the fee as waived if you file by then and $35 if you file later. The state waived the fee in 2025 for the second year in a row. But the page doesn't say the waiver is permanent. Reinstatement costs $35 plus $35 for each year of missed reports.

Montana has no general sales tax. That's why many non-resident searches for a Montana LLC are about registering vehicles.

Delaware and the $400 tax

The Certificate of Formation costs $110. Delaware LLCs don't file an annual report, but they pay an annual tax due by June 1. HB 400 was signed on May 21, 2026. Under it, that tax went up from $300 to $400. The change starts with the 2026 tax year. So most LLCs first pay $400 by June 1, 2027. Many guides published in 2026 still show $300, so check the date on anything you read.

A late payment adds a $200 penalty. On top of that comes 1.5% interest per month on the tax and the penalty.

When the cheap state ends up costing more

A low-fee state stays cheap only while the business doesn't operate in another state. If the LLC does business somewhere else, it usually has to register there as a "foreign LLC". Then it pays that state's fees as well. Registering an out-of-state LLC costs $150 in Wyoming and $70 in Montana.

California charges an $800 annual tax for taxable year 2026. It applies to every LLC doing business in California or registered with its Secretary of State. The 2026 instructions mention no first-year exemption.

So think about where the business will really be. If it has an office, a warehouse or staff in one state, run the numbers. Compare forming there with forming elsewhere and registering there too.

Filling in the LLC papers as a non-US resident

Once you've picked a state, the practical side looks familiar. You meet the same requirements as an American owner. A few of them just matter more because you're far away. There's no fixed order, but some steps depend on others. The EIN is issued to the company, so the company has to exist before you apply.

The LLC is created by a short filing with the state. Wyoming and Montana call it the Articles of Organization. Delaware calls it the Certificate of Formation. Each state sets its own filing fee, and the yearly fees differ even more, as the table above shows.

Every state requires a registered agent. That's a person or company with a physical street address in the state that gets official mail for the LLC. Wyoming accepts a PO box only in addition to a physical address, and never a drop box. In Delaware, a business located in the state can be its own agent. You have no office there, so in practice you pay a commercial agent at the price they set.

Beyond the state filing, you'll need:

1. a passport
2. your real home address abroad
3. a phone number and email where the state, the IRS and any bank can reach you

The filing can come back rejected. In our work with clients, state filings are usually rejected for one ordinary reason. The description of what the business does is vague or incomplete. A clear one-line description of the actual activity saves a round of corrections.

Business address rules beyond the registered agent

The registered agent's address works for the state. Other places that ask for your address may have their own rules. Some of them don't accept a registered agent address, a PO box or a mail drop as the business address. So check each one before you hand over an address. The differences between address types are covered in Virtual Address vs PO Box vs Physical Address: Which Can Your Business Use.

The company exists: getting an EIN without an SSN

After the state forms the company, it needs a federal tax number. This is the moment where living abroad makes the biggest difference. The IRS online EIN application works only if the company's responsible party has an SSN, an ITIN or an EIN.

The Form SS-4 instructions say foreign applicants without these numbers can't use it. Trying the online form anyway without an SSN or ITIN is a common mistake. Instead, you send Form SS-4 by one of three routes.

The phone line is open Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. On line 7b of Form SS-4, write "foreign" if you have no SSN or ITIN and can't get one. The IRS issues one EIN per responsible party per day. Some guides say an EIN takes "2 to 6 weeks". The IRS figures are the ones in the table.

Waiting for the IRS letter that confirms the EIN

You have the number now, but the paper confirmation comes separately. Banks and payment services usually want to see the IRS letter that confirms the EIN. That letter goes by mail to the address on the application.

In our work with non-resident clients, we send the application by fax or with a forwarding address. The IRS letter then takes about 2 to 3 weeks to reach a rented virtual office in the US. If you plan to open an account soon after forming, allow for those weeks.

Your first budget

At this point you can see the whole bill. The state filing is a one-time cost, and the rest repeats every year.

If you pay someone to prepare Form 5472 and your Form 1040-NR, add their fee. Registration in a second state comes on top if the LLC does business there. California's $800 tax is one example.

The first year's paperwork, even with no income

Forming the LLC took days or weeks. Keeping it in good standing is a yearly job. And the duties don't stop when the company earns nothing.

The state report or tax

The first state deadline comes around within a year. Wyoming and Montana require an annual report, and Delaware requires the annual tax. The due dates are in the state table above. A missed filing leads to penalties and, in the end, dissolution. Due dates for other states are in LLC Annual Report: Requirements, Fees and Due Dates by State.

In our work with clients, we regularly see companies dissolved for missed state reports and taxes. Reinstatement is often impossible or comes with a large penalty. Some owners end up forming a new company instead. The bank account can also become a problem if the bank isn't told what happened.

Form 5472 and the pro forma Form 1120

Then there's the IRS filing that surprises most foreign owners. The IRS treats a US LLC wholly owned by a foreign person as a reporting corporation for this purpose. Every year it files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached.

Having no income doesn't remove the filing. Money you put into the company or take out of it counts as a reportable transaction. The LLC also has to keep books and records.

Details on who files and how are in Form 5472 for Foreign-Owned US LLCs: Who Must File, Due Date and Penalties.

Your own US tax

A single-member LLC owned by one person is usually a disregarded entity for US income tax. That means you, the owner, report its income. A nonresident pays US tax only on income from US sources.

Income connected with a US trade or business is taxed at the same graduated rates US persons pay, after deductions. Some other US income, such as certain dividends or royalties, is taxed at a flat 30% or a lower treaty rate. No deductions apply to it.

A nonresident engaged in a US trade or business files Form 1040-NR. It's due April 15 if you have US wages with tax withheld or a US office. Otherwise it's due June 15. Form 4868 extends it.

The BOI report you can skip

You may also find older guides telling foreign owners to file a BOI report within 30 days of formation. That no longer applies to US LLCs. FinCEN's final rule was published and took effect on August 14, 2026. Companies formed in the US are permanently exempt from beneficial ownership (BOI) reporting. Only companies formed under a foreign country's law and registered to do business in a US state still report.

The exemption depends on where the company is formed, not on who owns it. Commenters asked Treasury to treat foreign-owned US companies differently, and Treasury didn't. More in Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report: Who Must File.

Years two and three: where non-US resident LLC owners slip

The costly mistakes rarely happen at formation. They happen in the second and third year, once the excitement is over. A typical case is quiet. A notice reaches the registered agent, the agent forwards it, and it sits unread in your inbox.

These mistakes come up again and again:

• Missing the state report or tax. In Wyoming that means dissolution 60 days after the due date.
• Skipping Form 5472 because the LLC had no income. The $25,000 penalty still applies.
• Forming in one state and operating in another without registering there.
• Relying on old figures. Delaware's tax is $400, and US LLCs no longer file a BOI report.

Put the state due date and the Form 5472 deadline in a calendar. Set a reminder a month ahead and name one person responsible for each. That prevents most of these.

Doing it yourself or hiring help

Most of those mistakes come from deadlines that nobody is watching. So the real choice is who keeps track of them. You can handle all of this alone. The state forms are short, and the IRS has routes for international applicants. The time goes elsewhere. These tasks can take several weeks:

• collecting documents
• calling the IRS line on US Eastern time or faxing Form SS-4
• waiting for letters by mail
• answering bank questions

Hiring a formation service or an accountant doesn't remove any of these duties. It moves the tracking and the paperwork to someone else. That's worth most to owners who won't be watching US deadlines closely themselves. For owners abroad, our part is the launch side. We form the LLC and set up the Google profile, directory listings and a landing page.

What to do this month

If you're still choosing a state, compare the yearly fees as well as the filing fee. Check whether the business will operate in another state, because that adds a second set of fees.

Once the LLC exists, the deadlines matter more than the forms. Put the state report or tax and Form 5472 in your calendar first. If nobody on your side will follow US dates, that's when outside help is worth paying for. The full state comparison is in Best State to Form an LLC: Fees, Taxes and When Your Home State Wins.