A Delaware LLC pays the state USD 400 every year, due by 1 June. A Wyoming LLC pays an annual report license tax of USD 60, or USD 61.44 if you pay online by card, unless it holds more than USD 300,000 of assets in Wyoming (checked September 2026). Forming one costs USD 110 in Delaware and USD 100 in Wyoming (USD 102.40 online).
If you’ve seen “Delaware USD 300” elsewhere, including on an earlier version of this page, that figure is out of date. Delaware’s Division of Corporations now states the LLC tax as USD 400 on both its tax instructions and its Certificate of Formation form (rev. August 2026).
For a founder who lives outside the US, the state fees are only part of the decision. The bank, the EIN and the yearly IRS filing work the same way in both states, and they’re covered briefly below so you don’t choose a state for a reason that doesn’t exist.
In this guide: Side by side · The yearly charge in detail · Three years of state fees · Paying late · Registered agent · What goes on the public record · State income tax · When Delaware is worth it · What the state doesn’t change · FAQ
Wyoming vs Delaware LLC: side by side
Every figure below comes from the state’s own fee schedule or form, checked in September 2026: Wyoming’s fee schedule effective 1 July 2026 and Delaware’s fee schedule revised 1 August 2026, plus the pages linked in each section.
| Item | Wyoming | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| Filing to form the LLC | USD 100 by mail; USD 102.40 online (2.4% card fee) | USD 110 (filing fee plus municipality fee) |
| Yearly state charge | Annual report license tax: USD 60, or 0.0002 of assets located in Wyoming if greater | Annual LLC tax: USD 400, flat, no proration |
| When it’s due | First day of the month the LLC was formed in | By 1 June, for the previous calendar year |
| Annual report | Yes, filed with the tax | No annual report for LLCs |
| If you don’t pay | Delinquent the month after; administratively dissolved if not filed within 60 days of the due date | USD 200 penalty plus 1.5% interest a month on tax and penalty |
| Faster filing | USD 700 next business day; USD 1,400 same business day | USD 50 within 24 hours; USD 100 same day; USD 500 two-hour; USD 1,000 one-hour |
| Name reservation (optional) | USD 60 for 120 days | USD 75 for 120 days |
| Certificate of good standing | Free online (USD 20 on paper) | USD 50 (short form) |
| Registered agent with a physical in-state address | Required | Required |
| Owner names on the formation filing | Not asked for | Not asked for |
The yearly charge in detail
Wyoming: USD 60 minimum, due in your anniversary month
Wyoming’s annual report license tax is USD 60 or two-tenths of a mill on the dollar (0.0002) of the company’s assets located and employed in Wyoming, whichever is greater (fee schedule). The asset-based figure only passes USD 60 above USD 300,000 of Wyoming assets, so an LLC run from abroad with nothing in Wyoming pays the minimum.
Paying online adds a 2.4% card processing fee (Wyoming annual report page), which makes the minimum USD 61.44. That total is our arithmetic. The report is due on the first day of the month the LLC was formed in: Wyoming’s own example is a company formed on 15 May with a report due 1 May each year. Formed in September 2026, expect the first one on 1 September 2027.
It’s owed whether or not the LLC earned anything, because it’s based on assets, not profit.
Delaware: USD 400 flat, due 1 June
Delaware’s instructions say every domestic and foreign LLC “formed or registered in Delaware” pays an annual tax of USD 400, due on or before 1 June, and that “there is no proration on alternative entity taxes.” The tax is assessed if the LLC is active on Delaware’s records at any time from 1 January to 31 December of the tax year. LLCs don’t file an annual report (Delaware: LLC/LP/GP tax instructions, checked September 2026).
The formation form spells out the timing: the tax is due “by June 1 of each year following the close of the calendar year in which their Certificate of Formation becomes effective.” So an LLC formed in December 2026 owes the full USD 400 for 2026 by 1 June 2027. It is not reduced because the company existed for only a few weeks.
Delaware takes payment online by ACH debit or by Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover, and requires ACH above USD 5,000.
What the state fees add up to over three years
Take an LLC formed in September 2026 by an owner abroad, filing and paying online, with no assets in Wyoming. State charges only, up to the end of 2028:
| Date | Wyoming | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026: formation | USD 102.40 | USD 110 |
| 2027 yearly charge | USD 61.44 (1 September 2027) | USD 400 for 2026 (1 June 2027) |
| 2028 yearly charge | USD 61.44 (1 September 2028) | USD 400 for 2027 (1 June 2028) |
| Total | USD 225.28 | USD 910 |
That’s our arithmetic from the published fees. It leaves out the registered agent, which you pay in both states, and any charge Delaware’s payment system adds (we didn’t find one published). After formation, the gap is about USD 339 a year in Wyoming’s favour.
Whether that matters depends on the business. For a freelancer invoicing a few thousand dollars a year, USD 339 is real money. For a company that needs what Delaware offers, covered below, it’s a rounding error.
What happens if you pay late
Wyoming. The Secretary of State says an entity is “deemed delinquent on the second day of the month following its due date,” and “if the annual report is not filed within sixty (60) days following the due date, the entity will be administratively dissolved” (Wyoming business FAQ). An LLC dissolved for missing annual reports within the past two years, with no other problems, can reinstate online, and reinstatement for tax costs USD 100 (fee schedule). We didn’t find a separate late-payment penalty on Wyoming’s fee schedule.
Delaware. “Failure to pay the required annual taxes will result in a penalty of $200.00 plus 1.5% interest per month on tax and penalty” (Delaware tax instructions). Miss one June deadline and the USD 400 becomes at least USD 600, then keeps growing.
In both states, a dissolved or delinquent company is a problem beyond the fee: banks and payment platforms can ask for a certificate of good standing, and you won’t get one.
Registered agent: required in both, and you can’t do it from abroad
Wyoming‘s Articles of Organization say the agent “may be an individual resident in Wyoming or a domestic or foreign business entity authorized to transact business in Wyoming” and “must have a physical address in Wyoming” (Articles of Organization form). Wyoming charges USD 350 to reinstate an LLC dissolved for having no registered agent.
Delaware‘s Certificate of Formation asks for the street address of the registered office in Delaware and the name of the registered agent there (Certificate of Formation). Under 6 Del. C. § 18-104 the agent can be a Delaware resident, a Delaware entity, a qualified foreign entity, or the LLC itself, but the office must be in Delaware (Delaware Code, Title 6, Chapter 18).
Either way, an owner living abroad pays a commercial registered agent every year. Prices vary by provider and we haven’t surveyed them, so compare renewal prices, not just the first year. More in what a registered agent does.
What goes on the public record
Neither state’s formation form asks for the names of members or managers. Wyoming’s Articles ask for the company name, registered agent, mailing and principal office addresses, and the organizer’s signature and contact details. Delaware’s Certificate of Formation asks for even less: the name, the registered office and agent, and the signature of an “authorized person.”
That’s the whole of it. It isn’t anonymity, and neither state offers a legal right to it. The person who signs is named on the filing. The IRS asks for the responsible party when you apply for an EIN, and every bank and payment platform asks who owns and controls the company. Guides that sell either state as a way to hide ownership are overselling a blank field on a form.
State income tax
Wyoming has no personal income tax and no corporate income tax, according to the Wyoming Business Council.
Delaware does have income taxes. Its Division of Revenue says a single-member LLC that hasn’t elected to be a corporation “does not pay taxes and does not have to file a return with the State of Delaware”; instead, the member reports the LLC’s profit on a Delaware personal income tax return (Delaware Division of Revenue: LLC FAQs, checked September 2026). That FAQ doesn’t say how this applies to an owner who lives abroad and does no business in Delaware. Ask a US tax adviser before assuming the answer is zero.
In both states, what decides state tax is where the business actually operates, not where it was formed. An LLC with an office, staff or stock in a third state has to look at that state’s rules as well.
When Delaware is worth the extra cost
Delaware’s case isn’t about fees. The state says more than 2,000,000 business entities and “more than 66% of the Fortune 500” have made Delaware their legal home, and describes its Court of Chancery as a business court more than 225 years old that “has written most of the modern U.S. corporation case law” (Delaware Division of Corporations). Those are Delaware’s own figures.
That body of law matters most to companies with several owners, outside investors or plans to sell shares. It matters much less to a single owner who invoices clients and pays themselves.
If you plan to raise money from investors, ask them before you form anything which entity type and state they expect. The answer may be a corporation rather than an LLC in either state, which is a different filing with different tax treatment. Forming the right thing first is cheaper than converting later.
What your choice of state doesn’t change
Your bank
Banks judge the people behind the company, not the state it was formed in. Mercury says it is “unable to open accounts for founders living in any of the countries and regions listed,” and that this is “based on your country of residence, not your citizenship or nationality.” Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the Philippines are on the list; India, the UAE and the UK aren’t (Mercury: Prohibited countries, checked September 2026). Not being on the list doesn’t mean approval; Mercury still reviews each application.
Relay accepts US businesses with non-US owners “provided the business has an operating presence in the U.S.” and asks each beneficial owner for a “physical U.S. address (no PO boxes, no virtual mailboxes).” Pakistan and Nigeria are on its prohibited list (Relay: Required documents, updated 11 August 2026). Don’t give a bank a US address as your home if you don’t live there; ask the bank in writing how its rule applies to you. Our guide to a US business bank account for non-residents covers the options.
Your EIN
The IRS online EIN application needs an SSN or ITIN. Without one, you apply with Form SS-4 by the international phone line (267-941-1099), by fax (generally within 4 business days) or by mail (approximately 4 weeks), whichever state you formed in (Instructions for Form SS-4, Rev. December 2025). Step by step: how to get an EIN without an SSN.
Stripe
Stripe treats a Wyoming LLC and a Delaware LLC the same way: both are US businesses. Stripe still reviews the account and the people behind it, and forming a US company doesn’t guarantee approval. Stripe’s own list of supported countries is at stripe.com/global.
Your yearly IRS filing
A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 every year, even with no income. It can’t be e-filed, and the penalty for not filing is USD 25,000, plus another USD 25,000 for each 30 days the failure continues more than 90 days after an IRS notice (IRS Instructions for Form 5472, Rev. December 2024). Details in Form 5472 for foreign-owned US LLCs.
BOI reporting
Neither a Wyoming nor a Delaware LLC files a beneficial ownership (BOI) report with FinCEN. An interim final rule in March 2025 limited reporting to companies formed under foreign law, and FinCEN made that permanent with a final rule published on 14 August 2026: companies created in the US are exempt, whoever owns them (FinCEN: BOI, Federal Register 2026-16576, checked September 2026). More in what BOI filing is and who still files.
Which to choose
- Choose Wyoming if you’re a single owner or a small team running a service, e-commerce or software business from abroad with no outside investors planned. It costs less every year and misses nothing you’d use.
- Consider Delaware if you’ll have several owners with a detailed agreement between them, or investors who’ve told you they expect Delaware. Ask investors about entity type as well as state.
- Don’t choose either yet if you haven’t found a bank that accepts owners who live in your country. That’s the step most likely to fail, and neither state fixes it.
Step-by-step guides for each state: starting a Wyoming LLC as a non-resident and starting an LLC in Delaware.
How Bizstartz can help
Bizstartz forms US LLCs for founders who live outside the US. The US company formation service covers the state filing, the first year of registered agent service, the operating agreement and the EIN application, with packages from USD 199 plus state fees (pricing). Banks, the IRS and payment platforms make their own decisions, so we can’t promise an approval. A free 30-minute consultation is a good place to check which state and which bank are realistic for you before you spend anything.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Delaware LLC annual tax?
USD 400 a year, due by 1 June. Delaware doesn’t prorate it, and LLCs don’t file an annual report (Delaware Division of Corporations, checked September 2026).
How much is the Wyoming LLC annual report fee?
The annual report license tax is USD 60, or 0.0002 of the LLC’s assets in Wyoming if that’s more. Paid online, a 2.4% card fee makes the minimum USD 61.44. It’s due on the first day of the month the LLC was formed in.
What does it cost to form an LLC in each state?
Delaware charges USD 110 to file a Certificate of Formation. Wyoming charges USD 100 to file Articles of Organization by mail, or USD 102.40 online with the card fee.
When is the first Delaware tax due if I form my LLC late in the year?
By 1 June of the following year, for the full USD 400. An LLC formed in December 2026 owes USD 400 for 2026 by 1 June 2027, because Delaware doesn’t prorate the tax.
What happens if I pay the Delaware LLC tax late?
Delaware adds a USD 200 penalty plus 1.5% interest a month on the tax and penalty.
What happens if I miss the Wyoming annual report?
The LLC is delinquent from the second day of the following month, and Wyoming administratively dissolves it if the report isn’t filed within 60 days of the due date. An LLC dissolved for missing reports within the past two years, with no other delinquencies, can reinstate online.
Do I need a registered agent in Wyoming or Delaware if I live abroad?
Yes, in both. The agent needs a physical address in the state, so an owner living abroad pays a commercial registered agent every year.
Is a Wyoming or Delaware LLC anonymous?
No. Neither state’s formation form asks for member names, but the person who signs is named, and the IRS, banks and payment platforms all collect the owners’ details.
Does my state affect which bank will accept me?
No. Banks such as Mercury decide by where the owners live. Mercury doesn’t open accounts for founders living in Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh or the Philippines, whether the LLC is in Wyoming or Delaware.
Does a Wyoming or Delaware LLC need to file a BOI report?
No. Under FinCEN’s final rule published on 14 August 2026, companies created in the US are exempt from BOI reporting, whoever owns them. The yearly IRS filing that does apply to a foreign-owned single-member LLC is Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120.
This guide was researched and updated with the help of AI tools and checked against the official sources linked in each section on 17 September 2026. State fees and bank policies change, so check the linked source before you file or apply.
Related Guides
- How to Start a Wyoming LLC as a Non-Resident: Steps and Real Costs
- How to Start an LLC in Delaware
- Delaware Business Entity Search: A Complete Guide for Entrepreneurs and Investors
Compare the real year-one cost of every popular state in our state cost breakdown, then file with us.
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