US LLC Annual Filings by State: What You Must File and Pay Every Year

A US LLC owned from abroad has two separate annual obligations, and they have nothing to do with each other: what the IRS wants, and what the state that registered the company wants (all figures checked September 2026). Getting the federal one wrong starts at a $25,000 penalty. Getting the state one wrong gets the company dissolved, usually quietly, usually without an email you’ll read.

For the most common case — one non-US owner, a single-member LLC, no US staff or premises — the whole year comes down to this: one federal package (a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached, due 15 April), plus one state filing that costs anywhere from nothing in New Mexico to $800 in California. This page sets out both, state by state, with the fee schedule or statute linked next to every number.

In this guide: The federal filings everyone has · The states at a glance · Wyoming · New Mexico · Delaware · Florida · Nevada · Texas · Washington · California · Which of these applies to me · What year two actually costs

Part 1: the federal filings, which apply wherever you formed

Your state of formation changes none of what follows. A New Mexico LLC and a Delaware LLC owe the IRS exactly the same thing.

One non-US owner: pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472, due 15 April

A US LLC with a single foreign owner is a “disregarded entity” for income tax, so it has no income tax return of its own. It still has a reporting return. The IRS puts it plainly: a foreign-owned US disregarded entity “will now be required to file a pro forma Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, with Form 5472 attached by the due date (including extensions) of that Form 1120” (Instructions for Form 5472, Rev. 12/2024).

• Due date: 15 April for a calendar-year LLC — the Form 1120 date, the 15th day of the 4th month after year end (IRS Publication 509, 2026). For the 2026 tax year that is 15 April 2027.
• Extension: Form 7004 pushes it to 15 October. It does not extend time to pay anything you owe.
• You cannot e-file it. The instructions are explicit: “If you are a foreign-owned U.S. DE, you cannot file Form 5472 electronically.” It goes by fax to 855-887-7737 at 300 DPI or higher, or by post to Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201. Write “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” across the top of the Form 1120.
• Penalty: “A penalty of $25,000 will be assessed on any reporting corporation that fails to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed,” with a further $25,000 for each 30-day period the failure continues more than 90 days after the IRS notifies you.

The question we get most: my LLC had no sales, do I still file? Almost certainly yes. Reportable transactions for a disregarded entity include “amounts paid or received in connection with the formation, dissolution, acquisition, and disposition of the entity, including contributions to, and distributions from, the entity.”

Putting your own money into the company’s bank account is a contribution. A dormant LLC that was funded once has something to report. Our guide to Form 5472 for foreign-owned US LLCs works through the form itself.

Two or more owners: Form 1065 and a Schedule K-1 each, due 15 March

With two or more members the LLC is a partnership by default. It files Form 1065 by the 15th day of the 3rd month after year end — 15 March for a calendar-year LLC (Publication 509, 2026) — and gives each member a Schedule K-1 by the same date. Form 7004 extends the return to 15 September.

The late-filing penalty is charged per member per month, not per return: $255 for each partner for each month or part month the return is late, up to 12 months (Instructions for Form 1065, 2025). Two members, six months late, is over $3,000 on a company that may have earned nothing.

When you also file Form 1040-NR yourself

The LLC’s filing is not your filing. A non-resident alien files Form 1040-NR if they were “engaged or considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the United States during the year,” or had US income the withholding didn’t cover (IRS: Taxation of nonresident aliens, updated 17 February 2026).

Whether your LLC’s profit counts as a US trade or business depends on where the work is physically done and whether you have people or a fixed place of business in the US — it is a question for a preparer, not a blog.

The deadline: 15 April if you had wages subject to withholding or a US office; otherwise the 15th day of the 6th month, 15 June. Filing more than 16 months after the original due date can cost you your deductions and credits. Every date for the current cycle is in our US tax filing deadline guide.

BOI: there is nothing to file for a US-formed LLC

Drop this one off your checklist. FinCEN finalised its beneficial ownership rule on 11 August 2026, effective 14 August 2026: “U.S. companies are exempt from the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements and therefore, are no longer required to file BOI reports” (FinCEN BOI, checked September 2026).

This holds whoever owns the company, a Wyoming LLC owned entirely from Lagos or Karachi files no BOI report. Only companies formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a US state still report. Any service still charging you a BOI filing fee for a US LLC is charging for nothing.

Federal and state are different systems — this is where most owners go wrong

Four separate things get muddled into “my LLC pays no tax”:

• Federal income tax — may genuinely be zero for a non-resident with no US trade or business.
• Federal reporting — the 5472 or 1065 above. Required regardless of tax owed.
• State income tax — a separate tax, in a separate system, with its own definition of who owes it.
• State annual filings — a report and a fee for the privilege of having a registered company. Owed even by a company that never traded.

Zero federal tax does not cancel any of the other three. California charges $800 to an LLC with no profit at all; Delaware charges $400 to one that never opened a bank account.

Part 2: the states at a glance

All fees and dates below are from the state’s own fee schedule, statute or revenue department, checked September 2026. Each state has a fuller section underneath with the sources linked.

State	Annual filing	Cost per year	Due	If you ignore it
Wyoming	Annual report + licence tax	$60 minimum ($61.44 online)	First day of your anniversary month	Delinquent after 1 day; dissolved after 60 days
New Mexico	None	$0	—	Nothing to ignore (agent still required)
Delaware	Annual tax, no report	$400	1 June	$200 penalty + 1.5% a month; loses good standing
Florida	Annual report	$138.75	1 January – 1 May	$400 late fee; dissolved in late September
Nevada	Annual list + state business licence	$350 ($150 + $200)	Last day of your anniversary month	$75 + $100 penalties; charter revoked after a year
Texas	Franchise tax report + Public Information Report	$0 below $2.65m revenue	15 May	Forfeits the right to transact business or sue
Washington	Annual report (+ business licence if registered)	$70 (+ $5 licence renewal)	Last day of your anniversary month	$95 if filed late; then administrative dissolution
California	$800 franchise tax + Form 568 + biennial statement	$800 minimum + $20 every 2 years	15 April (tax); 15 March or 15 April (Form 568)	Penalties up to 25%, $250 statement penalty, suspension

Wyoming: $60, on the first day of your anniversary month

Wyoming’s annual report carries a licence tax of “$60 or two-tenths of one mill on the dollar ($.0002) whichever is greater” (Wyoming Secretary of State fee schedule, effective 1 July 2026).

The formula applies to assets located and employed in Wyoming, so a company whose only Wyoming presence is its registered agent pays the $60 minimum. The tax only exceeds $60 above $300,000 of Wyoming assets (that’s our arithmetic: $300,000 × 0.0002 = $60).

• Due: “Annual Reports for corporations, LLCs, LPs, RLLPs and SFs are due on the first day of the anniversary month of formation” (Wyoming annual report portal). An LLC formed on 22 March files every 1 March.
• Online costs more: card payments add “a payment card processing fee of 2.4% (minimum $1) of the filing fee,” so $60 becomes $61.44. E-filing isn’t allowed at all if the fee exceeds $500.
• Late: “The entity will be 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 SOS FAQ). Sixty days is short: Florida leaves you until September, Nevada a full year.
• Getting back: reinstatement is $100 for tax, $350 if you also lost your registered agent, and Wyoming statutes don’t allow reinstatement at all after two years dissolved.
• State income tax: none — “NO corporate state income tax” and “NO personal state income tax” (Wyoming Business Council).

New Mexico: no annual report at all

New Mexico is the one state on this list with no recurring Secretary of State filing for LLCs. The LLC fee statute, NMSA 53-19-63, lists every fee the Secretary of State charges an LLC — $50 for articles of organization, $25 for dissolution, $20 for a name reservation, and contains no annual report fee, no biennial report fee and no renewal fee (NMSA 53-19-63).

The periodic report requirement sits in a different statute, the Corporate Reports Act, which applies to corporations. We could not find a Secretary of State page that states the LLC exemption in one sentence, so treat this as read off the statute rather than quoted from the SOS.

What you still have every year: a registered agent, who charges what they charge, and the federal filings above. And if you actually do business in New Mexico, gross receipts tax, which reaches businesses with no physical presence once they have “at least $100,000 of taxable gross receipts in the previous calendar year” (NM Taxation and Revenue). The rate depends on the location, not a single state number.

Delaware: $400 a year, and two different $400s to avoid confusing

Delaware LLCs file no annual report. They pay a flat annual tax, set by statute: “Every domestic limited liability company and every foreign limited liability company registered to do business in the State of Delaware shall pay an annual tax, for the use of the State of Delaware, in the amount of $400” (6 Del. C. § 18-1107(b)).

• Due 1 June following the close of the calendar year, per § 18-1107(c). There is no proration — form in November and the full $400 is due the following June.
• Late: a $200 penalty plus 1.5% interest per month on tax and penalty (§ 18-1107, and the Division of Corporations’ alternative entity instructions).
• Consequence: an LLC that fails to pay “shall cease to be in good standing.” No certificate of good standing means banks, payment processors and acquirers start asking questions.

The trap: search for Delaware franchise tax and you will land on the corporation page, which also shows $400, that is the minimum for a corporation under the Assumed Par Value Capital Method, with a 1 March deadline and an annual report on top (Delaware franchise tax calculator).

Same number, different entity, different deadline. If you have an LLC, the date is 1 June and the authority is § 18-1107. Guides that quote $300 for a Delaware LLC are out of date.

Florida: $138.75, and a hard $400 cliff on 2 May

Florida’s annual report window opens 1 January and closes 1 May. The fee for an LLC is $138.75 (Sunbiz LLC fees).

• One day late costs $400. The same filing after 1 May is $538.75. There is no sliding scale, and the $400 applies to LLCs — only non-profit corporations are exempt from it.
• Dissolution: not filed by the third Friday of September and the LLC is administratively dissolved at close of business on the fourth Friday (Sunbiz annual report page). In 2026 those dates were 18 and 25 September.
• First report: due in the calendar year after you form. Filing between 1 October and 31 December with a 1 January effective date pushes your first annual report a year out.
• Reinstatement: $100 plus the annual report fee for every year missed.
• Florida has no personal income tax, but an LLC that elected to be taxed as a corporation files a Florida corporate income/franchise return (Florida Department of Revenue).

Nevada: $350, the most expensive of the “cheap” states

Nevada charges twice. The annual list of managers or managing members costs $150 and is due “on or before the last day of the month in which the anniversary date of its organization occurs” (NRS 86.263). On top of it, the state business licence is $200 a year for an entity that is not a corporation, renewed with the list (NRS 76.130). $350 a year, every year, whether or not the company traded.

Late, you add a $75 penalty on the list and a $100 penalty on the licence. Stay in default and “on the first day of the first anniversary of the month following the month in which the filing was required, the charter of the company is revoked and its right to transact business is forfeited” (NRS 86.274). Nevada’s reputation as a low-cost privacy state has not matched its fee schedule for years.

Texas: no income tax, but a report that most owners don’t know about

Texas has no personal income tax. It has a franchise tax, and the filing obligation catches people who assume “no tax due” means “nothing to do.”

• The threshold: total annualised revenue at or below $2,650,000 for 2026 means no franchise tax to pay. Above it, rates are 0.375% for retail and wholesale and 0.75% for everyone else (Texas Comptroller: franchise tax).
• You still file. The No Tax Due Report was abolished for 2024 and later, but “each taxable entity formed as a corporation, limited liability company (LLC), limited partnership, professional association and financial institution that is organized in Texas or has nexus in Texas must file Form 05-102,” the Public Information Report (PIR and OIR filing requirements). Organised in Texas is enough — Texas nexus is not required if the LLC was formed there.
• Due 15 May, next business day if it falls on a weekend or holiday. Extension to 15 November.
• Penalties, carefully: the Comptroller charges “$50 … on each required franchise tax report filed after the report due date,” but also states there is no $50 penalty for late filing a PIR or OIR (Comptroller: tax notices). A small LLC below the threshold that files its PIR late is not automatically hit with $50. Plenty of guides say otherwise, including an earlier version of this one.
• The real cost of ignoring it: an entity that doesn’t file a completed, signed PIR “may forfeit its right to transact business,” which means it cannot sue or defend in Texas courts, and members or officers can become personally liable for certain debts the entity incurs while forfeited.

Washington: two agencies, two filings

Washington splits the job between the Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue, and non-residents routinely do one and miss the other.

• Annual report to the Secretary of State: $70, “due by the last day of the month in which the business was originally formed or registered,” filable up to 180 days early. Filed late it’s $95, including the delinquency fee; reinstatement is $140 plus every missed annual report fee (WA SOS annual reports, fee schedule).
• Business licence from the Department of Revenue: required if “your gross income is $12,000 per year or more,” if you use a name other than your legal name, if you must collect sales tax, or if you hire (DOR: do I need a business licence). Renewal is a $5 processing fee per location plus any endorsement fees; late renewal adds a delinquency fee of up to $150 per location (WAC 458-02-200).
• B&O tax is the one to understand before you choose Washington. “The B&O tax is a gross receipts tax… Because it is based on gross income, businesses cannot deduct expenses such as labor, materials, taxes, or other costs of doing business” (DOR: B&O tax). A low-margin business can owe B&O on a loss.
• Income tax: “Washington does not currently have an individual income tax” (DOR). A 9.9% tax on individuals with adjusted gross income over $1 million takes effect 1 January 2028, with the first returns due in 2029.

California: the $800 that follows you home

California gets its own section because it is the single most expensive mistake available to a non-resident founder, and because forming in Wyoming does not get you out of it.

The rule: “Every LLC that is doing business or organized in California must pay an annual tax of $800” (FTB: Limited liability company, updated 5 March 2026). Not every profitable LLC. Every LLC. It is due by the 15th day of the 4th month of the tax year — 15 April for a calendar-year LLC — and for a new LLC, by the 15th day of the 4th month from the date you register.

“Doing business” is broader than having an office. The FTB counts you as doing business in California if you “engage in any transaction for the purpose of financial gain within California,” if you are “organized or commercially domiciled in California,” or if your California sales, property or payroll pass the annual thresholds, $757,070 of sales, or $75,707 of property or payroll, for 2025 (FTB: Doing business in California, updated 7 November 2025). The first limb has no dollar threshold attached to it.

So: does a Wyoming LLC avoid it? Not if the person running that LLC sits in California. The tax follows where the business is carried on, not where the certificate was issued. If you live in California, or move there, or hire someone there, a Wyoming or Delaware certificate does not remove the $800, it just means you now have two states to deal with, because an out-of-state LLC transacting business in California has its own registration route to follow (Corp. Code § 17708.02).

If you live outside the US, never set foot in California and have no customers, property or staff there, none of this touches you. It matters to the reader who forms a Wyoming LLC while on a US visa, or who later relocates.

What a California LLC files each year:

• $800 annual tax, due 15 April for calendar-year filers, profit or no profit.
• Form 568, the LLC return. Partnership-classified LLCs: 15th day of the 3rd month (15 March), automatic seven-month extension. Single-member LLCs owned by an individual: the 15th day of the 4th month after the owner’s year end (15 April), automatic six-month extension. And the part that catches people — “the LLC is still required to file Form 568 if the LLC is registered in California even if… the LLC is not actively doing business in California [and] the LLC does not have California source income” (2025 Form 568 booklet).
• The LLC fee, on top of the $800, once total California income reaches $250,000: $900 from $250,000, $2,500 from $500,000, $6,000 from $1,000,000, and $11,790 from $5,000,000.
• Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), $20, within 90 days of registering and “biennially thereafter” (Corp. Code § 17702.09; fee set at Gov. Code § 12190(k)). Miss it and the Franchise Tax Board assesses a $250 penalty (R&TC § 19141), and the entity can be suspended.

Penalties stack: failing to file Form 568 on time costs $18 per member per month for up to 12 months, and failing to pay adds 5% plus 0.5% a month to a maximum of 25% (2025 Form 568 booklet). Underpaying the LLC fee adds 10% of the underpayment (FTB penalties and interest, updated 17 June 2026).

Which of these actually applies to me

Work down the list. Most non-resident owners end up with two items on it.

1. Is there exactly one owner, and is that owner not a US person? Yes → pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472, by 15 April. This is not optional and it is not e-filed.
2. Are there two or more owners? Yes → Form 1065 and a Schedule K-1 per member, by 15 March. Ignore item 1.
3. Did you elect to be taxed as a corporation (Form 8832), or as an S corporation? Then your deadlines change, and note that an S corporation cannot have a non-resident alien shareholder at all.
4. Which state issued the certificate? Find it above. That filing is owed even if the company is dormant, has no bank account and earned nothing.
5. Do you have people, property, an office or staff in any US state? If yes, that state probably wants a registration and a return of its own, separate from your formation state. This is where the $800 usually appears.
6. Do you sell physical goods to US buyers? Sales tax is a separate system again, triggered by economic nexus thresholds per state, and no annual report covers it.
7. Do you personally have US-source income or a US trade or business? Then Form 1040-NR, 15 April or 15 June.
8. BOI? Nothing to file for a US-formed LLC since 14 August 2026.

What year two actually costs: a Wyoming example

Wyoming is the most common choice among the founders we work with, so here is the second-year bill in full. The arithmetic below is ours, built from the state figures sourced above; the third line is not a fee and we’re not going to invent a number for it.

Item	Cost	Where the number comes from
Wyoming annual report licence tax	$60.00	SOS fee schedule, minimum for a company with under $300,000 of Wyoming assets
Card processing if you file online	$1.44	2.4% of $60, per the state’s annual report portal
Registered agent renewal	set by your agent	Not a state fee. Providers price it differently; ask yours before renewal month
IRS filing fee for the 5472 package	$0.00	The IRS charges nothing to file. Your cost is whoever prepares it
Unavoidable government cost, year two	$61.44	Wyoming online total, assuming no US-source income and no other state

That figure is the whole reason Wyoming keeps its reputation. The comparison worth making is not $61.44 against New Mexico’s $0 — it is $61.44 against Nevada’s $350 or California’s $800, and against the $25,000 that arrives if the federal side is skipped. The state fee is the cheapest part of the year. The federal filing is the part that costs real money when it goes wrong.

Where Bizstartz fits

We file the annual federal returns for non-resident-owned LLCs, the pro forma 1120 with Form 5472, or the 1065 and K-1s — and the state filing where one is required. The service page is annual tax filing: “Federal and state tax returns filed on time, every year.”

This page is general information about published rules, not tax advice on your situation. Whether your LLC’s profit is US-taxable, and whether a treaty helps, depends on facts we can’t see from here, ask a preparer before you assume either answer.

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