Best State to Form an LLC as a Non-Resident (Wyoming vs Delaware vs Florida)
If you live abroad, the usual advice — "form in your home state" — doesn't apply, because you don't have one. That single fact changes the whole decision. Here's an honest comparison of the three states non-residents ask about most, and why the right answer is usually simpler than the internet suggests.
Why "your home state" doesn't exist for you
For a US-based founder, the default is easy: form your LLC where you live and operate, because that's where you'll owe filings and taxes anyway. A non-resident has no US home state and, in the common e-commerce case, no physical US operations either. That removes the usual tiebreaker and, helpfully, removes a lot of the mythology too. When no state is your "home," you are free to choose on the things that actually matter to a remote owner: cost and simplicity. The famous "best state to incorporate" debates are mostly written for venture-backed startups and US operators, not for a foreign seller who needs a clean, cheap, low-maintenance entity.
Wyoming: the low-cost default
Wyoming is the state most non-resident founders land on, and for good reason: it is inexpensive and light on upkeep. As of 2026, the filing fee to form is about $100, and the annual report fee is roughly $60 per year for a small entity. There's no state income tax, the paperwork is minimal, and the ongoing burden is close to the lowest you'll find. For a single-member LLC that sells online and holds no US property or payroll, Wyoming's combination of low formation cost and low annual cost is hard to beat. It is the sensible default precisely because it optimizes for the two things a remote owner should care about.
Delaware: better only for a specific plan
Delaware has enormous brand recognition, and that recognition leads many founders to assume it's the "serious" choice. For most non-resident e-commerce sellers, it isn't the best fit. As of 2026, Delaware's LLC formation fee is around $110, and — critically — it charges an annual $300 franchise tax on LLCs, several times Wyoming's annual cost, for no added benefit to a simple online business. Delaware earns its reputation in a specific context: companies that plan to raise venture capital, take on sophisticated investors, or convert to a C-corporation. Investors and their lawyers know Delaware corporate law, and that familiarity is worth real money when you're negotiating a priced round. If that is your path — you intend to raise VC or build a startup rather than run a store — Delaware's premium is justified. If it isn't, you're paying extra for prestige you'll never use. The LLC vs C-corp question is really the same question in disguise: choose Delaware because of where the company is going, not because the name sounds established.
Florida: the operate-here case
Florida enters the conversation for a different reason than Wyoming or Delaware. It isn't a "form here from anywhere for tax reasons" state — it's the right answer when Florida is where you actually have a connection: a US base, a team, inventory, or an intention to spend meaningful time there. Forming where you genuinely operate keeps things honest and avoids having to register your out-of-state LLC to do business in Florida anyway. As a Miami-based firm, we see plenty of founders for whom Florida is the correct choice because it reflects reality — but that's the test. Form in Florida because you have a real presence there, not as a generic default.
The comparison, plainly
Set side by side, as of 2026:
- Wyoming — about $100 to form, about $60/year. Lowest cost and upkeep; the default for a remote-owned online business.
- Delaware — about $110 to form, $300/year franchise tax. Worth the premium only if you're raising VC or converting to a C-corp; otherwise you're overpaying.
- Florida — the right pick when you have a genuine US presence or base there, so the entity matches where you really operate.
Notice what's not on this list: any promise that one state hides your income, exempts you from federal filing, or changes what you owe the IRS. It doesn't. State choice affects state-level cost and paperwork; it does not change your federal obligations as a foreign owner.
What state choice doesn't change
This is the part the "best state" content usually skips. Whichever state you pick, a foreign-owned single-member LLC still needs an EIN, still needs a registered agent in its state of formation, and still files a federal Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120 every year — even with zero activity, and regardless of which state you chose. You'll also file that state's annual report to keep the entity in good standing. The cheapest state to form in is not a shortcut around any of this; it just keeps the state-level line items small while the federal obligations stay the same.
Sales tax is another place the state myth misleads. Your formation state doesn't decide your sales-tax exposure — that turns on where you have nexus, such as inventory stored in Amazon's warehouses. And for marketplace sales, this matters less than it used to: under marketplace-facilitator laws, Amazon now collects and remits sales tax in every state that charges it, so the marketplace handles that layer for you. Forming in "no-sales-tax" Wyoming neither creates nor removes any of this; it's a separate question from where the entity lives. If you sell off-marketplace too, read our plain-English take on sales tax versus income tax.
One more practical point: picking wrong isn't a disaster, but fixing it isn't free. Moving an LLC to another state later — or registering an out-of-state LLC to do business where you actually operate — means more filings and more fees. It's cheaper to choose deliberately once than to redo it, which is another argument for the boring, low-cost default rather than a state chosen on reputation.
How we help you choose
The state is a small decision that people overthink and platforms oversell. We match it to your real plan — a low-cost Wyoming entity for a straightforward online seller, Delaware when you're genuinely on a venture path, Florida when you have a real presence — and then handle the parts that actually carry risk: the EIN, the registered agent, and the annual federal filings. It's part of our US market-entry work and our e-commerce practice, and it pairs naturally with the honest look at formation platforms versus a CPA firm. If you're deciding where to form, talk to us first.