LLC Annual Costs by State for Non-Residents

The three layers of an LLC's annual cost

Before the state-by-state numbers, it helps to see that a US LLC's yearly cost comes in three layers, and only the first varies much by state. The state layer is the annual report fee or franchise tax the state charges to keep your company in good standing. The registered-agent layer is the fee you pay a registered agent to maintain a required in-state address for official mail — typically $50 to $150 a year wherever you form. The federal layer begins with a yearly review of the company's classification and transactions: for a foreign-owned US disregarded entity, Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120 is required only when the status and reportable-transaction rules apply. People shopping for the "cheapest state" often stare at the first layer and forget the other two, even though a missed required federal form carries the larger risk.

State annual fees, compared

Here are the recurring state costs for the states non-residents ask about most, as of 2026. This is the state's own charge only — registered agent and federal filings are separate and covered below:

The spread is striking. New Mexico charges nothing at the state level; Wyoming's roughly $60 is the low end of "normal"; Florida sits in the middle at $138.75. Then it jumps: Delaware's flat $400 annual LLC tax applies to every LLC whether or not it earns a cent, and California's $800 minimum franchise tax is in a category of its own. California charges that $800 to any LLC formed in or doing business in the state, every year, regardless of income — which is why it belongs on this list mainly as a cautionary contrast rather than a formation choice for someone abroad.

The costs that apply everywhere

Now consider the layers the state table does not show. Budget separately for:

• Registered agent — about $50 to $150 per year. You must maintain a registered agent in your state of formation. There's no legal way around it for a non-resident with no US address, so budget this everywhere.
• Federal Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 — when required. For a foreign-owned US disregarded entity, filing depends on the entity's status and reportable related-party transactions. A quiet year can still include owner contributions, distributions, or other reportable transactions, so the analysis belongs in the annual budget. If Form 5472 is required, preparing it properly is a real cost — and missing it is far more expensive because the initial penalty is generally $25,000 per form, as our Form 5472 penalty guide explains.
• Bookkeeping and tax preparation. Once the company transacts, you need books and correctly prepared returns. This scales with your activity, not with your state.

Line up the states compared here and the point becomes obvious: their recurring state charges differ by hundreds of dollars a year, while a missed required federal filing can be much larger. Optimizing hard on the state fee while neglecting fact-specific federal filing analysis is optimizing the wrong number.

What this means for choosing a state

Among the states compared here, New Mexico ($0) and Wyoming (about $60 minimum) have the lowest recurring state amounts. That does not establish bank eligibility, privacy, tax treatment, or the best fit. Florida often makes sense when the business actually operates there. Delaware's $400 LLC tax may be justified by a Delaware-specific governance or transaction reason. California's $800 minimum matters when the LLC is formed in or doing business there. The broader decision framework is in our best-state guide.

The healthiest way to hold all of this is to stop treating the state fee as the headline number. It's a small, predictable line item. Choose a low-cost state to keep it small, then put your attention where the cost and the risk really are — the federal filings and clean books.

A worked example: a Wyoming LLC's first two years

Numbers in a table can feel abstract, so it helps to walk through what an actual founder pays. Take the common case: a non-resident forms a single-member Wyoming LLC to sell on Amazon, with no US employees and no US office. Here's the honest arithmetic, using round 2026 figures.

Year one carries the one-time setup plus the first year of recurring items. The Wyoming filing fee to form is about $100. A registered agent may run, for example, about $100 for the year. The company generally needs an EIN, and its federal filing position must be reviewed after year-end. If its status and reportable transactions require Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120, professional preparation is a separate cost that depends on the activity. The $100 state fee — the number many "cheapest state" articles emphasize — is only one piece.

Year two onward drops the formation fee and settles into the steady state: the Wyoming annual report at about $60, the registered agent at about $100, and any required federal 5472/1120 filing. The state's own charge is $60 — genuinely small — while the meaningful recurring costs are the registered agent and, when applicable, the correctly prepared federal return. If that same founder had chosen Delaware instead, one state line would change: the $60 annual report becomes a $400 annual LLC tax, with no Delaware LLC annual report. Everything else depends on the same entity, ownership, transaction, and operating facts.

The lesson from the arithmetic is the same one the tables show: budget for all three layers from the start, and don't let the $340 recurring state-fee difference between Wyoming and Delaware distract you from a required filing whose penalty is measured in the tens of thousands.

Frequently asked questions

What's the cheapest state to keep an LLC in each year?

Among the common states in this guide, New Mexico has no LLC annual report or annual state renewal fee, and Wyoming starts at about $60 a year. Other states outside this table may also have no LLC annual report. Both require a registered agent; state choice alone does not determine federal filing obligations.

Why is California $800?

California levies an $800 minimum annual franchise tax on LLCs formed in or doing business in the state, charged even in a no-income year. It's the reason California is a "form here because you operate here" state, not a remote formation choice.

Do the state fees include my US taxes?

No. State fees keep the company in good standing at the state level only. They do not cover Form 5472 preparation when that federal filing is required, and they have nothing to do with any US income tax you might owe, which is a separate question decided by the entity, activity, source of income, elections, and treaty position.

How do I see my full annual number?

Use our US company cost calculator, which combines state fees, registered agent, banking, and compliance into one realistic annual figure so you're not caught out by the layers a "cheapest state" list leaves off.

How we help

We help keep your LLC in good standing across each applicable layer — the state annual report or franchise payment, the registered agent, and federal Form 5472 analysis and preparation when required — so a quiet-looking company is not mistaken for one with no obligations. It's part of our US market-entry and e-commerce work, where formation, compliance, and books are handled together rather than left as loose ends. If you want a clear picture of what your company will cost to run each year, talk to us.