Cross-border
What a US LLC Actually Costs to Keep, Year After Year
Every foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 by 15 April, by fax or post because it cannot be e-filed, and the penalty is USD 25,000 for each year missed. On top of that sits a state fee: Delaware charges USD 400 by 1 June, Wyoming USD 60 on your anniversary month, and New Mexico nothing at all. A commercial registered agent is unavoidable in all three.
We do this for clients:US LLC Formation from PakistanUS Tax Filing for Foreign-Owned LLCsITIN Application for Non-US CitizensUS Bookkeeping and Payroll for Foreign-Owned Companies
Where these figures come from
- Sources
- Sourced from IRS instructions for Forms 5472 and 1120, and the Wyoming, Delaware and New Mexico state filing rules.
- Last checked against the sources
- by BarrioVibe.
This is general guidance from the sources above, not advice on your situation. Procedures and official fees change, so confirm the current position before you file, or speak to us first.
The state fee, and when it falls due
These are the three states Pakistani founders actually use. Note that the due dates work on different principles: a fixed calendar date in Delaware, and your own anniversary in Wyoming.
| State | Annual fee | Due | Annual report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | USD 400 | 1 June | None for an LLC |
| Wyoming | USD 60 minimum | First day of your anniversary month | Yes |
| New Mexico | Nothing | Not applicable | None |
Why Wyoming's USD 60 is almost always the figure
The Wyoming annual report license tax is USD 60, or USD .0002 per dollar of capital, property and assets located and employed in Wyoming, whichever is greater. Read the qualifier: located and employed in Wyoming. An LLC owned from Pakistan, banking online and serving clients elsewhere, generally has no Wyoming assets at all, so it pays the minimum.
The arithmetic on the alternative is worth knowing so you can recognise when it stops being academic: the asset-based figure only overtakes USD 60 above USD 300,000 of assets in Wyoming.
New Mexico charges nothing annually, and that is not the whole story
A New Mexico LLC files no annual report and pays no annual fee. That is established by reading the New Mexico LLC Act through rather than by not finding a requirement: the Act contains no annual report provision, in contrast to the corporation article, which has a biennial one, and the LLP provision, which has an annual one. Formation is USD 50.
The trap is a widely circulating figure of a USD 10 annual report with a USD 10 late penalty. That is New Mexico CORPORATION data and does not apply to an LLC. Separately, New Mexico gross receipts tax reaches services performed in New Mexico, and a business without physical presence can still be caught above a receipts threshold, so "cheapest state" is a conclusion about filing fees rather than about tax.
What none of this tells you about Pakistan
Everything above is what the LLC owes in the United States. It is entirely separate from what you owe in Pakistan, and satisfying it says nothing about section 116A, the State Bank's permission framework, or section 452 of the Companies Act.
The reverse is also true and is the more common mistake: people conclude from an accountant's assurance that no US federal income tax is due that there is nothing to do anywhere. Form 5472 is a reporting obligation rather than a tax, and it is owed whether or not any tax is.
Questions
The questionspeople ask
What does a foreign-owned US LLC have to file every year?
Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120, due the 15th day of the fourth month after the year end, which is 15 April for a calendar year. It cannot be e-filed and must go by fax or to a dedicated postal address, not the ordinary Form 1120 one. A state fee may also be due depending on where the LLC was formed.
What is the penalty for not filing Form 5472?
USD 25,000 for each taxable year in which the failure occurs, plus a further USD 25,000 per related party for each 30-day period once IRS notification has gone unanswered for 90 days. There is no maximum, and a substantially incomplete form is treated as a failure to file.
Does a dormant LLC still have to file?
Yes, if it had any reportable transaction, and the regulations treat formation, contributions to the entity and distributions from it as reportable. So an LLC that traded nothing but was funded still files.
How much is the Delaware LLC annual tax?
USD 400, due on or before 1 June, with a USD 200 penalty and interest of 1.5% a month if late. 6 Del. C. section 18-1107(b) states the figure. Pages quoting USD 300 are out of date, including one of Delaware's own, and the corporation figures of USD 175 and 1 March are a different regime.
How much is the Wyoming LLC annual report fee?
USD 60, or USD .0002 per dollar of capital, property and assets located and employed in Wyoming, whichever is greater, due on the first day of your anniversary month. An LLC with no Wyoming assets pays the USD 60 minimum; the asset calculation only exceeds it above USD 300,000 of Wyoming assets.
Does a New Mexico LLC file an annual report?
No. The New Mexico LLC Act contains no annual report requirement, unlike the corporation and LLP provisions. Formation is USD 50. The USD 10 annual report figure that circulates is corporation data and does not apply to LLCs.
Can I be my own registered agent for my US LLC?
Not from Pakistan. Wyoming requires a physical in-state address and expressly excludes a drop box, New Mexico requires a resident individual or an entity with a place of business there, and Delaware requires a Delaware street address. A commercial registered agent is therefore a recurring annual cost, and its address becomes public record.
Why is Stripe rejecting my new EIN?
Because IRS records lag behind issuance. Stripe says the IRS takes on average 3 to 4 weeks and accepts an uploaded SS-4 confirmation letter for a recently issued TIN. The IRS separately advises waiting up to 2 weeks before attempting TIN Matching or e-filing. Allow for the gap rather than applying to a processor the day the EIN arrives.
Also here
Relatedguides
Declaring a foreign company
What section 116A requires of a Pakistani resident who owns a company abroad, the penalty that runs every year, and the point at which it stops being a filing question.
Owning a company abroad
What the State Bank actually permits, the limits that come with it, and why the answer for a company is not the answer for an individual.
Rather have someone handle it?
We file returns through IRIS every day. If the answer above raises a question about your own case, that is the conversation to have before the deadline rather than after it.