LLC
Top 5 states where international founders set up LLCs
Explore the top five states for international founders to set up LLCs, highlighting tax benefits, privacy, and ease of formation.
October 8, 2026
Explore the top five states for international founders to set up LLCs, highlighting tax benefits, privacy, and ease of formation.
Learn how digital nomads can save on LLC formation costs by choosing budget-friendly states, DIY filing, and leveraging virtual address services.
Short answer: If you live and do business in one US state, form your LLC in that state. Forming somewhere else means registering in your home state too and paying two sets of fees. If you live outside the US
California Form 568 is the Limited Liability Company Return of Income filed with the Franchise Tax Board. LLCs organized, registered, doing business or earning income in California file it each year, including single-member LLCs, to report the $800 annual tax, the LLC fee of $900 to $11,790 and their income.
Freelancers who live and work in one US state should form their LLC in that state, because an LLC formed elsewhere still has to register there and pay that state’s fees. Freelancers with no US home state, such as non-US residents and digital nomads, get the best value from Wyoming: $100 to form, a $60 minimum annual report, no state income tax and private ownership. Delaware fits freelancers who plan to raise investment, and Nevada costs more without more privacy.
Form your LLC in your home state if you live there and run the business from there. An LLC formed in another state still has to register in your home state as a foreign LLC, so you pay fees in two states and still pay your home state’s taxes. Forming out of state makes sense when you have no home state to operate from, such as a non-US resident or a remote business with no US location. For those owners, Wyoming and New Mexico are the lowest-cost choices.
