Running a Business in Wyoming? Here's What You Need to Know

** Annual report Requirements **

1. Determine your due date and filing fee

• The license tax (or filing fee) for corporations and LLCs is determined like this: If your total assets are $300,000 or less, you pay $60. If your total assets exceed $300,000, then you multiply your total value by 0.0002.
• LLCs and Corporations (both foreign and domestic) file on the first day of the anniversary month of when they formed the business (No filing needed in the first year that you form your business, filing starts on the first anniversary).

1. Complete your report online OR print a paper form - You can file or print your annual report here. You just need your filing ID. If you don't know your filing ID, search here.
2. Submit your report to the Wyoming Secretary of State

• Late Penalty If you don't file the Wyoming annual report, the secretary of state will dissolve (administrative dissolution) your business within 60 days.
• Sales tax Wyoming is a destination-based sales tax state. So, you collect sales tax at the tax rate where the item is being delivered. The state sales tax rate in Wyoming is 4%. More info on Wyoming sales tax can be found here.
• Federal tax Foreign owned C-Corps pay a 21% federal corporate tax rate on their global taxable income. Foreign owned LLCs are taxed on any US-sourced income at a rate of 30%. For information on the federal tax forms for foreign owned US businesses, click here.

Do I need to file a business tax return if I had no income for the year?

Foreign Owned Single-Member LLC

You must file form 1120 and form 5472 if you have any income or any reportable transactions. If you have no activity at all, then you do not have to file. However, you only file form 1040-NR and pay tax in the US if 1. Your LLC is engaged in a trade or business in the US (ETOB) or 2. You are not ETOB but you have income derived from a US source. You must file a Wyoming annual report whether you have income or not.

Foreign Owned Multi-Member LLC

You must file form 1065 if you have **any **income or deductions. If you have no income or deduction no 1065 is needed. However, you only file form 1040-NR and pay US tax if 1. Your LLC is engaged in a trade or business in the US (ETOB) or 2. You are not ETOB but you have income derived from a US source. You must file a Wyoming annual report regardless of income.

Foreign Owned C-Corporation

You are required to file a business tax return if you are engaged in business in the US, even if you had no income for the year. Being engaged in business in the US happens by having at least one dependent agent in the US and that agent doing something to further business in the US, or if you are engaged in "considerable, continuous, and regular" business in the US. You also must file if you are not engaged in trade in the US but you have US sourced income. You must file a Wyoming annual report regardless of income.

Do I have to file taxes if I formed my business last year but received EIN this year?

All active foreign-owned LLCs need to file a tax return to the IRS. However, you need an EIN to file your tax returns. So, from our understanding if you receive your EIN in the following year you will need to retroactively file your tax return for the prior year.

Resources

For personal and corporate state income tax and franchise tax:

Wyoming Treatment of Foreign Income Tax

Wyoming Business Tax

Forming a LLC or corporation in Wyoming:

How to Start a LLC in Wyoming

Wyoming Company Formation for Non-Residents

For Wyoming annual report:

Wyoming Annual Report Guide

Wyoming LLC Annual Reports

For overview of foreign owned businesses:

An Overview of Tax Implications for Foreign-Owned Businesses in the U.S.

The Best U.S. State to Incorporate for Entrepreneurs

For no income tax returns:

Wyoming Annual Report: Everything You Need to Know

Do I Need to File a Tax Return with No Activity

IRS Guide to Tax Returns with No Income