Form a Delaware LLC from Dominican Republic: Complete 2026 Guide

What makes Delaware worth a look for someone in Dominican Republic: the state fee is $110 on paper ($110 online), and after that the state-level upkeep is $400 flat annual franchise tax (raised from $300 under Delaware House Bill 400, signed May 21 2026, effective retroactively for the 2026 tax year; first billed with payments due June 1, 2027), no separate annual report required. The state levies no tax on LLC income earned outside the state, though the flat annual tax applies regardless of activity. Delaware does not require member names on the public formation certificate. None of this changes your Dominican Republic tax position, which sits on top of the US picture, but it does mean Delaware itself adds little friction. Among the five states we cover, Delaware is the state most recognised by US investors and lawyers.

Dominican freelancers, consultants, developers and online sellers form US LLCs to invoice international clients in dollars, hold a US business bank account and present a domestic US vendor to American customers. The Dominican Republic taxes on a territorial concept, so foreign-source income is generally outside its tax base. The question for an owner is how the authorities classify income earned through the LLC.

Checklist once the EIN letter arrives: (1) Operating Agreement signed and stored; (2) bank account application submitted; (3) Stripe and/or PayPal applications, subject to their own review; (4) your Delaware annual obligation ($400 flat annual franchise tax (House Bill 400, raised from $300), first billed with payments due June 1, 2027) in your calendar; (5) Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 on the federal calendar. Federal Beneficial Ownership Information reporting is not something you need to do: FinCEN's rule in force since August 14, 2026 permanently exempts all US-formed LLCs.

Choose Delaware when you're planning to raise US venture capital or want the state most investors and legal counsel are already familiar with, and you're comfortable with the flat $400 annual tax (raised from $300 by 2026's House Bill 400) regardless of your LLC's size. If your priorities lean another way, compare the other four states first, because moving a Delaware LLC to another state later means dissolving it and forming a new one.

Forming from Dominican Republic is a five-step job. One: choose and check the name. Two: appoint a registered agent with a physical Delaware address. Three: file the Delaware formation documents. Four: obtain the EIN, entering "Foreign" or "N/A" where Form SS-4 asks for an SSN or ITIN; by phone on 267-941-1099 it takes about 45-60 minutes, by fax or mail 4-6 weeks. Five: open the business bank account online. No US trip is needed at any point.

A Dominican founder planning to raise US capital or sell to a US acquirer may choose Delaware despite the $400 annual tax, because investors know the law. The $400 is a fixed amount for a Dominican budget.

PwC says that for individuals who become residents, foreign-source income is taxed only after the third year. That matters for a founder who has recently moved to the Dominican Republic, since the clock starts with residence. The summary does not set out the residence test, so ask a Dominican adviser to confirm your status and the date your three years begin.

Over five years, the state-level cost of a Delaware LLC is a $110 filing fee plus $400 a year for five years, so $2,110 in total, before the registered agent. That makes Delaware the most expensive of the five states on this measure. The same arithmetic across the five states runs from $50 to $2,110. For a Dominican owner, the Dominican Republic follows a territorial concept for income, so the question is how a resident's foreign LLC income is classified.

As a Dominican owner, your recurring dates look like this. State: Delaware's $400 annual tax is first billed with payments due June 1, 2027, and there is no separate annual report. Federal: Form 5472 with the pro forma Form 1120 is due on the return due date, April 15 for a calendar-year LLC, extendable with Form 7004. For the one-off EIN call, the IRS line (6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern) is open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Dominican time in US daylight time (7 a.m. to midnight in US standard time). Put the state date and the federal date in your calendar when the EIN arrives, because a missed Form 5472 carries a $25,000 minimum penalty.

PwC's summary says the Dominican Republic follows a territorial concept for the determination of taxable income, so Dominican-source income is taxable and foreign-source income generally is not. It also says residents are taxed on foreign investments and financial gains, and that for individuals who become residents, foreign-source income is taxed only after the third year of residence. For 2026 PwC's table shows a tax-free threshold of DOP 416,220 and rates of 15, 20 and 25 percent in the bands above it. The summary does not describe a controlled-foreign-company regime. Whether profit earned by a US LLC for services performed abroad counts as foreign-source business income or as taxable foreign investment income is a question for a Dominican adviser.

Here is the first-year budget for a Delaware LLC owned from Dominican Republic. State filing: $110 ($110 online). Registered agent: typically $100-150 a year, or included in EasyBrise Global Launch at $295 for year one ($149 a year after that). EIN: free if you apply to the IRS yourself. Bank account: usually free at Mercury or Relay. Recurring state requirement: $400 flat annual franchise tax (raised from $300 under Delaware House Bill 400, signed May 21 2026, effective retroactively for the 2026 tax year; first billed with payments due June 1, 2027), no separate annual report required. Most founders land well under $500 all-in for year one.

A territorial home system does not remove US filings. A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, with a $25,000 minimum penalty for a missed or incomplete filing. Keep the operating agreement, the contracts that show where your clients are and the invoices together, because banks, processors and a Dominican adviser will ask for them.

The IRS treaty tables list no comprehensive income tax treaty between the Dominican Republic and the United States. Because foreign-source income is generally outside Dominican tax, a treaty is less necessary for business income, but it also means no treaty relief for any foreign income that is taxable. The rules that decide your outcome are the US rules for the LLC and Dominican classification of the income.