Form a Delaware LLC from Ireland: Complete 2026 Guide

Start with the numbers. A Delaware LLC costs $110 to file (or $110 online), and the recurring state cost 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. State tax treatment: no tax on LLC income earned outside the state, though the flat annual tax applies regardless of activity. Privacy treatment: Delaware does not require member names on the public formation certificate. For a founder in Ireland the practical reading is that Delaware is the state most recognised by US investors and lawyers, so the question to ask is whether that trait matches how you plan to run the business.

Delaware state fees are $110 to file ($110 online where available). The other line items are the same wherever you form: a registered agent at roughly $100-150 a year, a free EIN straight from the IRS, and a free business bank account at Mercury or Relay. What differs by state is the recurring cost, and for Delaware that 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. With EasyBrise Global Launch ($295 in year one, registered agent included; $149 a year to renew) the typical first year stays well under $500.

Irish freelancers, developers, consultants 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. Ireland is in the euro area, so an Irish owner funds the LLC with an ordinary international transfer in euros converted to dollars. Ireland is a common-law country with a long business relationship with the United States, and its tax rules for individuals who hold overseas entities differ from the corporate rules.

An Ireland-based founder should lean toward Delaware if 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. Weigh it against the other four states on cost, privacy and reporting now, since a later switch is a dissolve-and-reform exercise, not an amendment.

Housekeeping for a new Delaware LLC owned from Ireland. 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. What you do need: an Operating Agreement, a business bank account, payment-processor accounts if you will take cards, and two recurring dates, your Delaware annual obligation ($400 flat annual franchise tax (House Bill 400, raised from $300), first billed with payments due June 1, 2027) and the annual federal Form 5472 and pro forma 1120.

An Irish 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 an Irish budget.

Nothing about Delaware formation requires you to be in the US. Your registered agent supplies the Delaware address and receives official mail, the Articles of Organization go to the Delaware Secretary of State, and the EIN comes from the IRS afterwards. Since an Ireland resident has no SSN, Form SS-4 gets "Foreign" or "N/A" in the SSN line. The international phone line (267-941-1099) takes roughly 45-60 minutes and is the quickest route; fax and mail take 4-6 weeks.

Some Irish founders eventually place the LLC under an Irish company. That is where the controlled-foreign-company regime starts to matter, because the charge falls on companies. If you are weighing that route, take advice before restructuring, since the answer for a company owner differs from the answer for an individual owner.

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 an Irish owner, the state fee is small beside the question of how Revenue treats the LLC, so plan for a written view from an Irish accountant before you form.

As an Irish 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 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Irish time for most of the year (the gap shrinks to four hours for a few weeks when US and European clock changes fall on different dates). 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.

A comprehensive income tax treaty between the United States and Ireland has been in force since 1997, replacing an earlier convention. It covers dividends, interest, royalties and tie-breaker rules for residency. For a typical founder whose LLC earns only non-US-source income, the treaty changes little in practice because there is usually no US federal income tax for it to reduce.

Section 806 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 is the provision Irish advisers check when an Irish-resident individual transfers assets abroad and keeps the ability to enjoy the resulting income. A sole owner who can draw the LLC's profits at will is the kind of person the question is aimed at. Whether the section bites depends on the facts, including the commercial purpose of the transfer, so ask your accountant to address it explicitly and to keep the conclusion on file.

Ireland's controlled-foreign-company regime, which took effect for accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2019, charges only companies. Revenue's own guidance states that the charge can arise only to chargeable companies, and that an Irish-resident individual can never be a controlling company. That means the regime does not reach you as an individual owner. It does not mean Irish tax is irrelevant: an Irish resident is taxed on worldwide income, and Irish advisers also look at Section 806 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which deals with the transfer of assets abroad. Ask an Irish accountant whether it matters for your structure and get the answer in writing.