Form a Delaware LLC from Norway: 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 Norway 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.

A Norway-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.

Norwegian 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. Norway is outside the EU but inside the European Economic Area, and a Norwegian owner funds the LLC from kroner converted to dollars. Norway has controlled-foreign-company rules, called NOKUS, that cover individuals, so the Norwegian tax analysis is the main task.

Housekeeping for a new Delaware LLC owned from Norway. 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.

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 a Norway 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.

A Norwegian 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 Norwegian budget.

Skatteetaten says the NOKUS rules apply to Norwegian private individuals and companies that hold a foreign company, alone or with other Norwegian taxpayers, with control generally starting at ownership of at least half of the shares or capital. A Norwegian law firm's guide adds that the foreign entity's effective tax rate must be below two-thirds of the tax that would apply if it were resident in Norway, and that NOKUS does not apply to an entity resident in a treaty country, provided its income is not mainly of a passive nature. Where NOKUS applies, owners are taxed on their share of profit whether or not distributed. The United States is a treaty country, so the passive-income question is the one to put to a Norwegian adviser.

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 Norwegian owner, the NOKUS rules reach individuals and tax profit whether or not it is distributed, so budget for a Norwegian adviser's written view alongside the US costs.

If NOKUS applies, owners are taxed on their proportionate share of the profit, computed under Norwegian rules and converted to kroner, whether or not any dividend is paid. Losses can be carried forward only against future profits of the same entity. A foreign tax credit is available, limited to the Norwegian tax on that income, and for individuals only 78 percent of dividends from a NOKUS entity are taxable, adjusted by a factor of 1.44. These mechanics are a reason to model the numbers before you decide how to structure the business.

As a Norwegian 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 noon to 5 a.m. Norwegian time for most of the year (the gap shrinks to five 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.

Norway appears among the partners with a US income tax treaty, and that treaty is what makes the treaty-country exemption in NOKUS available. It covers dividends, interest, royalties and tie-breaker rules for residency, and you can confirm the details in the IRS treaty tables. For a typical founder whose LLC earns only non-US-source income, the treaty changes little for US tax because there is usually no US federal income tax for it to reduce.

The guide says NOKUS does not apply to entities resident in a treaty country, provided that the entity's income is not mainly of a passive nature, and it does not define passive income. That makes the content of your LLC's revenue the key fact. An LLC that earns fees for services or product sales is a different case from one that holds investments or licenses intellectual property, so ask a Norwegian adviser how your revenue is classified and keep records that show it.