Form a Florida LLC from Belgium: Complete 2026 Guide

What makes Florida worth a look for someone in Belgium: the state fee is $125 on paper ($125 online), and after that the state-level upkeep is $138.75 mandatory annual report fee, due every year. The state levies no personal state income tax. Florida is the only one of these five states that discloses member names on its public annual report. None of this changes your Belgium tax position, which sits on top of the US picture, but it does mean Florida itself adds little friction. Among the five states we cover, Florida is the only one of the five that publishes member names.

Choose Florida when you want a well-known state with strong US business infrastructure and don't mind that Florida is the one state on this list requiring member names on the public annual report. If your priorities lean another way, compare the other four states first, because moving a Florida LLC to another state later means dissolving it and forming a new one.

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 Florida annual obligation ($138.75 mandatory annual report, due every year) 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.

The IRS international EIN line (267-941-1099) answers from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. Belgium is six hours ahead of Eastern Time for most of the year, so the window runs from noon to 5 a.m. Belgian time, with a shorter gap for a few weeks when the US and Europe change clocks on different dates. Call in your afternoon or early evening and plan on 45-60 minutes.

Forming from Belgium is a five-step job. One: choose and check the name. Two: appoint a registered agent with a physical Florida address. Three: file the Florida 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 Belgian law firm's note says Belgium's controlled-foreign-company rules apply to corporate taxpayers, and that individuals are covered by the Cayman tax rules instead. From 2024, a Belgian resident individual who holds a low-taxed entity can be caught whatever percentage is held. The note says an entity is low-taxed where it is not subject to income tax, or is subject to tax of less than 15 percent of taxable income if outside the European Economic Area, measured under Belgian rules. The entity must be disclosed in the personal tax return, the assessment period extends to 10 years, and income can be taxed directly in your hands unless you show economic substance. Whether a particular LLC counts as a covered entity is a question for a Belgian adviser.

Florida appeals to Belgian founders with customers or relatives in the state. Its public annual report names members, and the $138.75 annual fee recurs every year.

Over five years, the state-level cost of a Florida LLC is a $125 filing fee plus $138.75 a year for five years, so $818.75 in total, before the registered agent. That makes Florida the second most expensive of the five states on this measure. The same arithmetic across the five states runs from $50 to $2,110. For a Belgian owner, the Cayman tax rules are the main tax question, because they reach individuals who hold low-taxed entities.

Here is the first-year budget for a Florida LLC owned from Belgium. State filing: $125 ($125 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: $138.75 mandatory annual report fee, due every year. Most founders land well under $500 all-in for year one.

Belgium is not on Mercury's prohibited-countries list, which is based on country of residence, and it is not on Relay's list, which looks at the citizenship and residency of the owners. Both banks run their own reviews, so approval is never guaranteed. Neither bank's published rules restrict international wires involving Belgium. Euros are converted to dollars when you fund the account, so compare the rate and any fee at your Belgian bank.

As a Belgian owner, your recurring dates look like this. State: Florida's $138.75 annual report is due every year between January 1 and May 1. 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. Belgian 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.

Under the note, an entity outside the European Economic Area is low-taxed where its tax is below 15 percent of its taxable income as computed under Belgian rules, and an entity that bears no income tax is low-taxed too. A single-member LLC with only non-US-source income usually owes no US federal income tax, so it sits below that line on a simple reading. This is why the economic-substance point matters.

If the rules apply, the entity must be disclosed in your personal income tax return and the assessment period extends to 10 years, so records need to be kept for a decade. Income of the entity can be taxed in your hands as if you earned it personally unless you show that the entity has economic substance. The note does not state a rate for that income, so ask your adviser to model the numbers.