Form a Florida LLC from Thailand: Complete 2026 Guide

Florida in one paragraph: $125 to file ($125 online), then $138.75 mandatory annual report fee, due every year each year. The state imposes no personal state income tax. Florida is the only one of these five states that discloses member names on its public annual report. For a Thailand-based owner the state choice mainly decides cost, privacy and paperwork, not your home-country tax result. If a well-known state with strong business infrastructure is what you are optimizing for, Florida deserves a close look.

The cost side of a Florida LLC: $125 state fee ($125 online), a registered agent at typically $100-150 per year, a free IRS EIN, and a bank account that is usually free. Annual state requirement in Florida: $138.75 mandatory annual report fee, due every year. If you use EasyBrise, Global Launch is $295 for year one (registered agent included) and $149 per year after, and for a founder in Thailand the whole first year typically comes in well under $500.

Florida fits if 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. Check the comparison table above before you commit, as switching later is not a simple amendment: the Florida LLC would be dissolved and a new one formed elsewhere.

Your Florida LLC exists once the state accepts the filing, but it is only ready to trade after these steps: sign the Operating Agreement; get the bank account open; apply for payment processors; calendar your Florida annual obligation ($138.75 mandatory annual report, due every year) and the federal Form 5472 and pro forma 1120. On BOI: FinCEN's rule in force since August 14, 2026 permanently exempts all US-formed LLCs, so there is nothing to file there.

Thai tax residence turns on presence: a person who stays in Thailand for periods totalling 180 days or more in a tax year is treated as resident. Founders who travel between countries should keep a simple record of days spent in Thailand, because whether you are resident in a given year decides whether the remittance rule applies to money you bring in during that year.

The IRS international EIN line (267-941-1099) answers from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. Thailand is on UTC+7 all year with no daylight saving. In US daylight time that window is 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. Thai time, and in US standard time it is 6 p.m. to 11 a.m. A morning call from Thailand works in both periods. Plan on 45-60 minutes.

Florida costs $125 to file and $138.75 every year, and its annual report names members. It suits a Thai founder who values Florida's business infrastructure and accepts that disclosure.

Here is how Florida formation works for someone in Thailand. File the Articles of Organization with the Florida Secretary of State, using a registered agent's physical Florida address. Request your EIN from the IRS, writing "Foreign" or "N/A" in place of an SSN (phone: 267-941-1099, about 45-60 minutes; fax or mail: 4-6 weeks). Then apply for Mercury or Relay online. Every step can be done remotely.

Under Revenue Department instruction Por. 161/2566, issued in September 2023, foreign-sourced income of a Thai tax resident is subject to Thai personal income tax when it is brought into Thailand, regardless of the year in which it was earned. Before the change, income remitted in a later calendar year was exempt under a 1987 interpretation, and that exemption no longer applies for amounts brought in from January 1, 2024. In practice this means the timing and character of withdrawals from the LLC matter, and a Thai tax adviser should map them before you start. On the US side the LLC files Form 5472 and a pro forma Form 1120 every year, with a $25,000 minimum penalty for a missed or incomplete filing.

As a Thai 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 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. Thai time in US daylight time (6 p.m. to 11 a.m. 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.

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 Thai owner, the bigger variable is not this US state cost but Thailand's remittance rule, under which foreign income is taxed when it is brought into Thailand.

Thailand 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 owners' citizenship and residency. Both banks run their own reviews, so approval is never guaranteed. Neither bank's published rules restrict international wires involving Thailand. Because Thai tax can depend on when funds are brought into Thailand, keep a clear record of each transfer from the US account, including its date, amount and what it represents.

Under the 2024 change, the question is not when the LLC earned income but when you bring it into Thailand. Keep the LLC's money in the US account until you need it, record each transfer, and ask your adviser how salary-type payments, distributions and card spending in Thailand from a foreign account would each be treated. Some of those points, such as whether spending through a foreign account counts as a remittance, were open questions when the rule was introduced.