Form a Florida LLC from Turkey: Complete 2026 Guide

What makes Florida worth a look for someone in Turkey: 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 Turkey 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. Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year, so the window is 1 p.m. to 6 a.m. Turkish time while the US is on daylight time and 2 p.m. to 7 a.m. in US standard time. An afternoon or evening call from Turkey is comfortable in both periods. Expect 45-60 minutes on the line.

Forming from Turkey 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.

Florida's strong business infrastructure appeals to some Turkish founders, but its public annual report names members and the $138.75 annual fee is the highest recurring state cost of the five.

If you plan to capitalize the LLC with a large sum, note the 2019 decree that delays settlement of individual foreign-currency purchases above USD 100,000. It is a delay, not a ban. Most founders start with the registered agent and state fee, which are small, and add working capital in stages. Ask your Turkish bank how they process foreign-currency transfers and what documents they want.

Here is the first-year budget for a Florida LLC owned from Turkey. 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.

Turkey 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 not guaranteed. Neither bank's published rules restrict international wires involving Turkey. The Turkish lira is convertible, and the only rule worth planning around is a 2019 decree that delays settlement of individual foreign-currency purchases above USD 100,000, which can slow a very large single transfer. Several smaller transfers may process more quickly.

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 Turkish owner, the bigger variable is not this US state cost but whether Turkey's three-part CFC test is met, which turns mainly on how much of the LLC's income is passive.

As a Turkish 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 1 p.m. to 6 a.m. Turkish time in US daylight time (2 p.m. to 7 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.

Turkey's controlled-foreign-company rules need three conditions to be met together. First, a Turkish resident holds 50% or more of the foreign company's shares, dividend rights or voting rights; a sole owner of a single-member LLC clears that. Second, at least 25% of the company's gross income is passive, such as interest, royalties, dividends or rent. Third, the foreign company's actual effective tax burden is below 10%. Because all three are required, an LLC earning mainly active service or sales income often falls outside the rules through the passive-income leg. 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.

The passive-income leg is the practical hinge. Suppose most of the LLC's revenue is consulting or software fees: that is active income, so the 25% passive threshold is unlikely to be met and the CFC rules do not bite. Suppose instead the LLC mainly earns interest or royalties: the first leg is met, and the effective tax burden becomes the deciding test. Classify the income before the first invoice and record the reasoning.