Form a New Mexico LLC from Belgium: Complete 2026 Guide

What makes New Mexico worth a look for someone in Belgium: the state fee is $50 on paper ($50 online), and after that the state-level upkeep is $0 ever — New Mexico is one of the only states with no ongoing annual report or annual fee for LLCs. The state levies no tax on LLC income earned outside the state for non-resident owners. New Mexico does not publicly disclose member or manager names in its formation records. None of this changes your Belgium tax position, which sits on top of the US picture, but it does mean New Mexico itself adds little friction. Among the five states we cover, New Mexico is the only one of the five with no annual filing at all.

Belgian 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. Belgium is in the euro area, so a founder funds the LLC with an ordinary international transfer in euros converted to dollars. Belgium taxes individuals who hold low-taxed foreign entities under its Cayman tax rules, so the Belgian analysis is the main task.

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) there is no New Mexico annual filing to calendar 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.

Choose New Mexico when minimizing ongoing paperwork is the top priority — no annual report, ever, is unique among these five states — and strict privacy matters more to you than name recognition. If your priorities lean another way, compare the other four states first, because moving a New Mexico LLC to another state later means dissolving it and forming a new one.

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.

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.

Forming from Belgium is a five-step job. One: choose and check the name. Two: appoint a registered agent with a physical New Mexico address. Three: file the New Mexico 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.

New Mexico suits a Belgian founder who wants the lightest US paperwork: a $50 filing fee, no annual state report and no annual fee, leaving only the federal Form 5472 and pro forma 1120.

As a Belgian owner, your recurring dates look like this. State: New Mexico adds no state annual filing at all. 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.

Over five years, the state-level cost of a New Mexico LLC is a $50 filing fee and nothing recurring, so $50 in total, before the registered agent. That makes New Mexico the cheapest 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 New Mexico LLC owned from Belgium. State filing: $50 ($50 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: $0 ever — New Mexico is one of the only states with no ongoing annual report or annual fee for LLCs. Most founders land well under $500 all-in for year one.

Belgium appears among the partners with a US income tax treaty. 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.

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.