Form a New Mexico LLC from Ecuador: Complete 2026 Guide

Forming in New Mexico costs $50 in state fees ($50 online where available). Add a registered agent, which every state requires and which typically runs $100-150 a year, a free IRS EIN application, and a US business bank account that is usually free with Mercury or Relay. Ongoing state cost: $0 ever — New Mexico is one of the only states with no ongoing annual report or annual fee for LLCs. EasyBrise's Global Launch plan is $295 for year one including a registered agent, then $149 a year to renew, so most founders in Ecuador budget well under $500 for the first year, state fee included.

New Mexico is a common choice for Ecuadorian founders who want a US LLC without moving to the US. Filing costs $50 by mail ($50 online where available), and the yearly state obligation is $0 ever — New Mexico is one of the only states with no ongoing annual report or annual fee for LLCs. New Mexico has no tax on LLC income earned outside the state for non-resident owners, which keeps state-level compliance simple, although what Ecuador does with the LLC's profits is a separate question. On privacy: New Mexico does not publicly disclose member or manager names in its formation records. In short, New Mexico is the only one of the five with no annual filing at all.

New Mexico tends to be the right fit if 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. Compare it with the other four states on cost, privacy and reporting before filing; switching states later means dissolving and re-forming rather than a simple amendment.

Ecuadorian 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. Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency, so there is no conversion between a US dollar account and local spending. Ecuador introduced controlled-foreign-company rules from 2024, so the Ecuadorian tax analysis is the main task.

After your New Mexico LLC and EIN are in place: sign an Operating Agreement (banks and payment processors ask for it even where the state doesn't), skip BOI reporting because FinCEN's rule in force since August 14, 2026 permanently exempts all US-formed LLCs, open the bank account, apply to Stripe or PayPal (each runs its own eligibility review), and put there is no New Mexico annual filing to calendar plus the federal Form 5472 and pro forma 1120 deadline in your calendar.

The IRS international EIN line (267-941-1099) answers from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. Ecuador is on UTC-5 all year with no daylight saving. In US daylight time that window is 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ecuadorian time, and in US standard time the two clocks match, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Any daytime call is comfortable. Plan on 45-60 minutes.

The steps are the same for any Ecuador-based founder: pick a name, file Articles of Organization with the New Mexico Secretary of State (yourself or through your registered agent), appoint a registered agent with a physical New Mexico address, then apply for an EIN. You have no US Social Security Number, so on Form SS-4 you enter "Foreign" or "N/A" in that field. The phone route (267-941-1099, international callers) usually takes 45-60 minutes on the line; fax or mail takes 4-6 weeks. With the EIN in hand you apply for a US business bank account remotely.

New Mexico suits an Ecuadorian 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.

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 an Ecuadorian owner, Ecuador's controlled-foreign-company regime is the main tax question, because it taxes attributed passive income even when nothing is distributed.

BDO's note on Ecuador's tax law says its controlled-foreign-company rules apply from 1 January 2024. Control means a participation of 25 percent or more of capital, voting or similar rights, directly or indirectly, and a foreign company counts as low-taxed where its effective rate is below 60 percent of the Ecuadorian rate or is unknown. The company's net passive income is attributed to the Ecuadorian ultimate beneficiary and must be declared in that person's annual return and taxed in Ecuador even if not distributed, with credit for foreign tax paid. The note does not say whether individuals are caught as controllers and does not define passive income, so ask an Ecuadorian adviser how an LLC earning fees for services would be treated.

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

The IRS treaty tables list no comprehensive income tax treaty between Ecuador and the United States. Without a treaty there is no treaty relief for dividends, interest or royalties, so the rules that decide your outcome are the US rules for the LLC and Ecuador's own rules, including the foreign tax credit in the controlled-foreign-company regime.

Under the note, attributed income is declared in the ultimate beneficiary's annual return and taxed in Ecuador even if the LLC pays you nothing, with a credit for foreign tax paid. For a typical LLC with no US federal income tax, that credit is small. Plan cash for any Ecuadorian tax on attributed income, and ask your adviser to model a year with profit left inside the LLC.