Form a Texas LLC from Poland: Complete 2026 Guide

Texas is a common choice for Polish founders who want a US LLC without moving to the US. Filing costs $300 by mail ($300 online where available), and the yearly state obligation is $0 franchise tax for LLCs with revenue below the no-tax-due threshold ($2.65 million for the 2026-27 report years), but a Public Information Report (PIR) must still be filed every year by May 15 regardless of revenue — a full franchise tax return is only required above the threshold. Texas has no personal or corporate state income tax, which keeps state-level compliance simple, although what Poland does with the LLC's profits is a separate question. On privacy: Texas requires a public information report but does not always require individual member names to be listed depending on management structure. In short, Texas is the state with the highest upfront fee but a generous no-tax-due threshold.

Forming in Texas costs $300 in state fees ($300 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 franchise tax for LLCs with revenue below the no-tax-due threshold ($2.65 million for the 2026-27 report years), but a Public Information Report (PIR) must still be filed every year by May 15 regardless of revenue — a full franchise tax return is only required above the threshold. EasyBrise's Global Launch plan is $295 for year one including a registered agent, then $149 a year to renew, so most founders in Poland budget well under $500 for the first year, state fee included.

Texas tends to be the right fit if you expect meaningful revenue and want a state with no personal or corporate income tax and a straightforward no-tax-due threshold, and you don't mind a higher upfront filing fee. 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.

After your Texas 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 your Texas annual obligation ($0 franchise tax below the $2.65 million no-tax-due threshold, plus a Public Information Report every May 15 regardless of revenue) plus the federal Form 5472 and pro forma 1120 deadline in your calendar.

A Polish founder expecting large US revenue may prefer Texas: no state income tax and no franchise tax below $2.65 million. The Public Information Report is due every May 15 even when no tax is owed.

The steps are the same for any Poland-based founder: pick a name, file Articles of Organization with the Texas Secretary of State (yourself or through your registered agent), appoint a registered agent with a physical Texas 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.

Over five years, the state-level cost of a Texas LLC is a $300 filing fee and nothing recurring, so $300 in total, before the registered agent. That makes Texas the second cheapest of the five states on this measure. The same arithmetic across the five states runs from $50 to $2,110. For a Polish owner, the decision that matters most is not the state fee but whether Poland's controlled-foreign-company rules touch the LLC, so budget for a Polish adviser's written opinion alongside the US costs.

Poland 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 Poland. Zloty are converted to dollars when you fund the account, so compare the exchange rate and any fee at your Polish bank. Poland takes part in the Common Reporting Standard, so Polish banks exchange account information automatically.

As a Polish owner, your recurring dates look like this. State: the Texas Public Information Report is due every May 15, even when no franchise tax is owed. 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. Polish time for most of the year (the gap shrinks to six hours when US and European clock changes fall on different dates for a few weeks). 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 United States and Poland have a long-standing income tax convention from 1974, and a replacement convention was signed in 2013. Check the IRS treaty tables for which text currently applies to you. For a typical founder whose LLC earns only non-US-source income, the treaty changes little in practice, because there is usually no US federal income tax for a treaty to reduce.

Poland taxes its residents on worldwide income, and its rules on foreign controlled entities sit in both the corporate income tax act (Article 24a) and the personal income tax act (Article 30f), so individuals are covered, not only companies. Control begins above 50 percent of capital, voting rights or profit rights, which a sole owner of an LLC clears easily. Income attributed under the regime is taxed at 19 percent. Since the 2022 reforms the passive-income categories include intangible services such as advisory, accounting and market research, which is exactly the work many freelancers invoice through an LLC. Whether your LLC is caught depends on its income mix and on the tax it actually bears, so get a written opinion from a Polish adviser before you rely on the structure.

The 2022 reforms widened the list of passive income to include intangible services such as advisory, accounting and market research. A Polish consultant or analyst who invoices clients through a US LLC should therefore ask directly whether those fees count as passive income for the Polish test. A founder who sells software subscriptions or physical products faces a different question, and the answer can change from one income stream to the next.

Poland's rules on foreign controlled entities appear in two places, Article 24a of the corporate income tax act and Article 30f of the personal income tax act. An individual founder reads the personal-tax version, but the structure of the test is parallel. Because the two acts mirror each other, an adviser can usually answer both from one review of your LLC's income, ownership and the tax it pays in the United States.