Form a Wyoming LLC from China: Complete 2026 Guide

What makes Wyoming worth a look for someone in China: the state fee is $100 on paper ($102 online), and after that the state-level upkeep is $60 (based on in-state assets, minimum $60, filed on the anniversary month). The state levies no state income tax and no franchise tax. Wyoming does not publicly list LLC member or manager names in its formation filings. None of this changes your China tax position, which sits on top of the US picture, but it does mean Wyoming itself adds little friction. Among the five states we cover, Wyoming is the lowest-friction ongoing cost among the privacy-oriented states.

Founders in mainland China usually form a US LLC to sell to overseas customers, receive US-dollar payments through a US business bank account and run an e-commerce or software business that targets non-Chinese markets. Chinese tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, so the LLC does not take profit outside the Chinese tax system. The practical questions are how China's individual income tax (IIT) rules treat overseas entities you control, what reporting you owe in China, and how money can lawfully move between the US account and China.

A US-China income tax treaty has been in force since the 1980s. For a single-member LLC owner the treaty's usefulness depends on how China classifies the LLC and on the type of income. Treaties generally do not switch off controlled-foreign-company rules, so do not assume the treaty answers the CFC question. Ask your Chinese adviser to confirm in writing how the treaty and the IIT rules interact for your income.

Choose Wyoming when you want the lowest ongoing annual cost combined with strong privacy and no state income tax, and you don't need a Delaware-specific court system or investor familiarity. If your priorities lean another way, compare the other four states first, because moving a Wyoming 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 Wyoming annual obligation ($60 minimum, filed in your LLC's anniversary month) 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.

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

A Chinese founder weighing Wyoming gets a low state bill, a $60 minimum annual fee, and no state income tax. Because the open questions are on the Chinese side (the IIT rules and the foreign-exchange quota), a state with little US paperwork lets you spend the effort where it matters.

Here is the first-year budget for a Wyoming LLC owned from China. State filing: $100 ($102 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: $60 (based on in-state assets, minimum $60, filed on the anniversary month). Most founders land well under $500 all-in for year one.

Over five years, the state-level cost of a Wyoming LLC is a $100 filing fee plus $60 a year for five years, so $400 in total, before the registered agent. That makes Wyoming the middle of the five states on this measure. The same arithmetic across the five states runs from $50 to $2,110. For a Chinese owner, the bigger variable is not this US state cost but how China's individual income tax rules and foreign-exchange quota apply.

As a Chinese owner, your recurring dates look like this. State: Wyoming's annual report and $60 minimum fee fall due in your LLC's anniversary month. 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 6 p.m. to 11 a.m. Chinese time in US daylight time (7 p.m. to noon 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.

Since 2018 China's individual income tax rules have included controlled-foreign-company provisions aimed at individuals who control entities in low-tax jurisdictions. Whether a US LLC falls inside them is not clear-cut. The question turns on a whitelist-style treatment of countries with comparable tax levels, and whether the United States qualifies for individual owners is a genuine grey area rather than a settled answer. Enforcement against individuals has historically been light, but light enforcement is not the same as legal clarity, so treat the point as open and get Chinese tax advice. On the US side the LLC files Form 5472 and a pro forma Form 1120 each year, with a $25,000 minimum penalty for a missed or incomplete filing.

If you hold more than one passport, the two banks test eligibility differently. Mercury's prohibited-countries list is based on country of residence, not citizenship, so someone living in China is judged on China. Relay's list looks at the citizenship or residency of the business owners. China is on neither list. The question only arises if you also hold citizenship in, or live in, a country that one of the lists does name, in which case check that bank's current page before you apply.

China is not on Mercury's prohibited-countries list, which is based on country of residence, and it is not on Relay's list of countries whose citizens or residents cannot be owners. Approval at either bank still depends on that bank's own review. The harder constraint is currency control: China has an annual foreign-exchange quota for individuals (currently USD 50,000 equivalent under State Administration of Foreign Exchange rules) and requires supporting documents for cross-border receipts. How profit moves from a US dollar account into China is a Chinese-law question, so confirm the route with your Chinese bank or adviser before you rely on it.