Form a Wyoming LLC from South Korea: Complete 2026 Guide

Wyoming in one paragraph: $100 to file ($102 online), then $60 (based on in-state assets, minimum $60, filed on the anniversary month) each year. The state imposes no state income tax and no franchise tax. Wyoming does not publicly list LLC member or manager names in its formation filings. For a South Korea-based owner the state choice mainly decides cost, privacy and paperwork, not your home-country tax result. If a low, predictable annual cost and strong privacy is what you are optimizing for, Wyoming deserves a close look.

The cost side of a Wyoming LLC: $100 state fee ($102 online), a registered agent at typically $100-150 per year, a free IRS EIN, and a bank account that is usually free. Annual state requirement in Wyoming: $60 (based on in-state assets, minimum $60, filed on the anniversary month). If you use EasyBrise, Global Launch is $295 for year one (registered agent included) and $149 per year after, and for a founder in South Korea the whole first year typically comes in well under $500.

Wyoming fits if 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. Check the comparison table above before you commit, as switching later is not a simple amendment: the Wyoming LLC would be dissolved and a new one formed elsewhere.

Your Wyoming LLC exists once the state accepts the filing, but it is only ready to trade after these steps: sign the Operating Agreement; get the bank account open; apply for payment processors; calendar your Wyoming annual obligation ($60 minimum, filed in your LLC's anniversary month) and the federal Form 5472 and pro forma 1120. On BOI: FinCEN's rule in force since August 14, 2026 permanently exempts all US-formed LLCs, so there is nothing to file there.

South Korean 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. A founder in Korea funds the LLC from won converted to dollars. Korea's controlled-foreign-company rules start at a low ownership level and look at the effective tax the entity pays, so the Korean tax analysis is the main task.

Here is how Wyoming formation works for someone in South Korea. File the Articles of Organization with the Wyoming Secretary of State, using a registered agent's physical Wyoming address. Request your EIN from the IRS, writing "Foreign" or "N/A" in place of an SSN (phone: 267-941-1099, about 45-60 minutes; fax or mail: 4-6 weeks). Then apply for Mercury or Relay online. Every step can be done remotely.

The IRS international EIN line (267-941-1099) answers from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. South Korea stays on UTC+9 all year, so the window runs from 8 p.m. to 1 p.m. Korean time in US standard time and from 7 p.m. to noon in US daylight time. Call from your evening or early morning and plan on 45-60 minutes.

Korea's rules cover a Korean national or company that directly or indirectly holds at least 10 percent of a foreign corporation. That is far below the 50 percent common elsewhere, and a sole owner holds 100 percent. The wording refers to a Korean national, so a resident individual appears to be covered, but the summary we reviewed does not define the term or address residency, which a Korean adviser should confirm for your own situation.

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 South Korean owner, the low threshold of the controlled-foreign-company rules is the central issue, so budget for a Korean tax adviser's written view alongside the US costs.

For a South Korean owner whose main task is the controlled-foreign-company analysis, Wyoming keeps the US side light: $100 to file, a $60 minimum annual fee and no state income tax.

South Korea 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 South Korea. Won are converted to dollars when you fund the account, and Korean banks apply their own foreign exchange reporting, so ask your bank what documents it needs.

As a South Korean 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 8 p.m. to 1 p.m. Korean time in US standard time (7 p.m. to noon in US daylight 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.

PwC's Korea summary says a Korean national or company that directly or indirectly holds at least 10 percent of a foreign corporation is covered, so an individual is within the wording, although the page does not define national or address residency. The test is whether the foreign corporation's average effective income tax rate over the three most recent consecutive years is 17.5 percent or less, which is 70 percent of the 25 percent top corporate rate for tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2026. If it applies, undistributed earnings are deemed paid as a dividend to the Korean shareholder. A single-member LLC that bears little or no US federal tax sits on the wrong side of that test, so a Korean adviser must model it.