Form a Wyoming LLC from Turkey: Complete 2026 Guide

What makes Wyoming worth a look for someone in Turkey: 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 Turkey 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.

Turkish software developers, designers and online sellers form US LLCs to bill clients in dollars, accept US payment processors and keep a US business bank account. Turkish tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, so the LLC does not take profit outside the Turkish tax system. The practical question is whether Turkey's controlled-foreign-company rules reach your LLC, because that decides whether profit can be taxed to you before you withdraw it.

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 Turkey 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.

If you plan to capitalize the LLC with a large sum, note the 2019 decree that delays settlement of individual foreign-currency purchases above USD 100,000. It is a delay, not a ban. Most founders start with the registered agent and state fee, which are small, and add working capital in stages. Ask your Turkish bank how they process foreign-currency transfers and what documents they want.

A Turkish founder weighing Wyoming gets a $100 filing fee and a $60 minimum annual fee. Since the open questions are on the Turkish side, in particular the passive-income share of the LLC's revenue, a cheap, low-friction state lets you spend your advice budget there.

Here is the first-year budget for a Wyoming LLC owned from Turkey. 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.

Turkey 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 owners' citizenship and residency. Both banks run their own reviews, so approval is not guaranteed. Neither bank's published rules restrict international wires involving Turkey. The Turkish lira is convertible, and the only rule worth planning around is a 2019 decree that delays settlement of individual foreign-currency purchases above USD 100,000, which can slow a very large single transfer. Several smaller transfers may process more quickly.

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 Turkish owner, the bigger variable is not this US state cost but whether Turkey's three-part CFC test is met, which turns mainly on how much of the LLC's income is passive.

As a Turkish 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 1 p.m. to 6 a.m. Turkish time in US daylight time (2 p.m. to 7 a.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.

Turkey's controlled-foreign-company rules need three conditions to be met together. First, a Turkish resident holds 50% or more of the foreign company's shares, dividend rights or voting rights; a sole owner of a single-member LLC clears that. Second, at least 25% of the company's gross income is passive, such as interest, royalties, dividends or rent. Third, the foreign company's actual effective tax burden is below 10%. Because all three are required, an LLC earning mainly active service or sales income often falls outside the rules through the passive-income leg. On the US side the LLC files Form 5472 and a pro forma Form 1120 every year, with a $25,000 minimum penalty for a missed or incomplete filing.

The United States and Turkey have had a comprehensive income tax treaty in force since the late 1990s, and Turkish domestic law also allows a credit for tax actually paid abroad. For a typical non-US-source single-member LLC the US federal bill is often $0, so there may be little US tax for the credit to offset. A treaty and a credit still do not answer the CFC question, so ask a Turkish adviser to cover both.