Delaware
LLC / C-Corp
✓LLC or C-Corp, filed in 1-3 days✓C-Corp at 21% federal; the LLC is pass-through✓LLC franchise tax is a flat $300 a year
The company is the easy part. The EIN and the bank are the project.
Nevada, Texas and Wyoming charge no state income tax. That is a fact about one line of the bill, not the whole bill: federal tax follows the owner and the entity, while the state where you actually do business can reach you regardless of what the certificate of formation says. We choose based on where you operate, where you bank and where you are resident - and tell you before you pay if the right answer is a company somewhere else entirely.
9
North American jurisdictions
6,000+
companies registered
70+
banking relationships
Updated · Reviewed by the Prifinance team
Where we register
All nine - this is the whole category, not a shortlist
Wyoming
LLC / Corp
✓The state that invented the LLC - filed in 1-3 days✓Annual report from $60, with no public register of members✓No state income tax; the federal picture is the same as Delaware’s
Nevada
LLC / Corp
✓No state income tax; Commerce Tax only above $4M of revenue✓About $350 a year for an LLC and $650 for a corporation✓Officers appear on a public list - this is not the privacy state
Texas
LLC / Corp
✓No state income tax, personal or corporate✓Franchise tax is $0 below $2.47M, then 0.375-0.75%✓No annual report fee
California
LLC / Corp · often DE + CA qualification
✓8.84% corporate tax and an $800 minimum every year regardless✓Roughly $700k of California sales triggers doing business here✓The fourth-largest economy on earth, and where the capital sits
Canada
LP · Limited Partnership (Ontario)
✓LP in Ontario, registered in 2-5 business days✓0% in Canada - the partners are taxed instead✓No minimum capital, no audited accounts, fully online
Alberta
Corporation / Alberta LP
✓Corporation or Alberta LP, filed in 1-3 days✓23% combined - 8% provincial plus 15% federal✓No director-residency requirement; GST 5% only, no PST
Mexico
SA de CV / S. de RL
✓SA de CV or S. de RL - 2-4 weeks, plus the RFC✓30% corporate tax with a 10% employee profit share on top✓IVA at 16%, or 8% in the border zone
Bermuda Islands
Exempted company
✓Exempted company, vetted by the BMA in 1-2 weeks✓No income tax; 15% only for groups above €750M✓A third of the world’s reinsurance capital, and courts London trusts
The part that ends badly
A filed company with no tax number and no bank account is not a business
The state gives you a certificate in 1-3 days and then everything stops. The two things that make the company usable are not issued by the state, and neither of them is quick when the owner is a non-resident.
✓The EIN is applied for after formation and takes 2-8 weeks without an SSN or ITIN✓Most US banks decline a foreign-owned company with no US address, staff or customers✓Several banks still want the signatory in person, and no letter changes that✓Miss the annual report and the state dissolves the company - reviving it costs many times the fee you forgot
This is why the first question we ask is where you intend to bank, not which state you like the sound of.
Ask what would actually work →When it does work
The cases where a North American company is the right answer
Most of them are ordinary. The company follows a real operation, a real investor or a real counterparty, and when it does, none of the questions above are difficult.
✓US investors ask for a Delaware entity by name, and the Chancery Court is why✓You genuinely sell into the US and need a US bank, processor and contracting party✓You need G7 paperwork without Canadian tax - an Ontario LP with non-resident partners✓You are on the ground: manufacturing under USMCA in Mexico, or regulated insurance and funds in Bermuda
Each of these points to a different state or country, and the reasons have very little to do with the headline tax rate.
Get a free legal opinion →What registration covers
What we do, and what you get at the end
Incorporation is the easy part. The work is choosing correctly, satisfying the registrar and getting a bank account opened afterwards.
These include:
✓Choice of jurisdiction and legal form against your real activity✓Name check, incorporation and the full corporate document set✓Registered office and registered agent for the first year✓Beneficial ownership filings where the jurisdiction requires them✓Apostille and legalisation of documents for use abroad
Additionally, where needed:
✓Bank or EMI account opening, with 70+ relationships behind the application✓Nominee or resident director where the law requires one✓Substance - office, staff and local presence✓Accounting, annual returns and tax registration✓Licences, permits and sector approvals
Several of these jurisdictions now require annual filings and substance reports that did not exist five years ago. We keep them filed.
| What | Typical time | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Name approval | Same day to 3 days | Reserved company name |
| Incorporation | 1 day to 8 weeks | Certificate, charter, register of members |
| Corporate documents | With incorporation | Resolutions, share certificates, POA |
| Apostille set | 3-10 business days | Legalised documents for the bank |
| Tax and social registration | 1-3 weeks | Tax number, VAT where applicable |
| Bank account | 2-8 weeks | IBAN and access to the account |
The bank is the slow step everywhere, and it is the one that decides whether the structure was worth building. We start it in parallel, not afterwards.
Comparison of jurisdictions
All nine, with the filing time and the rate that actually applies
The tax column is not one measure. For the US states it shows only the state layer; federal tax is a separate bill charged on the same profit under different rules.
01
Fastest to file
Delaware, Nevada, Texas and Wyoming file in 1-3 days, and so does Alberta. California takes 1-5 days. None of those timeframes includes the EIN.
02
No state income tax
Nevada, Texas and Wyoming charge none. Nevada applies Commerce Tax only above $4M of revenue and Texas franchise tax only above $2.47M, but the federal layer sits on top of all three.
03
Transparent, not exempt
A Canadian LP shows 0% because it pays nothing itself. The partners are taxed where they live. A Delaware or Wyoming LLC has the same basic pass-through shape by default.
04
Real rates in real markets
California is 8.84% with an $800 minimum, Mexico 30% plus a 10% employee profit share, and Alberta 23% combined. Bermuda charges no income tax, while 15% applies only to groups above €750M.
| Jurisdiction | Legal form | Time to set up | Corporate tax | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bermuda IslandsMore details → | Exempted company | 1-2 weeks - BMA-vetted | None · 15% for €750M+ groups | - |
| CanadaMore details → | LP · Limited Partnership (Ontario) | 2-5 business days | 0% - transparent entity | Yes - fully online |
| CaliforniaMore details → | LLC / Corp · often DE + CA qualification | 1-5 days · EIN 2-8 weeks | 8.84% · LLC min $800/yr | Yes - fully |
| DelawareMore details → | LLC / C-Corp | 1-3 days · EIN 2-8 weeks | C-Corp 21% · LLC pass-through | Yes - fully |
| MexicoMore details → | SA de CV / S. de RL | 2-4 weeks + RFC | 30% + PTU 10% | Mostly - RFC needs care |
| NevadaMore details → | LLC / Corp | 1-3 days · EIN 2-8 weeks | None | Yes - fully |
| TexasMore details → | LLC / Corp | 1-3 days · EIN 2-8 weeks | None - personal or corporate | Yes - fully |
| WyomingMore details → | LLC / Corp | 1-3 days · EIN 2-8 weeks | None | Yes - fully |
| AlbertaMore details → | Corporation / Alberta LP | 1-3 days | 23% - 8% AB + 15% federal | Yes - by POA |
Important: Two lines here are transparent rather than low-taxed. Canada’s 0% is the Ontario LP paying nothing while its partners pay at home, and a Delaware or Wyoming LLC works in a similar way. Alberta is the opposite case: an Alberta corporation is a Canadian tax resident taxed on worldwide income, and the 23% figure is 8% provincial plus 15% federal.
No line here is a recommendation on its own. Where you actually do business matters more than the state on the certificate, and the bank matters more than either.
Before you register
What the registry, the tax authority and the bank each want
The registry's list is short and takes days. The other two lists are the ones that take weeks, and nobody mentions them when they quote you for a formation.
01
Passport and proof of address Certified copies for every member, director, officer and beneficial owner. US registries ask for very little at this stage; the bank asks for all of it later.
02
A registered agent in the jurisdiction Mandatory in every US state and in Alberta. A physical address that accepts service of process, renewed every year.
03
A described business activity Not just “consulting”. What you sell, to whom, from where and how you get paid. The bank asks repeatedly and compares the answers.
04
A tax number: EIN or RFC The EIN is applied for once the company exists and takes 2-8 weeks without an SSN or ITIN behind the application. In Mexico the RFC is the same bottleneck under another name.
05
A bank that will open for a non-resident A foreign-owned company with no US premises, staff or customers is a file most US banks decline. Choose the bank before choosing the state.
06
Source of funds Documented, not asserted.
07
Beneficial ownership disclosure Expected by the bank in every case and by the registry in some.
08
Foreign qualification where you actually operate File in Wyoming, operate in California, and California may require you to register there as well.
09
The annual filing, which is small money and easy to forget Wyoming from $60, a flat $300 for a Delaware LLC, about $350 for a Nevada LLC and $650 for a Nevada corporation, no annual report fee in Texas, and an $800 minimum in California whether you traded or not.
10
Reporting at home, and reporting to the IRS A foreign-owned US entity has federal information returns to file even in a year when it owes no US tax. The registry’s list is short and takes days. The other two lists are the ones that take weeks, and they are usually the parts omitted from a simple formation quote.
Note: If you have no US customers, no US address and no plan for a bank, deal with that before you choose a state. The filing is the cheapest step here and the least of the problems.
On the ground
Sixteen offices, our own people
Prague
Czech Republic
Vlkova 532/8, Žižkov
Berlin
Germany
Rankestraße 26
Singapore
Singapore
3 Church Street, #29-68 Samsung Hub
Bangkok
Thailand
Unit P01, Penthouse, VASU1, 1 Sukhumvit 25 Alley
Foshan
China
A-Tower, Yuneng Digital Plaza, 46 Lishui Avenue South
Bishkek
Kyrgyzstan
32 Razzakov Street
How it works
Five stages from first call to a working account
STEP 01
The opinion
Where you live, where you work, where you will bank and what the company will do. From that come the jurisdiction, legal form and written reasoning. Free.
STEP 02
Documents and name
Certified passports, proof of address, the activity description and a name the registrar will accept. Translations and legalisation where required.
STEP 03
Incorporation
Filed by us or our local partner. You receive the certificate, constitutional documents and registers.
STEP 04
Legalisation and the bank
Apostille where the bank requires it, followed by the account application. Banking starts in parallel with incorporation, not afterwards.
STEP 05
Keeping it alive
Registered agent, annual return, accounting and substance filings. The part people forget until the company is struck off. These are registry times. For anything in the United States, add the EIN - 2-8 weeks without an SSN or ITIN - and then the bank account, which depends on your file rather than your state.
Why Prifinance
Why this is worth paying a lawyer for
Anyone can file an LLC online in an afternoon. What you are paying for is the EIN that actually arrives, the account that actually opens and the state you should have filed in.
01
6,000+ companies, so the ways this stalls are familiar
An EIN application returned three weeks later because of one wrong field, a bank asking for another document, or a state dissolving a company nobody was monitoring - none of this is new to us.
02
The bank is chosen before the state
70+ banking relationships, and we know which institutions will consider a foreign-owned US company with no US premises and which will not open the file at all.
03
We say no when the state is the wrong question
If you sell into California from California, filing in Wyoming saves nothing and adds a second registration. You hear that before paying, not at the first filing.
04
The federal question is answered on your facts, in writing
Whether profit is effectively connected with a US trade or business, what is withheld at source and whether a treaty helps are questions answered from your circumstances, not from a generic paragraph.
05
Somebody keeps the company alive afterwards
Registered agent, annual reports, franchise tax and the Texas report that carries no fee but still has to be filed - handled by the same team that formed the company.
Your team
The people who will run your file
Dmitri Mihhailov
General Partner
Leads Prifinance's corporate practice and oversees client engagements, with senior expertise in international company structuring and bank-account setup.
Eugeniu Bevziuc
Corporate services advisor
Corporate services and compliance: documents, legalisation, annual filings and the bank's questions.
Alex Danila
Company formation specialist
Your day-to-day contact - coordinates incorporation, documents and the bank introduction, from the first call through to launch.
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Watch: how a state is chosen, and why the bank account decides it
Good to know
Four things about tax that change the answer
The rate in the table is one layer. Which other layers reach you depends on the entity chosen and where the income is actually earned.
State tax and federal tax are two different bills
Nevada, Texas and Wyoming charge no state income tax. That says nothing about the federal layer, which is charged under its own rules and does not care which state you filed in.
An LLC is transparent; a C-Corp is not
An LLC files and its members are taxed. A C-Corp pays 21% federal tax itself, and shareholders may be taxed again when the money comes out. Choosing between them is a tax decision disguised as a choice of legal form.
Effectively connected income is the whole question
Profit connected with a US trade or business is taxed and filed in the United States. US-source income that is not effectively connected is handled through withholding at source instead. Which category applies depends on where the work is done, by whom and what is being sold.
Where you file is not necessarily where you owe
A doing-business nexus in the state where you actually operate can override the state chosen for incorporation. California starts asking at roughly $700k of California sales, after which registration and payment there may also be required.
Important: None of this can be settled from a table. Effectively connected income, withholding, treaty relief and your home-country CFC rules depend on facts we need to review. We give that advice in writing based on your circumstances and would rather tell you the structure does not work than let you discover it at the first filing.
Client notes
Google4.7★★★★★
Founders who wanted it done right.
Google4.7★★★★★
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Google
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Google
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FAQ
What people ask before choosing a state
Which of these is fastest?+
Delaware, Nevada, Texas and Wyoming file in 1-3 days, and Alberta takes about the same. California takes 1-5 days and an Ontario LP 2-5 business days. For any US company, the EIN then adds another 2-8 weeks.
How long does the EIN really take?+
2-8 weeks when there is no SSN or ITIN behind the application. It cannot be applied for until the company exists, and nothing downstream - bank, payroll or payment processor - moves before it arrives.
Can I open the US bank account without flying over?+
Sometimes, but not reliably. A non-resident owner with no US address, staff or customers is a difficult file for most US banks, and several still want the signatory in person. We identify realistic banking options before incorporation because the answer can change the whole structure.
Which state should I choose?+
Mostly based on cost, privacy and where you actually do business. Wyoming is the cheapest to maintain at $60 a year with no public member register; Delaware costs a flat $300 and is what investors expect; Nevada is more expensive and publishes officers; Texas charges no annual report fee. If you operate in one state and incorporate in another, expect to register in both.
Does “no state income tax” mean I pay no tax?+
No. It means one line of the bill is zero. Federal tax follows the owner and entity type, while the state where you actually do business may tax you regardless of where you incorporated.
Will my US LLC owe US federal tax?+
It depends on whether the profit is effectively connected with a US trade or business and whether any income is US-source and subject to withholding. A Delaware LLC owned by a non-resident with no US-source business can legitimately owe nothing; the same company with US staff or work performed in the US usually cannot. The conclusion depends on your facts.
Is a Canadian LP a tax-free company?+
It is transparent, which is different. The LP pays nothing in Canada when the partners are non-resident and there is no Canadian-source income, but the profit is taxed in the partners’ own countries. An Alberta corporation is the opposite: a Canadian tax resident taxed on worldwide income at 23% combined.
What does Mexico actually involve?+
2-4 weeks and then the RFC, which is the real bottleneck: the company cannot invoice without it and SAT controls the timing. Tax is 30% with a mandatory 10% employee profit share on top and IVA at 16%, or 8% in the border zone.
Why is Bermuda different from everything else here?+
Because you are vetted before registration. An Exempted Company takes 1-2 weeks through the Bermuda Monetary Authority, it is not a simple remote sign-up, and substance is required for relevant activities. There is no income tax, while 15% reaches only groups above €750M. It is designed for reinsurance, cat bonds and funds rather than a small trading company.
What do I pay every year, and what happens if I forget?+
From $60 in Wyoming, $300 flat for a Delaware LLC, about $350 or $650 in Nevada, no annual report fee in Texas and an $800 minimum in California even in a loss year. Forgetting is common precisely because the amounts are small, but restoring an administratively dissolved company costs much more than the missed fee.
Free consultation
Tell us where you actually do business
Tell us where your customers are, where you are resident, whether you will have US staff and which bank you expect to use. You receive a written recommendation covering the jurisdiction, legal form, first-year cost, annual maintenance and the reasoning - free of charge.
Written assessment within 2-5 business days