Register a company in Alabama

Yes. The name reservation and the Certificate of Formation are both filed online, and the certificate is signed by an organiser or attorney-in-fact, so nobody has to appear in Montgomery. The EIN comes from the IRS without an SSN or ITIN: line 7b of Form SS-4 says "foreign", and the application goes through the international phone line, by fax or by mail. Fintech accounts open remotely; a traditional bank usually wants to see a US footprint first.

Formation starts from $2,400 all-in, including the Alabama filing fee ($200), the registered agent for the first year, the EIN and the operating agreement. With a fintech or bank account set up, from $4,400. The name reservation ($25, or $28 online) is itemised in the quote. After formation, the state's yearly charge for an LLC is the business privilege tax, and from tax year 2024 an amount of $100 or less is exempt, with no return to file.

The Alabama part is short. An online name reservation prints at the end of the session, and the Certificate of Formation takes effect on the date the Secretary of State receives it. We found no published processing time and the fee schedule lists no expedite option, so we confirm the timing for your filing rather than quote one. For non-US founders the EIN sets the pace: by fax the IRS generally replies within 4 business days, by mail in about 4 weeks. Bank onboarding starts once the EIN is issued.

An LLC suits most trading and service companies owned by one person or a few: it is taxed through its owners by default, and Alabama charges no annual report fee for it. A C-Corp suits founders who plan to raise equity or keep profits in the company - 21% federal tax plus 6.5% Alabama tax, with the federal tax deductible from the Alabama base. S corporation status is closed to non-resident alien shareholders. An LLC can elect corporate treatment on Form 8832, but after a change of classification it cannot change again by election for 60 months.

A C-Corp pays 21% federal tax and 6.5% Alabama tax on net income, and dividends paid to non-US shareholders carry 30% withholding unless a treaty or a code section reduces it. A single-member LLC is disregarded for federal income tax; a multi-member LLC is a partnership by default and withholds tax on its non-US members' share of effectively connected income - 37%, or 21% for corporate members. Alabama taxes non-residents on Alabama-source income at up to 5%, and partnerships pay 5% on behalf of non-resident members through a composite return. The business privilege tax applies to every Alabama company, exempt at $100 or less.

A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person is disregarded for income tax but treated as a corporation for Form 5472. It reports transactions with its owner - contributions and distributions included - on Form 5472, attached to a pro forma Form 1120 that carries little more than the name and address. It cannot be e-filed: it goes by fax or by mail to the IRS in Ogden, by the Form 1120 due date, the 15th day of the 4th month after year-end unless extended. Missing it costs $25,000, plus $25,000 for each 30 days the failure runs beyond 90 days after an IRS notice.

Possibly, and it is issued locally. Title 40, Chapter 12 of the Code of Alabama requires a privilege licence of every person or company engaged in the businesses it lists, issued by the Probate Judge or License Commissioner of the county where the business is located. Cities license on their own, and the Department of Revenue does not handle municipal licences, so each city where you trade is checked separately. We run your activity against the list before you sign a lease.

Alabama still counts it. Any entity that shows "exists" on the Secretary of State's website is subject to tax, the privilege tax obligation continues every registered year until the company is formally dissolved or withdrawn, and a dissolution cannot be backdated to the day trading stopped. From tax year 2024 an idle LLC whose tax works out at $100 or less files no annual return. If a non-US owner moved money in or out, Form 5472 still applies.

With the EIN, the Certificate of Formation and the operating agreement in hand. Most non-US founders start with a fintech platform of the Mercury or Relay type, which onboards remotely; a traditional bank becomes realistic once the company has a US footprint - staff, premises or US customers. The $4,400 package covers the strategy, the application files and onboarding for payment rails such as ACH, wires and Stripe. The platform or bank makes the decision; we make the file as clean as it can be.

No. FinCEN's final rule, issued on 11 August 2026 and effective from 14 August 2026, keeps companies formed in the US exempt from beneficial ownership reporting, the position since the interim rule of March 2025. The duty now sits with companies formed abroad that register to do business in a US state, and they report only their foreign beneficial owners. We still keep the BOI status on the compliance calendar.