Register a company in Rhode Island

Yes, start to finish. The Articles of Organization go to the Business Services Division online, and our registered agent covers the Rhode Island street address the state requires. Without an SSN or ITIN, the EIN request goes to the IRS by fax or phone. Annual reports can also be filed online. For banking, fintech platforms work remotely; a traditional bank is realistic once the business has a US footprint.

Formation starts from $2,400 all-in, including the Rhode Island filing fee ($150), the registered agent for the first year, the EIN and the operating agreement. With a fintech or bank account set up, from $4,400. After that, the state charges $50 a year for the annual report, and the Division of Taxation collects at least $400 a year from every LLC and corporation.

For a founder abroad selling services or software, we usually recommend an LLC. Its profit is taxed through the owners rather than at a corporate rate, but the LLC pays Rhode Island's $400 charge each year and, with a single non-US owner, files Form 5472. Raising money changes the answer. Investors generally expect a C-Corp, which pays 21% federal and 7% state tax and withholds 30% on dividends to non-US shareholders unless a treaty cuts it. An S-corporation is not an option, since the IRS bars non-resident alien shareholders.

A C-Corp pays 21% federal tax and 7% Rhode Island tax on net income, with a $400 minimum. A pass-through LLC is not taxed on its profit itself; its owners are, and a non-US owner pays federal tax on income effectively connected with a US business. The LLC still owes Rhode Island the $400 annual charge. As a rule, the LLC withholds Rhode Island tax on non-resident members' Rhode Island income at 5.99% for individuals and 7% for corporations. A multi-member LLC also withholds federal tax on effectively connected income allocated to non-US members: 37%, or 21% for corporate members. Sales tax in Rhode Island is 7%; there is no federal VAT.

Not long on the state side: the Department of State says a filing may take one to three business days to process. The IRS is slower. A faxed EIN application is generally answered within 4 business days, a mailed one in about 4 weeks, and applicants abroad can also apply by phone. The bank application follows the EIN.

Opening one is what the $4,400 package is built around. For your profile we pick either a Mercury- or Relay-class fintech platform, which opens remotely, or a traditional bank if you have a US footprint, build the application, then connect ACH, wires and Stripe. Approval is the bank's call. We make sure it sees a clean file: Articles, EIN, operating agreement and, where asked, the state's $20 certificate of good standing.

Yes. Under § 7-16-67 an LLC that is not taxed as a corporation pays an annual charge equal to the minimum corporate tax, currently $400, and income does not change it. The charge goes to the Division of Taxation, separately from the $50 report at the Department of State, and it is due by the due date of the LLC's Rhode Island return; paid late, it grows by $100. A C-Corp pays the same $400 as its minimum tax, not prorated. After formation this is the largest fixed state cost of a Rhode Island company, so it goes into your quote and onto your calendar.

It applies when a single non-US person owns the whole LLC. For this report the IRS treats such an LLC as a corporation, so each year it files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached, showing transactions with its owner, money put in and taken out included. It is due when the 1120 is, generally the 15th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends, and it must go by fax or mail, because e-filing is not accepted. The penalty for missing it is $25,000, plus another $25,000 for each 30 days the failure runs on beyond 90 days after an IRS notice.

No. FinCEN's final rule, effective 14 August 2026, exempts companies formed in the United States, so a Rhode Island LLC or C-Corp files no BOI report, wherever its owners live. The reporting duty now sits only with entities formed under a foreign country's law that register to do business in a US state. US companies were first exempted by an interim rule in March 2025; we keep the topic on your calendar in case the rule changes again.

It depends on where the company will work. An LLC formed in another US state can register in Rhode Island as a foreign LLC. That costs $150, and from then on it files the same 1 February - 1 May annual report as a local one, on top of everything its home state asks. So if the business will be run from Rhode Island and would need that registration anyway, forming here saves a second set of filings. Without any tie to the state, read our Delaware and Wyoming pages before choosing.