Register a company in South Dakota

Yes. The Articles go in through the Secretary of State's online Register a Business service, and online filings are processed immediately, so nobody has to travel. The EIN is requested from abroad by fax, phone or mail, because the IRS online application needs an SSN or ITIN. Fintech accounts are applied for remotely; the traditional-bank route is for founders who already have a US footprint.

Formation starts from $2,400 all-in, including the South Dakota filing fee ($150 online), 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's yearly cost is the annual report, $55 online or $70 on paper, with no state income tax on top.

No. It means South Dakota takes nothing from income: the state does not impose a corporate income tax and has no personal income tax. The IRS still does. A C-Corp pays 21%, and dividends paid to you abroad carry 30% withholding unless a treaty lowers it. An LLC is a pass-through by default. With one member it is disregarded, so income effectively connected with a US trade or business is taxed on the owner's side at graduated rates; with two or more it is a partnership that withholds on non-US members' share of that income at 37%, or 21% for corporate members. Sales tax is separate: 4.2% at state level plus municipal tax, collected by businesses with a physical presence in South Dakota and by remote sellers whose gross revenue from sales into the state has exceeded $100,000.

The state part is the quick one: online filings are processed immediately, and paper filings take 1-3 business days on average. The EIN sets the pace - generally within 4 business days by fax, about 4 weeks by mail. An ITIN, if you need one, takes the IRS 7 weeks, or 9-11 weeks from overseas or during tax season.

Through the second package. We decide with you between a fintech platform and a traditional bank, build the application file for a Mercury or Relay-class platform and connect ACH, wires and Stripe. A traditional bank makes sense once you have a footprint in the US. Every account is the provider's decision; we prepare the file, and we do not promise an approval.

Yes. The Secretary of State requires a South Dakota resident agent with both a physical and a mailing address in the state, and the filing must give an actual street address or rural route box number. A commercial agent registered with the Secretary of State qualifies. Ours is included for the first year; after that the agent has to be renewed or replaced, because failing to keep a valid agent on file is a ground for administrative dissolution.

The Secretary of State puts the due date on the first day of the anniversary month of the original filing, and you may file up to two months before it. A report still unfiled two months after the due date draws a $55 late fee, and a company that stays delinquent may be administratively dissolved. Reinstating an LLC then costs $150 plus fees and the missed reports. From 1 January 2027 the statute lets a company file in its anniversary month or by 31 January, as chosen on its formation document; for a company formed before then we confirm which date applies.

Not as an owner: the Secretary of State does not file the owners of LLCs or corporations, and naming beneficial owners is optional. The Articles do name each organiser, a manager-managed LLC lists its initial managers, and the annual report names governors unless the LLC is member-managed. If the company owns agricultural land, the report also says whether it has foreign beneficial owners, and the Secretary of State publishes an aggregated list. Under FinCEN's final rule, effective 14 August 2026, companies formed in the US file no BOI report; the IRS still learns who controls the company through the EIN application.

For a trading or service business with one or two owners, usually the LLC: a pass-through by default, with no South Dakota income tax at company or owner level. A C-Corp fits when investors will buy shares. It pays the federal 21% and nothing to South Dakota on income, and its Articles of Incorporation cost the same $150 online. S-corporation status is closed to non-resident alien shareholders. The choice is made on the free call, not after the filing.

It depends on where the business actually trades. Forming here does not take a company out of the state where it operates; a company doing business in another state usually registers there too, which our state qualification add-on covers from $700. The reverse is dearer: an LLC formed in another US state pays $750 online for a South Dakota Certificate of Authority, five times the $150 domestic fee. If your staff or premises are in South Dakota, forming here is the direct route. With no US link at all, compare Wyoming and Delaware on the same call; the federal rules are the same in all three.