Register a company in Vermont

Yes. We file the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division, our registered agent covers the first year, and the EIN application goes to the IRS by phone, fax or mail, the routes it keeps for applicants without an SSN or ITIN. You sign the documents where you are. Banking is the step that can ask more of you: fintech platforms take online applications, while a traditional bank usually expects some footprint in the US.

Formation starts from $2,400 all-in, including the Vermont filing fee ($155 for an LLC's Articles of Organization), 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 $45 a year for an LLC's annual report, and a pass-through LLC engaged in activities in Vermont pays the $250 minimum entity tax with Form BI-471. Our renewal is from $600 a year.

We have no official processing time we can quote for the Secretary of State, so we confirm the current one when we file. The EIN follows the articles: generally within 4 business days by fax, about 4 weeks by mail. If you also need an ITIN, allow 7 weeks, or 9-11 weeks if you apply from abroad or in tax season (15 January to 30 April).

A C-Corp pays 21% federal tax plus Vermont corporate tax on Form CO-411: 6% on the first $10,000, 7% up to $25,000, 8.5% above, and at least $100 a year, more as Vermont gross receipts grow. Dividends it pays to a non-US shareholder carry 30% federal withholding unless a treaty lowers the rate. An LLC is taxed through its owners by default. A non-US owner then pays US tax on income effectively connected with a US trade or business, and 30% on most other US-source income, such as rent or interest, unless a treaty or the Code sets a lower rate. Vermont adds the $250 minimum for a pass-through LLC engaged in activities in the state, plus estimated payments for non-resident owners' Vermont-source income. Sales tax is 6%.

The Company + Bank Account package starts by choosing between a fintech platform and a traditional bank for your file. For Mercury or Relay-class platforms we prepare the application file. A traditional bank is the realistic route when you already have a US footprint, such as staff or an office. The approval decision is the bank's. Once the account is open, we set up ACH, wires and Stripe onboarding.

An LLC suits one owner or a few partners running a trading or service business: profit is taxed in the owners' hands, and the Vermont filing is $155. A C-Corp is the usual vehicle once outside investors come in. With a non-US shareholder it cannot be an S corporation, so it pays 21% federal tax plus Vermont's brackets. An LLC can elect corporate treatment on Form 8832, but after that change it cannot change again by election for 60 months. Vermont also offers the L3C and the blockchain-based LLC, and we tell you plainly whether either fits.

Owner names are not required on the articles. They name the organizers, the designated office and the agent, and owners' contact details are optional; if you sign as organizer yourself, your name is on them. The LLC's annual report gives the designated office and the agent's name, email and address. Corporations are different. Their annual report lists the directors and the president, secretary and treasurer with business addresses. Beyond the state record, the EIN application names the responsible party, and Form 5472 reports a foreign owner to the IRS. Under FinCEN's final rule, in force since 14 August 2026, a company formed in Vermont files no BOI report.

It applies when one foreign person, you or your company abroad, owns the whole LLC. For this purpose the IRS treats the LLC as a corporation: it files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached, reporting its transactions with you as a related party, including money you put in or take out. It cannot be filed electronically, only by fax or mail. Not filing costs $25,000, plus another $25,000 for each 30-day period the failure continues more than 90 days after an IRS notice. Our accounting add-on covers it from $800 a year.

Because the business is in Vermont, or because the L3C or the blockchain-based LLC is what you need. An LLC formed in another state that registers in Vermont pays $155 for a certificate of authority and $170 for each Vermont annual report, against $45 for a Vermont LLC. Vermont law calls it a foreign LLC, a term about its home state, not its owners. If nothing ties you to Vermont, compare Delaware and Wyoming first, and we will say plainly which one fits.

Mostly tax. The $45 report makes Vermont look cheap to keep, but a pass-through LLC engaged in activities in Vermont pays at least $250 a year with Form BI-471, and with non-resident owners it makes estimated payments for them. A profitable C-Corp pays 8.5% on income above $25,000, and the top personal rate is 8.75%. The smaller catch is paperwork: a 2023 act raised the statutory fees to $155 for the articles and $45 for the report, while the Secretary of State's fee page still lists $125 and $35. Either way the formation fee sits inside our price; for later years we confirm what the state charges.