Wyoming vs New Mexico LLC: which is better if you live outside the US?

Wyoming vs New Mexico LLC at a glance

Cost: how much cheaper is a New Mexico LLC?

New Mexico costs $52 to form, against $103 in Wyoming. After that, New Mexico charges nothing: its LLC law has no annual or biennial report, and its fee schedule has no yearly fee. Wyoming's annual report comes with a license tax of $60, or $0.0002 per dollar of assets located and employed in Wyoming if that's higher, which only happens above $300,000 of Wyoming assets.

Over five years the gap is about $291 in state fees. That's real money for a small business, but not a lot, so choose on fit rather than price alone. Both states require a registered agent every year, and nothing about your federal filings changes. Compare every state in LLC annual fees by state.

Privacy: what each state puts on the public record

New Mexico's reputation for privacy is earned. Its Articles of Organization must include the company name, the registered agent and registered office, the principal place of business if it's different, and a statement if a manager runs the LLC or it has a single member. They don't name the members or managers, and with no annual report, names never get added later.

Wyoming is similar at formation. Its articles ask for the company name, the registered agent, a mailing address and a principal office address, signed by an organizer, with no members or managers. In both states, use a business address rather than your home address wherever the filing asks for one.

The trade-offs of an anonymous state record

• You prove ownership yourself. With no owner names on file, banks, payment processors and partners rely on your own documents, such as your operating agreement and the IRS letter confirming your EIN.
• Nothing prompts updates. Without an annual report, New Mexico never asks you to confirm your details. If your registered agent or office changes, you file that change yourself, and New Mexico charges $20 for it.
• It isn't anonymity from the government. The IRS records a responsible party for your EIN, and your bank verifies who owns the LLC. US-formed LLCs no longer file federal BOI reports since FinCEN's final rule took effect on August 14, 2026; see BOI reporting in 2026.

Taxes: income tax and New Mexico's gross receipts tax

Wyoming has no corporate or personal income tax. New Mexico has both, but its personal income tax reaches non-residents, including people living outside the US, only when they have a US federal filing requirement and income from New Mexico sources. Forming an LLC in New Mexico isn't the same as earning income there.

New Mexico's gross receipts tax (GRT) is the one to understand. It's a tax on businesses for the privilege of doing business in New Mexico, and it's often passed on to customers like a sales tax. It covers services performed in New Mexico and services performed elsewhere whose product is first used in New Mexico. Sellers with no physical presence in the state owe it once they have at least $100,000 of taxable New Mexico receipts in the previous calendar year.

That remote-seller threshold depends on your New Mexico sales, not on where you formed, so a Wyoming LLC selling into New Mexico can reach it too. If you'll have customers in New Mexico or anyone working there, confirm your position with a US CPA before you rely on GRT not applying.

Your federal obligations are identical in both states. A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 in any year it has reportable transactions with its owner. New Mexico's $50 corporate franchise tax applies only if your LLC elects to be taxed as a corporation. For the bigger picture, read US taxes for non-resident LLC owners.

Running the company: deadlines, reminders and good standing

Wyoming gives you one yearly state task: file the annual report and pay the license tax by the first day of your anniversary month, starting the year after you form. The state emails reminders, and certificates of good standing are free on its website. If the report is more than 60 days late, the LLC is administratively dissolved, and reinstatement has its own $100 filing fee.

New Mexico has no yearly state filing at all. That removes a common way for LLCs to fall out of good standing, but your registered agent still needs paying every year, and federal deadlines don't go away. Our LLC annual compliance checklist covers what's left in each state.

Which should you choose?

• Lowest cost and fewest filings, run from abroad: New Mexico.
• No state income tax of any kind, with a yearly report that keeps records current: Wyoming.
• You'll live or work in New Mexico: form in New Mexico and ask a CPA about GRT.
• Planning to raise venture capital: neither LLC; compare LLC vs C-corp.
• Weighing Delaware or Nevada too: see Wyoming vs Delaware and Wyoming vs Nevada.

Frequently asked questions