2026 tax year
Wyoming vs Nevada LLC
Marketed identically. One costs about six times the other to keep.
Forming in Wyoming, Delaware or Nevada does not remove tax or registration obligations in the state where your business actually operates. An out-of-state entity doing business in its owner's state must usually register there as a foreign entity and pay that state's taxes anyway.
These two are sold with the same pitch, no income tax, privacy, low cost. And are the two states most often recommended interchangeably. On annual cost they are not close.
Nevada charges a business license every year. Wyoming does not.
Wyoming's recurring cost is one line: an annual report license tax with a $60 floor. That is the whole of it.
Nevada's is three. There is a $150 annual list of managers. There is a State Business License at $200 a year for an LLC, $500 for a corporation, paid to the Secretary of State alongside the list. And in the first year there is an Initial List at the same $150 as the annual one, due when the articles are filed, so year one carries the $150 twice.
That puts Wyoming at roughly $60 a year against Nevada at roughly $350, before either state's registered agent. The business license is the line that does the damage and it is the one least often mentioned, because a fee schedule showing "$75 to form" reads as cheap.
What each charges
| State | Entity | Formation | Foreign registration | Annual report | Annual tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | LLC | $100 | $150 | $60 | not established |
| Wyoming | Corporation | $100 | $150 | $60 | not established |
| Nevada | LLC | $75 | $75 | $150 | $200 |
| Nevada | Corporation | $75 minimum | $75 | $150 | $500 |
A figure marked "minimum" scales with authorized shares or capital. The real amount depends on a share structure this calculator does not ask for, so any total containing it is a floor.
Wyoming in detail
One recurring charge, and a formula that only bites if you hold substantial assets in Wyoming.
The same fees apply to LLCs and corporations, which is unusual, most states charge corporations more.
Nevada in detail
Nevada corporation formation and annual list fees both scale with the value of total authorized shares, to a $35,000 and $11,125 maximum. The figures shown here are minimums.
Nevada also has a Commerce Tax on gross revenue above $4 million a year, at rates that vary by industry classification. So above that threshold this calculator computes nothing rather than guessing a rate.
The short answer
On recurring cost Wyoming wins clearly, and the gap is wider than the formation fees suggest. Neither, however, does anything about the tax owed where the work actually happens.
Run it on your own state and figures
Your operating state is not preset here, because it decides the answer. Set where you live and where the work happens, and the comparison keeps that state's obligations on every column, which is what makes the totals honest.
What decides the numbers
Registered agent prices are a typical market range, not an official fee. Acting as your own agent needs an address in that state, so it is only offered where you live or work.
What changes the warnings, not the arithmetic
Set your states and figures above, then press Compare.
Questions
Both promise privacy. Is one better?
Both limit what appears in state filings. Whether that amounts to anonymity in 2026 is a question this page will not answer, because federal beneficial-ownership reporting is under active regulatory development and a firm statement would age badly. Check FinCEN and the statute rather than any page, this one included.
Why does Nevada show nothing for gross receipts tax at higher revenue?
Because the Commerce Tax rate depends on your industry classification and no single rate exists to apply. Rather than pick one, the column is marked unquantified and the cost is left out of the total.
Are the Nevada figures reliable?
They come from the Nevada statutes rather than the Secretary of State fee schedule, because that site blocks automated access. Statutes are a primary source, but the figures are worth confirming against the SoS before you rely on them.
Related
- Compare every state
- California vs Wyoming LLC
- Delaware vs Wyoming LLC
- Delaware vs Nevada
- Delaware franchise tax calculator
General information about what states charge, not tax advice. And not legal advice either. Choosing where and how to form a business involves legal questions beyond cost. Take advice before filing.