You can form an anonymous LLC in Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, or Nevada — the four states that don’t require member or manager names on the public formation document. Your name stays off the state’s database. It does not stay off your tax return, your bank’s records, or a subpoena. Understanding where that line falls is the difference between real privacy and a false sense of it.
The Four States That Allow Anonymous Formation
Only Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, and Nevada let you file articles of organization without listing the owners. In these states, the formation document only needs to identify an “organizer,” which can be a third-party service rather than the actual owner. The owners are recorded instead in the operating agreement, a private internal document that is never filed with the state and carries no public disclosure requirement.1U.S. Small Business Administration. Basic Information About Operating Agreements
The four states are not interchangeable. New Mexico charges no annual report fee and has no recurring state filing requirement. Wyoming charges roughly $60 per year for an annual report and doesn’t require LLCs to disclose member or manager names on it. Delaware skips the annual report for LLCs but charges a flat $300 annual franchise tax. Nevada has the highest costs by a wide margin and requires an annual list that names managers, so anonymity there depends on using a manager-managed structure with a third-party manager.
How the Filing Actually Works
You hire a formation service, law firm, or registered agent company to file the articles of organization on your behalf. That service appears as both the organizer and the registered agent on the public record. Your name appears nowhere in the state’s database. The service then prepares a private operating agreement identifying you as the owner, along with your ownership percentage, management rights, and other internal terms.
A professional registered agent typically costs between $100 and $300 per year for single-state coverage, though budget services start around $50 annually for basic mail forwarding. Formation services that handle the full filing usually charge a separate one-time fee on top of the state’s filing cost.
What It Costs
State filing fees for the four anonymous-formation states break down as follows:
- New Mexico: approximately $50, with no annual report or recurring state fee.
- Wyoming: $100 to file, plus roughly $60 per year for the annual report.
- Delaware: $110 to file, plus a $300 annual franchise tax.
- Nevada: $425 to file (covering articles of organization, business license, and initial list), plus annual renewal fees that typically exceed $300.
New Mexico’s combination of low formation cost and zero annual obligations makes it the cheapest option for maintaining an anonymous LLC long-term. All four states offer the same basic anonymity on formation documents, so Nevada’s much higher price rarely earns itself back on privacy grounds alone. On top of state fees, budget $100 to $300 per year for a professional registered agent, and a one-time formation service fee that can range from around $50 to several hundred dollars depending on the provider.
If Your Business Operates in a Different State
An anonymous LLC in Wyoming is only anonymous in Wyoming. If your business actually operates somewhere else, you generally need to register there as a “foreign LLC,” and many states require foreign registrations to disclose member or manager names. That can undo the privacy you paid for.
The workaround is a two-tier structure. You form an anonymous LLC in a privacy-friendly state, then use that LLC as the listed member when forming a second LLC in the state where you actually do business. On paper, the operating LLC’s member is another LLC rather than a person. It works, but it doubles your formation costs, annual fees, and compliance obligations.
Where Anonymity Ends
Public-records anonymity is useful for keeping your name out of casual online searches. It won’t survive scrutiny from the federal government, a financial institution, or an opposing attorney with a subpoena.
The IRS Always Knows
Before your LLC can open a bank account, hire employees, or file taxes, it needs an Employer Identification Number. The application requires a real person as the “responsible party,” identified by name and Social Security number. The IRS explicitly prohibits listing a nominee or formation service in this role.2Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
Tax filing creates more exposure. A single-member LLC is treated as a “disregarded entity” for federal income tax purposes, meaning the LLC’s income flows onto the owner’s personal return using the owner’s Social Security number or EIN.3Internal Revenue Service. Single Member Limited Liability Companies Multi-member LLCs file a partnership return listing each member’s name, address, and tax ID. None of it is public, but the IRS knows exactly who owns the LLC. The IRS also shares business return information, audit results, and employment tax data with state taxing authorities through formal data-sharing agreements.4Internal Revenue Service. State Information Sharingp>
Your Bank Knows Too
Federal anti-money-laundering rules require banks, brokerages, and other financial institutions to identify the natural persons who own 25 percent or more of any legal entity that opens an account. This Customer Due Diligence rule exists independently of the Corporate Transparency Act and remains in effect.5Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Information on Complying with the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Final Rule Your bank will identify you at account opening regardless of what the state filing says.
A Subpoena Can Pierce It
Anonymous LLC privacy is designed to withstand a Google search, not a lawsuit. If someone files a legal claim involving your LLC, their attorney can subpoena your registered agent, formation service, bank, or any other entity holding your ownership information. Unless your formation service is an attorney or law firm that can assert attorney-client privilege, most companies will comply with a valid subpoena without much pushback. Courts routinely order disclosure of anonymous LLC ownership when it’s relevant to a dispute.
Choosing a law firm as your organizer and registered agent rather than a non-attorney formation company provides a stronger shield, since attorneys must evaluate subpoenas against privilege protections before disclosing client information. This is one area where paying more for a qualified professional measurably improves the privacy you’re buying.
What About the Corporate Transparency Act
The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021, originally required nearly all small companies to report their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. That requirement no longer applies to domestic companies. In March 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule exempting all entities created in the United States from beneficial ownership reporting.6Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting The revised rule redefines “reporting company” to include only entities formed under foreign law that have registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction. If your LLC was formed domestically, you currently have no federal obligation to file a beneficial ownership report with FinCEN.
Steps to Form One
Pick one of the four states based on cost, annual obligations, and whether you’ll need the two-tier structure. If you plan to operate in a different state, factor in that state’s foreign qualification requirements before choosing.
Hire a formation service or attorney licensed in your chosen state. You’ll provide your personal details privately so they can prepare the operating agreement and serve as your organizer and registered agent. The service files the articles of organization listing itself rather than you, and the state usually processes standard filings within a few business days.
Once the LLC is formed, apply for an EIN. The responsible party must be a real person with a valid Social Security number or individual taxpayer ID, not the formation service.2Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees With the EIN, you can open a business bank account, though the bank will require your personal identification under the CDD rule regardless of the LLC’s anonymous status.
Keep the registered agent service active and file any required annual reports or pay annual taxes on time. Letting these lapse can lead to administrative dissolution, and reinstating the LLC may require filings that expose the information you intended to keep private.