How to Form a Corporation in Wyoming

What you file in Wyoming

Sourcing note: Wyoming assigns no numeric form code.

This page covers the state filing and the charges that follow it. For the procedural side (name availability, registered agent, bylaws and the federal EIN), see the formation guide and how to get an EIN, both of which apply to corporations as well as LLCs.

What it costs to incorporate and stay filed

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded. Both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure would be true for every corporation.

Wyoming is the 21st cheapest of 49 states on the incorporation filing fee alone. Nationally the fee runs from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, averaging $113.49. It is a one-off charge, so over five years it is usually outweighed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax.

States that are cheaper to incorporate in

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you actually operate in Wyoming. Every state sets its own threshold for what counts as transacting business, and where that threshold is met an out-of-state corporation is generally required to register as a foreign corporation. Which would mean fees in both states rather than one. Whether it applies to you depends on facts this page cannot see, so check foreign qualification in Wyoming before incorporating elsewhere to save on the filing fee.

Wyoming corporation vs Wyoming LLC

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.

Both entities cost $100 to file in Wyoming, so the filing fee is not a reason to pick one over the other.

Full Wyoming LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

State taxes a Wyoming corporation pays

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

Wyoming has no corporate income tax and no income-based franchise tax. The only recurring state charge is the annual report license tax: the greater of $60.00 or two-tenths of one mill on the dollar ($.0002) of the corporation's capital, property, and assets located and employed in Wyoming. So the minimum is $60, rising only for corporations with substantial Wyoming-situated assets (roughly assets above $300,000). Banks, insurance companies, and savings and loan associations are exempt from the license tax.

What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what Wyoming levies, or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.

Electing S-corporation status in Wyoming

Wyoming has no corporate income tax, so there is no state S election to make. Full Wyoming S-corporation election guide.

Where these numbers come from