How to pass Stripe verification with a Delaware LLC
What Stripe asks for at signup, and which Delaware LLC documents satisfy each requirement.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: August 4, 2026
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.
Stripe must verify your business under KYC/AML rules before it activates payouts. For a Delaware LLC, Stripe collects the legal entity name as filed on your Certificate of Formation, the EIN, the business address, the representative's identity, and beneficial-owner details. Forming an LLC and getting an EIN is the standard 'Stripe Atlas alternative' path. You do the same steps Atlas automates, in Delaware or in any other state you choose.
In Delaware the entity behind that check is an LLC created by filing a Certificate of Formation, which costs $110. Delaware does not publish a processing time for LLC filings, so treat state approval as the open-ended step in your timeline rather than the Stripe review. Because Delaware keeps members and managers off routine public filings, Stripe has no public state record to match your owner name against, and relies entirely on the identification you upload.
What Stripe requires, and how a Delaware LLC meets each
| Requirement | How your Delaware LLC satisfies it |
|---|---|
| Legal entity name | Use the exact LLC name as Delaware recorded it on your Certificate of Formation; it must match your bank account holder name. |
| Employer Identification Number | Provide your federal EIN (free from the IRS; non-US founders without an SSN must apply via Form SS-4 by fax or phone rather than the online tool) — independent of Delaware. |
| Business address | Use a US street address registered to the LLC in Delaware (your Delaware registered-agent or virtual business address), since a PO box is usually rejected. |
| Representative & owner identity | Provide a government ID for each beneficial owner, even though Delaware names none of them publicly. Delaware publishes no member or manager, so the platform relies entirely on the ID you upload — names must match your operating agreement. |
| Payout bank account | Link a US business bank account opened with your EIN and your Delaware Certificate of Formation. |
Delaware-specific things to watch
- Delaware keeps both members and managers off routine public filings, but you must still upload beneficial-owner identification directly to Stripe. State-level anonymity does not exempt you from the platform's KYC. (Delaware's Certificate of Formation requires no member or manager names, and LLCs file no annual report, so ownership never appears on a public filing.)
- Delaware issues a Certificate of Formation rather than "Articles of Organization." When Stripe asks for "formation documents," upload your Certificate of Formation.
- Budget for Delaware's ongoing LLC costs before projecting your Stripe margins: Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).
Sales tax: none in Delaware
Delaware has no statewide sales tax, so there is no Delaware sales-tax registration to complete before you start taking payments through Stripe. That is a Delaware exemption and nothing more: once your sales into another state cross that state's economic-nexus threshold, you owe its tax on those orders no matter that your LLC is a Delaware one.
Delaware has no sales tax and no economic nexus law — you never owe Delaware sales tax regardless of how much you sell to Delaware customers. This is a major reason many businesses incorporate in Delaware. However, Delaware does levy a gross receipts tax on businesses operating in the state.
How to verify your Delaware LLC on Stripe
- Legal entity name. Use the exact LLC name as Delaware recorded it on your Certificate of Formation; it must match your bank account holder name.
- Employer Identification Number. Provide your federal EIN (free from the IRS; non-US founders without an SSN must apply via Form SS-4 by fax or phone rather than the online tool) — independent of Delaware.
- Business address. Use a US street address registered to the LLC in Delaware (your Delaware registered-agent or virtual business address), since a PO box is usually rejected.
- Representative & owner identity. Provide a government ID for each beneficial owner, even though Delaware names none of them publicly. Delaware publishes no member or manager, so the platform relies entirely on the ID you upload — names must match your operating agreement.
- Payout bank account. Link a US business bank account opened with your EIN and your Delaware Certificate of Formation.
Non-US founders with Delaware LLCs
Non-US founders commonly form a US LLC in Delaware, obtain an EIN (no SSN required, via Form SS-4), open a US-capable business bank account, and then onboard to Stripe as a US business, the manual equivalent of Stripe Atlas. A US ITIN or SSN is not required to get the Delaware LLC an EIN. The representative must still complete Stripe's identity verification: Stripe will request the last 4 digits of the representative's SSN, and if automated verification fails it falls back to the full SSN or a government-issued ID scan. A non-US representative of a Delaware LLC should expect to provide that ID scan.