Steps to Forming LLC in Wyoming | The Comprehensive Guide (2024)

Forming an LLC is surely a wise approach to ensure that you have proper autonomy over your business without worrying about legal proceedings and other expenses. That is because an LLC is a separate entity itself, unlike a Sole-Proprietorship a lot of the things an LLC will be held accountable for it like lawsuits or debts. 

Wyoming is undoubtedly a formidable option for picking the right one for your LLC as there are several key factors related to low fees, privacy protection, more accessible laws, and less requirement over taxes and licenses. Let’s learn the steps of forming LLC in Wyoming in this in detail guide.

Steps to Forming LLC in Wyoming

Let us now go through the various steps required to form an LLC in Wyoming for your convenience. 

Step 1: Reserve a Name for Your LLC

First and foremost would be to ensure to create such a name that is so unique that it has not been used anywhere else at least around the state where you’ll be doing your business. 

How to Check the Availability of the Company Name in Wyoming?

Before looking out for your name try covering the basics with a regular Google search, DBA Search, and Trademark search. 

Then you can look at WyoBiz to see if there’s a business registered under your desired name. After the search, you will see all the business names along with their business types. 

Reserving a Name for Future

Now that you are done with your name selection and have found that the name is actually unique, it is time for formation. But, your business is not ready to start anytime soon. 

So, for this scenario, you can reserve your name through the Wyoming Secretary of State. The procedure is simple, just apply for the Limited Liability Company Application for Reservation of Name where you’ll be filling out the proposed name, name, and address of who’s applying.

You will be reserving your name for 120 days, and it will cost you 60 dollars which is the filing fee. The processing time upon receiving in the office will take up to 15 business days. The address and the payment procedure is all given in the application. 

What to Avoid?

Before finalizing and reserving your name, you need to make sure about the few things that you must avoid.

1. Unless your business is specialized for the service, don’t use terms like Medical, Bank, Insurance, or Trust. Only use the terms that your business will be offering the service to. 
2. The state won’t allow you to file for an LLC if the name is derogatory or racist in any regard. 
3. While choosing a name, you need to make sure that your name is Domain friendly because, at some point, you will need to open a website. So, be sure to avoid name which is not domain-friendly or if your preferred domain is unavailable. 
4. Make sure the name isn’t too big or too small. It shouldn’t be something that is difficult to pronounce or spell. Also, avoid names that may be confused with government and business acronyms. 

Step 2: Choose a Registered Agent

You are now required to choose a registered agent for your business. Wyoming laws ensure that you must hire a registered agent. It can be a hired individual, an entity, or even yourself. A registered agent is basically the bridge between your business and all the legal proceedings with the state as well as handles all the legal obligations. 

Your registered agent is required to have an address located in Wyoming along with the other state obligations. It is also reasonably necessary to hire someone as a registered agent other than yourself as your privacy may be breached, along with facing legal issues where you’re likely to get exposed to your address while handling the lawsuits. 

Step 3: Submit Your Paperwork

The filing fee to form an LLC in Wyoming is 100 dollars which comes with a renewal fee of 60 dollars. The process of formation is typical as you are required to apply for an article of organization through the secretary of state and then to get a registered agent and an operating agreement. 

For your Wyoming LLC to be ready, it takes around 10-15 days of business days. The requirements that you need to meet are,

• The LLC name along with the office and primary address.
• Registered Agent’s information. 
• The organizer’s details include a phone number, email, and signature. 
• A consent signed by the registered agent. 

After covering this information make sure you mail it to the Wyoming secretary of state which is similar to where you will mail for the reserving your name 

Also, if you desire to apply online, then there’s undoubtedly a way at the cost of an additional 2 dollars. It’s a very lenient step-by-step procedure. 

Expedited Processing

Unlike other states, there aren’t any expedition policies for Wyoming. It takes the regular 10-15 business days immediately, but in the online application, your LLC gets approved immediately. 

If you’re in a rush, then it is wiser to apply online at the expense of just 2 dollars more. 

Things to Do After Forming the LLC

Now that you’re done forming your LLC, here are some of the other measures you need to ensure that you can smooth and reliable operation for your LLC. 

Step 1: Drafting an Operating Agreement

While state policy doesn’t make it necessary for you to create an operating agreement, it indeed is an essential element for your business so that there’s clarity in business operations and the roles among the owners of the business. 

If you are running a proprietorship, then you may risk not creating one even though it is better to have one, but for other business structures, your attorney accountant, and agent will advise you to create an operating agreement.  

The things that are included in opening an Operating Agreement in Wyoming are, 

1. The ownership of the members and their responsibilities.
2. Voting rights and who has executive control.
3. The profit distribution margin among the owners and stakeholders. 
4. Transferring of interest from one member to another. 
5. Management and bookkeeping duties for the business. 
6. The dissolution procedure and how the assets will be divided. 

These steps may alter, or there could be more steps based on the business type and the business structure you’ll be following. 

Step 2: Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Aside from sole proprietorship, if your business has employees and is a multi-member business, then you’ll be required to create an EIN (Employer Identification Number). An EIN for Business is like a Social Security Number for an Individual. If you don’t apply for an EIN through the IRS, then you’ll likely miss out on key business functioning activities which are,

1. Not Being able to open a business bank account and business credit card. 
2. Not being able to file for federal, and state tax returns and income tax
3. Not being able to get business licenses and permits. 

Not having an EIN will almost cripple your Business unless you have a proprietorship business that barely requires any employees and sells products to a very local niche customer base. 

What if You Choose Not to Get an EIN?

You can only not get an EIN if you have a business that is a sole proprietorship as I have discussed earlier. Because the IRS allows solo business owners to operate their business proceedings and tax returns through their social security numbers instead of an EIN through their personal returns. 

Step 3: File for the Annual LLC Report

You are required to file an annual LLC report to the secretary of state, and you are required to pay a mandatory annual fee of 60 dollars which is known as the license tax. If you pay through online, then you are required to pay 2 dollars more. 

Apart from this 60 dollars, there is not any other state-required annual fee. 

Conclusion

Hence, I hope you have now realized all the core essentials behind forming an LLC in Wyoming. The procedure is as simple as operating the LLC in Wyoming where the laws, the process, the fees everything is more or less convenient. Unlike other states, there is not much that you really need to go through to form an LLC in Wyoming. As long as you proceed through the steps I have mentioned, then you will not face any sort of hurdles. 

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