Country guide · Mexico
What it really takes, what it costs every year, what you file with the IRS even with zero revenue, and what almost nobody explains first: what happens on the Mexican side when the company is a fiscally transparent entity.
Written by an Argentine public accountant who is a Florida notary public and an IRS-registered tax preparer. We handle and sign the US side; your Mexican accountant closes the Mexican side, and this page tells you what they will ask for.
What you do not need: a visa, a trip, a US partner, your own US address or an ITIN. The ITIN comes later and only in some cases, quoted separately.
A single-member LLC is a fiscally transparent entity. For the IRS it does not exist as a separate taxpayer: its result is attributed to the owner. And since the 2020 reform, Mexican income tax law treats income from foreign transparent entities by attributing it to the Mexican resident when it is earned, not when it is distributed.
In plain terms: there can be an obligation to recognise that income in Mexico even while the money sits untouched in the company's Mercury account. It is the opposite of what almost everyone assumes when they form it, and the reason to have this conversation with your accountant before incorporating.
The REFIPRES regime. When income is subject abroad to a tax burden substantially lower than the Mexican one, the preferential-tax-regime rules come into play, bringing an annual informational return due in February. If your LLC pays no US federal tax because the income is not US-sourced, that is a scenario your accountant has to evaluate explicitly.
Where the line sits. We handle and sign the US side: formation, EIN, operating agreement and the IRS filings. Income attribution in Mexico, REFIPRES and the February informational return belong to your accountant there. What we do is hand them, in writing, everything they will ask you for: formation documents, EIN, your ownership share and the results for the year.
| Item | Year 1 | Year 2 onward |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming state fee Charged by the state, not by us | USD 102 | USD 60 annual report |
| Registered agent Mandatory under state law | Included | Annual renewal |
| Full formation LLC, EIN, operating agreement, banking guide | Quoted on your case | — |
| Mandatory federal filing Form 5472 + pro forma 1120 | Quoted per tax year | Quoted per tax year |
Wyoming charges no state income tax. Run the numbers by state in our free calculator, no signup.
One obligation does not depend on revenue: Form 5472 with the pro forma 1120, every year, starting with the first. The penalty for not filing starts at USD 25,000 and is automatic.
It is the most common Mexican case and the one that goes wrong on its own. If your inventory physically sits in Amazon warehouses in the United States, your operation touches US soil: the federal tax analysis changes, Form 1040-NR may appear, and state sales tax joins the discussion with its own rules in every state where you have presence. It is worth structuring properly from day one, because fixing it later means late filings in several jurisdictions at once.
With the EIN and your passport you can open an account remotely at Mercury or Relay. It is not automatic: they review what the business does and sometimes decline. That is why the banking guide is included and, if you are declined, we give you the fallback plan in writing.
Based somewhere else? There are country guides for Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Panama and Peru.
Your passport and little else. No visa, no US residency, no local partner and no travel. The state requires a registered agent with a physical address there, included for the first year, and the EIN is issued without a Social Security number, as a foreign owner.
Full formation is quoted on your case and includes the first-year Wyoming state fee (USD 102), the EIN, the operating agreement and the registered agent for year 1. From year two the floor the state charges is USD 60 for the annual report, plus the registered agent renewal. The mandatory federal filing is separate and quoted per tax year.
That is the key question and the answer surprises almost everyone: very likely yes. A single-member LLC is a fiscally transparent entity, and since 2020 Mexican income tax law attributes the income of foreign transparent entities to the Mexican resident when it is earned, not when it is distributed. There can be an obligation to recognise that income even while the money sits in the company account. How it applies to you is settled by your accountant in Mexico; we hand them the LLC documentation and the results for the year.
REFIPRES are preferential tax regimes: income subject abroad to a tax burden substantially lower than the Mexican one. Where it applies, beyond the tax treatment there is an annual informational return due in February. If your LLC pays no US federal tax because the income is not US-sourced, that is a scenario your accountant has to evaluate explicitly. It is not illegal and it is not a trap: it is a regime with its own rules and filings, and it is manageable when planned.
No. If your tax residency is in Mexico, you are taxed in Mexico on your worldwide income. The LLC solves how you collect from US clients and platforms and separates your personal assets from the risk of the business; it does not change where you are taxed.
It depends on where the income is earned, not where the company is registered. If you work from Mexico with no US office or staff, the usual answer is no federal income tax and only the informational filings. If your operation physically touches the United States — Amazon FBA inventory, an office, people on payroll — Form 1040-NR comes into play, and state sales tax enters the discussion with its own rules per state.
This page is informational and is not individualized legal or tax advice. Your Mexican tax position is determined by your accountant there.
Two or three lines: what you will invoice from Mexico, whether there are partners, and whether you have spoken to your accountant. I answer personally with the diagnosis and a fixed quote, in writing. If an LLC is not what you need, I will say so.
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Si tenés una LLC en EE.UU. con dueño extranjero, este reporte vence cada año. La multa es automática. El IRS no avisa.
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