Open a Montana LLC from anywhere in the world

Those are the state numbers. Our all-in Montana package starts at $350 and covers the filing, the state fee, the registered agent for year one, a business address and the EIN.

You do not need to be a US citizen, a US resident, or hold a visa to own a Montana LLC. You never have to visit the state.

Montana has no citizenship or residency test for LLC members. To file we need the company name, the names and addresses of the members, and a passport copy for identity checks. Everything is submitted electronically.

Montana charges no state income tax on the LLC itself. Income passes through to the owners, and a non-resident with no Montana source income generally has nothing to report to the state. Federal filings still apply, and a foreign owned single member LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 each year.

You must appoint a Montana registered agent with a physical street address in the state. A non-resident cannot serve as their own agent, so this is a commercial service. Year one is included with our formation.

Realistic timeline: 2 to 7 business days for the filing, then 5 to 15 days for the EIN if you do not already have one. Bank applications usually start after the EIN letter arrives.

Montana has no general state sales tax, which is why online sellers look at it. It does not remove sales tax duties in the states where your customers or your inventory sit.

Sellers consider Montana for two reasons. There is nothing to collect on Montana sales, and the yearly paperwork is a single $20 report. For a small store with no US warehouse, that keeps the admin light and the cost low.

The honest part: sales tax nexus follows activity, not the state on your formation certificate. If you store stock in a fulfilment centre in Texas, or your sales into California pass that state economic nexus threshold, you register and collect there. Forming in Montana changes none of that.

If you sell digital products or services to customers worldwide and hold no US inventory, Montana works well. If you run FBA or a third party warehouse, plan for registration in the states where your goods sit.

A Montana holding company is an LLC that owns assets or other companies instead of trading itself. It separates what you own from what you do, but it does not shield you from liability created by the operating business.

The common setup is a Montana LLC that holds vehicles, equipment, real estate, intellectual property or the membership interests of one or more operating companies. Because the holding company signs no customer contracts and employs nobody, it takes on very little risk of its own.

What it does protect: assets held in the holding company are not owned by the trading entity, so a claim against the trading entity does not reach them directly. What it does not protect: your own acts, personal guarantees you sign, and anything where the two companies are run as one pot of money.

You need a separate operating company as soon as the business has customers, staff, inventory or contracts. Keep separate bank accounts, separate records and a written agreement for anything the holding company leases or licenses to the operating company. Without that separation a court can treat both as a single entity.

If you physically operate in another state, an office, a warehouse, staff, or you live there, you will have to foreign qualify in that state as well. That means two filings, two registered agents and two sets of fees. Filing in Montana does not avoid it.

Montana also carries less name recognition than Wyoming or Delaware with US banks and payment processors. Approval is normal, but reviewers see fewer Montana entities and may ask an extra question or two. If a fast Mercury or Relay approval matters most to you, Wyoming is the safer pick.

Not sure Montana fits? Compare the options in our guide to the best state for a non-resident LLC.