Yes — residents of Argentina can form a Wyoming LLC entirely online, with no US visit, no US visa, and no US address of your own. The all-inclusive cost through WyomingLLC is $397 (the Wyoming state fee is already included), formation completes in about 24 hours, and you receive an EIN plus a US business bank account within roughly three to four weeks.
Why a Wyoming LLC for Argentina founders
Argentina is one of the strongest markets in Latin America for US LLC ownership, and the reasons are practical rather than theoretical. The first is currency. With persistent ARS depreciation, capital controls, and the long-running gap between the official and parallel exchange rates, an Argentine freelancer or e-commerce seller who invoices clients abroad needs a way to hold and receive US dollars cleanly. A Wyoming LLC with a US bank account does exactly that: clients pay USD into a US-domiciled account that you control from Buenos Aires, Córdoba, or anywhere else, without forcing every dollar through the local banking system at an unfavorable rate the moment it arrives.
The second reason is access to US payment infrastructure. Stripe, PayPal, Mercury, Amazon, Apple, and Google all treat a US LLC with an EIN and a US bank account as a first-class business. Argentine sole proprietors routinely hit friction with these platforms — held funds, country restrictions, limited payout options. A Wyoming LLC removes that friction because, to the platform, you are a US business.
Third is pass-through taxation combined with a genuinely light federal footprint. A single-member Wyoming LLC is a disregarded entity for US federal tax purposes. If your LLC has no income effectively connected to a US trade or business (no US employees, no US office, no US dependent agent), the LLC itself generally owes no US federal income tax. You still have a US filing obligation — Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120, covered below — but the tax liability is typically zero.
Fourth, Wyoming specifically. Wyoming charges no state income tax, no franchise tax, and its annual report fee is among the lowest in the country (a $60 minimum per the Wyoming Secretary of State). Wyoming also offers the strongest charging-order protection in the US for single-member LLCs and does not publish member or manager names on the public formation record, giving Argentine founders a level of privacy that is hard to obtain at home.
Finally, the registered agent requirement — a physical Wyoming address that receives legal mail — is included in the $397, so the "no US presence" problem is solved on day one. You never need to set foot in the United States to own, operate, or bank for this company.
Cost from Argentina
The price is genuinely all-inclusive. The $397 already contains the Wyoming state filing fee, so there is no surprise government charge stacked on top. Here is the breakdown and what year two looks like:
| Item | Year 1 | Year 2+ |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming state filing fee | Included in $397 | — |
| LLC formation + processing | Included in $397 | — |
| Registered agent (12 months) | Included in $397 | ~$100 |
| EIN (Form SS-4, no SSN needed) | Included in $397 | — |
| Wyoming annual report | — | ~$60 (state minimum) |
| Total | $397 | ~$160 |
That is the complete picture for a standard single-member LLC. The only common add-on is an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), which is a separate $297 service. Most Argentine founders running an e-commerce, SaaS, or freelancing business do not need an ITIN to form the LLC, get the EIN, or open Mercury/Relay/Wise — the passport plus EIN is enough. An ITIN becomes relevant only in narrower situations, such as certain US tax filings, claiming specific withholding positions, or platforms that explicitly request one. Do not buy it reflexively.
Year two and onward is roughly $160: the Wyoming annual report (state minimum $60 per the Wyoming Secretary of State) plus continued registered agent service (~$100). There is no franchise tax and no Wyoming state income tax, so unlike Delaware or California, your recurring cost does not creep upward as the business grows.
Banking after formation from Argentina
This is the part that has changed most, so be precise about current reality. Mercury, Relay, and Wise all open business accounts for non-US founders remotely, and Argentine founders are accepted — but 2025 brought tighter underwriting that you need to plan around.
The single most important change: Mercury and Relay no longer accept a registered agent address as the LLC's US business address. Many non-resident rejections in 2025 traced directly to applicants entering their Wyoming registered-agent address as the company address. The fix is to use a real US-style business address — a virtual mailbox service (iPostal1, Stable, US Global Mail, etc.) that gives you a genuine street address you control — and to use that consistently across the EIN, the bank application, and your payment platforms. The registered agent address stays on the state record only; it should not be your operating/mailing address with the bank.
What the banks actually check:
- A valid EIN confirmation (the IRS CP-575 or 147C letter).
- Your Wyoming Articles of Organization showing the LLC in good standing.
- Your passport for identity verification.
- A clear, believable description of the business and its customers. Vague descriptions trigger manual review and rejections.
- A US business address that is not a registered-agent address.
Recommended fallback order for Argentina founders:
- Mercury first. No monthly fee, strong product, virtual and physical cards, good for SaaS and agencies. Approval is case-by-case; a clean application with a non-RA address and a crisp business description does well.
- Relay second. Relay has repeatedly approved Latin American LLCs that Mercury declined — there are documented cases of Relay approving within a few days after a Mercury rejection. It supports multiple sub-accounts, which is handy for separating tax reserves.
- Wise Business as the safety net. Wise has the broadest country coverage, including Argentina, and is the most reliable approval if both fintech banks decline. It gives you USD, EUR, and GBP receiving details, excellent FX, and is ideal if your priority is simply receiving client payments in dollars. The trade-off is that Wise is a payments account, not a full US bank, so it lacks some lending and card features.
Practically: apply to Mercury, and if declined, move to Relay, then Wise. Keep your business description, address, and EIN identical across all three so nothing looks inconsistent.
Tax: US and Argentina
US treaty status — verified. There is no US–Argentina income tax treaty in force. A convention was signed in 1981 but was never ratified, and Argentina does not appear on the IRS's official list of income tax treaty partners (see the IRS United States income tax treaties – A to Z page). The practical consequence: there is no reduced treaty rate for US-source FDAP income. The statutory 30% US withholding applies to US-source fixed or determinable, annual or periodical income (such as US-source dividends, interest, or royalties) paid to an Argentine resident. Do not let anyone tell you a treaty lowers this — it does not exist.
That said, most Argentine founders' businesses generate no US-source FDAP at all. If you sell SaaS, services, or e-commerce to customers worldwide and your income is not effectively connected with a US trade or business (no ECI), your single-member disregarded LLC generally owes no US federal income tax. The 30% rate bites only on the specific US-source passive categories above, which a typical service/e-commerce LLC simply doesn't produce.
The filing that is mandatory regardless of tax owed. A foreign-owned single-member US LLC must file IRS Form 5472 attached to a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, reporting reportable transactions between you and the LLC (capital contributions, distributions, loans). This is informational — it usually produces zero tax — but the penalty for failing to file, filing late, or filing incomplete is $25,000 (see the IRS Form 5472 instructions). Treat this as non-negotiable annual hygiene. The pro-forma 1120 is largely blank; the 5472 carries the substance.
BOI / FinCEN. Under FinCEN's March 26, 2025 Interim Final Rule, US-formed entities — including your Wyoming LLC — are exempt from Beneficial Ownership Information reporting. Only entities formed abroad and registered to do business in the US remain in scope. So a standard Wyoming LLC owned from Argentina has no BOI filing to make today (per FinCEN BOI guidance).
Argentina-side obligations — do not ignore these. As an Argentine tax resident you are taxed on worldwide income, and three things matter:
- Bienes Personales (personal assets tax): your US LLC interest and US bank balances are foreign assets. If your worldwide assets exceed the annual exempt threshold, you must declare them and may owe the wealth tax, often at a higher rate for assets held abroad.
- CFC / fiscal-transparency rules: Argentina taxes residents on a controlled foreign company's passive income on an accrual basis when you hold a controlling interest (broadly 50%+), the entity is lightly taxed, and more than 50% of its income is passive. An active service/e-commerce LLC is usually fine, but a holding/investment LLC can trigger current taxation in Argentina even before you distribute.
- FATCA information exchange: the US and Argentina signed a FATCA agreement (December 5, 2022), and AFIP/ARCA began receiving US financial-account data. Your US LLC and bank account are visible to the Argentine authorities, so reporting them domestically is the only sane approach. Engage an Argentine contador to handle Ganancias and Bienes Personales correctly.
Popular use cases for Argentina founders
Three patterns dominate among Argentine owners, and the Wyoming LLC fits all three for the same underlying reason: dollar revenue collected outside the local banking maze.
Freelancing and independent services. Designers, developers, copywriters, video editors, and consultants who serve US and European clients use the LLC to invoice in USD and get paid into Mercury, Relay, or Wise. Instead of a US client wrestling with an international wire to an Argentine bank (and the recipient losing margin to the official rate), they pay a US business normally. This is by far the most common Argentine use case given the country's enormous remote-work talent pool.
E-commerce. Sellers on Amazon US, Shopify, and Etsy need a US entity and US bank account to run stores cleanly, receive payouts, and pay US suppliers and ad platforms. A Wyoming LLC unlocks Amazon's US marketplace and keeps the cash flow in dollars. Wyoming's privacy is a bonus here, since seller identities stay off the public formation record.
SaaS and digital products. Founders shipping software, plugins, courses, or subscription products route Stripe and Paddle through the US LLC. Stripe strongly favors US entities with EINs — fewer holds, more payment methods, faster payouts — and the LLC structure makes it straightforward to add co-founders or take small investments later.
A fourth, growing pattern is agencies and small studios — Argentine founders who subcontract a team locally but bill international clients through the US entity. The LLC lets them present a clean US-facing brand, sign contracts as a US company, and pay contractors out of dollar revenue, while keeping the team and operations in Argentina where labor costs are favorable.
Across all of these, the recurring motivations are the same: hold USD, access US fintech and payment rails, present as a credible US business to platforms, and keep the federal tax footprint near zero while income stays outside a US trade or business. The Wyoming LLC is not a tax-avoidance trick — it is a clean, recognized US wrapper that solves the currency and payments problem Argentine entrepreneurs face every single day.
Step-by-step: forming from Argentina
- Choose and check your LLC name. Pick a name ending in "LLC" and confirm it is available on the Wyoming Secretary of State business database. Avoid restricted words (bank, insurance, trust). We run this check for you before filing.
- Appoint a Wyoming registered agent. Wyoming law requires a registered agent with a physical Wyoming address to receive legal mail. This is included in your $397 — you do not arrange it separately.
- File the Articles of Organization. This is the formation document filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State. We submit it with your member/manager details (kept off the public record where possible) and your LLC is typically active within about 24 hours.
- Obtain your EIN via Form SS-4. Because you have no SSN, the EIN is requested by submitting Form SS-4 directly to the IRS (the online tool requires an SSN/ITIN, so it goes by fax/mail). This is the step that takes the longest — about 8 to 10 business days — and no ITIN is required to get the EIN.
- Set up an operating agreement. Even a single-member LLC should have one. It defines ownership, management, and how the company runs, and banks and payment platforms frequently ask to see it. We provide a compliant template.
- Arrange a US business address (not the registered agent address). Before banking, set up a virtual mailbox to use as your operating/mailing address, because Mercury and Relay reject registered-agent addresses.
- Open the US bank account. With your EIN letter, Articles, passport, business address, and a clear business description, apply to Mercury, then Relay, then Wise as fallback. Expect roughly 8 to 10 business days after the EIN arrives.
End to end, plan on three to four weeks from order to a fully operational, dollar-banking US company.
Common mistakes Argentina founders make
- Using the registered agent address as the bank/operating address. This is the number-one cause of 2025 Mercury and Relay rejections. Always use a separate virtual business address with the banks and payment platforms.
- Assuming a tax treaty lowers US withholding. There is no US–Argentina treaty. If you ever do earn US-source FDAP, the 30% statutory rate applies — there is no treaty relief to claim.
- Skipping Form 5472. The $25,000 penalty is real and is assessed per year. Many founders never realize they had a filing obligation until it is late. File the 5472 + pro-forma 1120 every year, even with zero tax.
- Ignoring the Argentine side. Your LLC and US bank account are reported to AFIP/ARCA under FATCA. Failing to declare them on Bienes Personales or to account for CFC rules where they apply creates a domestic problem that has nothing to do with the US. Work with an Argentine contador.
- Buying an ITIN you don't need. Forming the LLC, getting the EIN, and opening Mercury/Relay/Wise do not require an ITIN. Add it only when a specific filing or platform genuinely demands it.
- Vague business descriptions at the bank. "Consulting" alone invites manual review. Describe what you sell, to whom, and how you get paid.
- Letting the LLC lapse. The Wyoming annual report (state minimum $60 per the Wyoming Secretary of State) and registered agent renewal must be paid each year. Miss them and Wyoming can administratively dissolve the LLC, which can freeze your bank account and break Stripe payouts. Calendar the renewal date.
- Mixing personal and business money. Run all business income and expenses through the LLC's own account. Commingling funds undermines the charging-order/asset-protection benefit that made Wyoming attractive in the first place, and it makes the annual Form 5472 reporting of contributions and distributions far harder to reconstruct.