Nevada LLC taxes from abroad: no income tax, and two thresholds to know
Nevada has no personal income tax and no corporate income tax. A Nevada LLC owned from abroad, with no Nevada customers or staff, normally owes the Department of Taxation nothing and files nothing with it.
Two lines change that: more than US$4 million of Nevada revenue brings the commerce tax, and hiring in Nevada brings a payroll tax. Every Nevada LLC pays the US$350 annual list and business licence fee.
Nevada's pitch to founders is short: no income tax, private records, a state that leaves companies alone. The pitch is mostly right. What it leaves out are two taxes that switch on at a threshold and a federal filing that has nothing to do with Nevada. If you run an online business from Lisbon or Lagos through a Nevada LLC, here's the whole map, with the statute and the Department of Taxation behind each line.
Key takeaways
- No Nevada tax on income, for people or companies.
- The commerce tax applies only above US$4,000,000 of Nevada gross revenue in a July to June year. Below that, no return.
- The Modified Business Tax is a payroll tax for employers with Nevada staff: 1.17% for general businesses.
- Sales and use tax matters only if you sell or use tangible goods in Nevada.
- The IRS layer is the same as any US state: a single owner abroad files Form 5472 each April, and US tax follows US-connected income.
What Nevada taxes, and what it leaves alone
Six taxes come up when people ask about Nevada. For an LLC run from another country, four are usually zero.
The US$350 is a fee rather than a tax: the annual list and the state business licence are filed together with the Secretary of State by the last day of your anniversary month. Our Nevada annual fees page has the due date finder and the US$525 late figure.
For an LLC with no Nevada customers or staff, the yearly Nevada cost is the US$350 list and licence.
Nevada commerce tax: a gross receipts tax with a US$4 million floor
The commerce tax is charged on Nevada gross revenue, the sales Nevada can claim, not worldwide income. Its year runs 1 July to 30 June, and since the 2018 to 2019 year a business at or below US$4,000,000 has no return to file. Type your Nevada revenue for the year.
Above the line, the return is due 45 days after 30 June, which was 14 August 2026 for the year just closed, and the rate depends on which of the statute's industry categories the business falls into. Read NRS chapter 363C and the Department's commerce tax FAQ before you cross it.
Only Nevada revenue counts toward the US$4 million, and sales to customers abroad aren't Nevada revenue.
Modified Business Tax: Nevada's payroll tax
This one is easy to place. No Nevada employees, no Modified Business Tax. It applies to employers covered by Nevada's unemployment insurance law, on gross wages less employee health benefits.
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Who pays | Employers with staff on Nevada payroll |
| Rate | 1.17% for general businesses, from 1 July 2023 |
| Wages not taxed | The first US$50,000 each quarter |
| Returns | Quarterly |
Contractors abroad who invoice your LLC aren't Nevada employees. A hire who lives and works in Nevada is, as the Department's Modified Business Tax page explains.
The payroll tax starts with your first Nevada hire, not with forming the LLC.
Sales and use tax: goods that touch Nevada
Nevada's sales tax is on tangible goods, and the rate is set by county, so a sale in Las Vegas and a sale in a rural county can differ. It reaches a foreign-owned LLC in three cases.
- You sell physical products to buyers in Nevada
- You keep inventory in a Nevada warehouse
- You buy equipment for use in Nevada without paying Nevada tax on it: that's use tax
- Consulting, design, development and other services for clients anywhere
- Software and digital work for customers abroad
- Goods shipped from abroad to buyers outside Nevada
Out-of-state sellers have a separate registration threshold. We haven't put a figure here because the Department of Taxation's site didn't load for us when this page was written; look it up on tax.nv.gov if you ship goods into Nevada.
Service businesses run from abroad rarely meet Nevada sales tax at all.
The federal layer: one form, and tax only on US business
Think of the tax on a Nevada LLC as three layers. Nevada is the thinnest. The federal one is mostly paperwork for an owner abroad, and the last one belongs to your own country.
No income tax. Commerce tax and payroll tax only past their thresholds.
Usually US$0Tax on income effectively connected with a US trade or business, plus 30% on US passive income. Form 5472 every year from a single foreign owner.
Often US$0Tax on the profit, on its own rules and timing.
Your rateWith one owner, the IRS ignores the LLC for income tax and treats it as a corporation for one purpose only: reporting. That's why a foreign owner sends Form 5472 inside a pro forma Form 1120, listing money paid in or taken out, by 15 April. It can't be e-filed, and the IRS instructions set the penalty at US$25,000 per missed form. Our Form 5472 guide takes you through it.
Whether any federal income tax is due depends on effectively connected income. A Nevada office, Nevada staff or months of work done inside the US create it; clients won from abroad, served from abroad, generally don't. US dividends, rent or royalties are FDAP income at 30% of the gross, or a lower treaty rate.
With partners, the LLC files Form 1065 by 15 March. If there's US business income, it must withhold on each foreign partner's share, 37% for people and 21% for companies, on Forms 8804 and 8805 (IRS partnership withholding).
Nevada's 0% doesn't remove the IRS form. Diary 15 April from the first year.
Where you live: the layer Nevada can't remove
The questions for your own tax office
Most countries tax their residents on worldwide income. A Nevada LLC changes the paperwork, not that rule.
- Does my country tax the LLC's profit as mine when it's earned, or only when I take it?
- Does it have rules taxing profit kept in a foreign company I control?
- If the US taxes some income, will my country credit it under a treaty?
Nevada keeps owners off its public record, but privacy and tax are separate questions. Your residence country decides what you owe on the profit, and the honest plan is one you could explain to its tax office line by line.
Ask your adviser how your country treats a US LLC before the first dollar arrives.
Nevada tax check: your returns in four answers
Your yearly returns
One owner, no Nevada staff or goods: the list is the annual list and Form 5472.
Nevada LLC tax questions, answered
Does a Nevada LLC pay state income tax?
Does every Nevada LLC file a commerce tax return?
What does a Nevada LLC cost each year?
I live abroad. Will my Nevada LLC pay US federal tax?
Is Nevada better than Wyoming for tax?
Can anyone see my Nevada LLC's taxes?
Do you file the Nevada list and Form 5472?
Changelog
- 13 November 2026: first published.
More reading: US LLC for non-residents, Form 5472 guide, Nevada annual fees, Nevada company search. A guide, not tax advice.
A Nevada LLC, with the list and licence handled.
US$504 to start: Nevada's US$425 at cost plus US$79 for us. Then US$419 a year, with the US$350 state fee included.