Florida LLC taxes for owners abroad: 0% state income tax, with one catch
If you own a Florida LLC personally and live outside the US, Florida takes no income tax from it. Florida has no personal income tax, and an LLC that isn't taxed as a corporation isn't a Florida corporate taxpayer.
The catch is ownership. When a company owns the LLC, or the LLC elects corporate status, Florida's 5.5% corporate income tax can reach Florida profit above US$50,000. The yearly bill everyone pays is the US$138.75 annual report.
You picked Florida for the address, the banks or the customers, and somebody told you it's tax free. For most owners abroad that's close to true. It stops being true the day a holding company sits between you and the LLC, and that's the setup many founders reach for. This page walks through each Florida tax with the Department of Revenue's own rules, then the US federal forms, then the tax that matters most: your own country's.
Key takeaways
- Florida has no personal income tax. An LLC owned by people, taxed as a disregarded entity or partnership, files no Florida income tax return.
- An LLC owned by a corporation, or one that elects corporate status, can owe 5.5% on Florida net income above US$50,000.
- Sales tax only arrives if you sell taxable goods or services in Florida. Remote sellers register after more than US$100,000 of taxable sales into Florida in a calendar year.
- Deeds and loans recorded in Florida carry documentary stamp tax.
- Federally, a single owner abroad files Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 each year, income or not. The penalty for missing it starts at US$25,000.
Who owns your Florida LLC decides what Florida taxes
Florida doesn't tax people's income at all. It does tax corporations, and the Department of Revenue follows the federal label on your LLC to decide which one you are. Pick the owner that fits you.
Owned by you personally, the LLC is outside Florida's income tax. Put a company on top and it may not be.
Florida corporate income tax: what 5.5% costs in practice
The rate is 5.5% for tax years starting on or after 1 January 2022, and the first US$50,000 of Florida net income is exempt. Florida net income is the share of federal taxable income Florida claims: the Department of Revenue splits a multistate business by 25% property, 25% payroll and 50% sales. Type the Florida share.
A guide to the rate and exemption, not a return. The exemption is shared when several group companies file together.
Most owners abroad never get here. A Florida LLC that sells software to clients in Asia and Europe, with no Florida staff or property, has little or no Florida share even when a company owns it. A corporate owner can still have a Florida return to file, though, so the question is worth asking before you choose the structure.
5.5% only applies above US$50,000, and only to the slice of profit Florida can claim.
Florida sales tax: only when you sell into Florida
Florida charges 6% state sales tax on taxable goods and listed services, plus a county surtax where the buyer is. Forming an LLC in Florida doesn't make you a dealer. Selling taxable things to Florida buyers does, and that's when you register with the Department of Revenue.
- You ship physical goods to Florida buyers and your taxable remote sales into Florida passed US$100,000 in the previous calendar year
- You keep stock, staff or a shop in Florida
- You rent out property in Florida short term
- Your customers are outside Florida
- You sell only through a marketplace that collects Florida tax for you
- You sell services Florida's sales tax chapter doesn't list
Digital products and SaaS are a grey zone we haven't seen settled in official guidance, so get a ruling or advice before you assume either way.
Sales tax follows your Florida customers, not your Florida registration.
Documentary stamp tax: buying Florida property or borrowing
Founders who use a Florida LLC to hold a condo or take a loan meet a tax most guides skip. It's charged on the document, not the profit.
Miami-Dade uses 60 cents plus a 45 cent surtax on some transfers. Moving property you already own into your LLC can be taxed too, and later sales of the LLC itself can be caught by the "conduit entity" rule in section 201.02. The rates for notes, loans and mortgages are set in section 201.08.
Holding Florida real estate in the LLC adds stamp tax on deeds and loans, profit or not.
The federal side: what the IRS expects from a foreign owner
Florida is the easy half. The IRS cares about two things: whether the LLC's income is connected to a US business, and whether a foreign owner reports dealings with it.
| Your setup | Return | When | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| One owner, living abroad | Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 | 15 April, by fax or post only | US income tax only on US-connected income |
| Two or more owners | Form 1065, a K-1 per partner | 15 March | Withholding on foreign partners' share of US business income: 37%, or 21% for a company |
| Elected corporate tax | Form 1120, with Form 5472 if 25% foreign owned | 15 April | 21% federal, plus Florida's 5.5% on its share |
The IRS calls US business income effectively connected income; the activity has to be considerable, continuous and regular, and services you perform while in the US usually count. Passive US income such as US rent, dividends or royalties is FDAP income, taxed at 30% of the gross amount unless a treaty cuts it. Partnership withholding rules are on the IRS partnership withholding page; the form itself is in the Form 5472 instructions, and our Form 5472 guide fills it line by line.
A tax treaty between the US and your country can lower federal tax on some income. Florida isn't bound by it, which rarely matters here because Florida doesn't tax people anyway. The IRS notes that some states honour treaties and some don't (IRS tax treaties page).
No US business, no US income tax. The Form 5472 filing happens anyway, every April.
Your home country: where the real tax on a Florida LLC usually sits
When Florida and the IRS both take 0%, the profit isn't untaxed. It lands on whoever your own country says owns it.
Two ways a country can see your LLC
Pick your country above to keep this page about you. The rules themselves come from your own tax office.
- As see-through: the profit is yours the year it's earned, whether you pay it out or not.
- As a foreign company: tax waits until you take a dividend, unless foreign company rules tax the kept profit sooner.
- Where you work from can matter as much: a company run from your kitchen can be treated as resident where the kitchen is.
US tax law treating your LLC as see-through doesn't make your country do the same. Ask a local adviser one question early: "Is a US single member LLC transparent or opaque here?" Everything else follows from the answer.
Florida's 0% is real. Your own country's rate is the one to plan around.
Filing finder: every return your Florida LLC has this year
Tick what's true for you. The list on the right is your year, with the dates.
Your filings
Florida corporate returns are due by the 1st day of the 5th month after the year ends, so 1 May for a calendar year.
For one owner abroad with no US operations, the year is two filings: the annual report and Form 5472.
Florida LLC tax questions, answered
Does a Florida LLC pay state income tax?
I live abroad and own the LLC alone. What do I pay Florida each year?
What is the Florida corporate tax rate for an LLC?
Do I need a Florida sales tax number to form an LLC?
Will my Florida LLC pay US federal tax?
Can I check my LLC's record on Sunbiz?
Do you file the Florida annual report and Form 5472?
Changelog
- 13 November 2026: first published.
More reading: US LLC for non-residents, Form 5472 guide, Florida annual fees, Florida company search. A guide, not tax advice.
A Florida LLC, formed for you from abroad.
US$254 to start: Florida's US$125 at cost plus US$129 for us. Then US$207.75 a year with the annual report filed.