What is nominee services for anonymous LLC and is it legal?

Nominee services typically involve using a third party (a nominee organizer, nominee manager, or nominee member) to appear in public LLC records in place of the actual beneficial owner. The legality of nominee arrangements depends on how they are structured and for what purpose. Using a formation service as a professional organizer to file your LLC (per Wyoming W.S. 17-28-107) is a straightforward and fully legal service. More complex arrangements involving nominee members or managers should be reviewed by a licensed attorney, as they can raise issues related to the Corporate Transparency Act's beneficial ownership reporting requirements, which require disclosure of actual beneficial owners (not nominees) to FinCEN. The CTA specifically addresses arrangements designed to obscure beneficial ownership. This article is educational only and is not legal advice.

Anonymous LLC States Ranked: Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, Delaware, and Montana (2026)

Q: What is the difference between Wyoming and New Mexico for anonymous LLCs?

Both Wyoming and New Mexico allow anonymous LLC formation (no member names on public Articles of Organization). The key differences are: (1) Annual reporting: Wyoming requires a minimal annual report ($60 minimum fee) that does not disclose members. New Mexico requires no annual report at all, which means zero recurring public filing exposure. (2) Cost: New Mexico's formation fee is lower and there are no annual fees after formation. Wyoming charges $60 per year minimum. (3) Statute and case law: Wyoming has a more mature LLC statute and more supporting court decisions. New Mexico's framework is newer and less tested. (4) Practical use: New Mexico is often preferred for long-term passive holding structures where minimizing administrative burden is the priority. Wyoming is often preferred when statutory clarity and case law depth matter. Both are legitimate privacy-state choices; the right answer depends on your specific structure and goals. Consult a licensed attorney.

Q: Is Nevada actually an anonymous LLC state?

Nevada is frequently marketed as a privacy-friendly state for LLC formation, but it has a significant limitation that is often understated: Nevada's Annual List of Managers or Members (NRS Chapter 86) is a public filing that discloses the names and addresses of the LLC's managers (in a manager-managed LLC) or members (in a member-managed LLC). This annual public disclosure largely negates the formation-stage privacy that Nevada provides. A Nevada LLC may start with no member names on the Articles of Organization, but by the time the first Annual List is due, that information becomes public record. This is a meaningful difference from Wyoming and New Mexico, where member names are not required in any recurring public filing. For true ownership privacy at the state level, Wyoming and New Mexico are more consistently private over time.

Q: Does the Corporate Transparency Act eliminate the benefit of anonymous LLCs?

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), codified at 31 U.S.C. 5336, requires most LLCs formed in the United States to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) disclosing the identity of beneficial owners. This is a federal reporting obligation that applies regardless of which state the LLC is formed in. Importantly, BOI reports are not public records. They are filed with FinCEN and are accessible only to authorized law enforcement and financial institutions under specific circumstances. This means the CTA does not eliminate the benefit of state-level anonymous formation for public-record purposes. Your name may not appear in any publicly searchable database, even after BOI compliance. The CTA changed federal compliance obligations but did not make state formation records public. Consult a licensed attorney familiar with current FinCEN guidance, as the CTA's implementation has been subject to ongoing litigation and regulatory updates.

Five states are routinely marketed as the best anonymous LLC states. Each one delivers something different. Wyoming keeps your name off the annual report. New Mexico eliminates the annual report entirely. Nevada publishes your manager or member names in a public filing every year. Delaware skips member names on formation but leaves a registered agent paper trail. Montana provides formation privacy but far less court precedent to back it up. This guide explains exactly what each state actually delivers, where the marketing overstates the protection, and what the federal Corporate Transparency Act changed for everyone regardless of state choice. This article is educational only. Consult a licensed attorney before making any entity formation decision.

"I keep seeing Wyoming and New Mexico thrown around as 'anonymous LLC states' but nobody ever explains what that actually means in practice or whether your name ends up somewhere eventually." QUOTE TBD (verbatim sourcing in progress from r/llc and r/realestateinvesting community threads)

What "Anonymous LLC" Actually Means (and What It Does Not)

The phrase "anonymous LLC" refers specifically to state-level privacy at two distinct stages: formation filings and recurring annual filings. A state earns the anonymous label when it does not require member or manager names to appear in either type of public record. The protection is real and useful. It is also narrower than most marketing copy suggests.

Here is what state-level anonymity covers and what it does not:

Covered: Public Secretary of State databases. If your name is not on the Articles of Organization and not required on any annual filing, a basic public-records search of the state database will not surface your name as an owner.
Covered: Many commercial data aggregators that pull from SoS databases. Fewer data brokers can compile accurate ownership records when no ownership records exist in public filings.
Not covered: Federal Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act. This is a separate federal obligation discussed in detail below. BOI reports are not public, but they do exist.
Not covered: State tax filings, banking records, EIN applications, or court proceedings. These create disclosure pathways that exist regardless of formation state.
Not covered: States where you operate. If your LLC conducts business in your home state, a foreign qualification filing in that state may require member or manager information per that state's rules.

Understanding those boundaries is the starting point for evaluating the five states most commonly marketed as privacy-friendly for LLC formation.

The Anonymous LLC States Comparison Table

State	Member Names on Articles?	Member Names on Annual Filing?	Public Registered Agent?	Federal BOI Disclosure?	Min. Annual Cost	True Anonymity Tier
Wyoming	No (organizer files per W.S. 17-28-107)	No	Yes (address is public; identity may vary)	To FinCEN only (not public)	$60/yr	S Strongest state-level privacy
New Mexico	No (NMSA §53-19)	No annual report required	Yes (address is public)	To FinCEN only (not public)	$0/yr after formation	S No recurring public disclosure
Nevada	No	Yes (Annual List discloses managers or members)	Yes (address is public)	To FinCEN only (not public)	$350/yr+	B Formation private; annual filing public
Delaware	No (Certificate of Formation)	No member names (annual franchise tax only)	Yes (registered agent is public)	To FinCEN only (not public)	$300/yr	A Strong formation privacy; RA paper trail
Montana	No (member names not required)	No member names required	Yes (address is public)	To FinCEN only (not public)	~$20/yr	A Privacy at formation and annual; thin case law

Tier definitions: S = strongest available state-level public-record privacy with low ongoing cost. A = strong formation and annual privacy with meaningful caveats. B = formation privacy offset by recurring public disclosure. C = limited practical privacy (not represented in this comparison because none of the five states earns a C rating for formation-stage privacy).

Wyoming: The Filing-as-Organizer Approach (W.S. 17-28-107)

Wyoming is the benchmark against which every other anonymous LLC state is measured, and for good reason. The Wyoming LLC Act at W.S. 17-28-107 explicitly provides for filing by an organizer rather than by the members themselves. The organizer (which may be a professional formation service acting on your behalf) signs and submits the Articles of Organization. The organizer's name or the service's name appears in the filing. Member names are not required anywhere in the public record.

What Wyoming provides at the state level:

No member names on Articles of Organization. The public formation filing lists the registered agent and the organizer. Member and manager names are not required.
No member names on the annual report. Wyoming's annual report requires the principal address of the LLC and the registered agent information. It does not require member or manager names to be listed publicly.
Statutory clarity. W.S. 17-28-107 is the explicit legal basis for the filing-as-organizer approach. This is not a loophole or a gray area. It is a feature the Wyoming legislature built into the statute.
Low recurring cost. The annual report fee is $60 minimum (scales with assets located in Wyoming). No state income tax. No revenue-based franchise tax for most structures.

The one item on every Wyoming LLC's public record: a registered agent with a public address in Wyoming. Your registered agent's name and address will appear in state records. A professional registered agent service separates that address from your personal information, which is part of the privacy architecture. But the registered agent's identity itself is visible to anyone searching the Wyoming SoS database.

Attorney caveat: Wyoming's state-level privacy does not override foreign qualification requirements in states where the LLC operates. If your Wyoming LLC conducts business in a state that requires disclosure of member names in its foreign qualification process, that state's rules apply. Consult a licensed attorney familiar with the laws of every state where you conduct business.

New Mexico: No Annual Report, No Recurring Disclosure (NMSA Section 53-19)

New Mexico occupies a unique position among the most private LLC states: it is the only state in this comparison that requires no annual report after formation. Under NMSA Section 53-19 (the New Mexico Limited Liability Company Act), LLCs are not required to file an annual renewal or annual report with the New Mexico Secretary of State. Member names are not required on the Articles of Organization.

The practical implication is significant. In Wyoming, an annual report exists even though it does not require member names. The filing itself is a touchpoint in the public record. In New Mexico, no such touchpoint exists after the initial formation. An LLC formed in New Mexico generates exactly one public record: the Articles of Organization filed at formation. After that, there is no annual filing to search, no recurring disclosure to manage, and no annual fee to pay to the state.

New Mexico's profile for most private LLC states:

No member names required on Articles of Organization
No annual report requirement (zero recurring public filing)
No state annual fee after formation
Formation fee is lower than Wyoming's
Registered agent address is still a public record (same as every other state)

The honest limitation: New Mexico's LLC statute and case law are less developed than Wyoming's. There are fewer court decisions interpreting the New Mexico LLC Act, which means less certainty about how courts will apply the statute in novel or contested situations. For a passive holding structure where simplicity and low ongoing cost are the priorities, New Mexico is an excellent choice. For a more complex multi-member structure where operating agreement enforceability and statutory interpretation matter, Wyoming's deeper legal framework may be preferable.

New Mexico also has less charging-order case law than Wyoming, which matters if asset protection is a co-equal goal alongside privacy. If both privacy and strong creditor protection are priorities, Wyoming is the more battle-tested option.

Nevada: Formation Privacy That Annual Filings Undo (NRS Chapter 86)

Nevada is one of the most aggressively marketed states for LLC privacy and asset protection, and its marketing often overstates what its privacy framework actually delivers over time. Here is the honest picture:

At formation, Nevada does not require member names on the Articles of Organization. Formation is private in the same way it is private in Wyoming and New Mexico. The problem arises on the first annual filing.

Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 86 requires every LLC to file an Annual List of Managers or Members with the Nevada Secretary of State. This filing publicly discloses the names and addresses of the LLC's managers (if manager-managed) or members (if member-managed). The Annual List is a public record, searchable on the Nevada SoS website. The privacy advantage at formation is largely undone by the time the first Annual List is due.

The Nevada Privacy Gap: A Nevada LLC may launch with no member names in any public record. By the end of the first compliance year, however, the names and addresses of the LLC's managers or members are on file with the state and publicly searchable. This is a meaningful difference from Wyoming and New Mexico, where no public filing ever requires member or manager disclosure. If long-term ownership privacy is the goal, Nevada's annual disclosure requirement is a significant limitation that is frequently omitted from Nevada LLC marketing materials.

Nevada's annual costs add further weight to the comparison:

Annual List of Managers/Members: $350 minimum
State Business License fee: $200 per year
Total minimum annual cost: approximately $550 per year

For comparison, Wyoming charges $60 per year (no member disclosure) and New Mexico charges $0 per year (no annual filing at all). The $550 Nevada annual cost buys less privacy than the $60 Wyoming cost buys, measured in terms of what information ends up in a publicly searchable state database.

Nevada remains an excellent choice for Nevada residents and businesses with genuine Nevada operations, for its asset protection statute (NRS 86.401), and for its favorable court environment for business disputes. But the "anonymous Nevada LLC" framing requires a significant asterisk: the anonymity dissolves at the first annual filing.

Delaware: Certificate Privacy, Registered Agent Visibility

Delaware is the most frequently formed state for institutional entities, investor-backed companies, and businesses expecting venture capital or acquisition activity. Its privacy profile is meaningful but qualitatively different from Wyoming or New Mexico.

Delaware's Certificate of Formation does not require member or manager names. The public formation filing lists the registered agent and the LLC name. Member names are not disclosed at formation. Delaware also does not require member names on its annual filing (the annual LLC franchise tax payment). On those two dimensions, Delaware is a privacy-friendly state.

The nuance is the registered agent requirement. Every Delaware LLC must maintain a registered agent with a Delaware address, and that registered agent's identity is a public record. For institutional clients, this is typically a well-known registered agent firm whose presence in the record carries no meaningful information about ownership. For individuals seeking true anonymity, the registered agent is a link in the chain of paper trail that connects public filings to someone who knows who the actual owners are.

Delaware's other notable characteristic: it charges a $300 flat annual franchise tax regardless of revenue or activity. For a passive holding LLC that earns no income and has no Delaware operations, $300 per year is a premium for what is essentially legal prestige and case law certainty. Wyoming provides equivalent or stronger privacy for $60 per year. New Mexico provides comparable formation-stage privacy for $0 per year after formation.

Where Delaware earns its premium: the Court of Chancery. Delaware has more LLC case law than any other state. When statutory language is ambiguous, Delaware courts have almost certainly already addressed the question. For multi-member operating agreements, management dispute resolution, and any structure where legal certainty is worth paying for, Delaware's case law depth is a genuine advantage. For a single-member privacy-focused holding LLC, that depth is largely irrelevant and the cost premium is difficult to justify.

Montana: Privacy at Formation, Developing Case Law

Montana rounds out the list of states commonly discussed for anonymous LLC formation, and it occupies an interesting middle ground. Montana does not require member names on its Articles of Organization, and the annual report does not require member disclosure. Privacy at both the formation and annual filing stages is available in Montana.

Montana's appeal is real but specific:

Formation and annual filing privacy comparable to Wyoming (no member names in public records)
Low annual fees (approximately $20 per year for most LLCs)
A legal environment with less litigation history around LLC disputes, meaning fewer adversarial challenges to the structure

The honest limitation is the same one that follows New Mexico: thinner case law. Montana's LLC statute has been tested less frequently by courts than Wyoming's, which means less certainty about how courts will apply it in disputed situations. For a standard passive holding LLC, this may not matter in practice. For anything more complex, Wyoming's more developed framework is the stronger foundation.

One topic that comes up frequently in connection with Montana LLCs is vehicle registration. Montana does not charge a state sales tax, and some residents of high-sales-tax states have formed Montana LLCs specifically to title vehicles through the LLC and avoid their home state's vehicle sales tax. This is a separate topic from business privacy, carries meaningful legal risk in some states, and is outside the scope of this comparison. Consult a licensed attorney before using any entity structure for vehicle registration purposes.

The Federal Factor: What the Corporate Transparency Act Actually Requires

No comparison of the most private LLC states is complete without a clear explanation of what the federal Corporate Transparency Act changed, and specifically what it did not change.

The Corporate Transparency Act (31 U.S.C. 5336), enacted in 2021 and effective January 1, 2024, requires most LLCs formed in the United States to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The BOI report discloses the name, date of birth, address, and a copy of an identifying document (driver's license or passport) for every beneficial owner of the LLC.

Three things the CTA changed:

Federal disclosure obligation. Beneficial owners must now be identified to FinCEN regardless of which state the LLC is formed in. Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, Delaware, and Montana are all subject to this federal obligation.
Ongoing reporting. Changes in beneficial ownership must be reported to FinCEN within 30 days of the change.
Penalties for non-compliance. Willful failure to report carries civil penalties and potential criminal liability.

Three things the CTA did not change:

State public records remain controlled by state law. The CTA does not make state SoS databases more transparent. If Wyoming does not require member names in public filings, that remains true after the CTA.
BOI reports are not public. FinCEN does not publish BOI reports or make them searchable by the general public. The reports are accessible to authorized law enforcement and certain financial institutions under specific circumstances. A journalist, a litigant in a civil case, or a curious neighbor cannot look up your BOI filing.
State-level privacy still has real-world value. The distinction between appearing in a publicly searchable state database and having a confidential filing with a federal agency is significant for most practical privacy purposes. Someone conducting a public-record search for your name or LLC in Wyoming or New Mexico will not find your name associated with ownership. That protection remains intact under the CTA.

Important note on CTA status: The CTA's implementation and enforcement have been subject to ongoing litigation since late 2024, including injunctions and stays that temporarily affected reporting deadlines and requirements. The regulatory landscape has been evolving. Consult a licensed attorney for current FinCEN guidance applicable to your specific LLC and formation date before concluding what your BOI obligations are.

Attorney caveat: The CTA added a federal compliance layer that applies regardless of state choice. Formation in Wyoming, New Mexico, or any other privacy-friendly state does not eliminate or reduce federal BOI reporting obligations. Anyone advising you that forming in a particular state avoids CTA compliance should be asked to cite the specific statutory exemption they are relying on. Consult a licensed attorney familiar with current FinCEN guidance.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which states allow anonymous LLCs?

The states most commonly cited for anonymous LLC formation are Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, Delaware, and Montana. Each provides some degree of member privacy at the formation stage. Wyoming and New Mexico offer the strongest ongoing privacy because neither requires member names in any recurring public filing. Nevada's annual filing publicly discloses managers or members, which limits its anonymity value over time. Delaware provides formation privacy but has a public registered agent requirement. Montana offers formation and annual privacy but has less-developed case law. Federal BOI reporting to FinCEN applies regardless of state. Consult a licensed attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

What is the most private LLC state?

Wyoming and New Mexico are generally considered the most private LLC states, each for a distinct reason. Wyoming allows a professional organizer to file on your behalf (W.S. 17-28-107), and the annual report does not require member disclosure. New Mexico requires no annual report at all, meaning there is no recurring public filing that could reveal ownership information. Wyoming has stronger statutory clarity and more supporting case law. New Mexico has zero recurring state fees and zero annual public filings after formation. The right choice depends on whether you prioritize legal framework depth (Wyoming) or minimal administrative footprint (New Mexico).

Does Wyoming allow anonymous LLC formation?

Yes. Wyoming Statutes 17-28-107 explicitly allows an organizer to file the Articles of Organization on behalf of the LLC without disclosing member or manager names. The organizer (such as a professional formation service) is listed in the public filing instead of the actual owners. Wyoming's annual report also does not require member names. This is the legal foundation for what is commonly called a Wyoming anonymous LLC. State-level privacy does not eliminate federal BOI reporting obligations to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.

What is the difference between Wyoming and New Mexico for anonymous LLCs?

Both states allow anonymous LLC formation (no member names on public Articles of Organization). Key differences: Wyoming requires an annual report at $60 minimum (no member names disclosed). New Mexico requires no annual report and no annual state fee. Wyoming has a more mature LLC statute and more supporting court decisions. New Mexico offers the lowest long-term administrative burden of any privacy-friendly state. New Mexico is often preferred for passive long-term holding structures. Wyoming is often preferred when statutory clarity, charging-order protection, and case law depth are priorities alongside privacy.

Is Nevada actually an anonymous LLC state?

Nevada is frequently marketed as a privacy-friendly state, but its Annual List of Managers or Members (required under NRS Chapter 86) publicly discloses the names and addresses of the LLC's managers or members each year. Formation is private, but the first annual filing puts ownership information into a publicly searchable state database. This is a significant limitation compared to Wyoming and New Mexico, where no public filing ever requires member disclosure. Nevada remains a strong choice for Nevada residents and for its asset protection statute, but the "anonymous" characterization requires a significant qualification given the annual public disclosure requirement.

Does the Corporate Transparency Act eliminate the benefit of anonymous LLCs?

No, but it added a federal compliance layer. The CTA (31 U.S.C. 5336) requires most LLCs to file a Beneficial Ownership Information report with FinCEN regardless of formation state. BOI reports are not public records. They are filed with a federal agency and accessible only to authorized law enforcement and certain financial institutions under specific circumstances. State-level privacy (not appearing in publicly searchable SoS databases) remains intact under the CTA. Formation in a privacy-friendly state continues to serve the goal of keeping your name out of public records, even after BOI compliance. Consult a licensed attorney for current guidance on CTA requirements, which have been subject to ongoing regulatory and legal developments.

Sources: Wyoming LLC Act, W.S. 17-28-107 (filing by organizer) and W.S. 17-29-101 et seq. (Wyoming LLC Act generally) , wyoleg.gov. Wyoming Secretary of State annual report requirements , sos.wyo.gov. New Mexico LLC Act, NMSA §53-19-1 et seq. (no annual report requirement) , nmprc.state.nm.us. Nevada Revised Statutes, NRS Chapter 86 (Nevada LLC Act), NRS 86.263 (Annual List of Managers or Members) , leg.state.nv.us. Delaware LLC Act, 6 Del. C. §18-201 (Certificate of Formation) , delcode.delaware.gov. Montana LLC Act, Montana Code Annotated Title 35, Chapter 8 , leg.mt.gov. Corporate Transparency Act, 31 U.S.C. 5336 (Beneficial Ownership Information reporting) , congress.gov. FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements , fincen.gov/boi. State annual fees verified against respective Secretary of State websites, April 2026: Wyoming sos.wyo.gov, New Mexico nmsos.state.nm.us, Nevada nvsos.gov, Delaware corp.delaware.gov, Montana sos.mt.gov. This article is educational only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed attorney and CPA for guidance specific to your situation and the states where you own property or conduct business.