How To Form A Wyoming Corporation

Most places will tell you there are only 2 ways to form a Wyoming corporation: apply online, or submit a paper application by mail. But did you know that submitting the Articles of Incorporation to the state yourself could compromise your information privacy? (Yes, even in Wyoming!) This is why we recommend the 3rd way to get your Wyoming corporation: hire Buffalo Registered Agents. We submit your Articles of Incorporation for FREE! With our filing fee waived, you only pay the $104 state fee and $49 for a year of our registered agent service.

We don’t charge an additional filing service fee because we believe in the value of our service. As your registered agent, we’re here for the life of your business. Not only will we take care of your formation filing for free, but we’ll also never raise the price of our registered agent service or trick you with hidden fees. Take full advantage of Wyoming privacy laws and the support of an experienced Wyoming registered agent service, just click the button below. 

Why Form a Wyoming Corporation?

Wyoming is recognized as one of the top states for starting a corporation because we have no corporate taxes, fast corporation filing processes, and low cost annual reporting requirements. But there are more reasons why you may benefit from forming a corporation over other entity types:

Corporations Have Legal Precedent

Corporations are the oldest business structure in the world. This benefits you since it means that there are centuries of business case law involving corporations. As a result, anyone forming a corporation can steer a predictable path through any possible lawsuit.

When corporations end up in court, it is generally very clear from the beginning exactly how the case will end up, because lawyers and judges can look at thousands of previous cases. Indeed, corporations can avoid lawsuits by the same means, by looking at the numerous examples of where corporations have gotten into trouble in the past.

Even Wyoming LLCs have more legal precedent than LLCs in other states. This is because Wyoming was the first state to enact laws authorizing the creation of LLCs in 1977. This does mean, however, that there is far less precedent to draw from when compared to corporations.

Corporations Have More Prestige

Corporations benefit from their long history in another way: they are generally associated with professionalism and success.

One of the greatest challenges a business faces is convincing customers to trust the company and purchase the product or service. When you form a corporation, you are automatically granted the respectability and prestige associated with terms such as CEO, Board of Directors and Stock Options.

Corporations Allow Reinvestment

Generally, when companies make a profit, the profit is distributed in some way to its owners. For LLCs, the profit is divided between members and paid out as a distribution. For corporations, profits are given as dividends associated with shares of stock.

But unlike an LLC, a corporation can choose to reinvest profits back into the company instead of issuing them out to its shareholders. This keeps the money within the company, providing funds for paying off debts and fueling growth.

Though the management structure and maintenance of a corporation is more complicated than other for-profit entity types, like LLCs, the added asset protection and legal precedent support may be important for the nature of your business.

Note: If your primary concern for starting a corporation in Wyoming is asset protection, you may want to consider forming a Firm LLC™. We created this entity to allow our clients to maximize our states limited liability protections.

Steps to Forming a Corporation in Wyoming

The Wyoming Secretary of State’s office makes it easy to form your corporation online, or you can download and mail in the paper version of the Articles of Incorporation. Either way, the state fee is $104. The corporation formation walk-through below will be for the online application process:

Business Name Search

The best way to begin your corporation journey is to choose a name that is available in Wyoming and meets Wyoming state naming standards.

Choose a Registered Agent

Wyoming requires every business to list a registered agent located in Wyoming at all times. The address of the registered agent must be a physical Wyoming address (no PO Boxes or mail forwarding service addresses are accepted). The best way to maintain complete information privacy is to hire a Wyoming registered agent service to file incorporation documents for you and serve as your registered agent.

At Buffalo Registered Agents, we’ll guard your information privacy for just $49 a year, and get your corporation formed for you in 1 business day for no additional fees! Pay only the state fee and 1 year of registered agent service (always $49 per year) when you order your corporation formation.

Submit the WY Articles of Incorporation application

The quickest and easiest way to do this is to hire us, or go online with the Wyoming Secretary of State.

Your complete step-by-step walk through of the online application process is below:

1. Business Physical & Mailing Address

Your company’s mailing address does not have to be a physical location. The business office address could be any one of a corporation’s multiple offices. A principal business office is where your Wyoming corporation keeps your company records. These include copies of your annual reports, your financial records, and your corporation’s business documents (such as Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation). The principal office address must be a physical street location.

2. Number and class of shares the corporation will have authority to issue

A Wyoming corporation authorizes and issues shares of stock to its shareholders, which is how the ownership of the corporation is determined. If you own shares of the company’s stock, you are an owner.Stock is first authorized on the Articles of Incorporation. You must decide upon a total number of shares of authorize. Once the Wyoming corporation is formed, you will have an initial shareholders meeting, and stock will be issued to shareholders. You are not required to issue all of the stock that has been authorized.

Think of Authorized Stock as a pie. The total number of Authorized Stock makes up the whole pie. When you give out stock to shareholders, you are giving out Issued Stock. Issued Stock is like slices of the pie. You give out a certain number of slices, but you can also keep slices for later.

There are two Classes of Stock: Common Stock and Preferred Stock. Common Stock designates ownership and a basic voting right at shareholder meetings. Preferred Stock comes with special benefits, which you will have to decide if you want to authorize any. You do not have to authorize anything other than Common Stock.

3. Name of the Incorporator(s) & Execution (Signing & Sending)

The Incorporator is the individual who has prepared and will submit the Articles of Incorporation to the state. If you have done this yourself, then this is you! You must provide the state with your full name and contact address. This information will NOT be private, it will be publicly available. This is where hiring Buffalo Registered Agents can help keep your name and address completely private.

4. Consent to Appointment of Registered Agent

In paper format, the Wyoming Articles of Incorporation has three pages. The third page is a consent form to be filled out by your Wyoming registered agent. The form gives the consent of the agent and is legal proof that the agent has agreed to represent your Wyoming corporation.

If you file online the consent form is much simpler. You simply click a box stating that the registered agent has give you his/her/its consent.

If you hire Buffalo Registered Agent to form your Wyoming corporation, we will handle all the filings, so you don’t have to think about it.

5. File Articles of Incorporation With the Wyoming Secretary of State

You technically have three options for filing the Articles of Incorporation:

• Hire us for just $153 (rest easy that your corporation will be formed correctly, and your name and address will be kept private!)
• File online (you will have to sign as the Incorporator, your name and signature become public record)
• Mail in a paper version of the Articles of Incorporation. it may take the state up to 3 weeks to process your application. And, you’ll need to print and sign your name and address as the Incorporator which will become public record.

To mail in a paper version, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Collect the Consent to Appointment form from your registered agent
2. Mail the Articles of Incorporation and Consent to Appointment, as well as a check or money order for $100, to:

Wyoming Secretary of State
State Capitol Building
200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020

Why not take full advantage of Wyoming’s privacy standards? Why risk exposing your name and address to scammers, solicitors, and all kinds of junk mail? For just $49 per year, we can guard your information privacy and give you access to a host of Wyoming business experts (real people in Wyoming!) over the phone, via email or online chat. 

What to Do After You Register a Wyoming Corporation

After the state approves your Articles of Incorporation, there’s a few more things you’ll need to do: 

1. Apply for an Employer Identification Number

All corporations must apply for an Employer Identification Number (also called a Federal Employer Identification Number) from the IRS. The IRS issues EINs (or FEINs) to businesses in order to identify them for tax purposes, the same as it issues Social Security Numbers to individuals. An EIN specifically tracks contributions to Medicare and Social Security.

To obtain an EIN, you must  file Form SS-4 with the IRS. To do so, go to the IRS website and apply online.

2. Open a Business Bank Account

Once you form a corporation in Wyoming, you will need to open a business bank account. Your company account will be used to make business purchases, pay employees and taxes, and take in revenues from your customers. It will be kept separate from the personal accounts of shareholders.

While each bank branch is different and will have its own particular requirements for opening accounts, most banks require at least the following documents: a copy of your filed Articles of Incorporation, your EIN, a copy of your Corporate Bylaws, and a copy of your Initial Resolution.

Bank accounts must be opened in person. The individual opening the account must be authorized to do so. Authorization can be granted in the Corporate Bylaws and the Initial Resolution.

3. Put Your Business on the Map

You’ve incorporated in Wyoming. You’ve got your EIN and a business bank account. Now it’s time to establish your business’s professional image. What that looks like is a website, business phone number, and business email.

On our end, we include it all for our clients: a domain name with an email address at that domain, an SSL-secure business website, and a Wyoming business phone number. The domain we allow clients to use one year for free, and the rest we give clients 90 days of free use as soon as they sign up. Why? Because we know it’s vital to your business success.

Even if you don’t hire us, it’s crucial to be thinking of these things as soon as possible. As soon as you have a business name, it’s already a good idea to check available domain names. And thinking about your website and branding. You get the picture—now is the time to start shaping your company’s professional image. Try our Wyoming Business Presence package for no money down when you order any of our other services. Cancel any part you don’t need for free, anytime.

4. File the Wyoming Annual Report

After you form a Wyoming corporation, you are legally required to file an Annual Report each year. The Annual Report must be filed by the first day of the month of incorporation. If you incorporated your company on October 25, you must file the Annual Report by October 1.

You can file your Wyoming Annual Report online. The fee is $60, plus a $2 online convenience fee. If you do not want to pay the additional $2, you can fill out the report online, print it and mail it to the Secretary of State. If your corporation has more than $300,000 in assets within the state, your Annual Report fee is calculated by multiplying the total value of your in-state assets by $.0002.

If you fail to file an Annual Report, the Secretary of State will dissolve your corporation after 60 days.

When you hire Buffalo Registered Agents, you get more than just a registered agent address to use on state record. You’re also enrolled in our compliance service at no upfront cost. When your annual report’s due date get closer, we’ll send you annual report reminders. For $100 plus state fees, we’ll take care of annual report filing so that’s one less thing you need to worry about. Or you can easily cancel in your account and do the filing yourself.

You also get free mail forwarding of non-registered agent mail (up to 3 documents a year). If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of sorting through your business mail (and the inevitable junk mail), we offer several different paid mail forwarding packages. Each includes a unique suite number you can list as your business mailing address.

We’re here to help you with your Wyoming corporation every step of the way, and we’re here for you in case you have questions or run into trouble. We value your business and your privacy, we know you’ll also see the value in our support.

Wyoming Corporation Fees Summary

We like to try and budget costs for our business. We figure you would also appreciate a look at the total cost of doing business as a corporation in Wyoming: 

Wyoming Corporation Advantages

Here at Buffalo Registered Agent, we happen to believe that Wyoming truly is the best state for business. We believe that not just because we live here, but because we honestly think this is the truth.

Below are some of our reasons:

Wyoming is Affordable

Consider that in Wyoming there is:

• No corporate tax
• No personal income tax
• No business franchise tax
• No business licensing fees
• No share certificates required
• Minimal filing fees

By comparison, let’s look at Delaware. In Delaware, you will pay a corporate tax every year, personal income taxes every year, franchise taxes every year, and annual fees starting at $300. Or Nevada, where you will pay a $125 officer filing fee in addition to all formation costs, as well as a $200 annual business license fee.

Incorporating in Wyoming will save you money. It’s as simple as that.

Wyoming Offers Privacy

Here in Wyoming, your privacy is not an evasion of the law. Instead, it is built into our state statutes. Wyoming uses legitimate laws to keep business owners protected. Only the name of the Incorporator is at risk of becoming public record, but this person can be anyone you authorize to complete and submit the Articles of Incorporation on your behalf. If keeping your information out of the public record is important to you, Wyoming is the best state to incorporate. Privacy here is real and backed up by the law. 

That being said, on the first annual report a corporation’s officer or director must list their name and address. However, if you’ve hired us to be your registered agent, you can use our address on the annual report to keep your officer/director’s address private. If listing any name on state record is unacceptable to you, consider a Wyoming LLC for long-term privacy.

Wyoming Protects Your Assets

Wyoming state law holds that you cannot be held responsible for the debts of your corporation, as long as no laws have been broken. This means your personal assets stay personal and can not be sought out to pay your corporation’s bills!

If quality of service and privacy are important to you and your business, we hope you’ll consider hiring Buffalo Registered Agents to support your growing company. If you have any questions about incorporating in Wyoming, don’t hesitate to contact us.