To create an anonymous LLC in Delaware, you hire a commercial registered agent, have a third-party organizer file a Certificate of Formation that lists only the LLC’s name and the agent’s address, then handle your EIN, operating agreement, and bank account through channels that stay off the public record. Delaware’s formation statute doesn’t ask for members or managers, so if no one volunteers that information, no one ever appears in state filings.
Why Delaware Filings Can Leave Owners Out
Under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, a Certificate of Formation has to include just two things: the LLC’s name and the registered agent’s name and address.1Justia. Delaware Code Title 6 Chapter 18 – Certificate of Formation There is no line for members, managers, or ownership percentages. The statute allows “any other matters the members determine to include,” but adding owner names is entirely optional, and anyone forming an anonymous LLC simply doesn’t.
The document is signed and filed by an “authorized person,” who does not have to be a member or manager. A formation service or attorney can act as the organizer, so only their information touches the public record. This is how the statute was written, not a workaround.
Choose a Name and Hire a Commercial Registered Agent
Name Requirements
Your LLC name must include “Limited Liability Company,” “L.L.C.,” or “LLC,” and it has to be distinguishable from every other entity already on file with the Delaware Secretary of State.2Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 6 Chapter 18 – Limited Liability Company Act Check availability through the Delaware Division of Corporations website before filing. A conflict discovered afterward wastes both the fee and the turnaround time.
The Registered Agent Is the Privacy Decision
Every Delaware LLC must have a registered agent with a physical street address in the state; P.O. boxes don’t qualify.3Delaware Division of Corporations. FAQs Regarding Registered Agents The agent receives legal documents and official notices for the LLC, and the agent’s name and address become part of the public record.
For anonymity, use a commercial registered agent service rather than serving as your own agent. Listing yourself defeats the entire purpose. Commercial agents typically charge between $50 and $300 per year, and many formation services bundle agent service with the filing. The agent’s information replaces yours on every public document, which makes this the single most important privacy decision in the process.
File the Certificate of Formation Through an Authorized Person
With a name confirmed and an agent in place, your formation service or attorney files the Certificate of Formation as the authorized person. They prepare the document, sign it, and submit it to the Delaware Division of Corporations. The form itself is short: the LLC name and the registered agent’s name and address. No owner names, no manager names, no business purpose.
The filing fee is $110. You can file online or by mail. Standard processing takes several business days, and Delaware offers expedited service (next-business-day, same-day, and two-hour) for additional fees ranging from $50 to $500.4Delaware Division of Corporations. Expedited Services Once approved, the state returns a stamped copy of the Certificate. That document proves the LLC legally exists.
Handle Post-Formation Steps Privately
Write an Operating Agreement
Delaware doesn’t require a written operating agreement. The law recognizes written, oral, and even implied agreements among members.2Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 6 Chapter 18 – Limited Liability Company Act For an anonymous LLC, a written agreement is still practically essential. It names the actual owners, sets each person’s ownership percentage, and establishes how the company will be managed. It never gets filed with the state. Without one, there’s no clean internal record of who owns what, and banks and business partners will hesitate to take the LLC seriously.
Apply for an EIN
The LLC needs an Employer Identification Number for tax filings and to open a bank account. You apply using IRS Form SS-4, which requires the name and Social Security Number (or ITIN) of a “responsible party.” The IRS defines that as the individual with ultimate control over the entity’s funds and assets, and it must be a real person, not another company.5Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees Nominees are explicitly prohibited.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
The IRS is not a public record. Your name goes to the IRS, not to the Delaware Division of Corporations or any searchable state database. The EIN application doesn’t compromise anonymity at the state level.
Open a Business Bank Account
Federal anti-money-laundering rules require banks to identify the beneficial owners of any business account. Under the Customer Due Diligence rule, banks must collect the identity of anyone owning 25% or more of the company and anyone exercising significant control over it.7eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.230 – Beneficial Ownership Requirements for Legal Entity Customers You’ll need the stamped Certificate of Formation, the EIN, the operating agreement, and personal identification.
The bank keeps this information confidential and doesn’t push it to any public state database. Anonymity works in layers: your identity stays out of public records even while specific private institutions know who you are.
Keep the LLC in Good Standing
A Delaware LLC owes a $300 annual franchise tax, due by June 1st each year. There is no annual report. Missing the deadline triggers a $200 penalty plus 1.5% monthly interest on the unpaid tax and penalty.8Delaware Division of Corporations. LLC/LP/GP Franchise Tax Instructions
A delinquent LLC can lose good standing, which creates problems with banks, contracts, and the ability to do business. For an anonymous LLC, a lapse also invites the kind of scrutiny you set the structure up to avoid. Keep your registered agent appointment current too. If the agent resigns or you stop paying, the LLC loses its required point of contact in Delaware and good standing can slip.
Where the Anonymity Ends
An anonymous Delaware LLC keeps your name off state filings. That blocks casual searches by competitors, litigious strangers, and data brokers scraping public records. It is not invisibility.
The IRS knows because you named a responsible party. Your bank knows because federal regulations required it to identify beneficial owners. Your registered agent service likely knows because most require client identification during onboarding. And a court can compel disclosure of ownership through subpoena or discovery in litigation.
If the business actually operates in another state, keeps an office there, employs people there, or regularly transacts business there, that state will usually require the LLC to register as a foreign entity. Some states demand member or manager disclosure as part of foreign qualification, which puts on their public record what you kept off Delaware’s. Check the disclosure rules for any state where you’ll actually do business before assuming the Delaware filing is the whole answer.
On federal transparency: the Corporate Transparency Act created a beneficial ownership reporting requirement administered by FinCEN. As of March 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule exempting all entities created in the United States from that reporting obligation. Only entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in the U.S. currently have to file beneficial ownership reports.9FinCEN. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting A domestic Delaware LLC is currently exempt. FinCEN has indicated it may issue a revised final rule later, so the exemption could change. Worth watching if long-term anonymity matters to you.
The practical result: this structure shields you from the public, not from the government. For most people who want business privacy, asset separation, or distance between their personal identity and their business activity, that’s the privacy that matters.