Florida Double LLC™

What Is a Florida Double LLC?

The Florida Double LLC™ is our unique innovation in Florida business privacy. It allows you to keep your name off of the public record by creating two Florida LLCs that manage each other.

That’s one of the many benefits of owning our own building in Florida and hiring local business experts—we can innovate ahead of the curve, always bringing true value to our clients. Combined with the free use of our Florida business address, the Florida Double LLC™ is simply the closest thing possible to forming an anonymous LLC in Florida.

Why Choose a Florida Double LLC™?

Florida is generally a great place to start a limited liability company (LLC). Even a traditional LLC formed in Florida will benefit from no state income taxes, no capital gains or “death taxes,” low property taxes, and the fewer formalities and cheap annual maintenance associated with LLCs when compared to starting a Florida corporation.

But business privacy is hard to come by in Florida. A simple business entity search at Florida’s Sunbiz website will reveal any information about your business that appears on your Florida state filings, including any names and addresses publicly associated with your business. If you include your name or business address on your Florida LLC’s articles of organization or Florida annual reports, that’s that. You and your business are inextricably connected publicly from there on out.

That’s why we invented the Florida Double LLC™. We all know there are bad actors out there and that personal privacy and data security are more important now than they have ever been. And there are plenty of legitimate reasons why some business owners need more privacy than others.

For $390 Total, our Florida Double LLC™ package provides the best solution for staying as private as possible within the boundaries set by Florida law.

How Our Florida Double LLC™ Package Works

A traditional LLC will not protect your identity. A traditional LLC will list your information on your LLC Articles of Organization and annual reports, all of which are part of the public record. Our Double LLC strategy dissolves this problem by creating two Florida LLCs that manage each other.

When you sign up for our special Double LLC package, you’ll

• start two companies (both Florida LLCs),
• file two separate articles of organization with the state, and
• file two separate Florida annual reports each year.

Here’s how we’ll help you start and maintain your Florida Double LLC™:

Step One: Formation

You’ll start by registering two Florida LLCs with the state through Sunshine Corporate Filings. For both companies, we sign as your organizer, and you’ll use our Florida business address as the principal office address for each.

Both LLCs, moreover, will be filed as “manager-managed,” and each company’s articles of organization will list the other company as its manager. The first LLC will be the public face of your company’s operations. The second LLC will manage the first one (and vice versa).

This means you will own two companies that manage each other.

Step Two: Annual Reporting

A year after you form your Florida LLCs, you will need to file Florida annual reports for your two companies. On these reports, you must list a manager. A manager can be an individual or a business (both qualifying as “persons” in the business world).

So, on your annual report for your first LLC, you will list your second LLC as the manager. On the annual report from your second LLC, the manager you’ll list will be your first LLC.

Step Three: Continued Maintenance

Lastly, we’ll supply you with continuous Florida registered agent service for both companies. Remember, we own a commercial building in St. Petersburg. National companies will use third-party vendor addresses. The difference? We’re here for the long haul, carefully maintaining your LLCs to ensure your security throughout the life of your Florida Double LLC™.

Why We Include a Free Florida Business Address

The use of our Florida business address is one of the key ways our Double LLC package helps your business stay private, but if you’ve spent any time on our website, you’re probably aware that all of our clients can use our Florida business address for free. This includes businesses that use our traditional Florida LLC service, our Florida incorporation service, or simply our Florida Registered Agent service on its own.

Why? Because we believe a free business address should be a basic part of any Florida registered agent service, and we can provide this service because we own the building that houses our registered agent service, our business formation services, and our Florida mail forwarding center.

Can I get mail forwarding service with my Florida Double LLC™?

You bet! Our Florida mail forwarding packages are available to all of our clients. In each case, you can use our Florida business address, and we’ll scan and upload your mail to your client account on the day it arrives. These packages all include a free 60-day trial of our Florida Phone Service too (a secondary business line designed to help you protect your privacy).

Simply choose the package that best fits the needs of your Double LLC:

• Our free mail forwarding option is already part of our $35 Florida registered agent service, and it includes forwarding up to 10 pieces of non-state mail per year for free;
• Our Deluxe Florida mail forwarding package includes 10 additional non-state mail scans for $49 a year and a unique suite number for your business; and
• Our Premium Florida mail forwarding package includes 25 additional non-state mail scans for $99 a year, a unique suite number, and even junk mail shredding.

You can learn more about what each package has to offer at our Florida mail forwarding service page.

Or, if you’re interested in mail forwarding plus a real office lease and a full year of Florida Phone Service for your business, check out our low-cost and comprehensive Florida Virtual Office package instead.

Florida Double LLC™ FAQs

How much does a Florida Double LLC™ package cost?

Our Double LLC package costs $390 Total. $250 of your overall costs come from setting up two Florida LLCs. The rest is our formation fee and Florida registered agent service fee. (See the section titled “Transparent Pricing: Here’s Where Your Money Goes” above.)

How long does it take to form my Florida LLCs?

Florida processes online filings in around 8 business days, and paper filings take about a week or longer. These time-frames are no different for a Double LLC (which simply consists of two Florida LLCs) than for a traditional LLC formed in Florida.

When you sign up for our Florida Double LLC™ package, we’ll use the online filing method and have the Articles of Organization for both companies filed with the state within 8 business days.

Can I Open a Bank Account For My Double LLC?

Yes, but not at every bank. While there are many benefits to owning two LLCs that manage each other, you could run into difficulties when you try to open a bank account because the bank might get confused about who is authorized to act on each LLC’s behalf.

Before signing up for our Double LLC package, we recommend that you speak with the bank you intend to do business with, explain that you’re starting two Florida LLCs that will manage each other, and find out if the bank is willing to work with you. To assist you, our guides keep an updated list of banks operating in Florida that have started accounts for our Florida Double LLC™ clients.

Does a Double LLC pay taxes in Florida?

Florida doesn’t have a state income tax, so you won’t pay state income taxes on earnings for either company that makes up your Double LLC. But, as with any limited liability company, you’ll still have federal and local tax obligations to deal with.

You can learn more about the tax benefits to forming an LLC in Florida at our Florida LLC Taxes guide.

Can Sunshine Corporate Filings File My Double LLC’s Annual Reports?

Yes! At Sunshine Corporate Filings, we provide annual renewal services for $100 per year per business entity. You will have the option to include this service for both of your Florida LLCs on the sign up form.

Hiring Sunshine Corporate Filings LLC® to file your Florida annual reports will help ensure that your companies never falls out of good standing with the state.

What About Nevada or New Mexico or Wyoming? Aren’t They Anonymous?

There are states where you can, in theory, form an anonymous LLC. Nevada, however, is not one of them. A member must sign Nevada Annual Reports. Much higher formation and annual fees in Nevada also make the state a poor choice.

On the other hand, New Mexico and Wyoming collect no “beneficial ownership” information, either during formation or annual reporting. Unfortunately, the days of not collecting “beneficial owners” information is quickly ending. Public outcry over anonymous shell corporations is putting heavy pressure on states and federal governments to change current laws.

The Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act has been introduced multiple times in the US Congress, and numerous presidential budgets have included the closing of reporting loopholes.

The truth is this: the anonymity offered in New Mexico and Wyoming will soon come to an end. If you want true privacy, you will need to take advantage of a legal, legitimate process, which is exactly what we endorse.

The Florida Double LLC™ is the best solution for real business privacy.