What Is a Single-Member LLC? Definition and Use

Definition

Single-Member LLC - A single-member LLC is an LLC with one owner, taxed by default as a disregarded entity while still providing full limited liability protection.

The single-member LLC is the most common anonymous LLC structure: one owner, a full liability shield, and pass-through taxation with no separate income return for US-person owners, who report on Schedule C. For example, a solo founder forms a Wyoming LLC, is the only member, and keeps every dollar of profit flowing to their personal return while the entity shields their personal assets from business claims.

The classic weak point is charging order protection. Some states historically offered weaker protection when an LLC had only one member, reasoning there were no other members to protect, which let a creditor reach the entity more easily. Wyoming and Nevada close that gap by extending strong charging order protection to single-member LLCs, a key reason privacy and asset-protection founders favor them. A thin or missing operating agreement is the other common failure, since a lone owner more easily looks like the LLC's alter ego.

For Anonymousllc.co customers in Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, and Nevada, the single-member LLC stays anonymous because none of the four states list the member on the public formation record. Non-resident single-member owners carry one non-negotiable federal duty: a foreign-owned single-member LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 annually, with a $25,000 penalty for failure. Anonymousllc.co flags this obligation and drafts a robust operating agreement to reinforce the shield for every solo owner.