Should you form an entityin Florida, or use an EOR.
With Teamed, you hire in Florida within days through an EOR, or form your own LLC for $125 and run payroll yourself.
At a glance
Florida entity vs EOR, the fast facts
Registering an LLC in Florida costs $125, and the state taxes corporate income at 5.5%. An EOR skips both of those line items and the paperwork that comes with them, letting you hire an employee in Florida while Teamed carries the legal and tax burden on its own registered entity.
- Corporate income tax
- 5.5%
- Formation / registration fee
- $125
Setting up in Florida
What it takes to form your own entity in Florida
Forming a Florida LLC means filing with the Florida Division of Corporations and paying the $125 registration fee. That gets you a legal entity, but it does not get you a functioning employer. You still need a registered agent, a payroll system that withholds correctly, workers' compensation coverage, and someone who understands Florida's employment rules well enough to keep you compliant as they change.
Once the entity exists and starts earning, Florida taxes corporate income at 5.5%. That is a real, ongoing cost of owning the entity, on top of the accounting and filings needed to report it correctly. None of this is unusual for a US state, but it is work, and it is work that starts before you have hired a single person.
The EOR route
How an EOR lets you skip the paperwork
An employer of record hires the person for you, on its own Florida-registered entity, and you direct the work. Teamed runs payroll, withholds correctly, carries the required coverage, and stays current on Florida employment rules so you do not have to build that expertise in-house. You avoid the $125 registration step and the 5.5% corporate income tax exposure entirely, because you never own the entity.
This matters most when you are hiring one or two people, testing whether Florida makes sense for your business, or moving fast and cannot wait on entity formation and setup. If you are trying to work out whether an entity would actually be cheaper at your headcount, the crossover calculator is the right tool. It depends on salaries and how long you plan to stay, not on a fixed employee count.
The honest answer
An EOR is a fair choice, not a fallback
An employer of record is sometimes the better answer, not a lesser one, especially for a small or still-changing team, or when you are testing whether Florida is even the right market. Choosing an EOR is not a compromise you make until you can afford better, it is a legitimate structure on its own.
If you are unsure which path fits your situation, talk to a member of the team first. The crossover calculator is useful once you have real numbers to put into it, but a conversation earlier on will save you from running the wrong comparison.
Growing into your own entity
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, migrate you in, and hand it back intact.
Global Entity and Employment Operations, which we call GEMO, is how Teamed builds and hands over a legal entity once you are ready to own one outright. We handle formation, registration, and the operational setup, then migrate your employees from the EOR structure onto your own entity without a gap in their employment or pay.
In Florida, that means we handle the $125 registration filing and the ongoing corporate income tax obligations at 5.5% as part of standing the entity up, then step back once it is yours. GEMO works the same way across 100+ countries, so the handover process in Florida looks the same as it would anywhere else Teamed operates.
Before you commit
Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit
An employer of record is sometimes the better answer, not a lesser one, especially for a small or still-changing team, or when you are testing whether Florida is even the right market. Choosing an EOR is not a compromise you make until you can afford better, it is a legitimate structure on its own.
Contractors, employer of record and your own entity all run on one platform at Teamed, so moving between them later does not mean changing provider or re-onboarding anybody. Real HR and legal experts handle the work rather than a ticket queue.
Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it on local salaries and employer costs rather than on a headcount rule of thumb.
Who carries it
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, migrate you in, and hand it back intact.
Global Entity and Employment Operations, which we call GEMO, is how Teamed forms your company, registers it for tax and payroll, runs it month to month and keeps its filings current, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it.
In Florida, that means we handle the $125 registration filing and the ongoing corporate income tax obligations at 5.5% as part of standing the entity up, then step back once it is yours. GEMO works the same way across 100+ countries, so the handover process in Florida looks the same as it would anywhere else Teamed operates.
They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll.
Questions
Questions about hiring in Florida
How much does it cost to register an LLC in Florida?
The Florida Division of Corporations charges $125 to register an LLC. That fee covers the filing itself, not the registered agent, payroll setup, or compliance work you'll need afterward to actually employ someone.
What is Florida's corporate income tax rate?
Florida taxes corporate income at 5.5%. If you form your own entity to employ staff, this is an ongoing cost you'll report and pay as the entity earns, separate from the initial registration fee.
Can I hire in Florida without forming an entity?
Yes. An employer of record like Teamed hires the employee on its own Florida-registered entity while you direct their day-to-day work. You avoid the registration fee and the corporate income tax exposure that come with owning the entity yourself.
When does it make sense to switch from an EOR to my own Florida entity?
It depends on your salaries and how long you plan to keep hiring in Florida, not on hitting a fixed headcount. The crossover calculator can model your specific numbers, and GEMO handles the actual entity setup and employee migration when you're ready.
Is an EOR only for companies that can't afford their own entity?
No. An EOR is a legitimate structure for a small or still-changing team, or for testing whether Florida is the right market before committing. Many companies stay on an EOR indefinitely because it suits how they operate, not because they're waiting to graduate.
Where these figures come from
Sources
Figures on this page come from the Florida Department of Revenue for the corporate income tax rate, and the Florida Division of Corporations LLC fee schedule for the registration fee.
Looking for a job in Eor Vs Entity yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.