Wall 01Apple and Google
Company details and a D-U-N-S number
Both stores check the company's legal details, and Apple asks for a D-U-N-S number, which is free and takes up to five business days.
Built for · App developers
A US LLC for app developers on the App Store and Google Play
Apple and Google pay developers almost anywhere. Developers form a US company when the payout bank, the processor for web subscriptions, or a publishing partner needs a US company on the other end.
- Usually
- Structure
- Wyoming LLC
- Plan
- Starter
- On the day
- $391.40
- Every year
- $179
01Why a US company
What it does for app developers.
Both stores accept a US LLC as the developer, list it as the seller, and pay proceeds to its bank account. Developers who add web checkout for subscriptions run into Stripe's country list, and a US company is on it. A US company is also what a publisher, a co-development partner or a buyer expects to sign with.
Putting the developer account in the company's name separates the apps from any one person, so selling the apps later means selling the company.
02What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
Wall 02Payouts
A bank account in the company's name
Payouts go to a bank account in the company's name, and a name that doesn't match is a common reason for a held payout.
Wall 03Web subscriptions
A processor that serves the company's country
Subscriptions sold outside the stores need a processor that serves the country the company is in.
The door
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents that Apple, Google, the bank and your web processor all accept.
03The honest part
What to know before you order.
01
The tax interview
Both stores collect tax forms. A single-member LLC owned by someone abroad is looked through to the owner, so the right form is a W-8, and the store applies a treaty rate where your country has one with the United States. How your income is classed is settled in each store's interview.
02
Foreign-source income
An app built and run from outside the United States by a company with no US office or staff has no US trade or business, which is why most foreign-owned developer LLCs owe no US income tax. A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even a year with no income. It reports what moved between you and the company, and missing it carries a $25,000 penalty.
The plan that fits
Starter, usually.
A developer's company is simple: the company, the EIN and a bank account. Starter includes the operating agreement and the calendar for the yearly filings.
StarterFits app developers
For your first company, when it needs to exist and nothing more yet.
To start
$391.40 once
Includes the $102.40 Wyoming fee · then $179 a year
04Questions
Questions from app developers.
If yours is not here, email us at [email protected] before you order.
Yes. Apple enrols organisations with their legal name, a D-U-N-S number and a person who can sign for the company. A Wyoming LLC qualifies. The D-U-N-S number is free, takes up to five business days, and Apple can need two more days to see it.
A W-8, for a single-member LLC owned by someone abroad, because the IRS looks through the LLC to its owner. The store's tax interview tells you which W-8.
The stores pay to a bank account in the company's name. A US account is the simplest, and Mercury opens one remotely for founders in most countries.
Ready when you are
Answer the questions. We do the filing.
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, state fee included, before anything is charged.
Compare the plansCompany name
LLC · WYName checked first · Same business day
Start a companyStarter$289 + $102.40 WyomingSame day