Wall 01Procurement
A W-9, a US address and a company
Client systems expect a W-9, a US address and a company. A foreign individual fills in a W-8BEN and waits longer for approval.
Built for · Freelancers
A US LLC for freelancers outside the United States
You don't need a US company to work for US clients. Freelancers form one when a client's procurement team, a platform's payout rules or a payment processor's country list make it the easier path.
- Usually
- Structure
- Wyoming LLC
- Plan
- Starter
- On the day
- $391.40
- Every year
- $179
01Why a US company
What it does for freelancers.
When a US client's accounts team asks for a W-9, a US freelancer is simple and a foreign one is a conversation. A US LLC with an EIN gives them a vendor that fits their system, an invoice from a company, and a US bank account they can pay the same day. It also gives you a place to receive dollars that isn't your personal account, and a business that outlasts any one platform.
Whether that's worth $391.40 to start and $179 a year on Starter depends on how much of your income comes from US clients and how much friction you face now. A freelancer with two American clients on retainer usually finds it worth it. One with a single contract on a platform usually doesn't need it yet.
02What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
Wall 02Processors
A country list you're not on
Stripe, PayPal and Wise Business each serve a set list of countries, and many freelancers live outside it.
Wall 03Platforms
Payouts that arrive slowly or cost too much
Platform payouts to some countries are slow, expensive or arrive in a currency you didn't want.
The door
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents that procurement, the processors and the platforms all accept.
03The honest part
What to know before you order.
01
The work happens where you are
Work done outside the United States is foreign-source income, and a company with no US office or staff has no US trade or business. That's why a foreign-owned LLC doing design, writing, development or consulting from abroad generally owes no US income tax. Your own country taxes the income, just as it did before the LLC.
02
The forms still have to be filed
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 Wyoming annual report is $60. Both are on every plan's calendar.
03
Keep your personal spending out of it
The company's bank account pays the company's costs and pays you. Spending on personal things from it is the quickest way to lose the liability protection the LLC gives you, and to make your accountant's job harder.
The plan that fits
Starter, usually.
Starter covers the whole company: the filing, the EIN without an SSN, the operating agreement, the registered agent and the calendar. A freelancer with simple books doesn't need more until the income grows.
StarterFits freelancers
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 freelancers.
If yours is not here, email us at [email protected] before you order.
No. You can invoice as an individual and give clients a W-8BEN. A US LLC is worth it when clients' systems, platforms or payment processors make a US company noticeably easier, which is true for many freelancers abroad.
Generally not, when you do the work outside the United States and the company has no US office or staff. The company still files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year.
As the owner of a single-member LLC, you take distributions rather than a salary. Record each one, because Form 5472 reports what moves between you and the company.
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