The path
Running a US company from abroad, step by step
Seven steps, in the order they arrive. Each gives the rule that applies and the cheapest published price, and links to the comparison that holds the detail. Tick them off as you go; your ticks stay in this browser.
1. Form the company
File articles of organization in one state, through a registered agent there. The agent's address is where legal papers for the company are served, and a founder living abroad cannot be their own agent, so formation services for non-residents include one.
The cheapest first year in the comparison is $150, at Wyoming Registered Agent Services: the provider's fee, the agent for a year and the state's filing fee.
2. Get an EIN
The EIN is the company's federal tax number. The annual filing needs it, and US business accounts ask for it. The IRS charges nothing for one, but its online application needs an SSN or ITIN, so non-residents apply on Form SS-4 by phone, fax or mail.
9 of the 10 formation services include the EIN in a package. The cheapest first year that does is $239, at Northwest Registered Agent.
3. Get a US business address
The registered agent's address is for legal papers, not the company's ordinary mail. A virtual mailbox gives the company a street address for letters, invoices and the postal address marketing emails must carry, and scans what arrives.
The cheapest plan in the comparison that opens and scans letters is $15 a month, at Traveling Mailbox.
4. Open a US business account
With the company, its EIN and an address in place, it can open an account to hold and receive dollars. Providers differ on whether they accept owners living outside the US, and above all on the address they demand: most refuse virtual mailboxes and registered agent addresses.
6 US business accounts say they accept owners abroad. Mercury and Bluevine say a US physical address is not needed.
5. Pay people
Contractors abroad can be paid through a platform that handles the contracts and payments; staff in a country where the company has no entity can be employed through an employer of record.
The lowest published monthly price per contractor is $25, at RemoFirst.
6. File every year
A single-member LLC owned from abroad files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached every year, even with no income; for a calendar-year company it is due on 15 April, and the penalty for missing it is $25,000. The state's annual report is due too.
4 services that name the company behind them publish a price for filing it; the cheapest, US LLC Filings, charges $299 for a company that traded in the year.
7. File your own US return
Only if you are a US citizen.
US citizens file a federal return wherever they live, and an FBAR when their foreign accounts together pass $10,000 at any point in the year.
The cheapest route in the comparison is $119, at Expatfile, if you file the FBAR yourself; FinCEN's system for it is free.
Prices are the published figures in each comparison, checked at the source and dated there. Not tax or legal advice; the guides cite the IRS and state rules each step relies on.