Real Tax Questions, Expert Answers
Get answers to your foreign-owned LLC tax questions from ForeignLLCTax. Every answer includes IRS source citations and step-by-step guidance.
I am abroad, have no ITIN yet, and cannot use the online EIN system. What should the SS-4 file look like?
I understand now that the IRS online EIN tool is not really built for my fact pattern because I am applying from abroad, and I also do not have an ITIN yet. That leaves me with the fax or mail route, ...
We changed control of the LLC. Is Form 8822-B mandatory even if the EIN stayed the same?
The company kept the same EIN and legal entity, but the real decision-maker changed after an ownership and management transition. Some people on the team assumed nothing had to be reported to the IRS ...
Our formation service put itself on the EIN application as the responsible party. How serious is that?
I only noticed the issue because the IRS correspondence on the file did not match what I expected. After tracing it back, it looks like the formation service or one of its staff was listed as the resp...
My travel calendar has flights and hotels, but not what I actually did each day. Is that a problem?
I can prove where I traveled, but my records are weak on what happened on each day once I arrived. For most trips I know the broad purpose, but if someone asked me which days were meetings, which days...
What are FinCEN Geographic Targeting Orders and does my LLC's real estate purchase trigger one?
My foreign-owned LLC is buying a commercial property in Miami for $800,000. My real estate attorney mentioned something about a 'Geographic Targeting Order' from FinCEN that applies to certain real es...
Can my foreign-owned LLC do business with clients in sanctioned countries like Cuba or Russia?
I am a Spanish citizen with a U.S. LLC that provides web development services. I have potential clients in Cuba and Russia who want to hire my LLC for website projects. In Spain, there are some EU san...
If wages are treaty-exempt for income tax, can payroll still have to withhold FICA?
One of our advisers says a treaty may reduce or eliminate income-tax withholding on a founder's compensation, but our payroll provider is still talking about Social Security and Medicare taxes as thou...
I flew to the U.S. for a client summit and ended up delivering paid workshop days. Should I isolate those days as U.S. service income?
I am a freelance strategist from Romania and most of my work is remote. During a client summit in the U.S., I ended up adding two paid workshop days that were separately billed. The rest of the trip w...
Our first U.S. hire sends invoices, but she works only for us and follows our schedule. Should we be more worried about payroll classification?
We called the relationship 'contractor' because it felt operationally simpler, but the facts are starting to look more like a normal employment arrangement. She works on our schedule, uses our systems...
How does Stripe handle tax reporting for my foreign-owned LLC?
My foreign-owned LLC uses Stripe to process payments for my online business. I'm from India and the LLC is in Delaware. I submitted my W-8BEN-E to Stripe during onboarding. Will Stripe send me a 1099...
If a founder ends up working in the U.S. on H-1B status, does FICA usually apply from day one?
I know the company will need immigration counsel separately, but on the tax side I am trying to understand the payroll basics before compensation starts. I have read that some categories of foreign pr...
Everyone keeps mentioning totalization agreements when payroll crosses borders. What file should we actually maintain if we think one applies?
Our founder is from Germany and now works partly in the United States for the company. Several advisers have mentioned a possible totalization agreement angle for Social Security coverage, but so far ...
Can a foreign employer really owe U.S. Social Security and Medicare withholding for work performed in the States?
I always thought Social Security and Medicare withholding was mostly a domestic-employer issue, so I was surprised to read that a foreign employer can still have U.S. payroll obligations when services...
My nonresident employee says a treaty exempts some wages and wants to give us Form 8233. How should we think about that file?
We are a small foreign-owned LLC and one new U.S.-based hire says she is a nonresident alien and may be treaty-exempt on part of her compensation. She mentioned Form 8233, which I had never dealt with...
My payroll provider says nonresident alien employees have special W-4 and withholding treatment. What should I verify before first payroll?
We are hiring our first employee in the United States and she will be a nonresident alien for tax purposes. My payroll provider says the setup is not identical to a normal domestic payroll profile and...
If I put myself on U.S. payroll while living part of the year in the States, does FICA usually apply?
I am a founder from South Africa and my LLC is considering putting me on payroll because I now spend meaningful time working from the United States. My instinct was that being foreign might keep payro...
I entered on a business-visitor trip for meetings, but I ended up helping with implementation too. How should I document that?
I came to the U.S. mainly for customer meetings and product demos, but once I was there the client asked for implementation help and I spent part of two days doing more substantive work than planned. ...
Green card abandonment and continuing LLC ownership
I am considering abandoning my U.S. green card and moving back to my home country. I own a U.S. LLC that generates significant income. Can I continue to own my LLC after giving up my green card? What ...
A payer wants my W-8ECI for workshop fees in the U.S. How certain do I need to be that I had a U.S. trade or business?
I ran a paid in-person workshop in Chicago and the payer is now asking for Form W-8ECI. I understand why they are thinking about effectively connected income, but I do not want to sign the form casual...
All the work was done from Colombia for a U.S. client. Should I still worry about U.S. source service income?
I am a remote consultant in Colombia and the client is in California. Payment goes into a U.S. LLC bank account, so the setup feels very American operationally, but the actual work was done from my ho...
I came to the U.S. for meetings, but I also did two client workshop days. Is that enough to change the tax analysis?
My trip was mostly investor and customer meetings, but during the same week I also ran two paid workshop sessions for a client. That is what makes the file feel messy. If it had been all meetings, I w...
I spent 18 days in the U.S. helping launch a client project. Does the 90-day and $3,000 exception help me?
I am a consultant from the Czech Republic and came to the U.S. for 18 days to help a client launch a project. The compensation connected to those U.S. days was not huge, but it was real, and now I am ...
If I am taking two treaty-based positions, do I need more than one Form 8833?
I am a French founder filing a nonresident return and my tax situation has two separate treaty arguments in play. One issue is residency under the treaty tie-breaker, and another issue is the treatmen...
My Form 5472 penalty notice went to an old registered-agent address. How should I frame the response?
I only learned about the penalty because my former registered agent finally forwarded a notice packet months after the IRS had mailed it. The LLC had already changed mailing arrangements, but the old ...
If I am asking for reasonable cause on a late Form 5472, what documents actually make the file stronger?
I missed the Form 5472 deadline for my foreign-owned LLC because I incorrectly thought no revenue meant no filing. Once I learned the rule, I prepared the filing right away, but now I am trying to bui...
On Form SS-4, should the mailing address and physical address be the same for a foreign-owned LLC?
My U.S. LLC uses a registered agent in Wyoming, but I actually manage the business from Seoul. When I reviewed the SS-4 instructions, I realized the mailing address and physical address lines are aski...
My foreign owner has no ITIN yet. What exactly goes on line 7b of Form SS-4?
I am helping my brother set up a U.S. LLC from Malaysia, and we got stuck on the responsible party section of Form SS-4. He is the real owner and should clearly be the responsible party, but he has no...
If I am claiming treaty residency in Canada, does Form 8833 have to go in with a timely 1040-NR?
I spent enough time in the U.S. to create a real residency question, but my position is that the Canada treaty tie-breaker keeps me resident in Canada for treaty purposes. I know Form 8833 is part of ...
My U.S. travel was split across conferences, transit days, and a client workshop. How careful do I need to be on Schedule OI?
I am a founder from Singapore and had three very different U.S. trips during the year: one conference trip, one short customer workshop in Austin, and one transit-heavy trip that involved an overnight...
Can I sign the pro forma 1120 abroad and fax the Form 5472 package from outside the U.S.?
I live in Dubai and will not be in the United States before the filing deadline. My preparer says the foreign-owned LLC filing package may need to be faxed to the IRS under the special Form 5472 rules...
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