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Comment by cynical_sheet | Hacker News Reader

You are right and it's also much cheaper to form and maintain an LLC. I think that forming an LLC in Colorado is the cheapest option ~ $250 total costs. That is great if you're just bootstraping and don't know if the business is going to be successful. BTW, if you're not a US citizen + the business is providing services + you're the only owner (single member LLC), then there are NO TAX-paying requirements.

Also, the business might not succeed, so why waste all that time+money on creating a C Corp, which is even more expensive to dissolve? C Corps also have many more expensive legal requirements. If the business is successful and you plan on getting VC money, convert it later to a C Corp.

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> BTW, if you're not a US citizen + the business is providing services + you're the only owner (single member LLC), then there are NO TAX-paying requirements.

Does this mean no state-level tax-paying requirements, or no tax paying requirements at all?

In other words, for an overseas non-citizen sole-owner of a service-providing LLC formed in Colorado, are there no US taxes due at all?

That's right, you owe no US taxes. You don't have what is called "Effectively Connected Income", that is - you provide services from outside the US, not within the US. Since 'single-member LLC' is pass-through entity, that means the person is taxed (Not corporation) and you(person) are outside of the US and owe no US taxes at all.

However, you might owe taxes in your home country.

If you sell goods or there are co-founders, then you have to pay.

> However, you might owe taxes in your home country.

This line is key. You can't escape taxes, you can only change where you pay them (and therefore potentially how much you pay...)

The complication with setting up a business in the US is figuring out both what the IRS expects and what your country's tax agency expects. This varies both based on treaties with the US and based on local interpretation of US company structures. You have to be careful, or a few years later you could owe back taxes either to the IRS or your local tax authority, even if your only mistake was not filing the correct paperwork to say you didn't actually owe taxes.

A better way of saying you don't owe taxes is to say ... understand what taxes you owe, it could be $0. You still have to file, however, and you'll have to file both locally and abroad. :)

It varies state-to-state what constitutes "doing business," but just having a bank account usually doesn't qualify. Coming from harmonized tax laws, the US is an unexpectedly different place. But this is a step in the right direction!

I'm in Colorado and it costs only $50 to file for an LLC online. Where is it costing you $250?

- State filing fees = $50

- Processing fees(paying someone to file for you, obtain EIN etc.) = $50

- Registered agent service = $100/year

- EIN for foreigners = $50

Got it. I wasn't thinking for someone outside the state or country.

EIN is free, obtained by phone if a foreign individual is setting up the company, or if you've already called, it appears you can use the website to set up an EIN for a local company so long as it's a subsidiary (even international) of a company with an existing EIN. Theoretically slashes $100 off the cost. ;-)

Registered agent... that's a tricky one. I saw this advice on Reddit: "Lots of small business law firms will serve as registered agents for free. Really the only purpose of the RA is to accept service if you get sued, and they figure you're most likely to hire the firm that's already looking at the complaint and forwarding it on to you."

Also some registered agents are national, e.g. Harbour Compliance, just one I found on Google. Here are others: http://registered-agents.credio.com/ (hmm, this website is less useful than I expected, remember to check off "All 50 states" or you'll be missing some...)

Top tip: use Skype, make yourself comfortable, and block out at least an hour to be on hold.

Washington also costs around $200-$250 to register an LLC online.

I'm envious. Here in CA, while it only costs $20 to form an LLC, there is an $800 annual tax thereafter.

Delaware has a $300 annual tax on LLCs.

And the annual tax is if you're doing business in CA, even if you filed articles of organization in another state. Once you clear $250k it goes up to $1700!

Wyoming's yearly fee is $52.

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