Answers

New Non-US owned LLC tax requirements

Asked by: Ben  — 2 November, 2012

We need to set up a Delaware LLC for the primary purpose of being able to safely register a certain type of (US based) domain name.
We (2 members) are both non-US Citizens and non-US residents (we are both Australian).
The LLC would not be trading as far as having no income (US or world wide) and no expenses either.

Aside from the initial LLC set-up process which I mostly understand:

– Do we need to get a EIN for the LLC if there are to be no tax liabilities and the members are all non-US?

– Do each of the members need an ITIN – once again if we are non-US and will have no tax liabilities?

– If we need either or both of the above, are these required at the immediate point of registering the LLC or do they need to be obtained within a certain time frame (if so, what time frame)?

– Also, for the above set-up, what filling each year would need to be done for the LLC and/or members (if any)?

Thank you very much in advance for any help.

Answered by: admin  — 2 November, 2012

Ben,

You don’t need an EIN or ITIN to establish an LLC; however, you will likely need both as all LLCs that have multiple owners are required to file a US federal income tax return, even if they have no income or expenses to report. You will also have state tax reporting obligations, and Delaware may not be the most tax advantaged location to establish an LLC.

US taxation of non-residents can be a fairly complex issue and involves many specific fact points that determine if the non-residents are subject to US taxation, therefore it is impossible to know your specific tax obligations without a lot more information about your US business.

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