Papers that match, to the letter
Seller Central checks the company's name, formation papers and address, and your ID and proof of address, against each other.
Cleared by the LLC
Built for · Amazon FBA
A US LLC for Amazon sellers outside the United States
Amazon will open a seller account for someone living abroad without a US company. Sellers form one anyway, because a US company with a US bank account is what Seller Central, suppliers and anyone who might buy your brand expect to deal with.
01 · Why a US company
What it does for Amazon sellers.
Amazon.com accepts individual sellers from most countries, so the reasons to form a US LLC are practical.
Read the full explanation
Amazon.com accepts individual sellers from most countries, so the reasons to form a US LLC are practical. A US company gets a US bank account, which speeds up payouts and skips a currency conversion. Suppliers in China and the US invoice a company more readily than a person. Brand Registry and the trademark behind it sit more cleanly with a company, and if you ever sell the brand, the buyer is buying a company rather than your name.
The company also keeps the business apart from you. If a product listing leads to a lawsuit, the LLC is the one being sued, not your household. That only holds if the company's money and yours stay separate, which is why the business bank account comes before the first sale.
- 01
A US bank account
Payouts land in dollars, and suppliers are paid from the same account.
Amazon.com payout+4,120.00 USD - 02
Invoices to a company
Suppliers in China and the US invoice a company more readily than a person.
Bill toAster Studio LLC - 03
Brand Registry and the trademark
Both sit more cleanly with a company. If you sell the brand, the buyer buys a company, not your name.
Trademark ownerAster Studio LLC - 04
Kept apart from you
If a listing leads to a lawsuit, the LLC is sued, not your household. That holds only while the company's money and yours stay separate.
Company · YouSeparate accounts
02 · What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
A W-8, not a W-9
Amazon's tax interview looks through a single-member LLC to its owner, so a foreign owner fills in a W-8 rather than a W-9.
Cleared by the LLC
A company to invoice
More suppliers and freight forwarders want a company name, an EIN and an address on the invoice, not a person.
Cleared by the LLC
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents that Seller Central, the tax interview and your suppliers all accept.
Start a company03 · Your options
Three ways to sell on Amazon.com from abroad.
Amazon accepts all three. What changes is the tax form, where the money lands, and what you file each year.
| You, as an individual | Your company at home | A US LLCWhat we set up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon accepts it | Works in your favour: Yes, from most countries | Works in your favour: Yes | Works in your favour: Yes |
| Tax interview | Neutral: W-8BEN | Neutral: W-8BEN-E | Neutral: W-8BEN, as the LLC's owner |
| Where payouts land | A cost or a limit: Your account at home, through Amazon's currency converter | Neutral: The company's account at home | Works in your favour: The LLC's US dollar account |
| Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | Works in your favour: Open to apply as a US business |
| Who a lawsuit reaches | A cost or a limit: You | Works in your favour: Your company | Works in your favour: The LLC |
| Yearly US filing | Neutral: Only if the sales are US-taxable | Neutral: Only if the sales are US-taxable | A cost or a limit: Form 5472 every year, and Wyoming's report |
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitBrand Registry needs a US trademark, not a US company. Any of the three can own one.
You, as an individual
- Amazon accepts it
- Yes, from most countries
- Tax interview
- W-8BEN
- Where payouts land
- Your account at home, through Amazon's currency converter
- Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal
- Depends on your country
- Who a lawsuit reaches
- You
- Yearly US filing
- Only if the sales are US-taxable
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
A cost or a limit:
A cost or a limit:
Neutral:
Your company at home
- Amazon accepts it
- Yes
- Tax interview
- W-8BEN-E
- Where payouts land
- The company's account at home
- Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal
- Depends on your country
- Who a lawsuit reaches
- Your company
- Yearly US filing
- Only if the sales are US-taxable
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
A US LLCWhat we set up
- Amazon accepts it
- Yes
- Tax interview
- W-8BEN, as the LLC's owner
- Where payouts land
- The LLC's US dollar account
- Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal
- Open to apply as a US business
- Who a lawsuit reaches
- The LLC
- Yearly US filing
- Form 5472 every year, and Wyoming's report
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitBrand Registry needs a US trademark, not a US company. Any of the three can own one.
04 · Step by step
From company to first FBA shipment, in seven steps.
The EIN is the long wait. Everything after it moves in days.
Step 1: Form the Wyoming LLC
We file the articles online. Wyoming approves an online filing the same day it is filed.
Same dayWe do itStep 2: Get the EIN
Without a Social Security Number the IRS issues it by fax, which is the slowest step. The expedited EIN, $199, has us file the day the company exists and chase it.
The longest waitWe do itStep 3: Open the US bank account
In the LLC's name, before your first sale. Amazon can also pay a bank abroad through its currency converter, but a dollar account in the company's name keeps payouts and supplier payments in one place.
Often days, after the EINYou, with the bankStep 4: Register in Seller Central
Choose a company as the business type and enter the LLC's name exactly as the articles show it. The Professional plan is $39.99 a month. Amazon checks your ID by photo or video call.
Usually 3 business daysYou, with AmazonStep 5: Answer the tax interview
A single-member LLC is looked through to its owner, so you give a W-8BEN in your own name, or a W-8BEN-E if the owner is a company. Never a W-9.
MinutesYouStep 6: File the trademark, then Brand Registry
Brand Registry needs a pending or registered US trademark. The USPTO charges $350 a class, and an applicant based abroad must file through a US-licensed attorney. Enrolling is free.
Enrol once it's pendingYou, with an attorneyStep 7: Ship to FBA, and diary the filings
Form 5472 is due each 15 April. Wyoming's annual report is due on the first day of the month the LLC was formed in, from the second year.
Every yearOn your calendar
05 · The honest part
What to know before you order.
Does an FBA seller owe US income tax?
Three questions decide the income tax
A foreign-owned LLC selling services from abroad usually owes no US income tax, because the work happens outside the country. FBA is different, because your stock sits in Amazon's US warehouses and sells from there.
- Is it a US trade or business? Regular sales from US stock is the case advisers disagree on. Some treat Amazon as an independent agent and say no. Others say a year of steady sales from US warehouses is a trade or business.
- Is the profit connected to it? If there is a US trade or business, profit from the US stock usually is.
- Does a treaty take it away? Many treaties tax business profit only at home unless you have a permanent establishment in the US. The treaty helps only if you file a US return that claims it, on Form 8833.
Read more
Whether that's taxed turns on three questions, asked in order.
What is a protective return, and do I need one?
Why many FBA sellers file a protective return
A single-member LLC is looked through to its owner, so any US tax on the profit is yours, on Form 1040-NR. File late, and the IRS can tax gross sales with no deduction for the cost of the goods.
Read more
A protective Form 1040-NR filed on time keeps those deductions if the IRS later decides the sales were taxable. On time, for this, means within 16 months of the due date.
Does Amazon collect sales tax for me?
Amazon collects the sales tax, mostly
Every state with a sales tax has a marketplace facilitator law, which makes Amazon collect and pay sales tax on your Amazon sales. Amazon also moves your stock between warehouses in different states, and a few states may still expect a seller with stock there to register.
Read more
Sales from your own website are yours to handle once you pass a state's threshold.
What does a foreign-owned LLC file every year?
The form every foreign-owned LLC files
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. It's due on 15 April, separate from any 1040-NR, and on every plan's calendar. More on the tax filing page.
Sources: Amazon, seller registration guide; Amazon, selling plans and fees; IRS Publication 519, US tax guide for aliens; IRS, Instructions for Form 5472; IRS, Instructions for Form W-8BEN; USPTO, 2025 trademark fee changes; USPTO, why hire a private trademark attorney; Texas Comptroller, remote sellers and marketplace providers.
06 · What it costs
What the first year costs, line by line.
Ours from our price list, Amazon's and the USPTO's from their own pages. Nothing here is a bundle.
| Cost | Amount | When | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch, with Wyoming's fee | $351.40 | First year | $249 to us and $102.40 to Wyoming, at cost. The LLC, the EIN and the registered agent. |
| Expedited EINOptional | $199 | Once | Shortens the longest wait. |
| Amazon's Professional plan | $39.99 a month | Monthly | Or $0.99 an item sold on the Individual plan. Referral fees of 8% to 45% a sale, by category, come on top. |
| US trademark, for Brand RegistryOptional | $350 a class | Once | The USPTO's fee. A US attorney's fee comes on top, because applicants abroad must use one. |
| Form 5472, and any US return | An accountant's fee | Every year | Neither plan prepares it; it goes on your calendar. A 45-minute call with a US tax specialist is $149. |
| From the second year | $309 | Every year | $249 for Launch and Wyoming's $60 minimum. In Delaware the state alone is $400. |
FBA fulfilment and storage fees depend on each product's size and weight. Amazon's revenue calculator gives them per product.
The plan that fits
Launch, usually.
FBA sellers start trading in the first month.
Launch
Fits Amazon FBAFor your first company, when it needs to exist and nothing more yet.
What it covers
- Your Wyoming LLC, filed, with the state fee at cost
- The EIN, without a Social Security Number
- Form 5472 and the annual report on your calendar
What Seller Central asks for, and the dates sellers most often miss.
07 · Questions
Questions from Amazon sellers.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
Yes. Seller Central checks the company against its formation papers and checks you against your ID and a statement from the last 180 days. The business address must match the formation papers. The registered agent's address is what Wyoming needs, not what Amazon needs.
Yes. Amazon's currency converter pays out to a bank account in many countries, in local currency. The account must be in your name or the company's. A US dollar account in the LLC's name skips the conversion and pays suppliers from the same place.
Yes, a pending or registered one. The USPTO charges $350 a class, and an applicant based outside the US must file through a US-licensed attorney. Enrolling in Brand Registry is free, and it can start while the application is pending.
The LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year. Whether you also file Form 1040-NR depends on whether the FBA profit is US-taxable, which advisers disagree on. Many sellers file a protective 1040-NR on time, which keeps their deductions if the IRS later says it was.
A W-8, not a W-9. Amazon's tax interview looks through a single-member LLC to its owner, so an owner who lives abroad gives a W-8BEN in their own name, or a W-8BEN-E if the owner is a company.
The Wyoming LLC is approved the same day it's filed online. The EIN is the long wait, because without a Social Security Number it comes by fax. Once the bank account is open, Amazon says its verification usually takes three business days or less.
Wyoming, for most sellers. Amazon treats both the same, and Wyoming costs $60 a year to keep against Delaware's $400. Delaware earns its cost when the company will be a C-Corp raising from US investors.
A Wyoming LLC on Launch is $351.40 for the first year: $249 for Launch and $102.40 to Wyoming, at cost. After that it is $309 a year, $249 to us and $60 to Wyoming.
Ready when you are
Answer the questions. We do the filing.
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, Wyoming fee included, before anything is charged.
Step 1 of 10 · About four minutesNothing charged yet
You're startingLLC · WY
Start a companyLaunch · $351.40 · Wyoming fee included