A company to pay
Sponsors' finance teams want a company to invoice them and an account to pay.
Cleared by the LLC
Built for · Creators
A US LLC for YouTubers, podcasters and creators outside the United States
Platforms pay creators almost anywhere. Creators form a US company when sponsors want to sign with a company, when merchandise and courses need a payments account, or when the payout bank is the problem.
01 · Why a US company
What it does for content creators.
Ad revenue, sponsorships, affiliate income, courses and merchandise all arrive from different places, and a US LLC gives them one place to land.
Read the full explanation
Ad revenue, sponsorships, affiliate income, courses and merchandise all arrive from different places, and a US LLC gives them one place to land. Sponsors and agencies sign with a company and pay a company's invoice. Course platforms and a merchandise store need a processor that serves the company's country, and a US company is on every processor's list.
The company also separates the channel from you. Contracts, trademarks and the bank account belong to it, which is what a manager, a partner or a buyer will expect later.
- 01
Paid like a company
Sponsors pay an invoice from a company into its US account.
ACH payout+3,750.00 USD - 02
A processor that works
Course platforms and a merch store need a processor, and a US company is on every list.
ProcessorStripe · US - 03
Contracts and trademarks
The channel's contracts, trademark and bank account belong to the company.
Trademark ownerAster Media LLC - 04
Many sources, one account
Ad revenue, affiliates, sponsors and sales land in one place, apart from your own money.
Channel · YouSeparate accounts
02 · What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
Merch and courses need a working account
Payment processors for merchandise and courses may not serve the country you live in.
Cleared by the LLC
Withholding that only a treaty lowers
Platform tax interviews withhold on US-source income, and only a tax treaty lowers the rate.
Cleared by the LLC
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents sponsors, processors and the platforms all accept.
Start a company03 · Your options
Three ways to run a channel from abroad.
YouTube's withholding is the same in all three, set by your country's treaty. What changes is how sponsors pay, what you can sell, and who signs the deals.
| You, as yourself | Your company at home | A US LLCWhat we set up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube's US withholding | Neutral: 0 to 30%, by your treaty | Neutral: 0 to 30%, by your treaty | Neutral: 0 to 30%, by your treaty |
| How US sponsors pay | A cost or a limit: An international wire | A cost or a limit: An international wire | Works in your favour: ACH into the LLC's US account |
| Merch and courses checkout | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | Works in your favour: Stripe, as a US business |
| Who signs the deals | Neutral: You | Works in your favour: Your company | Works in your favour: The LLC |
| Sponsored work made at home | Works in your favour: Usually no US tax | Works in your favour: Usually no US tax | Works in your favour: Usually no US tax |
| Yearly US filing | Works in your favour: None | Works in your favour: None | A cost or a limit: Form 5472, and Wyoming's report |
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitMissing tax info costs more than any structure: without it, YouTube can withhold up to 24% of your earnings worldwide.
You, as yourself
- YouTube's US withholding
- 0 to 30%, by your treaty
- How US sponsors pay
- An international wire
- Merch and courses checkout
- Depends on your country
- Who signs the deals
- You
- Sponsored work made at home
- Usually no US tax
- Yearly US filing
- None
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
A cost or a limit:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Your company at home
- YouTube's US withholding
- 0 to 30%, by your treaty
- How US sponsors pay
- An international wire
- Merch and courses checkout
- Depends on your country
- Who signs the deals
- Your company
- Sponsored work made at home
- Usually no US tax
- Yearly US filing
- None
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A US LLCWhat we set up
- YouTube's US withholding
- 0 to 30%, by your treaty
- How US sponsors pay
- ACH into the LLC's US account
- Merch and courses checkout
- Stripe, as a US business
- Who signs the deals
- The LLC
- Sponsored work made at home
- Usually no US tax
- Yearly US filing
- Form 5472, and Wyoming's report
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitMissing tax info costs more than any structure: without it, YouTube can withhold up to 24% of your earnings worldwide.
04 · Step by step
From channel to company that signs the deals, in seven steps.
Fix YouTube's tax info first, today. The company comes after.
Step 1: Submit YouTube's tax info
In AdSense, as yourself, with your country's treaty claimed on the W-8BEN. Without it YouTube can withhold up to 24% of everything you earn, not just US views. It asks again every three years.
TodayYouStep 2: Form the Wyoming LLC
For sponsors, merch and courses. We file the articles online, and Wyoming approves an online filing the same day it is filed.
Same dayWe do itStep 3: 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 4: Open the US bank account
In the LLC's name. Sponsors pay invoices into it by ACH, and Stripe pays out to it.
Often days, after the EINYou, with the bankStep 5: Sign sponsors as the company
The LLC invoices, with a W-8BEN signed by you as the owner, and a contract that says what you deliver and how long the brand may use it.
Each dealYou, with the sponsorStep 6: Label every sponsored post
The FTC says US law applies to a post from abroad when it will reach US viewers. Free products count. Say it plainly, in the video and the caption.
Every postYouStep 7: Open the shop, and diary the filings
Merch from a print partner and courses through Stripe, both in the LLC's name. Form 5472 is due each 15 April, and Wyoming's annual report on the first day of the month the LLC was formed in.
Every yearOn your calendar
05 · The honest part
What to know before you order.
What sets YouTube's withholding?
Withholding and treaties
YouTube treats earnings from US viewers as US-source royalties and withholds tax on them unless your tax form claims a treaty rate. A single-member LLC owned by someone abroad is looked through to its owner, so the form is a W-8 and the treaty is your country's.
Read more
Forming a US LLC doesn't change the withholding by itself. The treaty does, or doesn't.
Does the LLC owe US income tax?
Content made at home is foreign-source
A company with no US office or staff, run from where you live, has no US trade or business, and most creator LLCs owe no US income tax.
Read more
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.
Sources: YouTube Help, US tax requirements for YouTube earnings; FTC, Disclosures 101 for social media influencers; IRS, tax treaty tables; IRS, Instructions for Form W-8BEN; Stripe, pricing; IRS, Instructions for Form 5472.
06 · What it costs
What the first year costs, line by line.
Ours from our price list, Stripe's from its own page.
| 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 | Gets the bank account, and the first sponsor paid, sooner. |
| YouTube's withholding | 0 to 30% | On US-view earnings | Set by your country's treaty with the US, and the same with or without the LLC. |
| Stripe, for merch and coursesOptional | 2.9% + 30¢ | Each sale | A US card. An international card costs 1.5% more. |
| From the second year | $309 | Every year | $249 for Launch and Wyoming's $60 minimum. Form 5472 is an accountant's fee on top. |
Look up your country's rate in the IRS's treaty tables before you decide anything else.
The plan that fits
Launch, usually.
Most of a creator's income is platform payouts, so the company stays simple.
Launch
Fits creatorsFor 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 sponsors and processors ask for
- Form 5472 and the annual report on your calendar
Withholding on US royalties is set by your country's treaty, not the company.
07 · Questions
Questions from content creators.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
YouTube says it may withhold up to 24% of your total earnings worldwide, not just from US viewers. Submitting a W-8BEN with your country's treaty claimed brings that down to 0 to 30% on US-view earnings only.
Yes, when the video will reach US viewers. The FTC says US law applies to a post from abroad in that case, and that free or discounted products count as a relationship you must disclose.
Yes. The company sends an invoice and gets paid into its US bank account by ACH. For the tax form, you give the sponsor a W-8BEN as the LLC's owner abroad, not a W-9.
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