Can my US LLC pay US contractors while I live abroad?

Yes, from its US bank account, with a W-9 on file for each contractor and a Form 1099-NEC filed each January for anyone paid $2,000 or more in the year.

Do I file a 1099 for contractors outside the US?

No. Pay for services is sourced where the work is done, so a contractor working abroad has no US-source income from you. Collect a W-8BEN from them for your records.

How do I know if someone is a contractor or an employee?

The IRS looks at control: who decides how, when and where the work is done, who supplies the tools, and how the relationship runs. If you direct the work like an employer, they're an employee, whatever the contract calls them.

Do you file the 1099s for me?

We prepare each Form 1099-NEC from your books on both plans. Filing them with the IRS by 31 January is $49 as a service.

How much does a US LLC for paying US contractors cost?

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.

Built for · Remote teams

A US LLC for hiring US contractors and building a team from abroad

Paying an American contractor from a foreign company works, but it's awkward. Paying them from a US LLC's bank account, with the Form 1099-NEC the IRS expects each January, is what contractors and their accountants are used to.

Start a company The honest part

Answers: 8
Sources: 5 official pages
Time to order: About 4 minutes
Reviewed by: Saais Patel
Last checked: 21 October 2026

01 · Why a US company

What it does for founders hiring US contractors.

A US LLC pays contractors by ACH from its US account, collects a W-9 from each, and files Form 1099-NEC for anyone paid $2,000 or more in the year, the threshold for payments made since 2026.

Read the full explanation

A US LLC pays contractors by ACH from its US account, collects a W-9 from each, and files Form 1099-NEC for anyone paid $2,000 or more in the year, the threshold for payments made since 2026. Contractors prefer it, and the company's books show clean payments to named vendors. The same company can sign up for US tools and services that only bill companies.

01
ACH from a US account
Contractors are paid in full, by ACH, from the company's US account.
contractor invoice #22 payout−3,200.00
02
A payer contractors know
US contractors are used to giving a W-9 to a US payer.
On fileW-9 · each contractor
03
Form 1099-NEC each January
Prepared from your books for anyone paid $2,000 or more in the year.
Due31 January
04
Two different decisions
A contractor doesn't make the company an employer. A US employee does, and brings US tax with it.
Contractor · EmployeeSeparate accounts

02 · What stands in the way

Three things in the way, and one way through.

Wires

International payments that arrive short

International wires to US contractors can arrive late, short, or with questions from their bank.

Cleared by the LLC

Contractors

A payer they can give a W-9 to

US contractors are used to giving a W-9 to a US payer, not working with a foreign one.

Cleared by the LLC

Vendors

Tools that only bill US companies

Some vendors and platforms only bill US companies.

Cleared by the LLC

The door

A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.

A US payer your contractors know, with the 1099s prepared each January.

Start a company

03 · Your options

Three ways to pay people in the US.

Contractors and employees aren't a paperwork choice. An employee makes the company a US employer, with a US presence that brings US tax.

Three ways to pay people in the US.
	Your company at home	A US LLC with an employee	A US LLC paying contractorsWhat we set up
How they're paid	A cost or a limit: An international wire	Works in your favour: Payroll, by ACH	Works in your favour: ACH, against invoices
Their form each year	Neutral: Depends on your setup	A cost or a limit: W-2, with payroll taxes	Neutral: 1099-NEC from $2,000 a year
State registration	Neutral: Their state's rules may still reach you	A cost or a limit: Payroll, unemployment and workers' comp	Works in your favour: None, if they're truly contractors
US income tax for the company	Neutral: Possible, through US staff	A cost or a limit: Likely: an employee is a US presence	Works in your favour: Not from contractors alone
The risk to watch	Neutral: The rules where they work	Neutral: Payroll deadlines in their state	A cost or a limit: Treating an employee as a contractor
Yearly US filing	Neutral: Your country's	A cost or a limit: Payroll returns, W-2s and Form 5472	A cost or a limit: Form 1099-NECs and Form 5472

Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitNeed a US employee before the company is ready to employ? An employer of record employs them for you, for a monthly fee.

Your company at home

How they're paid: An international wire
Their form each year: Depends on your setup
State registration: Their state's rules may still reach you
US income tax for the company: Possible, through US staff
The risk to watch: The rules where they work
Yearly US filing: Your country's

A US LLC with an employee

How they're paid: Payroll, by ACH
Their form each year: W-2, with payroll taxes
State registration: Payroll, unemployment and workers' comp
US income tax for the company: Likely: an employee is a US presence
The risk to watch: Payroll deadlines in their state
Yearly US filing: Payroll returns, W-2s and Form 5472

A US LLC paying contractorsWhat we set up

How they're paid: ACH, against invoices
Their form each year: 1099-NEC from $2,000 a year
State registration: None, if they're truly contractors
US income tax for the company: Not from contractors alone
The risk to watch: Treating an employee as a contractor
Yearly US filing: Form 1099-NECs and Form 5472

Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitNeed a US employee before the company is ready to employ? An employer of record employs them for you, for a monthly fee.

04 · Step by step

From company to first contractor paid, in seven steps.

Decide contractor or employee honestly first. The paperwork follows from it.

Step 1: Decide: contractor or employee
The IRS looks at control: who decides how, when and where the work is done, who supplies the tools, and how the relationship runs. If you direct the work like an employer, they're an employee, whatever the contract says.
Before you hireYou
Step 2: Form the Wyoming LLC
We file the articles online. Wyoming approves an online filing the same day it is filed.
Same dayWe do it
Step 3: Get the EIN
The 1099s are filed under it. Without a Social Security Number the IRS issues it by fax; the expedited EIN, $199, has us file the day the company exists.
The longest waitWe do it
Step 4: Open the US bank account
In the LLC's name, so contractors are paid by ACH from a US payer they recognise.
Often days, after the EINYou, with the bank
Step 5: Contract each one
An independent contractor agreement with the LLC, an assignment of what they build to the company, and invoices for each payment.
Before the work startsYou, with each contractor
Step 6: Collect a W-9 before paying
Every US contractor's name and taxpayer ID, on a W-9, before the first payment. A contractor who won't give one is paid with 24% backup withholding taken off.
Before the first paymentYou
Step 7: File the 1099-NECs by 31 January
One for each US contractor paid $2,000 or more in the year, sent to them and to the IRS by 31 January. Ten or more returns must be filed electronically. Contractors working abroad give a W-8BEN instead and get no 1099.
Every JanuaryWe file them, if you like

05 · The honest part

What to know before you order.

Does hiring a US contractor make the LLC taxable?

A contractor isn't an employee

Independent contractors under a proper agreement, working on their own terms, don't make the company an employer or create a US trade or business by themselves. A US employee does both: payroll, state registration, employment law, and a US presence that brings US income tax.

If you need an employee, use an employer of record until the company is ready to employ in the US.

When are the 1099s due?

Form 1099-NEC is due in January

The company sends a Form 1099-NEC to each contractor paid $2,000 or more in the year, and to the IRS, by 31 January. The threshold was $600 through 2025 and rose to $2,000 for payments made from 2026.

You need a W-9 from each contractor to fill it in. We prepare the forms from your books, and file them for $49.

Sources: IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC; IRS, independent contractor or employee?; IRS, backup withholding; IRS Publication 515, withholding of tax on nonresident aliens and foreign entities; IRS, Instructions for Form 5472.

06 · What it costs

What the first year costs, line by line.

Ours from our price list. Nothing here is a bundle.

What the first year costs, line by line.
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 1099-NECs prepared from your books.
Expedited EINOptional	$199	Once	Gets the bank account, and the first contractor paid, sooner.
Filing your 1099-NECsOptional	$49	Each January	For every US contractor paid $2,000 or more, filed electronically.
From the second year	$309	Every year	$249 for Launch and Wyoming's $60 minimum. Form 5472 is an accountant's fee on top.

An employer of record, if you need a US employee, charges a monthly fee per person on top of the salary and payroll taxes.

The plan that fits

Launch, usually.

Contractors are used to being paid from a US account, with a 1099 each January.

Launch

Fits a remote team

For 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 and a US bank account to pay contractors from
Form 1099-NEC prepared from your books

Filing the 1099s with the IRS is $49 as a service.

First year

$351.40

Wyoming fee included · then $309 a year

Choose Launch Compare every plan

07 · Questions

Questions from founders hiring US contractors.

If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.

Then the payment is subject to backup withholding: 24% is taken off and paid to the IRS. Collect the W-9 before the first payment, not at the end of the year.

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.

Compare the plans

Step 1 of 10 · About four minutesNothing charged yet

You're startingLLC · WY

Start a company

Launch · $351.40 · Wyoming fee included

A US LLC for hiring US contractors and building a team from abroad

What it does for founders hiring US contractors.

ACH from a US account

A payer contractors know

Form 1099-NEC each January

Two different decisions

Three things in the way, and one way through.

International payments that arrive short

A payer they can give a W-9 to

Tools that only bill US companies

A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.

Three ways to pay people in the US.

Your company at home

A US LLC with an employee

A US LLC paying contractorsWhat we set up

From company to first contractor paid, in seven steps.

Step 1: Decide: contractor or employee

Step 2: Form the Wyoming LLC

Step 3: Get the EIN

Step 4: Open the US bank account

Step 5: Contract each one

Step 6: Collect a W-9 before paying

Step 7: File the 1099-NECs by 31 January

What to know before you order.

A contractor isn't an employee

Form 1099-NEC is due in January

What the first year costs, line by line.

Launch, usually.

Launch

Questions from founders hiring US contractors.

What if a contractor won't give me a W-9?+

Do I file a 1099 for contractors outside the US?+

How do I know if someone is a contractor or an employee?+

Do you file the 1099s for me?+

How much does a US LLC for paying US contractors cost?+

Related.

Answer the questions. We do the filing.