An EIN, a US checking account and ID
It asks for the EIN, a US checking account in dollars, and the representative's SSN or ITIN, or a passport photo if you live abroad.
Cleared by the LLC
Built for · Shopify
A US LLC for a Shopify store run from outside the United States
You can run a Shopify store from anywhere. The payments account behind it is the part that depends on where you are, and that's why most Shopify merchants abroad form a US company.
01 · Why a US company
What it does for Shopify stores.
Shopify doesn't mind where you live, but Shopify Payments only works in a set list of countries, and Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Egypt and Vietnam aren't on it.
Read the full explanation
Shopify doesn't mind where you live, but Shopify Payments only works in a set list of countries, and Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Egypt and Vietnam aren't on it. A US LLC with an EIN and a US bank account is a US merchant, so it can apply for Shopify Payments, Stripe and PayPal on their US terms.
The same company gives suppliers, print partners and ad platforms a business to invoice, and keeps the store's money out of your personal account.
- 01
Shopify Payments, on US terms
A US merchant can apply for Shopify Payments, Stripe and PayPal wherever its owner lives.
Shopify Payments payout payout+2,860.00 USD - 02
Invoices to a company
Suppliers, print partners and ad platforms bill a business, not a person.
Bill toAster Studio LLC - 03
One name on the store and the bank
A store name that doesn't match the bank account's name is a common reason payouts are held.
Legal nameAster Studio LLC - 04
Kept apart from you
The store's money stays out of your personal account, and a claim against the store is a claim against the company.
Store · YouSeparate accounts
02 · What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
One legal name, to the letter
Shopify matches the business name against the IRS's EIN letter, and the payout account is in the same name.
Cleared by the LLC
Sales tax with no marketplace in between
On your own checkout, no marketplace collects sales tax for you, so that's yours once you pass a state's threshold.
Cleared by the LLC
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents that Shopify Payments, the ad platforms and the banks all accept.
Start a company03 · Your options
Three ways to get paid on Shopify from abroad.
Shopify runs anywhere. What changes is which payments account you can open, what it costs a sale, and what you file each year.
| Your store, your country | A third-party gateway only | A US LLCWhat we set up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Payments | A cost or a limit: Only in the 41 countries it serves | Neutral: Not used | Works in your favour: Open to apply as a US merchant |
| Card fee, Basic plan | Neutral: Your country's Shopify Payments rate | A cost or a limit: The gateway's fee, plus Shopify's 2% | Works in your favour: 2.9% + 30¢ online, no extra fee |
| What the review asks | Neutral: A local business and bank | Neutral: The gateway's own checks | A cost or a limit: EIN, US checking account, ID and a US business address |
| Payouts | Neutral: Your bank, your currency | Neutral: Where the gateway pays out | Works in your favour: A US checking account, in dollars |
| Yearly US filing | Works in your favour: None for the store | Works in your favour: None for the store | A cost or a limit: Form 5472 every year, and Wyoming's report |
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitGoods shipped from abroad owe US duty on every parcel, whichever column you're in.
Your store, your country
- Shopify Payments
- Only in the 41 countries it serves
- Card fee, Basic plan
- Your country's Shopify Payments rate
- What the review asks
- A local business and bank
- Payouts
- Your bank, your currency
- Yearly US filing
- None for the store
A cost or a limit:
Neutral:
Neutral:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
A third-party gateway only
- Shopify Payments
- Not used
- Card fee, Basic plan
- The gateway's fee, plus Shopify's 2%
- What the review asks
- The gateway's own checks
- Payouts
- Where the gateway pays out
- Yearly US filing
- None for the store
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
Neutral:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
A US LLCWhat we set up
- Shopify Payments
- Open to apply as a US merchant
- Card fee, Basic plan
- 2.9% + 30¢ online, no extra fee
- What the review asks
- EIN, US checking account, ID and a US business address
- Payouts
- A US checking account, in dollars
- Yearly US filing
- Form 5472 every year, and Wyoming's report
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitGoods shipped from abroad owe US duty on every parcel, whichever column you're in.
04 · Step by step
From company to first Shopify Payments payout, in seven steps.
The EIN and Shopify's review are the waits. The rest 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 a US checking account
A full checking account at a US bank, in dollars, that takes ACH transfers. Shopify doesn't pay out to savings, flex-currency or money-transfer accounts.
Often days, after the EINYou, with the bankStep 4: Set the store up as the LLC
Enter the LLC's legal name exactly as the IRS's EIN letter shows it, with its EIN and a business phone number. Shopify matches the name against the IRS's records.
MinutesYouStep 5: Apply for Shopify Payments
Shopify asks for the US address where the business operates, with a document from the last six months, and ID for the representative: an SSN or ITIN, or a valid passport if you live abroad. It reviews every application.
Shopify's reviewYou, with ShopifyStep 6: Turn on sales tax
Shopify Tax works out the tax at checkout. Once your sales into a state pass its threshold, you register there and collect. We register a store for $149 a state.
Before the thresholdYou, with usStep 7: Price the duty in, and diary the filings
Every parcel shipped into the US now owes duty, so decide whether you pay it or the buyer does at the door. 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.
When does a Shopify store owe US sales tax?
Sales tax is yours to watch
On a marketplace, the marketplace collects sales tax. On your own store, you do, once you have economic nexus in a state, which usually means $100,000 of sales into that state in a year.
Read more
Below that, you owe nothing there and register nowhere. Above it, you register, collect and file in that state. Shopify Tax works out the tax at checkout, free up to $100,000 of sales and 0.35% a sale after, but it doesn't register you. We can, for $149 a state.
What address does Shopify Payments ask for?
Shopify asks where the business operates
For Shopify Payments, the business address is the US address where the business operates, with a bill or statement from the last six months. A registered agent's address is the company's legal address for the state, and isn't that.
Read more
If the company has no US address of its own, tell Shopify the truth and let its review decide. PayPal and other third-party gateways work on Shopify too, at Shopify's extra 2% on the Basic plan.
Does it matter where my stock ships from?
Every parcel from abroad now owes duty
Shipping from a supplier abroad straight to US buyers keeps your stock out of the United States, which keeps the US income tax question simple. Since 29 August 2025 the $800 duty exemption has been suspended, so every parcel owes US duty whatever its value, and US law ends the exemption for good on 1 July 2027.
Read more
Decide whether you pay it up front or the buyer pays at the door. Holding stock with a US fulfilment company raises the same tax question FBA sellers face, so read the Amazon sellers page and ask an accountant first.
What does a foreign-owned LLC file every year?
Form 5472, every year
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 on every plan's calendar.
Sources: Shopify Help, Shopify Payments requirements in the United States; Shopify, plans and pricing; Shopify Help, Shopify Tax pricing; Federal Register, indefinite suspension of the de minimis exemption (2026); US Supreme Court, South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018); Texas Comptroller, remote sellers and marketplace providers; IRS, Instructions for Form 5472.
06 · What it costs
What the first year costs, line by line.
Ours from our price list, Shopify's from its 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. |
| Shopify's Basic plan | $39 a month | Monthly | Or $29 a month billed yearly. |
| Shopify Payments | 2.9% + 30¢ | Each sale | The online card rate on Basic. A third-party gateway instead costs its own fee plus Shopify's 2%. |
| Shopify Tax | Free to $100,000 | Each sale, after | Then 0.35% a sale on Basic to Advanced, at most $0.99 an order. |
| Sales tax registrationOptional | $149 a state | When you pass a threshold | Most states start at $100,000 of sales a year into the state. |
| From the second year | $309 | Every year | $249 for Launch and Wyoming's $60 minimum. Form 5472 is an accountant's fee on top. |
Duty on goods shipped from abroad, and the carrier's fee for clearing it, depend on the product and its origin.
The plan that fits
Launch, usually.
Most stores apply for Shopify Payments the week the EIN arrives.
Launch
Fits a Shopify storeFor 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 Shopify Payments asks for, without an SSN
- Form 5472 and the annual report on your calendar
What the payments account needs before it opens.
07 · Questions
Questions from Shopify stores.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
Only in states where you've crossed the economic nexus threshold, usually $100,000 of sales into that state in a year. Until then, no. Shopify calculates the tax once you tell it where you're registered.
Not for Shopify Payments. Shopify asks for the US address where the business operates, with a bill or statement from the last six months, and a registered agent's address is the company's legal address for the state, not that. For the store's contact page and the bank, use an address where you actually get post.
No. Shopify pays out to a full checking account at a US bank, in dollars, that takes ACH transfers. Savings accounts, flex-currency accounts and money-transfer services aren't supported.
Use a third-party gateway such as PayPal. Shopify then adds its own fee on each sale: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, on top of the gateway's.
Yes, on every parcel. The $800 duty exemption has been suspended since 29 August 2025, and US law ends it for good on 1 July 2027. Either you pay the duty when you ship, or the buyer pays it, with the carrier's fee, at delivery.
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