Video · From Bulgaria
US LLC from Bulgaria: Why a Place of Business Matters (2026)
Running a US company from Bulgaria? It stays foreign, but a fixed place of business in Bulgaria is a permanent establishment, taxed at 10%. 4:41 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Bulgarian resident own a US LLC?
It's late afternoon in Sofia, and Dimitar, who builds software for clients, has a buyer in the US who wants to sign with a US company. On the American side, he can have one. No social security number, and no trip to the US. We're BaseAcross. We set up US companies for founders outside America, so we'll be straight with you. From Bulgaria, the bank is the easier part. What needs planning is where the business is done.
Running a US company from here doesn't make it Bulgarian, but a fixed place of business here can make it taxable here.
0:33Do I need a US company for Stripe in Bulgaria?
First, does he need one at all? For card payments, maybe not. The big card processor already supports businesses in Bulgaria, and a Bulgarian company, an E O O D, gets you that too. A US company is for selling into the US as a US vendor, for platforms that need one, or for US investors, who usually want a Delaware C-Corp.
Dimitar's buyer wants a US contracting party, so he has a reason.
1:00Does running the company from Bulgaria make it Bulgarian?
Here's the rule Bulgaria leads with. A company is Bulgarian-resident only if it's incorporated in Bulgaria. The rule to plan around comes next. Any fixed place, owned, rented or otherwise used, through which a foreign company carries out business here, is a permanent establishment. That place is taxed on its profit like a Bulgarian company, and an office you rent in Sofia can count.
Whether working from home counts, and how Bulgaria classes a US LLC, are questions for your Bulgarian accountant.
1:31Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
The American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business selling to US customers, once you know where its business is carried out. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors. The company needs a registered agent, an address in that state for legal papers, not where you work. Then the EIN, the company's US tax number. Without a social security number or an ITIN, the application goes on a separate IRS form instead of the online tool.
Prices are in US dollars, so check your card's exchange rate and fees.
2:05Can I open a Mercury account from Bulgaria?
Now the bank. Two doors are open. Founders living in Bulgaria can apply to a US fintech bank, because Bulgaria isn't on its list of countries it doesn't serve. It decides each application. A multi-currency account can give a US company run from Bulgaria US dollar account details, and it reviews each business. Another US bank doesn't bar Bulgaria, but it asks every owner for a physical US address. Each provider decides for itself. With a US account, Dimitar can apply to the big card processor as a US business.
It reviews him and the business, and it can decline.
2:42How are dividends from the company taxed in Bulgaria?
Then the tax at home. Bulgaria taxes its residents on income from anywhere. Residence turns on your permanent address, your days here, and where the centre of your vital interests is. Dividends have their own rate, and when a foreign company pays them without Bulgarian withholding, you pay that tax yourself on your annual return. Here's the guide's illustration. The Wyoming LLC makes eighty thousand euros of profit, from work done in an office rented in Sofia. That office can be a permanent establishment, with eight thousand euros of tax. If the company pays Dimitar the remaining seventy-two thousand as a dividend, that's three thousand six hundred euros more, on his annual return. Without a fixed place of business here, the first step wouldn't apply.
That's an illustration, not a quote.
3:28Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Bulgaria treaty?
In America, the US and Bulgaria have an income tax treaty in force. It caps the US tax withheld on dividends, interest and royalties paid to you. Pay for work you do in Bulgaria generally isn't US income, so the treaty matters less for a services business. A US company with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on that work. A single-owner LLC still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable transactions with you, and missing it is expensive.
For a calendar-year company, it's usually due in mid-April.
4:02What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with your Bulgarian accountant: do you need a US company at all, and would working from here give it a place of business? Then choose the name and the registered agent, and file with the state. Check every name in the operating documents against your passport. Then the EIN, then the bank applications, with the same details everywhere. Keep the books and a record of where the business is carried out, and put the IRS report and your Bulgarian return on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. And Dimitar?
Before he signs with the buyer, he's settling where the work gets done.
The founder in the video is an example, not a customer. The rules in it were checked when it was made; the guide carries the current sources.
The guide
Costs, documents, timelines and the rules in Bulgaria, with sources.
Read the guide for BulgariaWatch on YouTube