Video · From the Dominican Republic
Is a US LLC Tax-Free in the Dominican Republic? Not for Work Done Here (2026)
Running a US company from the Dominican Republic? A foreign company with a permanent establishment here, such as an office, is taxed like a local one. 4:53 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Dominican resident own a US LLC?
It's late afternoon in Santo Domingo, and Carolina has a client abroad who wants to pay her agency by card. So she's wondering about a US company. On the American side, she 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 the Dominican Republic, forming the company and applying for an account are the easier parts. The harder part is at home.
If the work is done from an office here, the US company itself can be taxed here.
0:33Do you need a US company for Stripe in the Dominican Republic?
First, does she need one at all? It depends on why. The big card processor doesn't take Dominican businesses, so for the processor itself, a US company is usually needed. After advice, a US company can also suit selling into the US as a US vendor. Raising from US investors usually means a Delaware C-Corp. For card payments, the guide says form one after advice, and ask whether your office makes the company taxable here.
Carolina has her reason.
1:04Is a US LLC tax-free in the Dominican Republic?
Here's the Dominican rule the guide leads with. The Dominican Republic taxes Dominican-source income, and that includes pay for personal services rendered here. A foreign company with a permanent establishment here, such as an office or an address, is taxed like a local one. So a US company worked from an office in Santo Domingo can be taxed here on what that work earns, at the company rate. Whether a home office counts is for your tax adviser.
The guide takes these rules from PwC's tax summaries, so confirm them with your tax adviser before you act.
1:38Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
The American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business that needs the card processor or sells to US customers. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors, though it pays US corporate tax. 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. You don't need a Dominican company to form a US one.
Prices are in US dollars, so check your card's exchange rate and fees.
2:19Which US accounts work from the Dominican Republic?
Now, where can the dollars land? Founders living in the Dominican Republic can apply to a US fintech bank. The country isn't on its list of places it doesn't serve. It decides each application. A multi-currency account gives no US dollar account details to founders living here. Another US bank doesn't bar the Dominican Republic, but it asks every owner for a physical US address. Each provider decides for itself.
With a US account in place, Carolina can apply to the card processor, and it can still say no.
2:51How does the Dominican Republic tax you and the company?
Then the Dominican tax. You're resident here once you stay more than a set number of days in a calendar year. Pay for work you do here is Dominican-source income, taxed on a personal scale that rises in steps. Here's the guide's illustration. Say a one-person Wyoming LLC makes two million four hundred thousand Dominican pesos of profit, all from work done at an office in Santo Domingo. If that office is a permanent establishment, the profit is Dominican-source, and the company rate makes the tax six hundred and forty-eight thousand pesos. That's an illustration, not a quote. Residents are also taxed on foreign investments and financial gains, and new residents only after their third year.
Whether a dividend from your own company counts is for your adviser.
3:40Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Dominican Republic treaty?
In America, there's no income tax treaty with the Dominican Republic. So US-source dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld at a set rate, unless a US exemption applies. Pay for work you do in the Dominican Republic generally isn't US income, so nothing is withheld on it. A single-owner LLC with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. It still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable transactions with you. Money you put in, take out or are paid for your work can count, and missing it is expensive.
For a calendar-year company, it's usually due in mid-April.
4:18What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with a Dominican tax adviser: whether you need a US company at all, and whether your office gives it a permanent establishment here. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply to the US fintech bank first. Keep the books, and a record of where the work is done. Put the IRS report and your Dominican filings on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. And Carolina?
She's booked an adviser, with one question about her office.
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 the Dominican Republic, with sources.
Read the guide for the Dominican RepublicWatch on YouTube