You may not need a US company
Freelance work for clients abroad
Your pay is taxed in Egypt either way when your business centre is there. A US company adds US filings, and one run from Egypt can be taxed as Egyptian, so it needs a reason.
From Egypt · Middle East and North Africa
Start a US company from Egypt
For Egyptian founders who need US card payments, a US contracting party or dollar invoicing. Formation and the EIN happen remotely, without an SSN, and founders living here can apply to Mercury, which decides each application. Egypt's tax rules can treat a US company run from Egypt as Egyptian, so read that section before you order.
Launch + Wyoming filing; the tax return is separate.Checked by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
At a glance
Mercury takes applications from founders living in Egypt. Wise gives no USD account details there.
The banks, in detailYou can form a US LLC while living in Egypt, without an SSN or a US visit, and founders here can apply to Mercury, which decides each application. Launch starts at $351.40 in Wyoming, including our plan and state filing fee. Egypt can treat a foreign company as Egyptian if it's effectively managed from Egypt, and taxes residents on income abroad when their business centre is there. Plan where the company is run before you order.
Before you form
Start with whether you need a US company, and where it's run.
BaseAcross's Wyoming LLC and Delaware C-Corp options for founders in Egypt
Wyoming LLC
Owner-run business that needs Stripe or a US contracting party.
- State filing
- $102.40
- Yearly state charge
- From $60
Delaware C-Corp
Raising from investors who want shares; plan where it's managed.
- State filing
- $110
- Yearly state charge
- $450 for the model shown
Both charges are the state's, before our plan, optional services and your advisers' fees. Wyoming sets a minimum yearly charge, and Delaware's franchise tax depends on how it's calculated. Staff, stock or premises in another state can bring obligations there. An S-corporation isn't an option, because nonresident aliens can't hold its shares.
Prepare the information
Different documents are needed at different stages.
You provide
Before state filing
- Your proposed company name, business activity and chosen structure.
- Owners' names exactly as on their passports, ownership shares, managers and home addresses.
- Where each manager and owner lives, because Egypt's residence test asks.
- The approved company name and formation details.
- The responsible party. Without an SSN or ITIN, the application goes on Form SS-4.
- Accurate mailing and principal business addresses, and your signed authorization where required.
You confirm; we prepare
After formation, for the EIN
- A passport for each owner the provider asks about.
- Formation documents, the EIN confirmation and the operating agreement.
- A real business address, your website, a description of the business and the source of funds, as each provider asks.
The provider verifies
For bank and payment applications
- Your tax card and return, with income from the company in it.
- Records of where the company's decisions are made and where its board meets.
- Proof of any US tax paid, to claim the treaty credit.
You and your bank
For your bank and the tax authority
You don't need an Egyptian company to form a US LLC. The EIN is the US company's tax ID, and it doesn't replace your tax card. Send identity documents through a secure request, and only the ones asked for.
How it works
Seven steps from Egypt to a maintained US company.
The state approves the company, the IRS issues the EIN and each provider approves its own account. In Egypt, your tax adviser handles your return and any filing for the company; we don't file there.
You and your tax adviser
Check the Egyptian side first
Decide whether you need a US company at all, whether it will be managed from Egypt, and how you'll be paid for your own work.
You leave this stage with: A management and tax plan that fits Egypt's rules.
01 / 07
You choose; BaseAcross checks
Choose the name and registered agent
We check the proposed name and provide the registered agent in the formation state. The registered office is for legal papers, not your operating address.
You leave this stage with: Confirmed filing details and a registered agent.
02 / 07
BaseAcross files; the state approves
File the company with the state
We submit the formation filing and send you the state's documents once it's approved. The company exists from that approval.
You leave this stage with: State-approved formation documents.
03 / 07
BaseAcross
Prepare the operating documents
We draft the LLC Operating Agreement or corporate bylaws. Check every name and share against your passport before you sign.
You leave this stage with: Operating documents for your records, your bank and US providers.
04 / 07
BaseAcross prepares; the IRS issues
Apply for the EIN
The EIN is a separate application after formation. Without an SSN or ITIN, it goes on Form SS-4 rather than the IRS's online tool.
You leave this stage with: The IRS's EIN confirmation once it's issued.
05 / 07
You apply; the providers review
Apply for banking and payments
Start with Mercury, which opens for founders living in Egypt. Wise won't give you USD account details. Use the same names, addresses and business description everywhere.
You leave this stage with: An approved account, if a provider accepts the application.
06 / 07
You, your US preparer and your tax adviser
Keep records and file in both countries
Record every payment between you and the company, what it was for, and where decisions were made. Put Form 5472 and your Egyptian return on one calendar.
You leave this stage with: A yearly calendar with someone responsible for each filing.
07 / 07
Plan the wait
Formation, the EIN and banking have separate timelines.
Published service estimates and prerequisites for a Wyoming company from Egypt
- Wyoming formationSame day
- Ordinary EINsix to eight weeks
- Expedited EINtwo to three weeks
- Bank and payment accountsProvider review
- US Stripe accountStripe's review
These are service estimates, not promised completion dates. The IRS and each provider set their own processing times. Names or addresses that differ between documents slow every stage.
What it costs
The same price from Egypt as from anywhere.
Charged in US dollars, with the Wyoming state fee passed on at cost. Where you live changes which bank we introduce you to, not the price.
The full cost from Egypt
What a Wyoming LLC costs from Egypt, line by line, and what to budget for outside our plans.
Included in both plans
- State formation filing
- Registered agent and registered office
- EIN application without an SSN
- LLC Operating Agreement or corporate bylaws
- Bank and payment application guidance
- Filing calendar and reminders
The registered agent renews with the plan. Operate adds its published business tools and bookkeeping. Neither plan files your tax returns in either country.
What a Wyoming LLC costs from Egypt, on each plan
Launch
To start, before optional extras
$351.40
- Our feeFor the first year; the plan renews each year
- $249
- Wyoming filing feePaid to the state, passed through at cost
- $102.40
- Recurring subtotal, fromPlan renewal + minimum state charge, before extras
- $309
OperateBilled yearly
To start, before optional extras
$2,490.40
- Our feeFor the first year; the plan renews each year
- $2,388
- Wyoming filing feePaid to the state, passed through at cost
- $102.40
- Recurring subtotal, fromPlan renewal + minimum state charge, before extras
- $2,448
Optional extras are priced before you order, such as filing ahead of our next batch for $39. See full pricing.
Budget for the work outside that subtotal
Managed annual state compliance
$149 service fee / year
Optional on both plans. The state's charge is separate, and a reminder alone doesn't file the report.
State filing serviceUS federal return preparation
Arrange separately
You or your accountant handle Form 5472 and any other US returns on Launch and Operate. Ask the preparer for their scope and fee.
Federal filing responsibilitiesEgyptian return and adviser fees
Quote from your tax adviser
Where the company is resident, how your income from it is taxed and the treaty credit depend on your circumstances.
Optional tools after free periods
Published in full pricing
Check domain renewals and when Launch's email, phone and site trials end. Operate includes its stated tools while subscribed.
Plans, trials and add-onsWhat the totals assume
The $309 Launch renewal example is the $249 plan renewal plus Wyoming's $60 minimum license tax. Wyoming charges the greater of that minimum or 0.0002 of the company's assets located and employed in the state, and paying online can add a processor fee. The Operate example uses the same minimum.
Prices are in US dollars. Paying from Egypt, check with your bank or card issuer how it handles payments abroad in dollars, and the fees.
Get started from Egypt
Use the first-year cost calculator to compare plans and optional tools. Then add your tax adviser's fees, US return preparation and bank charges to that budget.
Launch
To start
$351.40
$249 our fee + $102.40 Wyoming fee
Renews from $309 a year
OperateBilled yearly
To start
$2,490.40
$2,388 our fee + $102.40 Wyoming fee
Renews from $2,448 a year
Included in both plans
- State formation filing
- Registered agent and registered office
- EIN application without an SSN
- LLC Operating Agreement or corporate bylaws
- Bank and payment application guidance
- Filing calendar and reminders
What changes because you live here
The filing is the same from anywhere. Four things aren't.
Treaty status, payment availability, bank eligibility and time zones. Sources checked 14 October 2026; account approval remains with the provider.
1 of 4: The tax treaty
The tax treaty
The tax treaty: In force
The United States and Egypt have an income tax treaty in force.
It caps US withholding on interest at 15%, on dividends at 15%, or 5% for a qualifying company shareholder, and on royalties for patents and copyrights at 15%. Pay for work you do in Egypt is generally not US-source income in the first place, so the treaty matters less for a services business.
Tax in Egypt
Egypt can tax the company as Egyptian if it's run from Egypt.
These come from PwC's summaries of Egypt's income tax rules, and they run alongside the US steps below. The company residence test is the one most guides leave out.
When you decide who runs it
You and your tax adviserYou and your tax adviser
A foreign company is resident in Egypt if any two of these are true: daily decisions are made in Egypt, the board meets there, half the managers live there, or owners of more than half the shares live there.
When you earn from it
You and your tax adviserYou and your tax adviser
As a resident, income you earn abroad is taxed in Egypt when the centre of your business or professional activity is in Egypt.
If US tax is paid
You and your tax adviserYou and your tax adviser
Egypt has a treaty with the United States, and most of Egypt's treaties give a credit or a deduction for income taxed in both countries.
Every tax year
YouYou
You're resident if you have a permanent home in Egypt or live there for more than 183 days in 12 months, and you report your income in your return.
Worked example
This applies the four tests as PwC summarises them; your adviser confirms how the Egyptian Tax Authority reads them for your company.
You make the company's daily decisions from your home in Egypt. That's one test met.
You're its only manager, and you live in Egypt. That's two.
You own all the shares, and you live in Egypt. That's three.
Any two are enough, so Egypt can treat the company as resident unless management really sits elsewhere.
What Egypt expects
Owning a US company doesn't take you out of Egypt's tax system.
Egypt taxes residents on income earned abroad when their business centre is in Egypt, and treats a foreign company as Egyptian if it's effectively managed there. Plan where the company is run before you order.
Tax residence
You're resident in Egypt if you have a permanent home there, or live there for more than 183 days in 12 months.
Income from abroad
A resident is taxed on income earned in Egypt, and on income earned abroad when the centre of their business or professional activity is in Egypt. Ask your adviser whether running a US company from Egypt puts your business centre here.
Where it is run
A foreign company is resident in Egypt if its effective place of management is there. That's met by any two of four facts: daily decisions are made in Egypt, the board meets there, half the managers live there, or owners of more than half the shares live there.
Credit for foreign tax
Egypt has a tax treaty with the United States, and most of Egypt's treaties give a credit or a deduction for income taxed in both countries. Your adviser confirms which applies.
On the record
We form US companies. We aren't Egyptian tax advisers. These are the rules as they're generally published, they change, and how they apply to you depends on details this page can't know. Take this list to a tax adviser in Egypt before you order, and we'll tell you what the US forms need.
After formation
Someone has to own each filing, in each country.
US information reporting
A US LLC with one foreign owner is usually a disregarded entity that files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 when it has reportable transactions with you. Money you put in, take out or are paid for your work can count even in a year without sales. The IRS penalty for not filing starts at $25,000.
For a calendar-year company, the return is usually due 15 April, and Form 7004 requests an extension before then. A C-Corp, or an LLC with more than one owner, files different returns.
Form 5472 and the pro forma 1120State, Egypt and ownership checks
Keep the registered agent active and track the state's yearly charge. In Egypt, your return covers income from abroad when your business centre is there, and a company managed from Egypt can have Egyptian filings of its own.
US-created companies are exempt from BOI reporting under FinCEN's current rule, effective 14 August 2026. Banks and payment providers still verify who owns the company.
| Task | Who handles it | Where the responsibility ends |
|---|---|---|
| Formation and EIN application | BaseAcross prepares and submits | The state approves formation; the IRS issues the EIN. |
| Bank and payment applications | You, with our guidance | The provider verifies the information and decides. |
| Egyptian return and company residence | You and your tax adviser | We provide the US company records they need. |
| Annual state filing | You, or our optional filing service | Reminders are included; managed filing and the state charge are separate. |
| US federal returns | You and your US tax preparer | Launch and Operate remind you; they don't file the return. |
Prepare the conversation
Take these questions to your tax adviser before you order.
Bring the owners and managers, where each lives, where decisions will be made, the business activity and how money will move between you. Agree who prepares each filing in Egypt and in the US.
Download the checklist for your tax adviser (.txt)- 01
Would the company's effective place of management be in Egypt under the executive regulations' four tests?
- 02
If it is, how would the company be taxed in Egypt, and what would it file?
- 03
Is my business centre in Egypt, so that the company's income or my pay from it is taxed here?
- 04
How do I claim credit under the US treaty for any US tax?
- 05
What does my bank need to send money to the company or receive money from it?
- 06
How do I show the company and its income in my Egyptian return?
- 07
How should I keep records for both the US return and my Egyptian return?
Questions
Questions from Egypt.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
Can an Egyptian resident own a US LLC?
Yes, as far as US law goes. It doesn't require an LLC's owners to be US citizens or residents, and formation, the EIN and the bank applications all happen remotely. On the Egyptian side, the tax rules for residents and for companies managed from Egypt apply. Owning a US company doesn't give you a US visa.
Can Egypt treat my US company as Egyptian?
It can. A foreign company is resident in Egypt if its effective place of management is there, and that's met by any two of four facts: daily decisions are made in Egypt, the board meets there, half the managers live there, or owners of more than half the shares live there. A single founder running the company from Egypt can meet several at once.
Is income I earn abroad taxed in Egypt?
If you're resident and the centre of your business or professional activity is in Egypt, yes. You're resident if you have a permanent home in Egypt or live there for more than 183 days in 12 months.
Do I need a US company to get paid as a freelancer in Egypt?
Not necessarily. Your pay is taxed in Egypt either way when your business centre is there. A US company is for Stripe, US contracts and platforms that need one.
How much does a US company from Egypt cost?
Launch starts at $351.40: $249 for the plan plus $102.40 for the Wyoming filing. The plan and Wyoming's minimum yearly charge then total $309 a year. Your tax adviser's fees, US return preparation and bank charges in Egypt are separate. Wyoming's license tax can be more than its $60 minimum.
Should I form a Wyoming LLC or a Delaware C-Corp from Egypt?
A Wyoming LLC usually suits an owner-run business selling to customers abroad. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from investors who want shares. Either way, where it's managed decides whether Egypt sees it as resident. Nonresident aliens can't hold shares in an S-corporation.
Can I get an EIN without an SSN or ITIN?
Yes. Without an SSN or ITIN, the application goes on Form SS-4 instead of the IRS's online tool. We prepare it after the company is formed, and the IRS issues the number. Your Egyptian tax card isn't part of it.
How long does it take from Egypt?
Each stage has its own clock. Wyoming's published turnaround is same day once a complete filing is accepted. Our ordinary EIN estimate is six to eight weeks after the application, or two to three weeks with the $199 expedited option. Banks, payment providers and Stripe each set their own review times. These are estimates, not promises.
Can I open a Mercury account from Egypt?
Usually you can apply. Egypt isn't on Mercury's list of countries it doesn't serve, and the list goes by where you live. Mercury still reviews each company and can decline.
Can I use Wise for the US company?
Not for USD account details. Wise gives no USD account details to founders living in Egypt, which isn't on its list of places where people can hold money. Relay doesn't bar Egypt, but it asks every owner for a physical US address.
Will a US LLC get me Stripe from Egypt?
It lets you apply. Stripe doesn't list Egypt, but a US LLC with an EIN and a US bank account can apply for a US Stripe account. Stripe reviews the business and the person behind it, and approval isn't guaranteed.
Do I pay US tax on work I do from Egypt?
Generally not. Pay for work you do in Egypt is generally not US-source income, so a single-owner LLC with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. It still files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 when it has reportable transactions with you.
Is there a US–Egypt tax treaty?
Yes, it's in force. It caps US withholding on interest at 15%, on dividends at 15%, or 5% for a qualifying company shareholder, and on royalties for patents and copyrights at 15%. Pay for work you do in Egypt generally isn't US-source income anyway.
Does BaseAcross file the US and Egyptian returns for me?
On Launch and Operate, we add deadlines and reminders; you or your accountant file the federal returns. Managed annual state compliance is an optional $149 service fee a year, with the state's charge separate. Your Egyptian return, and any filing for a company the tax authority sees as resident, are for you and your tax adviser.
How do I bring the company's money to Egypt?
Through a bank or provider that supports your company and pays out in Egypt. Ask your bank how it handles incoming foreign currency for you. Record whether each payment is pay for work or profit, because they're taxed differently.
Does my new US LLC need a BOI report?
No. US-created companies are exempt under FinCEN's current BOI rule, effective 14 August 2026, whatever some guides still say. A company formed outside the US and registered to do business there is a different case. Banks still collect ownership details for their own checks.
Sources and editorial scope
Check the published rules behind the explanation.
Prepared by the BaseAcross team and reviewed by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer. Sources checked . This is general formation information, with source links for the tax and banking context. An individual tax or legal review remains with your qualified advisers.
Egypt
United States (IRS, Treasury and FinCEN)
Banks and payments
Egypt's rules are read from PwC's Worldwide Tax Summaries, a professional summary of the Income Tax Law and its executive regulations, not the texts themselves; the Central Bank's rules weren't read. Confirm the current position with your adviser before acting.
Ready when you are
Answer the questions. We do the filing.
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, state fee included, before anything is charged.
Compare the plansYour company's route
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Cairo
Egypt
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Wyoming
LLC · Cheyenne, WY
- Plan
- Launch
- First year
- $351.40
- To order
- 10 steps
Launch · $249 + $102.40 Wyoming · Same day