Freelance work for clients abroad
Your income is taxed in Ghana either way, as a resident's worldwide income. A US company adds US filings, and one run from Ghana can be treated as Ghanaian, so it needs a reason.
From Ghana · Africa
For Ghanaian 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. Ghana taxes residents on worldwide income and can treat a company run from Ghana as Ghanaian, so read that section first.
Launch + Wyoming filing; the tax return is separate.Checked by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
At a glance
Mercury takes applications from founders living in Ghana. Wise gives no USD account details there.
The banks, in detailYou can form a US LLC while living in Ghana, 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. Ghana taxes residents on worldwide income, and treats a company managed and controlled in Ghana at any time in the year as Ghanaian. Plan where the company is run before you order.
Before you form
Wyoming LLC
Owner-run business that needs dollar card payments or a US contracting party.
Delaware C-Corp
Raising from investors who want shares; plan where it's managed.
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
You don't need a Ghanaian company to form a US LLC. The EIN is the US company's tax ID, and it doesn't replace your TIN. Send identity documents through a secure request, and only the ones asked for.
How it works
The state approves the company, the IRS issues the EIN and each provider approves its own account. In Ghana, your tax adviser handles the GRA; we don't file there.
You and your tax adviser
Decide whether you need a US company at all, where it will be managed and controlled, and how you'll be paid for your own work.
You leave this stage with: A management and tax plan that fits Ghana's rules.
You choose; BaseAcross checks
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.
BaseAcross files; the state approves
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.
BaseAcross
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.
BaseAcross prepares; the IRS issues
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.
You apply; the providers review
Start with Mercury, which opens for founders living in Ghana. 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.
You, your US preparer and your tax adviser
Record every payment between you and the company, what it was for, and where decisions were made. Put Form 5472 and your GRA return on one calendar.
You leave this stage with: A yearly calendar with someone responsible for each filing.
Plan the wait
Published service estimates and prerequisites for a Wyoming company from Ghana
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
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.
What a Wyoming LLC costs from Ghana, line by line, and what to budget for outside our plans.
Included in both plans
The registered agent renews with the plan. Operate adds its published business tools and bookkeeping. Neither plan files your tax returns in either country.
Launch
To start, before optional extras
$351.40
OperateBilled yearly
To start, before optional extras
$2,490.40
Optional extras are priced before you order, such as filing ahead of our next batch for $39. See full pricing.
$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 serviceArrange 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 responsibilitiesQuote from your tax adviser
Worldwide income, where the company is resident and the foreign tax credit depend on your circumstances.
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-onsThe $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 Ghana, check the cedi amount, exchange rate and fees your bank or card charges.
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
What changes because you live here
1 of 4: The tax treaty
The tax treaty
There's no US income tax treaty with Ghana.
US-source dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld at 30% unless a US exemption applies. Pay for work you do in Ghana generally isn't US-source income, so nothing is withheld on it, and Ghana's own law credits foreign tax you do pay, up to your average Ghanaian rate.
Tax in Ghana
These come from PwC's summaries of the Income Tax Act, 2015, and they run alongside the US steps below. The company residence test is the one most guides leave out.
You and your tax adviser
Resident individuals are taxed on worldwide income, including business income and dividends.
You and your tax adviser
A company is resident in Ghana if its management and control is exercised in Ghana at any time in the year.
You and your tax adviser
A resident gets a credit for foreign income tax paid on foreign taxable income, up to their average rate of Ghanaian tax for the year. No treaty is needed.
You
A Ghanaian citizen is resident unless they have a permanent home abroad and live in it for the whole year; anyone else after 183 days in Ghana in any 12 months.
What Ghana expects
Ghana taxes residents on worldwide income, and treats a company managed and controlled in Ghana at any time in the year as Ghanaian. Foreign tax you pay is credited up to your average Ghanaian rate, with no treaty needed.
A Ghanaian citizen is resident unless they have a permanent home abroad and live in it for the whole year. Anyone else is resident after 183 days in Ghana in any 12 months.
Resident individuals are taxed on worldwide income, including income from business and dividends. Foreign-sourced income is taxable.
A company is resident in Ghana if its management and control is exercised in Ghana at any time in the year. A US company one founder runs from Ghana should have a tax adviser look at this early.
A resident gets a credit for foreign income tax paid on foreign taxable income, up to their average rate of Ghanaian tax for the year. It doesn't need a treaty.
On the record
We form US companies. We aren't Ghanaian 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 Ghana before you order, and we'll tell you what the US forms need.
After formation
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 1120Keep the registered agent active and track the state's yearly charge. In Ghana, your GRA return covers worldwide income, and a company managed and controlled in Ghana can have Ghanaian 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. |
| GRA 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
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 Ghana and in the US.
Download the checklist for your tax adviser (.txt)Would the company's management and control be exercised in Ghana at any time in the year, making it Ghanaian-resident?
If it is, how would the company be taxed and what would it file with the GRA?
How is my income from the company taxed as a resident's worldwide income?
How do I claim the foreign tax credit for any US tax, and how is my average rate worked out?
What does my bank need to receive dollars from the company?
How do I show the company and its income in my GRA return?
How should I keep records for both the US return and my GRA return?
Questions
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
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 Ghanaian side, the GRA's rules on residents and on companies managed from Ghana apply. Owning a US company doesn't give you a US visa.
Yes, if you're resident. Ghana taxes resident individuals on worldwide income, including business income and dividends. A Ghanaian citizen is resident unless they have a permanent home abroad and live in it for the whole year; anyone else after 183 days in Ghana in any 12 months.
It can. A company is resident in Ghana if its management and control is exercised in Ghana at any time in the year. A single founder running the company from Ghana should have a tax adviser look at this early.
Yes, without a treaty. A resident gets a credit for foreign income tax paid on foreign taxable income, up to their average rate of Ghanaian tax for the year.
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 Ghana are separate. Wyoming's license tax can be more than its $60 minimum.
A Wyoming LLC usually suits an owner-run business selling to customers abroad. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from investors who want shares. Nonresident aliens can't hold shares in an S-corporation.
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 Ghanaian TIN isn't part of it.
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.
Usually you can apply. Ghana 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.
Not for USD account details. Wise gives no USD account details to founders living in Ghana, which isn't on its list of places where people can hold money. Relay doesn't bar Ghana, but it asks every owner for a physical US address.
Not for local payments. In Ghana, Stripe works through Paystack, which it owns. For card payments in dollars from customers abroad, a US LLC with an EIN and a US bank account can apply for a US Stripe account, and approval isn't guaranteed.
Generally not. Pay for work you do in Ghana 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.
No. US-source dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld at 30% unless a US exemption applies. Ghana's own law still credits foreign tax, up to your average Ghanaian rate.
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 GRA return, and any filing for a company the GRA sees as resident, are for you and your tax adviser.
Through a bank or provider that supports your company and pays out in Ghana. Record whether each payment is pay for work or profit, because they're taxed differently.
US-created companies are exempt under FinCEN's current BOI rule, effective 14 August 2026. 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
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.
Ghana's rules are read from PwC's Worldwide Tax Summaries, a professional summary of the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896), not the Act itself. Confirm the current position with your adviser before acting.
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