Video · From Iraq
Can an Iraqi Resident Own a US LLC? Find the Bank First (2026)
Can you own a US company while living in Iraq? The hard part is the bank. A US fintech bank doesn't open accounts for people living in Iraq, and the guide's first answer for a freelancer is that you may not need a company yet, so find the bank first. 4:39 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can an Iraqi resident own a US LLC?
It's evening in Baghdad, and Noor has just sent a finished build to a client in America. The client asks her to invoice from a US company. Can she form one from here? Yes. 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. The company is the easy part.
The bank is the hard part, because fewer accounts serve people living in Iraq than most guides suggest. So in this story, the bank comes first.
0:31Do you need a US company to get paid from Iraq?
Does Noor need a company at all? Maybe not yet. If clients abroad pay you, a US company won't help on its own, because it can't take payments until a bank opens for it. So find the bank first. There can be a real reason, though. Some US buyers and platforms want a US contracting party, and Noor's client is one of them.
A Wyoming LLC suits that, once a bank will open for it. Even then, work she does in Iraq can still be taxed here.
0:58Is income from a US company taxed in Iraq?
At home, one rule matters most. Iraq taxes all income derived from Iraq, whoever receives it. Ask your adviser whether work you do here for a US company counts. The rules also draw a line between doing business in Iraq and doing business with Iraq. A foreign company doing business in Iraq, not just with it, registers with the General Commission for Taxes. It pays corporate tax, or a deemed tax on its revenue if that's higher.
Is a US company whose only owner works in Baghdad doing business in Iraq? Ask your tax adviser before you order.
1:33Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
Forming the company is the quick part. A Wyoming LLC suits a business you run yourself. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors. You don't need an Iraqi company for either. The company needs a registered agent, an address in its state for legal papers, not where you work. Check every name and share against your passport before you sign. 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 limits and fees.
2:10Which bank accounts work from Iraq, and is Iraq sanctioned?
Now the bank. A US fintech bank doesn't open accounts for people living in Iraq. Its list goes by where you live, not your passport. Another US business bank won't serve people living here either, and the big multi-currency account can't give you US dollar account details. The card processor doesn't list Iraq. A US company with a US bank account can apply to it, and it can decline. The US sanctions office, OFAC, says there are no broad-based US sanctions on Iraq. Its sanctions name people and entities. Banks still apply extra checks.
Ask any other provider before you order. Each provider decides for itself.
2:49Are dividends from a US company taxed in Iraq?
How does Iraq tax Noor? You're resident after four continuous months here, or six months in all during the fiscal year. Personal income is then taxed at the rates on screen. Here's the guide's illustration, in dinars. Say her Wyoming LLC makes sixty million dinars of profit, all from work she does in Baghdad. If that counts as doing business in Iraq, the corporate tax would be nine million dinars, or more if the deemed tax on revenue is higher. Is a dividend from what's left taxed again here? It isn't settled, and the guide's source gives two readings.
That's an illustration, not a quote. Ask your adviser which applies.
3:29Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Iraq treaty?
On the American side, there's no income tax treaty between the US and Iraq. US dividends, interest and royalties paid to you are withheld in the US, unless a US exemption applies. But pay for work you do in Iraq generally isn't US income, so a US company with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. A single-owner LLC 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, even in a year without sales.
Missing it is expensive. It's usually due in the spring.
4:04What to do first, in order
So here's the order. See your tax adviser first, about whether your work is income from Iraq, and whether the company would be doing business here. If you live in the Kurdistan Region, ask which tax administration you file with. Then find a bank that will open for a company owned from Iraq. Only then form it and get the EIN. Put the IRS report and your Iraqi filings on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser in English and Arabic, is linked below.
And Noor? She's asking the bank first.
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 Iraq, with sources.
Read the guide for IraqWatch on YouTube