Video · From Mexico
US Company from Mexico: Will SAT Tax Your LLC's Income? (2026)
Running a US company from Mexico? Income a Mexican resident earns through a transparent foreign entity, such as a single-owner US LLC, is taxed as their own. 4:44 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Mexican resident own a US LLC?
It's early evening in Mexico City, and Daniela's software studio has a US customer who would rather sign with 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 Mexico, the company is the easy part. The harder part is SAT, Mexico's tax authority.
It can look straight through a single-owner US LLC and tax its income as Daniela's own, each year, before she takes it out.
0:33Do you need a US company for Stripe in Mexico?
First, does she need one at all? For card payments, maybe not. The big card processor already supports Mexican businesses. And a US LLC's income can be taxed as yours in Mexico anyway, so a US company needs a reason of its own. Selling to US customers as a US vendor is one, because some US buyers and platforms want a US contracting party. Raising from US investors is another.
Daniela has the first.
1:00Does SAT tax your US LLC's income before you take it out?
Income a Mexican resident earns through a foreign transparent entity is taxed as the resident's own income, under their own regime. A single-owner US LLC is transparent for US tax. So expect SAT to look through the LLC to you. Your accountant confirms it. A second rule covers income taxed lightly abroad, at less than a set share of what Mexico would charge, or not at all. When that income is taxed depends on what kind of income it is, so ask your accountant.
The guide reads them from PwC's summaries of the law, so check them with your accountant.
1:35Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
The American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC usually suits an owner-run business selling to US customers. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors. Have your accountant check it against the low-tax rule. 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.
2:10Which US accounts work from Mexico?
Where can the dollars land? Founders living in Mexico can apply to a US fintech bank, because Mexico isn't on its list of countries it doesn't serve. It decides each application, and it can decline. A multi-currency account gives no US dollar account details to founders living in Mexico. Another US bank doesn't bar Mexico, but it asks every owner for a physical US address. Each provider decides for itself.
With a US account, Daniela can also apply to the card processor as a US business, and it reviews her too.
2:42How does Mexico tax you and your US company?
Mexico taxes its residents on worldwide income. You're resident if your home is in Mexico, and with a home elsewhere too, if more than half your income comes from Mexico, or it's your main place of work. Here's the guide's own illustration. Say her Wyoming LLC earns sixty thousand dollars of profit, and she does the work in Mexico. With no US office or staff, it usually owes no US income tax on that. For SAT, the LLC is see-through, so the sixty thousand is likely her own income. With no US tax paid, there's nothing to credit, and her accountant applies her regime's rates. That's an illustration, not a quote. A C-Corp's dividends to you are fully taxable here, with a further charge on top that can't be credited.
And a company managed from Mexico can be resident in Mexico, wherever it was formed.
3:30Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Mexico treaty?
In America, the income tax treaty with Mexico is in force. It caps US withholding on most interest, on dividends and on royalties paid to you. Pay for work you do in Mexico generally isn't US income, so the treaty matters less for a services business. A single-owner LLC with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. Where you do pay US tax, Mexico credits it only up to the Mexican tax on that income. A single-owner LLC still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable transactions with you. Missing it is expensive.
For a calendar-year company, it's usually due in mid-April.
4:08What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with your accountant: whether you need a US company, whether an LLC or a C-Corp suits SAT's rules for you, and where it will be managed. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply for the accounts, with the same details everywhere. Record every payment to you, and put the IRS report and your SAT return on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. And Daniela?
She's asking her accountant how SAT will see the LLC, before she signs with her US customer.
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 Mexico, with sources.
Read the guide for MexicoWatch on YouTube