Video · From Nigeria
Can a Nigerian Own a US LLC? Plan the Bank and Tax First (2026)
Can you own a US LLC while living in Nigeria? The company is the easy part. The bank is harder: Mercury, Relay and Wise's USD accounts won't serve founders who live here. 4:43 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Nigerian resident own a US LLC?
It's late afternoon in Lagos, and Tunde has a customer abroad who wants to pay for his software by card. So he's wondering about a US company. On the American side, he 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 Nigeria, the company is the easy part.
Two other things decide whether this works for him: the bank, and the tax. So we'll plan both first.
0:30Do you need a US company to get paid from Nigeria?
First, does he need one at all? Not necessarily. Anyone in Nigeria can hold dollars in a domiciliary account at a Nigerian bank. A US company adds filings in both countries, so it needs a reason of its own. Card payments from customers abroad are one. The big card processor serves Nigeria through a company it owns, for local payments. For dollars, a US company with a US bank account can apply for a US account there.
It reviews each application, and it can decline. Tunde has that reason.
1:01Do you need CBN approval to own a US company?
Here's Nigeria's money rule. The foreign exchange law lets residents invest in securities, in any currency. So owning a US company needs no special approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria. How you buy the dollars to fund it is a separate question, and that one's for your bank.
Banks report any transfer to or from abroad above a set amount to the Central Bank, so keep the paperwork for every payment between you and the company. And banks need your Tax ID before they open or run any account.
1:33Wyoming 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 customers abroad. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from investors who want shares. 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. Your Nigerian Tax ID isn't part of it.
Prices are in US dollars, so check the naira amount, the exchange rate and any limit your bank sets on payments abroad.
2:11Which US bank accounts work from Nigeria?
Now the bank. Plan it first, because three doors are closed. A US fintech bank doesn't open accounts for founders who live in Nigeria. It goes by where you live, not your passport. Another US bank bars owners with Nigerian citizenship or residency. And a multi-currency account won't give US account details where the business, or your own profile, has an address in Nigeria.
One provider says its business account can help eligible US LLCs run from Nigeria, with US account details. Each provider decides for itself, and any of them can decline.
2:46How does Nigeria tax your US company's income?
Then the tax, which the Nigeria Tax Act changed. Since the start of twenty twenty-six, a resident is taxed on income from anywhere, whether or not it's brought home. So what the company pays Tunde counts, even if it stays in a US account. Here's the guide's illustration. Say his taxable income for the year, after reliefs, is twelve million naira, including that pay. The Act's bands set the tax. That's an illustration, not a quote. And a company whose central or effective place of management or control is in Nigeria counts as a Nigerian company.
Run it entirely from here, and a tax adviser should look at that before it earns much.
3:26Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Nigeria treaty?
In America, there's no income tax treaty with Nigeria. 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 Nigeria 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. Where you do pay US tax, Nigeria's law lets you credit it against Nigerian tax on the same income.
A single-owner LLC still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable transactions with you, and missing it is expensive. For a calendar-year company, it's usually due in mid-April.
4:06What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with your tax adviser: who should own the company, you or your Nigerian company, and where it's managed. Then pick the account you'll use, and only then form the company and get the EIN. Record every payment between you and the company, and put the IRS report and your Nigerian return on one calendar. That return covers income from every source, whether or not you owe tax. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below.
And Tunde? He's planning the bank and the tax 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 Nigeria, with sources.
Read the guide for NigeriaWatch on YouTube