From Pakistan · South Asia
Stripe doesn't list Pakistan among the countries it supports. A US LLC with an EIN and a US bank account can apply. Formation and the EIN happen remotely, without an SSN. For the bank, Payoneer serves Pakistan and pays out to Pakistani banks, so check whether it will open an account in your US company's name. The SBP and FBR have rules of their own, set out below in order.
Launch + Wyoming filing; the tax return is separate.
At a glance
Mercury doesn't open for founders living in Pakistan, and nor do Relay or Wise's USD accounts. Try Payoneer first.
The banks, in detailYes, you can form a US LLC while living in Pakistan, without an SSN or a visit to the US; Stripe doesn't list Pakistan, but once the LLC has an EIN and a US bank account it can apply for a US Stripe account, and Stripe can decline.
Checked by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
| Step | Who issues it | Fee | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form the Wyoming LLC | Who issues itThe Wyoming Secretary of State | Fee$102.40 state fee, passed on at cost | Typical timeSame day, once a complete filing is accepted. Our order checks and filing batch come first. |
| Get the EIN without an SSN | Who issues itThe IRS, from Form SS-4 | FeeNo IRS fee. Launch and Operate include the application. | Typical timeThe IRS says that under its Fax-TIN program an EIN by fax generally comes within 4 business days. For a company owned from abroad, our estimate is six to eight weeks. |
| Open an account to get paid | Who issues itPayoneer, which serves Pakistan and pays out to Pakistani banks. Check whether it will open an account in your US company's name. | FeeSet by Payoneer | Typical timePayoneer's review, and it can decline |
| Apply for a US Stripe account | Who issues itStripe, which reviews the business and the person behind it | FeeSet by Stripe | Typical timeStripe's review, and it can decline |
Watch
Forming a US LLC while living in Pakistan? This is the whole road, stop by stop: whether you need one at all (the 0.25% PSEB rate), what the State Bank of Pakistan's rules say about funding it, the EIN without an SSN, which US banks won't open for you and what to try instead, Stripe, bringing money home, and what the FBR and the IRS expect every year.
Before you form
Wyoming LLC
Owner-run business that needs Stripe or a US contracting party; plan the bank first.
Delaware C-Corp
Raising from investors who want shares; check the SBP's HoldCo route first.
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 Pakistani company, an NTN or PSEB registration to form a US LLC. They matter on the Pakistani side, for your bank and the FBR. The EIN is the US company's tax ID, and it doesn't replace your NTN. 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 Pakistan, your bank applies the SBP's rules and your tax adviser handles the FBR; we don't file either.
You and your tax adviser
Decide how the company will be funded within the SBP's rules, how you'll be paid for your own work, and whether you need a US company at all.
You leave this stage with: A funding and payment plan that fits Pakistan'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 Payoneer, since Mercury and Relay won't open for you and 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, and what it was for. Put Form 5472, your FBR return and the 116A statement 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 Pakistan
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 Pakistan, 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
Foreign income, the foreign income and assets statement and any controlled foreign company review depend on your circumstances.
Only if you invest from Pakistan
Investing under the SBP's rules brings form V-100, evidence of the investment and the company's audited accounts every year. Ask your bank and adviser before you rely on it.
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 Pakistan, check the rupee amount, exchange rate and fees your bank or card charges, and how the bank reports a payment for services abroad.
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
The United States and Pakistan have an income tax treaty from 1957 in force.
It cuts US withholding on some payments to you, to 0% on royalties for patents, know-how and copyrights, but not on interest, which stays at 30%. Pay for work you do in Pakistan is generally not US-source income in the first place, so the treaty matters less for a services business.
Money and the SBP
These come from the State Bank of Pakistan's Foreign Exchange Manual and the Income Tax Ordinance, and they run alongside the US steps below. Read them before you order, because they decide how the company is funded and how you get paid.
You and your bank
The SBP's general permission for individuals covers listed shares abroad (up to USD 25,000 a calendar year and 1% of a company), employee share plans and sweat equity up to 20%. Owning and funding your own private US company isn't on that list, so ask your bank's foreign exchange desk before you send anything.
You, your designated bank and the SBP
It runs through one designated bank branch, with tax-paid money and an investor on the Active Taxpayer List, and exemptions go to the SBP's Exchange Policy Department. Within a month you file evidence of the investment and form V-100, and every year the company's audited accounts.
Your bank in Pakistan
As a freelancer you can receive it in Pakistan on a self-declaration and keep USD 5,000 a month or half the proceeds, whichever is higher, in a dollar account (ESFCA). The rest goes into your rupee account.
Your bank, for the FBR
The bank deducts tax at 0.25% if you're registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board for IT or IT-enabled services (tax years 2024 to 2029), or at 1% for other exports of services. It's your final tax on that income if you file your return and meet the section's other conditions.
You and your tax adviser
Under the SBP's framework, dividends and sale proceeds from an investment abroad come home through banks, with a Proceeds Realization Certificate filed through your bank. A fee for your work and a share of profit are taxed differently, so record which each payment is.
You and your tax adviser
Report foreign-source income in your return, and file the foreign income and assets statement once foreign income reaches USD 10,000 or foreign assets USD 100,000.
Worked example
Ask your bank which rate it will apply before the first payment, because the 0.25% rate depends on PSEB registration for IT or IT-enabled services.
Your US company pays you USD 4,000 for work you did in Pakistan, and you take it as freelance export proceeds.
The retention limit is USD 5,000 or half, whichever is higher, so all USD 4,000 can stay in your dollar account.
If you're PSEB-registered, the bank deducts 0.25%, which is USD 10. Otherwise it's 1%, which is USD 40.
The company records a USD 4,000 payment to its owner for services, which belongs on its Form 5472.
Paying our fee and the state's fee from Pakistan is a payment abroad, so ask your bank how it will report it, and your adviser whether the SBP's rules on investing abroad reach it.
What Pakistan expects
Pakistan taxes its residents on foreign-source income as well as income from Pakistan. Owning a US company can bring in the foreign income and assets statement, the controlled foreign company rule and the SBP's rules on investing abroad. Keeping the money in a US account doesn't change that.
The SBP's general permission for individuals covers listed shares abroad, employee share plans and sweat equity up to 20%. Owning and funding your own private company isn't on that list. Investing under its rules runs through one designated bank, with tax-paid money and an investor on the Active Taxpayer List, and the profit comes home through banks.
As a resident you're taxed on foreign-source income as well as income from Pakistan. A Pakistani citizen stays resident unless they spend more than 182 days in another country and are tax-resident there.
Once your foreign income reaches USD 10,000 or your foreign assets USD 100,000, you file a foreign income and assets statement. Missing it costs 2% of that income or those assets for each year, and ignoring an FBR notice about it can be prosecuted.
Pakistan can tax you on a foreign company's income if residents control it, it pays less than 60% of Pakistan's tax on that income, and it doesn't earn mainly active business income. Income under Rs 10 million a year counts as zero. Selling services to unrelated clients usually counts as active, but royalties, interest and sales to associates don't.
A company is resident in Pakistan if its control and management is wholly in Pakistan at any time in the year. A US company that one founder runs entirely from Pakistan should have a tax adviser look at this early.
On the record
We form US companies. We aren't Pakistani 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 Pakistan 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 Pakistan, your return covers foreign-source income, and the 116A statement applies once you pass its thresholds. If you invested under the SBP's rules, your bank also needs the company's audited accounts each year.
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. |
| Payments into Pakistan and SBP reporting | You and your bank | Your bank applies the SBP's rules; we don't file SBP forms. |
| 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. |
| FBR return, 116A statement and Pakistani tax | You and your tax adviser | We provide the US company records they need. |
Prepare the conversation
Bring the owners, where each lives for tax, the business activity, how the company will be funded and how money will move between you. Agree who prepares each filing in Pakistan and in the US.
Download the checklist for your tax adviser (.txt)Does the SBP let me fund this company from Pakistan, or should it fund itself from its own revenue?
If the company pays me for my work, should I receive it as freelance export proceeds, and should I register with the PSEB for the 0.25% rate?
How will the FBR treat the LLC's profit, and could the controlled foreign company rule apply?
Could the company's control and management be treated as wholly in Pakistan under section 83?
When do I need the foreign income and assets statement under section 116A, and what goes in it?
How should I pay the formation fees from Pakistan, and how will my bank report the payment?
Can I claim credit in Pakistan for any US tax, and how should I keep records for both returns?
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 Pakistani side, the SBP's rules on investing abroad and the FBR's rules on foreign income apply. Owning a US company doesn't give you a US visa.
The SBP's general permission for individuals covers listed shares abroad (up to USD 25,000 a calendar year and 1% of a company), employee share plans and sweat equity up to 20%. Owning and funding your own private US company isn't on that list. Ask your bank's foreign exchange desk and an adviser before you send money to the company.
Not under the general permission for individuals. Investment abroad under the SBP's rules goes through one designated bank, with tax-paid money and an investor on the Active Taxpayer List, and exemptions go to the SBP's Exchange Policy Department. Many founders let the company fund itself from its own revenue instead.
Not necessarily. Pakistani banks take freelancers' foreign payments on a self-declaration, and you can keep USD 5,000 a month or half, whichever is higher, in a dollar account. The bank deducts 0.25% tax if you're PSEB-registered for IT services, or 1% otherwise. A US company is for Stripe, US contracts and platforms that need one.
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 Pakistan 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. If you already run a Pakistani startup, the SBP's HoldCo route sets the terms for a holding company abroad. 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 NTN 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.
No. Mercury's prohibited-countries list includes Pakistan, and it goes by where you live, not your passport. Relay also bars owners with Pakistani citizenship or residency.
Start with Payoneer, which serves Pakistan and pays out to Pakistani banks, and ask whether it will open an account in your US company's name. Wise says it can't give USD account details where the business, or your personal profile, has an address in Pakistan. Each provider reviews the company and its owners and can decline.
It lets you apply. Stripe doesn't list Pakistan, 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.
Generally not. Pay for work you do in Pakistan 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.
As a resident you report foreign-source income as well as income from Pakistan. Once your foreign income reaches USD 10,000 or foreign assets USD 100,000, you also file a foreign income and assets statement, and missing it costs 2% a year. The controlled foreign company rule and section 83 can also matter.
Yes, from 1957. It brings US withholding on royalties for patents, know-how and copyrights to 0%, but interest stays at 30% and most dividends at 30%. Pay for work you do in Pakistan generally isn't US-source income anyway.
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 FBR return, the 116A statement and anything the SBP needs are for you, your bank and your tax adviser.
Through a bank or provider that supports your company and pays out in Pakistan. Pay for your own work can come in as freelance export proceeds. Profit from an investment made under the SBP's rules comes home through banks with a Proceeds Realization Certificate. Record which each payment is, 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.
The SBP and FBR documents are the official texts: Foreign Exchange Manual chapters last revised in 2023 and 2024, and the Income Tax Ordinance as amended to 30 June 2026. Rules and rates change with each Finance Act and SBP circular, so confirm the current position with your adviser before acting.
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LLC · Cheyenne, WY
Launch · $249 + $102.40 Wyoming · Same day
