Video · From Peru
Can a Peruvian Own a US LLC? Mind the Passive Income Rule (2026)
Running a US company from Peru? Peru's fiscal transparency rules can attribute a foreign company's untaxed passive income to its Peruvian owners at year end. 4:54 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Peruvian resident own a US LLC?
It's early evening in Lima, and Diego 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 Peru, the bank is the easier part. The harder part is passive income, like royalties. Above set lines, low-taxed passive income in a US company can be his at year end.
We'll start with the kind of income.
0:34Do I need a US company for Stripe in Peru?
Does he need a US company at all? That depends on the income. The big card processor doesn't take Peruvian businesses, so a US company is often how founders here get it. With an EIN and a US bank account, the company can apply for a US account there. The processor can decline. Licensing software or content earns royalties, which are passive income, so check Peru's rules first. US investors usually want a Delaware C-Corp. A Peruvian company can own a US subsidiary, though its passive income can come back under the same rules.
Diego wants card payments, so he has a reason.
1:10What are Peru's fiscal transparency rules?
Peru's rule is on controlled foreign entities. It catches a foreign company with its own tax personality, more than half owned by taxpayers domiciled in Peru, when its passive income is untaxed, or taxed at or below a line set against Peru's rate. Passive income includes dividends, interest and royalties. When the rule applies, it's attributed to the owners at year end. Nothing is attributed when its net passive income is a set amount or less, or a set share of the company's income or less. At a high share or more, all its income counts as passive.
A services business with little passive income usually falls outside it.
1:48Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
The American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business selling to US customers or needing the card processor. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors. 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. You don't need a Peruvian company to form a US one.
Prices are in US dollars, so check your card's exchange rate and fees.
2:24Which US accounts work from Peru?
Now the bank. Founders living in Peru can apply to a US fintech bank, because Peru isn't on its list of countries it doesn't serve. It decides each application. A multi-currency account provider can give a US company run from Peru US dollar account details. Another US bank doesn't bar Peru, but it asks every owner for a physical US address. Each provider decides for itself.
With a US account, Diego can apply to the card processor.
2:52How does Peru tax you and your US company?
Then Peru's tax. Peruvian nationals with a home in Peru are domiciled there, and so are foreigners after more than a set number of days in any twelve months. Domiciled people are taxed on worldwide income. In the guide's illustration, Diego's Wyoming LLC earns four hundred thousand soles in a year, after costs. Three hundred thousand from services to clients abroad, and a hundred thousand in royalties. He owns all of it, and in this example it pays no US tax, so its passive income counts as low-taxed. The royalties are a quarter of its income, above both lines. The hundred thousand soles is attributed to him at year end. The services income isn't. That's an illustration, not a quote. It assumes Peru treats the LLC as having its own tax personality, and that's your contador's first question.
As for the company, Peru taxes it only through a branch or other permanent establishment, on its Peruvian-source income.
3:47Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Peru treaty?
In America, there's no income tax treaty with Peru. 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 Peru generally isn't US income, so a US company with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. Crediting any US tax against Peruvian tax is a question for your contador. 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.
4:24What to do first, in order
Here's the order. Start with your contador: do you need a US company, and what share of its income will be passive? Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply for the account. Keep the books with passive income split out, and put the IRS report and your Peruvian return on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. Each question on the checklist is also in Spanish. And Diego?
Before he orders anything, he's asking his contador about the kind of income.
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 Peru, with sources.
Read the guide for PeruWatch on YouTube