Video · From South Africa
Will SARS Tax Your US LLC Before You Take the Money Out? (2026)
Can a South African resident own a US LLC? The South African side is where the care goes. Money you send to fund the company comes out of your SARB allowances, and SARS's controlled foreign company rule can impute a US company's income to you each year, before you take any of it out. 4:42 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a South African resident own a US LLC?
It's evening in Cape Town, and Lerato has subscribers in America who'd like to pay in dollars. She wants a US company to take the payments. On the American side, that's simple. No social security number, no trip to the US, and nothing that needs her awake in American hours. We're BaseAcross. We set up US companies for founders outside America, so we'll be straight with you.
At home, though, South Africa's tax office can count the company's income each year, before she takes any of it out.
0:31Do you need a US company for Stripe in South Africa?
So, does she need one at all? Not every founder here does. If you freelance for clients abroad, SARS, the tax office, taxes your income either way, and the big card processor already takes local payments here, through a company it owns. A US company adds US filings and a South African rule on foreign companies, so it needs a reason. Lerato's is subscriptions in dollars.
A US LLC with a US bank account can apply for a full US account with the card processor. It reviews her, and it can decline.
1:03How much can you send abroad to fund the company?
Before any money leaves, the rule that matters is the Reserve Bank's. What you send abroad comes out of yearly allowances. Every resident aged eighteen and over has a single discretionary allowance. If you're tax compliant, you can also invest a larger amount each year under the foreign capital allowance. Your bank applies the limits. Here's the guide's own illustration. Lerato sends three hundred thousand rand in March to fund the company. The rest of her discretionary allowance is there for the rest of the calendar year.
The company records the money, in dollars, as a contribution from its owner on its IRS report.
1:43Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
Then the company itself, the simpler part. A Wyoming LLC usually suits an owner-run business selling abroad. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from investors who want shares. It needs a registered agent, an address in that state for legal papers. 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 SARS tax number isn't part of it.
Paying for it from South Africa uses your allowance, so check the rand amount and your bank's fees.
2:18Which US bank accounts work from South Africa?
Then the bank, where the dollars land. Founders living in South Africa can apply to a US fintech bank, because South Africa isn't on its list of countries it doesn't serve. That list goes by where you live, and the bank decides each application. A multi-currency account can give a US company run from here US account details. Another US account doesn't bar South Africa, but it asks every owner for a physical US address.
Each provider decides for itself. With a US account in place, Lerato can apply to the card processor.
2:51Will SARS tax the US company before you take money out?
Now tax at home, which is where the care goes. SARS taxes residents on income from anywhere. Then there's the controlled foreign company rule. If South African residents hold more than half of a foreign company, its income is imputed to them each year. High-taxed companies and income from a foreign business establishment are the main exclusions, so ask your adviser which applies. And a company is resident here if key management and commercial decisions are in substance made here.
A founder running it alone from South Africa should have a tax adviser look at that early.
3:29Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–South Africa treaty?
Then the American side. Work you do in South Africa generally isn't US income, so a single-owner LLC with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. There's a US and South Africa tax treaty in force, which lowers US withholding on interest, royalties and dividends paid to you. And South Africa credits foreign tax on foreign income, within a cap. 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, with a form to ask for more time.
4:05What to do first, in order
So the order runs like this. See your tax adviser first, about which allowance funds the company, where it'll be managed, and the controlled foreign company rule. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply for the bank. Record every payment between you and the company, what it was for, and which allowance it used. Put the IRS report and your SARS returns on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your tax adviser, is linked below.
Everything happens online and in writing, so Lerato never needs to be up in American hours.
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 South Africa, with sources.
Read the guide for South AfricaWatch on YouTube