US LLC from Sri Lanka: Central Bank Rules, Mercury and Taxes

0:00Can a Sri Lankan own a US company?

Dilini is a designer in Colombo. Her clients are abroad, and now she wants to sell her own templates, paid by card, to anyone. So, can she have a US company from Sri Lanka? As far as America goes, yes. No visa, no social security number, and no flight. But the Central Bank and Inland Revenue have rules of their own, and since this year they decide how she pays for it. We're BaseAcross.

We set up US companies for founders outside America, so we'll be straight with you. Let's take this journey one station at a time.

0:36Do freelancers in Sri Lanka even need one? The 15% ceiling

First station: does she even need one? Her clients already pay her from abroad, in dollars, through her bank in Colombo. That pay has a tax ceiling. It's taxed at no more than a set rate, and the old exemption for freelancers has ended. A US company won't make that simpler. It adds filings in two countries, every year, and the Central Bank's limits on investing abroad. So it needs a reason.

Card payments for her own product, a US client who wants a US contract, or a platform that asks for a US company. Dilini has the first one.

1:14The Central Bank's 2026 rules: no converting rupees

Second station, and this is the one that changed in 2026. Paying for a company abroad is investing abroad, and the Central Bank's current order sets the rules. Here's the line most people miss. As a person, you can't change rupees into dollars to invest abroad. Dollars you already hold in a bank account can be used, up to a limit, while the current order lasts. A Sri Lankan company has more room.

It can invest through its own account, within a larger limit. The order is temporary, so check the current one with your bank. That's why her first question isn't which state. It's who should own the company, and with which money.

1:57Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN

Third station: the American part, and it's the quick one. First, the owner: Dilini herself, or a Sri Lankan company she runs. Then the state. A Wyoming LLC for a business you run yourself. A Delaware C-Corp if investors want shares, or a Sri Lankan company is setting up abroad. The company needs a registered agent, an address in that state for legal papers, not where you work. The state approves the filing, and the company exists.

Then the tax number, the EIN. Without a social security number, it's a paper form to the IRS, and her Sri Lankan tax number isn't part of it. And pay for all of it from dollars you already hold, not by changing rupees.

2:44Which US bank works from Sri Lanka?

Fourth station, the bank. And here, Sri Lanka has it easier than its neighbours. One of the US fintech banks most videos recommend takes applications from founders living here. Others don't give US account details, or want a US address for every owner. Each one decides for itself, so it's an application, not a promise. The same goes for card payments. A US company with a US bank account lets you apply to a card processor.

It reviews the business and the person behind it, and approval isn't guaranteed. So plan how the money moves before you pick the bank.

3:24Two kinds of money, two rules

Fifth station: bringing money home. Here, there are two kinds of money, with two rules. Pay for her own work is income from abroad. Say her US company pays Dilini for design work she did in Colombo. It comes into her bank in Sri Lanka, and it's taxed at no more than the ceiling. A ceiling, not a flat charge. Profit or capital from the investment is different. Under the current order, it comes back to a Sri Lankan account within a month.

So record which each payment is, from day one. And on the US side, the payment to her is a line on the company's yearly report.

4:03Inland Revenue, the US treaty and Form 5472

Last station, tax, in both countries. Sri Lanka taxes its residents on income from anywhere, and her return includes the company. If the company's management and control is exercised in Sri Lanka at any time in the year, it can be treated as resident there too. A solo founder should ask about that early. There is a tax treaty with America, which lowers US withholding on some payments.

Work done in Sri Lanka generally isn't US income. But the company still files a report with the IRS every year, even without sales, and missing it is expensive. And whether pay from her own company counts for the lower rate is a question for her adviser.

4:48The order to do it in

So here's the order. Settle the owner and the money first, with your bank and your adviser. Then plan the bank. Then form. Put the IRS report and your Sri Lankan return on one calendar, and record what every payment is. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. And Dilini? She asked her bank about her dollar account first.