Video · From Trinidad and Tobago
US LLC from Trinidad and Tobago: Managed Here, Resident Here? (2026)
Running a US company from Trinidad and Tobago? A company managed and controlled from here is resident here, and taxed here on its worldwide income. 4:50 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a resident of Trinidad and Tobago own a US LLC?
It's late afternoon in San Fernando, and Kavita is packing the day's orders. She designs clothes and sells them online, and customers abroad keep asking to pay by card. So she's wondering about a US company. On the American side, she 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 Trinidad and Tobago, the harder part is where the company is run.
A company managed and controlled from here is resident here, and it's taxed here on its worldwide income.
0:35Do I need a US company for Stripe in Trinidad and Tobago?
First, does she need one at all? The big card processor doesn't take businesses in Trinidad and Tobago. A US company with an EIN and a US bank account can apply to it for a US account. It reviews the business and the person behind it, and it can decline. Some US buyers and platforms want a US company to contract with. US investors usually want a Delaware C-Corp. Each of those comes with advice first, because where the company is managed decides where it's resident.
Kavita's reason is the card payments.
1:10Can my US company be resident in Trinidad and Tobago?
Here's the local rule. A company is resident where its central management and control is. So a US LLC that Kavita runs entirely from San Fernando can be resident here, and a resident company pays tax here on its worldwide income. Companies doing business here also pay a green fund levy on their gross income, and a business levy when that comes to more than the corporation tax.
Whether her company is resident, and how the Board of Inland Revenue treats a US LLC, are questions for a tax adviser here.
1:40Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
The American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits an owner-run business that needs the card processor or sells to US customers. A Delaware C-Corp suits raising from US investors, though it pays US corporate tax. 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 local company to form a US company.
Prices are in US dollars, so check your card's exchange rate and fees.
2:21Which US accounts work from Trinidad and Tobago?
Where can the dollars land? Founders living in Trinidad and Tobago can apply to a US fintech bank, because the country isn't on its list of places it doesn't serve. It decides each application. A multi-currency account gives no US dollar account details to founders living here. Another US bank doesn't bar Trinidad and Tobago, but it asks every owner for a physical US address.
Each provider decides for itself, so use the same names, addresses and business description everywhere.
2:51How is my income taxed in Trinidad and Tobago?
Now Trinidad and Tobago's side. As a resident, Kavita is taxed here on her worldwide income, at a rate that steps up above a set amount. You're resident after more than a set number of days here in a calendar year. If you're resident but not domiciled here, income from abroad is taxed only when it's received here. Here's the guide's illustration for the company. Say her Wyoming LLC earns six hundred thousand TT dollars and makes four hundred thousand of profit, with every decision made in San Fernando. If it's resident here, corporation tax comes to a hundred and twenty thousand, plus the green fund levy on its gross income. The business levy is lower than that tax, so it isn't due.
That's an illustration, not a quote.
3:38Does the US–Trinidad and Tobago treaty lower US withholding?
In America, there's an income tax treaty with Trinidad and Tobago, and it's in force. It leaves US withholding on dividends and interest paid to you at the full rate. It caps royalties for patents and know-how, and most copyright royalties are exempt. Pay for work you do in Trinidad and Tobago generally isn't US income, so nothing is withheld on it. A US company with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. 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.
4:16What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with a tax adviser here, about whether you need a US company at all, and where it will be managed and controlled. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply for the accounts. Keep the company's books, and a record of where its decisions are made. Put the IRS report and your return here on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser, is linked below. And Kavita?
Before she orders anything, she's writing down where her company's decisions will be made.
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 Trinidad and Tobago, with sources.
Read the guide for Trinidad and TobagoWatch on YouTube