Video · From Tunisia
Can a Tunisian Own a US LLC? The Central Bank Rule First (2026)
Can you own a US LLC while living in Tunisia? On the Tunisian side, owning it is investing abroad, and a resident may do that only after the Central Bank of Tunisia's prior authorisation, given after the Finance Ministry agrees, unless you hold a PPR account. 4:40 long, published .
Transcript
What the video says
0:00Can a Tunisian resident own a US LLC?
It's early evening in Tunis, and Yassine has just finished a demo for a buyer in America. The buyer wants to pay by card, and the big card processor doesn't take Tunisian businesses. So he wonders 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.
The first door isn't in America, though. It's at the Central Bank of Tunisia.
0:30Do you need a US company for Stripe from Tunisia?
So, does he need one? That depends on the reason. Card payments are a common one here, since the card processor doesn't list Tunisia. A US company with an EIN and a US bank account can apply for its own account there, though it reviews the business and can decline. US investors are another reason, and they usually want a Delaware C-Corp. A Tunisian company expanding to America can own a US one as its subsidiary.
And if you simply sell software to clients abroad, the guide's advice is to ask your bank and adviser first.
1:04Do you need the Central Bank of Tunisia's authorisation?
Here's Tunisia's central rule. Owning a US company is investing abroad. A resident may invest abroad only after the Central Bank's prior authorisation, and the Bank gives it after the Finance Ministry agrees. So, do you need it? Usually, yes. The exception is a currency account for resident individuals, called a PPR account. Even then, money in that account may never feed an account opened abroad in your name.
Whether a PPR account lets you invest without the authorisation, and within what limits, is a question for your bank and adviser.
1:39Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp, and an EIN without an SSN
Once the Tunisian side is clear, the American part is simpler. A Wyoming LLC suits card payments and clients abroad. 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.
Prices are in US dollars, so check with your bank how a payment abroad is allowed.
2:12Which US bank accounts work from Tunisia?
Then the bank, where the news is better. Founders living in Tunisia can apply to a US fintech bank. Its country list goes by where you live, and it decides each application. A multi-currency account won't give you US account details here, because Tunisia isn't among the places it lets people hold money. Another bank doesn't bar Tunisia, but it asks every owner for a physical US address.
Each provider decides for itself. Use the same names, addresses and business description everywhere.
2:43Can profits stay abroad, and is the company Tunisian?
Now the two rules that follow the company home. Dividends from a company abroad must be brought back to Tunisia in full and converted to dinars. And a company is Tunisian-resident if it's registered or effectively managed here. Here's the guide's own illustration. Yassine gets the authorisation and forms a Wyoming LLC that makes a hundred thousand dinars of profit. He runs it from Tunis, so it's effectively managed in Tunisia, resident here, and Tunisian corporate tax applies. Any dividend it pays him comes home in full, in dinars.
That's an illustration, not a quote. How Tunisia classes the LLC is for your adviser.
3:23Do you pay US tax, and is there a US–Tunisia treaty?
As for you, you're resident if your home is in Tunisia, or you stay a set number of days in a calendar year. Residents are taxed on income from anywhere, except foreign income already taxed abroad. How the company's payments to you are taxed is for your adviser. In America, work you do in Tunisia generally isn't US income, so a US company with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. There's a tax treaty in force, but for a services business it matters less.
A single-owner LLC still files a report with the IRS when it has reportable dealings with you, and missing it is expensive. It's usually due in the spring, with a form to ask for more time.
4:05What to do first, in order
Put together, the order runs like this. Start with your bank and your tax adviser: the Central Bank's authorisation, or your PPR account, and how profits will come home. Then form the company, get the EIN, and apply to the bank. Keep the Central Bank papers and a record of every dividend brought home, and put the IRS report and your Tunisian return on one calendar. The full guide, with every source and a checklist for your adviser in English and French, is linked below.
And Yassine? He rang his bank before he ordered anything.
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 Tunisia, with sources.
Read the guide for TunisiaWatch on YouTube