From United Kingdom · Europe
For UK founders who need a US company for American customers, US investors or a US-facing brand. Formation and the EIN happen remotely. HMRC treats a US LLC as a company, so for a business run from the UK, a UK Ltd or a Delaware C-Corp is often the better fit, and this guide shows why.
Launch + Wyoming filing; the tax return is separate.Checked by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
At a glance
Founders living in the United Kingdom can apply to Mercury or Wise Business. Each decides its own applications.
The banks, in detailYou can form a US company while living in the UK, without an SSN or a US visit. Launch starts at $351.40 in Wyoming, including our plan and state filing fee. HMRC treats a US LLC as a company, not a pass-through, so the same profit can be treated differently in each country. Check whether a UK Ltd or a C-Corp suits you better first.
Watch
Thinking of a US LLC while living in the UK? Often you don't need one: Stripe and Wise already serve UK businesses, and a UK Ltd can be registered online.
Before you form
Wyoming LLC
Owner-run business with a US reason to exist; take UK tax advice on the LLC first.
Delaware C-Corp
US investors or a share structure; a company in both countries, so no LLC mismatch.
Both charges are the state's, before our plan, optional services and your advisers' fees. Wyoming sets a minimum yearly charge, and Delaware's franchise tax depends on how it's calculated. Staff, stock or premises in another state can bring obligations there. An S-corporation isn't an option, because nonresident aliens can't hold its shares.
Prepare the information
You don't need a UK company or any HMRC registration to form a US LLC. Your Self Assessment matters on the UK side. The EIN is the US company's tax ID, and it doesn't replace your UK tax references. Send identity documents through a secure request, and only the ones asked for.
How it works
The state approves the company, the IRS issues the EIN and each provider approves its own account. In the UK, your accountant handles Self Assessment and any filings the LLC owes as a UK company; we don't file either.
You and your accountant
Check whether a UK Ltd already does the job, and if it doesn't, whether an LLC or a C-Corp fits the UK side better.
You leave this stage with: A structure that works in both countries.
You choose; BaseAcross checks
We check the proposed name and provide the registered agent in the formation state. The registered office is for legal papers, not your operating address.
You leave this stage with: Confirmed filing details and a registered agent.
BaseAcross files; the state approves
We submit the formation filing and send you the state's documents once it's approved. The company exists from that approval.
You leave this stage with: State-approved formation documents.
BaseAcross
We draft the LLC Operating Agreement or corporate bylaws. Check every name and share against your passport before you sign.
You leave this stage with: Operating documents for your records, your accountant and US providers.
BaseAcross prepares; the IRS issues
The EIN is a separate application after formation. Without an SSN or ITIN, it goes on Form SS-4 rather than the IRS's online tool.
You leave this stage with: The IRS's EIN confirmation once it's issued.
You apply; the providers review
Mercury takes applications from UK residents with US operations planned, and Wise Business serves UK owners. Use the same names, addresses and business description everywhere.
You leave this stage with: An approved account, if the provider accepts the application.
You, your US preparer and your accountant
Record every payment between you and the company, and what it was for. Put Form 5472, your Self Assessment and any UK company filings on one calendar.
You leave this stage with: A yearly calendar with someone responsible for each filing.
Plan the wait
Published service estimates and prerequisites for a Wyoming company from the UK
These are service estimates, not promised completion dates. The IRS and each provider set their own processing times. Names or addresses that differ between documents slow every stage.
What it costs
Charged in US dollars, with the Wyoming state fee passed on at cost. Where you live changes which bank we introduce you to, not the price.
What a Wyoming LLC costs from the United Kingdom, line by line, and what to budget for outside our plans.
Included in both plans
The registered agent renews with the plan. Operate adds its published business tools and bookkeeping. Neither plan files your tax returns in either country.
Launch
To start, before optional extras
$351.40
OperateBilled yearly
To start, before optional extras
$2,490.40
Optional extras are priced before you order, such as filing ahead of our next batch for $39. See full pricing.
$149 service fee / year
Optional on both plans. The state's charge is separate, and a reminder alone doesn't file the report.
State filing serviceArrange separately
You or your accountant handle Form 5472 and any other US returns on Launch and Operate. Ask the preparer for their scope and fee.
Federal filing responsibilitiesQuote from your accountant
Your return, the treatment of what the LLC pays you, and advice on the LLC versus a UK Ltd or a C-Corp.
Quote from your accountant
An LLC managed and controlled from the UK can owe corporation tax and its own UK filings on top of Form 5472.
Published in full pricing
Check domain renewals and when Launch's email, phone and site trials end. Operate includes its stated tools while subscribed.
Plans, trials and add-onsThe $309 Launch renewal example is the $249 plan renewal plus Wyoming's $60 minimum license tax. Wyoming charges the greater of that minimum or 0.0002 of the company's assets located and employed in the state, and paying online can add a processor fee. The Operate example uses the same minimum.
Prices are in US dollars. Paying from the UK, your card or bank converts at its own rate and may add a fee.
Use the first-year cost calculator to compare plans and optional tools. Then add your accountant's fees, US return preparation and any UK company filings to that budget.
Launch
To start
$351.40
$249 our fee + $102.40 Wyoming fee
Renews from $309 a year
OperateBilled yearly
To start
$2,490.40
$2,388 our fee + $102.40 Wyoming fee
Renews from $2,448 a year
Included in both plans
What changes because you live here
1 of 4: The tax treaty
The tax treaty
The United States and the UK have an income tax treaty from 2001 in force.
It cuts US withholding on payments to you to 0% on interest and royalties and 15% on most dividends. It doesn't fix the LLC mismatch, because HMRC treats an LLC as a company while the US looks through it.
Tax in both countries
These come from HMRC's manuals, GOV.UK and the IRS. They decide whether an LLC is worth it for a UK resident, so read them before you choose the structure.
The IRS
A single-owner LLC is disregarded, so its profit counts as yours as it's earned. Pay for work you do in the UK generally isn't US-source income, so there's often no US tax, but the LLC still files Form 5472.
HMRC
HMRC treats the LLC as a company. You're taxed on what it pays you, as dividends: £500 tax-free, then 10.75%, 35.75% or 39.35% in 2026–27 depending on your band.
HMRC
With its central management and control in the UK, the LLC can be a UK-resident company, paying corporation tax at 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% above £250,000, with marginal relief between.
You and your adviser
Profit from a US trade or business can be taxed in the US as yours, and HMRC then generally gives no relief against the tax on what the LLC pays you. That's where the same profit is taxed twice.
Parliament and HMRC
A consultation that closed on 31 July 2026 proposes letting UK-resident individuals treat an eligible LLC as transparent. There's no legislation yet, and it would apply only to tax years after it's passed.
You and your accountant
Report foreign income in your Self Assessment return. Online returns and payment are due by 31 January after the tax year ends.
Worked example
So an LLC run from the UK can end up taxed much like a UK Ltd while also filing in the US. That's why many UK founders keep the business in a UK Ltd and add a US company only when the US needs one.
Your LLC makes £40,000 profit from clients outside the US, and you make its decisions from the UK.
With its central management and control in the UK, HMRC can treat it as a UK-resident company.
At the 19% small profits rate, its corporation tax is £7,600, the same as a UK Ltd with the same profit would pay.
Profit it then pays you is taxed as a dividend above the £500 allowance, and the LLC still files Form 5472 in the US.
What the United Kingdom expects
The UK taxes its residents on foreign income, and HMRC treats a US LLC as a company rather than as see-through. That decides how the LLC's profit reaches you and when it's taxed, so plan the US and UK sides together.
HMRC lists a US LLC as opaque, so in the UK it's a company, not a see-through business. You're taxed on what it pays you, as dividends, while the US treats a single-owner LLC's profit as yours as soon as it's earned.
Where the LLC is disregarded in the US and you pay US tax on its profits, HMRC says you're generally not entitled to double taxation relief, outside exceptional circumstances. That's how the same profit can be taxed twice.
A company is UK-resident if its central management and control is in the UK, wherever it was formed. A US LLC run day to day from the UK can be a UK company for corporation tax.
A government consultation that closed on 31 July 2026 proposes letting UK-resident individuals treat an eligible US LLC as transparent. There's no legislation yet, and it would apply only to tax years after it's passed.
As a UK resident you normally pay tax on foreign income and report it in a Self Assessment return. Online returns and payment are due by 31 January after the tax year ends.
On the record
We form US companies. We aren't British tax advisers. These are the rules as they're generally published, they change, and how they apply to you depends on details this page can't know. Take this list to a tax adviser in the United Kingdom before you order, and we'll tell you what the US forms need.
After formation
A US LLC with one foreign owner is usually a disregarded entity that files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 when it has reportable transactions with you. Money you put in, take out or are paid for your work can count even in a year without sales. The IRS penalty for not filing starts at $25,000.
For a calendar-year company, the return is usually due 15 April, and Form 7004 requests an extension before then. A C-Corp, or an LLC with more than one owner, files different returns.
Form 5472 and the pro forma 1120Keep the registered agent active and track the state's yearly charge. In the UK, foreign income goes on your Self Assessment return, and an LLC run from the UK may owe corporation tax filings of its own.
US-created companies are exempt from BOI reporting under FinCEN's current rule, effective 14 August 2026. Banks and payment providers still verify who owns the company.
| Task | Who handles it | Where the responsibility ends |
|---|---|---|
| Formation and EIN application | BaseAcross prepares and submits | The state approves formation; the IRS issues the EIN. |
| Bank and payment applications | You, with our guidance | The provider verifies the information and decides. |
| Annual state filing | You, or our optional filing service | Reminders are included; managed filing and the state charge are separate. |
| US federal returns | You and your US tax preparer | Launch and Operate remind you; they don't file the return. |
| Self Assessment | You and your accountant | We provide the US company records your accountant needs. |
| UK company filings, if the LLC is UK-resident | Your accountant | We don't file with HMRC or Companies House. |
Prepare the conversation
Bring the owners, where each lives for tax, whether a UK Ltd will own the US company, where its decisions will be made and how money will move between you. Agree who prepares each filing in the UK and in the US.
Download the checklist for your accountant (.txt)Will HMRC treat my US LLC as a UK-resident company, given where its decisions are made?
For what I'm planning, should I use an LLC, a Delaware C-Corp, or keep the business in a UK Ltd?
If the LLC has US-taxable profit, how do I avoid being taxed on it in both countries without relief?
How will distributions from the LLC be taxed, and how should I record them?
Does the LLC need to register anything at Companies House or with HMRC?
Can I claim treaty benefits on income that passes through the LLC, given HMRC treats it as a company?
How would the proposed transparent treatment for LLC members affect me if it becomes law?
Questions
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
Yes. US law doesn't require an LLC's owners to be US citizens or residents, and formation, the EIN and the bank applications all happen remotely. Owning a US company doesn't give you the right to live or work in the United States.
Often not. Stripe and Wise already serve UK businesses, and a UK Ltd costs £100 to register online. A US company makes sense when the business needs to be American, for US customers, US investors or a US-facing brand.
HMRC classes a US LLC as opaque, which means a company. You're taxed on what it pays you, as dividends: £500 tax-free, then 10.75%, 35.75% or 39.35% in 2026–27, depending on your band. The US, meanwhile, treats a single-owner LLC's profit as yours as it's earned.
Not usually, if the profit isn't US-taxable. It can happen where the LLC has profit taxed in the US as yours: HMRC then taxes what the LLC pays you as a dividend and says you're generally not entitled to relief for the US tax. Take advice before forming an LLC with US operations.
It's proposed. A consultation that closed on 31 July 2026 suggests letting UK-resident individuals treat an eligible US LLC as transparent, taxed on its profits as they arise. There's no legislation yet, and it would apply only to tax years after it's passed.
It can. A company is UK-resident if its central management and control is in the UK, wherever it was formed. An LLC run from the UK can then pay corporation tax, at 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% above £250,000.
A Delaware C-Corp is a company in both countries, so it avoids the LLC mismatch, and it's what US investors usually expect. An LLC can suit some owner-run businesses, but take UK tax advice first. Nonresident aliens can't hold shares in an S-corporation.
Launch starts at $351.40: $249 for the plan plus $102.40 for the Wyoming filing. The plan and Wyoming's minimum yearly charge then total $309 a year. Your accountant's fees and US return preparation are separate. Wyoming's license tax can be more than its $60 minimum.
Yes. Without an SSN or ITIN, the application goes on Form SS-4 instead of the IRS's online tool. We prepare it after the company is formed, and the IRS issues the number. Your UK tax references aren't part of it.
Each stage has its own clock. Wyoming's published turnaround is same day once a complete filing is accepted. Our ordinary EIN estimate is six to eight weeks after the application, or two to three weeks with the $199 expedited option. Banks and Stripe set their own review times. These are estimates, not promises.
You can apply. Mercury doesn't list the UK among the countries it refuses, and it goes by where you live. It asks for existing or planned US operations and a real principal business address, which can be in the UK but not a registered agent's. It decides each application.
No. Stripe serves businesses registered in the UK. A US company gets a US Stripe account paid out in dollars to a US bank, which some founders prefer when most of their customers are American.
Yes, from 2001. It brings US withholding on interest and royalties paid to UK residents to 0% and on most dividends to 15%. It doesn't settle the LLC mismatch, because the two countries classify an LLC differently.
Generally not. Pay for work you do in the UK is generally not US-source income, so a single-owner LLC with no US office or staff often owes no US income tax on it. It still files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 when it has reportable transactions with you.
Yes, through your tax return. As a UK resident you normally pay tax on foreign income and report it in Self Assessment, with online returns and payment due by 31 January after the tax year ends. If the LLC is UK-resident, it may have corporation tax filings of its own.
On Launch and Operate, we add deadlines and reminders; you or your accountant file the federal returns. Managed annual state compliance is an optional $149 service fee a year, with the state's charge separate. Self Assessment and any UK company filings are for you and your accountant.
US-created companies are exempt under FinCEN's current BOI rule, effective 14 August 2026. A company formed outside the US and registered to do business there is a different case. Banks still collect ownership details for their own checks.
Sources and editorial scope
Prepared by the BaseAcross team and reviewed by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer. Sources checked . This is general formation information, with source links for the tax and banking context. An individual tax or legal review remains with your qualified advisers.
HMRC's manuals and GOV.UK are the official texts, read on 13 October 2026. HMRC's manuals give its view, not the law, and the consultation may lead to legislation, so confirm the current position with your accountant before acting.
Ready when you are
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, state fee included, before anything is charged.
Compare the plansYour company's route
Nothing charged yetFrom
London
United Kingdom
To
Wyoming
LLC · Cheyenne, WY
Launch · $249 + $102.40 Wyoming · Same day
