Creating an LLC for an app: the guide for non US founders
App Store payouts, Stripe, a dollar account: an LLC unlocks all three for a developer outside the United States. Here is how to set one up, and how to keep it alive without surprises.
7 min read
7 min read
Shipping an app or a SaaS from outside the United States runs into the same three walls: the App Store asks for US tax forms, Stripe asks for an entity, and the payouts land on an account that does not really want dollars. A US LLC clears all three at once. Here is how a non resident developer sets one up, and what actually changes afterwards.
What the app stores are really asking for
Apple and Google do not buy your app, they distribute it and pay you out. For that they need a tax identity and a bank account in the name of that identity. With a US LLC and its EIN you complete a W-9 instead of a W-8BEN-E, and payouts land on a US account with no forced conversion on the way.
The same logic applies to Google Play, to Steam for game developers, and to any marketplace that withholds tax when it cannot identify who it is paying.
Creating an LLC for an app: the five steps
- 1Pick the state. Wyoming for most app businesses, New Mexico if privacy matters more than filings, Delaware only if you plan to raise from US investors.
- 2Register the company with a registered agent and a US business address, which the store and the bank will both check.
- 3Get the EIN, the company tax number, with no SSN required.
- 4Open the bank account and connect Stripe, then point App Store Connect and Play Console at it.
- 5Keep it alive: Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 every year, the state annual report, and a franchise tax in some states.
Stripe, Paddle and RevenueCat
Stripe opens the account in the company name and verifies the EIN, the address and the bank account. Paddle and RevenueCat sit on top of that. A US LLC removes the country restrictions that block many founders, and it gives you the currencies and payment methods your users expect, Apple Pay and Google Pay included.
Tax: what you pay, and where
An LLC owned by a non resident, with no office and no staff in the United States, generally owes no federal income tax on its profit. It still files: Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 each year, plus the state annual report. A missed 5472 starts at 25,000 dollars, which is why the filing calendar matters more than the tax bill.
Two points catch app founders specifically. Sales tax on software is a state question, not a federal one, and it only starts once you cross a state threshold, usually on direct sales rather than store sales. And your profit stays taxable where you live, whatever the company's address says.
Is there an app to run the LLC itself?
That is the other half of the question people type into Google. Once the company exists, the work is administrative: deadlines, filings, the annual report, the accounting behind your payouts. LLC Place puts all of it in one dashboard, in 21 languages, with a reminder before every date and the IRS forms prepared and filed for you.
Do I need a US address or a US partner?
Neither. A registered agent and a business address are included, and a single foreign member is perfectly normal.
How long does it take before the first payout?
The state registration takes a few days, the EIN a few weeks without an SSN, and the bank account follows. Most developers are collecting through Stripe within about a month.
Formation, EIN, business address, bank account, IRS deadlines and annual report, all tracked in the same place with a reminder before each date.
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