Selling on Amazon from abroad: why a US LLC unlocks everything
For a non resident **Amazon** seller the real blocker is never the product, it is getting paid and clearing the tax interview. A **US LLC** solves both, and it raises one question almost nobody answers honestly: inventory sitting in **FBA** warehouses.
9 min read
9 min read
You have a product, a supplier and a half finished Amazon Seller Central account. Then the disbursement screen appears and your country is not on the supported list. Or the account opens, sales start, and the money sits there because Amazon will not accept the bank account you gave it.
This is the most common story among non resident sellers, and it has nothing to do with how good your listing is. It comes down to three Amazon mechanics nobody explains before you sign up.
The three real blockers for a non resident seller
Getting the money out
Amazon only pays into a bank account held in a country it supports. That list covers Western Europe, North America and a handful of other markets. Live anywhere else and you are pushed toward Amazon Currency Converter, whose rates are poor, or toward intermediary accounts that Amazon regularly flags.
The tax interview
Before your first sale Amazon runs a tax interview. As a foreign individual you file a W-8BEN and declare no US connection. As a US company you file a W-9, which is the case Amazon handles most cleanly, with no withholding on your payouts.
Credibility with suppliers and Brand Registry
Registering a US trademark and getting into Amazon Brand Registry, which protects your listings from hijackers, is far smoother with a US entity. American suppliers usually want an EIN before they open a wholesale account.
What a US LLC actually changes
- A US bank account that sits on Amazon's supported list, so disbursements behave normally and no punitive conversion applies.
- An EIN, which moves your tax interview from W-8BEN to W-9.
- Stripe access for the Shopify store you will almost certainly open alongside Amazon.
- A US entity to file your trademark and enter Brand Registry.
Sales tax, and what most articles get wrong
You will read everywhere that an Amazon seller must collect sales tax in every state holding their inventory. That was true until 2018. Since then marketplace facilitator laws have moved that duty onto the marketplace itself. Amazon collects and remits sales tax on your behalf in every state that levies one.
If you sell only on Amazon, in practice you have no sales tax to collect yourself. The obligation that scares most sellers away does not apply to you.
Your own Shopify store is not a marketplace. The moment you sell direct and cross a state threshold, typically $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions, the duty to collect becomes yours again. Plenty of sellers find this out two years late.
FBA inventory, the question almost nobody handles
An LLC owned by a non resident pays no federal income tax on its profits as long as it is not engaged in a US trade or business, what American practice calls ETBUS. Sell services from abroad and the question never arises.
With Amazon FBA it does arise. You hold physical stock on US soil, in Amazon warehouses, and that stock ships from the United States to your buyers. That is exactly the kind of presence that feeds an ETBUS analysis.
The dominant view among US tax practitioners is that using FBA alone, with no employee and no office in the United States, does not usually create a taxable trade or business, the warehouse being an independent contractor. But that is not written into the statute, and it depends on your volume, your treaty and how you actually operate.
If you run FBA at serious volume, have your position confirmed by a US tax adviser rather than trusting a blog post, this one included. What is certain is the filing obligation.
Form 5472 is still mandatory
Whatever the analysis above concludes, your single member LLC owned by a foreign person must file Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 every year. No taxable profit, no tax due, and the duty still stands. Missing it triggers a flat $25,000 penalty. That is exactly what LLC Place watches and files on your behalf, so you never have to think about it.
The steps, in order
- 1Form the LLC in your chosen state and receive the articles. LLC Place files the paperwork and sends the signed articles back to you.
- 2Get the EIN without an SSN from the IRS. It is the non resident specific procedure, which we handle end to end.
- 3Open the US bank account and enter it in Seller Central. We walk you through the remote opening.
- 4Clear Amazon's tax interview as a W-9 filer, in the LLC's name.
- 5File the trademark, then apply for Brand Registry.
- 6Set up your Form 5472 tracking from year one, which our tax compliance service runs for you.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an LLC to sell on Amazon as a non resident?
No, Amazon accepts foreign individual sellers. But if your country is not on the disbursement list, or you want to avoid withholding and reach Brand Registry, the LLC is the simplest route.
Which state should an Amazon seller pick?
Wyoming in most cases, for low annual fees and member privacy. Delaware only makes sense if you plan to raise money.
Does Amazon collect sales tax for me?
Yes, in every state that levies one, under marketplace facilitator laws. It only covers sales made on Amazon, not sales from your own store.
Does FBA inventory make me taxable in the United States?
Not automatically, and the dominant view is no for a seller with no staff or office there. But this is the one scenario that deserves a tax adviser rather than a general rule.