Privacy focused legal structure for foreign owned US WY LLC

I

Island Insider

New member
Jan 17, 2025
31
0
161
Hey guys,

what would be the best owner privacy focused legal structure for foreign owned US WY LLC

It needs to be completely compliant with all jurisdictions and good for banks, I will report and pay taxes as usual but just have to have some privacy so competitors cant copy me.

I am considering for example:
WY LLC - pass though company
Owned by HK limited company or Cook Islands LLC
(the owner, the offshore LLC could have nominee but ideally not, i would like be myself as director of that company)

My goal is not to be in public records as the shareholder or director of the offshore LLC, but at the same time i would like to reveal myself as UBO to banks and authorities (I would like to have the control of both companies bank accounts as UBO/shareholder).

Please feel free to propose any ideas including trusts, but i am mostly looking for a lower cost solution.

Looking forward to your thougts

Thanks

Last edited: Jan 18, 2025
 
Thanks a lot for reply! I was thinking about a budget of 1500 - 4000 USD for setup. Ontario sounds interesting i never thought about it they would be both in very solid jurisdictions I think this would be good for setting up local fintec bank accounts. As I understand Ontario LP has to also have a General partner who will be disclosed in public registers unless its another entity.

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
Maybe use another WY LLC as general partner?

Anybody tried this?

But it would still all be pass-through to you. You want a real company in the construct?

Hong Kong has public (paid) records. Most jurisdictions list at least the directors publicly these days.

There are plenty of offshore jurisdictions available at around 2000 per year. Some of them don't disclose directors, BVI, Cayman, etc. Many of them allow corporate directors. You could use either nominees or another LLC again.

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
The only thing about that would be that i am setting up Ontario LP in first place so that this LP appears as owner for Wyoming LLC in case someone starts digging into it.
 
I am not sure if the general partner needs to receive part of the profit distributions, but maybe it does not need to be an expensive jurisdiction company with access to good banking but
just a cheap private jurisdiction like Beliz, of course more reputable would be better. As i understand limited partner in Ontario LP will be me as private person and it allows me to open up bank accounts for the Ontario LP that i control which is great.
 
For competitive privacy reasons i want US clients treat my entity as a local company, without the need of signing forms confirming the non US tax status of UBO
 
I understand that owner of the Wyoming LLC is not public, but I have seen services offered for Wyoming LLCs to set up a trust to act as owner, their argument is that if someone wants to find out about the owners they will if there is no trust in place. Thats why i thought having another company as owner that is private in another jurisdiction would be a simpler solution
 
Island Insider said:
Island Insider said:
I understand that owner of the Wyoming LLC is not public, but I have seen services offered for Wyoming LLCs to set up a trust to act as owner, their argument is that if someone wants to find out about the owners they will if there is no trust in place. Thats why i thought having another company as owner that is private in another jurisdiction would be a simpler solution
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Yes. But this is only the case like when selling on Amazon etc. where the US INFORM Act requires publication of the real company. Or when a bushes partner requires you to submit a W-9/W-8 BEN(-E).
 
daniels27 said:
daniels27 said:
You want to give them a W-9 form even you are not tax resident?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
This is a good point i have not thought it through, If i would be engaging with them as Canadian LP or some other countries entity in order for them to pay me , they will ask me to sign W8 form , I thought that if they want to pay me to my Wyoming LLC I will not be asked to sign any forms but that is true i will most likely have to sign the W-9 form which i dont qualify for.

In this case i would be probably limited to taking clients from outside of US like EU ones. As an owner of EU company I have not been asked to sign any similar documents.

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
Island Insider said:
Island Insider said:
This is a good point i have not thought it through, If i would be engaging with them as Canadian LP or some other countries entity in order for them to pay me , they will ask me to sign W8 form , I thought that if they want to pay me to my Wyoming LLC I will not be asked to sign any forms but that is true i will most likely have to sign the W-9 form which i dont qualify for
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
You should only sign a W-8 form. Should. Of course under assumption that you are not subject to US taxation.

Are you engaged on any marketplace etc. which is subject to INFORM Act? If not, it makes things easier as you could skip the trust etc. If course depending on the other US activities.
 
Yes I believe all my clients are subject to this INFORM Act in US as they all ask me to fill these forms and now i remember they have W-9 form as a second option. It would be interesting to know (if I dont have any other US based activities) how a trust could potentially help me to achieve my goals in a compliant way.

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
The INFORM Act is about market places. The W-9/W-8 forms are typically from companies paying you.

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/what-is-a-w-9-form-and-when-do-i-need-one

When do I need to request a Form W-9? As a small business owner, it is important to collect a W-9 for any person or entity you expect to pay more than $600 in a tax year. You will use the information provided to you on the W-9 to complete Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, or Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

If you are not selling on any marketplace a W-8 with your personal details is the way to go. You can also add any company below if you do not want to list yourself there. Just go with the cheapest option. A trust is not needed for this purpose.

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
Thanks for explaining. As I understand my company is treated as an independent contractor by my client. My goal is not to reveal myself as the owner of my company to the client. So if they ask me to fill out the W-8ben-E form that is meant for non US companies, I dont have to reveal my identity there. I can add my company details and have the nominee director sign it?

But still to keep the privacy as an owner. I need to find a jurisdiction that has a double taxation treaty with US and also maintains privacy of shareholders from being in public databases. In this case Ontario LP seems like one if not only option (combined with Wyoming LLC as general partner perhaps)

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
Why do you need a double taxation treaty?

Does it need to be tax-free? Otherwise you could also use companies with nominee directors in places like Switzerland.

Last edited: Jan 25, 2025
 
I think Switzerland also has double taxation treaty with US, but I think they have corporate tax I would prefer not to have it if i have a chance. Double taxation treaty is for not having witholding taxes when getting paid from US client as i understand. Do you view nominee directors as much better regulated or safer in Switzerland? Or maybe as a better privacy jurisdiction. The setup would be probably more expensive then Ontario LP

Last edited: Jan 19, 2025
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

JohnnyDoe.is is an uncensored discussion forum
focused on free speech,
independent thinking, and controversial ideas.
Everyone is responsible for their own words.

Quick Navigation

Forums

User Menu

Login
Community platform by JohnnyDoe © 2025 JohnnyDoe
  • Width
  • Queries
    12
  • Time
    0.6237s
  • Memory
    14.11MB
Top Bottom