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MenuWhat are by tax obligations in the USA?
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There are two main considerations. First, if you are selling products to U.S. residents located in various states, you may be liable to collect state sales tax depending upon the residency of your customers. Second, you may be liable for federal income taxes on your net earnings if it's determined that you are engaged in a U.S. trade or business and have income effectively connected with that U.S. trade or business. The rules for determining whether U.S. source income is effectively connected income are quite complex with many nuances. For the sale of inventory in the U.S., the old "title passage rule" used to apply. If title to goods passes outside of the U.S., income from sale of the goods was deemed foreign source and not subject to U.S. federal taxes. The recent tax law changes under the TCJA have modified these sourcing rules. If products are manufactured outside of the U.S. and then sold to U.S. customers, the proceeds are foreign source and not subject to U.S. tax. You also need to be mindful of the treaty provisions that may apply. The U.S. and U.K. have an income tax treaty which provides that a U.K. company's business profits will not be subject to tax in the U.S., unless the U.K. company operates a permanent establishment in the U.S. What constitutes a permanent establishment depends upon the specific facts and circumstances of your situation, so it's important to consult with a knowledgeable tax advisor and consider all of these issues.
Related Questions
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In a startup with a globally-spread remote team, does it still make sense to incorporate in U.S./Delaware vs. somewhere overseas?
Delaware C-Corp I usually Delaware is the best choice for any startup looking for fundraising with a US focus. However, if you are a remote and global team, an overseas or foreign corporation or US tax purposes might make sense. You'd have to talk to an advisor who can dive into your situation, but it would be more difficult for the US owner come tax time, as he'd likely have to file form 5471 to the IRS for any controlled foreign corporation, and form 90-22.1 for any foreign bank accounts. There are a lot of other concerns I didn't hear you raise that entrepreneurs usually have and ask me about, namely banking and merchant accounts/ payment processors. In terms of accepting online payments, any US corporation or LLC is far and away the best option for a company. It's difficult to suggest without knowing more about the company but you might explore Delaware, Wyoming, Hong Kong and other offshore jurisdictions for your legal entity. Each tend to have positives and negatives and there is no one size fits all solution. I do write about issues of incorporation quite regularly on my website FlagTheory.com - so you can read those articles for free, or we can schedule a call - Clarity.fm/incorporation when you have specific questions. Thank you and hope this was helpful!EJ
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What are the tax consequences for founders if the seed round investors take common stock instead of preferred?
There shouldn't be any tax consequences for the founders if you've made 83b elections--the election meant you paid tax already on the full value of the stock at the time of the election (presumably zero) even though it was subject to future forfeiture. If you sell newly-issued stock there should be no tax impact. If you sell your own common stock, you'd pay tax on the gain, but I doubt that is what you mean here. Of course, you should not take the free advice dispensed on Clarity and consult your own tax preparer--this is not tax advice.BS
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If I get a virtual address for my company and I work from home; will I still be eligible for tax credit on my home office?
yes. As long as your main place of work is your home/office.JF
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Should I hire a bookkeeper? (what does one do exactly?)
NIcole is right. When I first started my business I thought I was saving money by doing my own bookkeeping. It took me much longer than it would take a bookkeeper - all time that I was not spending on marketing or billable activities. And in the end I made errors which made the initial work of the bookkeeper longer. I now have a consistent routine. My bookkeeper picks up all my material monthly and does my books in less than 2 hours. Very worthwhile.RL
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Do I have to file form 5472 for "additional paid-in capital"?
Yes you should be reporting the capital contributions. Under the old Form 5472 rules, it's true that only items that impacted taxable income would be reportable transactions. So, a capital contribution by you to the corporation would not be reportable, unless the equity contribution was somehow below or above a fair value contribution in exchange for services that you might provide for the corporation - essentially an imputed reportable transactions. When the IRS changed the Form 5472 rules to require non-U.S. owned single member LLC's, they expanded the reportable transaction definition to include virtually everything. The term “transaction” is defined in Treas. Regs. Section 1.482-1(i)(7) to include any sale, assignment, lease, license, loan, advance, contribution or other transfer of any interest in or a right to use any property or money, as well as the performance of any services for the benefit of, or on behalf of, another taxpayer. So, for example, contributions and distributions would be considered reportable transactions with respect to such entities. These amounts can be reported on Lines 12 and 25 with an explanatory footnote that clarities the amounts are capital contributions and not amounts that impact taxable income.JK
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