Bob

Sure. It's not going to have any teeth for building up credit history or for most things, but this is about one specific case, for one specific reason.

Bob

What kind of company are you trying to set up and where that would cost that much? It's normally a trivial administration fee, especially if you're using off the shelf paperwork for the base of it all.

GeoffM

Torn between an LLC and an S-Corp, in CA, purely software development. There are a lot of suggestions to set up in NV, DE, WY but also several warnings about doing so when the business is 100% home state (ie not NV/DE/WY). In any case, CA has a $800 filing fee due after a few months, NV $400 after a month, and both have a couple of hundred dollars initial filing fee. Not sure about DE/WY at the moment. Those are the biggest fees (unavoidable), then tack on smaller/variable/optional admin charges to set up, local agent, fancy rubber stamps etc.

I've also now been denied medical coverage (Aetna), initially because of recent medical history, then non-resident status. If that's the same with any others I try then this whole idea might be moot anyway...

Bob

Delaware is good, there's a reason a lot of companies are based there, on paper.

I think you need a local person to act as some kind of director, but there are companies that you pay a fee to act as a local agent when you set up. I can't remember the details, but it was relatively trivial.

There's two reasons for choosing the state, the obvious being the tax angel, but the other one for the long term is the perks to you if you sold your company or had a buy in, that you wouldn't get hosed.

Nutmegger

We'd all like that kind of heavenly assistance -- especially around April 15!

washsaint

Go for a secured credit card......it's a start and will start to build credit. When I first moved over I had one from Capital One and after 6 months they added $200 automatically.

Having been over 18 months, I found it easier to apply for store cards and get accepted (after a number of months and with a mortgage) than credit cards.

Bob

GeoffM

All the agencies offer setup and local agent services and, of course, extol the virtues of having a DE/NV/WY registration. However, I've also since found that there are equally websites that warn against doing so, particularly where your entire business is done in another state. You then get hit by foreign state taxes and fees on top of the original state fees you originally registered in - not double taxation but double fees and double hassle.

Somewhere in between lies the truth and for that I suspect I need a good... accountant... attorney?

Must find out about this tax angel too!

Steve_

Well if you're EB-1 you're obviously fantastically more intelligent than anyone who posts on here so why waste your time asking?

Er, anyway, it sounds as though you have yet to realize that the entire US system of everything to do with anything to do with employment is totally geared against people being self-employed (mainly because it was designed many years ago around large-scale manufacturing), although the US somehow manages to convince the rest of the world that it is "the place" for start-ups and whatnot.

So no, a letter from yourself is not worth the paper it is written on. Now if you had a C-corp and letter from your accountant... maybe, but not likely, as you've never filed an 1120.

Wait until you start paying double FICA and can't get decent healthcare coverage. Nothing like paying double Medicare taxes and not having any healthcare coverage to make your day.

Or alternatively you could move to Canada...

Steve_

And those warnings are correct.

Steve_

Oh sorry, I hadn't read that far. Fun isn't it?

GeoffM

Ah, well there's being clever in my job, then there's being clever elsewhere. Now, where did I leave the car again?

I hadn't heard that until now.

Company bosses must have to write letters on behalf of themselves so I guess this latter is where the problem is (somebody else mentioned it too).

[Foreign state tax] You're in a minority saying that but I'm somewhat inclined to agree. After all, if it was so easy then why doesn't everybody do it?

Steve_

Basically if everything you do is confined to one State you (the corporation) are resident there for tax purposes, regardless of where you incorporate. There is some lengthy explanation of how it works on the IRS website that I read once if you want to look for it. If you're the only stockholder, it's very easy to determine residency, because it's basically where you are resident.

If you're self-employed and working in a job you can do from a distance (such as programming, not sure if their internet is good enough for systems stuff) you might want to look into moving to the USVI as there are various tax advantages. Plus Richard Branson will be your neighbour.

GeoffM

I explained the potential situation to Mr AutoSource (me writing a letter of employment to myself) and he's said that should work and wants to call me back to restart the application. Now, a "should" is far removed from an "approved" but it's one step further!

As I said before, this isn't just about AutoSource, it's one of the few things I can organize from this side of the pond. I expect to have similar problems with everything else on lease/contract/etc.