Canadian Registering LLC, corp. in US

[yellowsheep]

1) Has anyone had experience with registering a corp. in the US?

2) Once registered in the US, can a Canadian travel, operate the business via a US location ie. purchase a home and live/operate a business from there?

Thank you in advance.

ys

[jds]

I'm also a Canadian registering an LLC in the US.

I've been offered a 9 month contract in WA and my brother advised me on starting an LLC in the US to write off my rent, health insurance, relocation expenses. I would be entering the US on a TN1 visa. A company is hiring me and recruiting my services to another company.

As a recent graduate (with limited finances), I am unsure if this is financially doable. On top of having to possibly pay for business liability insurance and other insurance related the LLC, my contract says I will be getting paid every 1.5-2 months, which is already a significant amount of time for me to wait, but I need a job!

I was told an LLC could save a tremendous amount of money. However, is this even worth it considering the length of the contract? How would Canada tax me for having a corporation in the US if I'm earning ~70k (based on yearly salary)? Wouldn't that mean a huge amount of taxes from the Canadian government even if it's earned in the US? Would I need accountants in both Canada and the US or is Quickbooks enough?

I would like advice from someone who has done something similar or knows about this. I'm in my early 20's and I am not sure if the reward of this system is worth all the paperwork!

Thanks

[Steven]

1) Has anyone had experience with registering a corp. in the US?

Anyone can register a corp in the US, as a non-resident though it must be a C-corporation, you cannot use S.

2) Once registered in the US, can a Canadian travel, operate the business via a US location ie. purchase a home and live/operate a business from there?

Having a US corporation in no way confers any immigration benefit to you whatsoever. In fact it will probably make things more difficult because it establishes a tie to the US that would work against non-immigrant intent. The corporation would have to register for a business number in Canada, and set up a Canadian payroll in order to pay you in Canada for the work you do for it in Canada, as you are not work authorized in the US.