I just checked the prohibited businesses https://stripe.com/de/prohibited-businesses I am fine with most of them being prohibited but at some points it's getting quite restricted: 1. Virtual currency that can be monetized, re-sold or converted to physical or digital products or services or otherwise exit the virtual world 4. Sexually-oriented or pornographic products or services 9. Engaging in deceptive marketing pra…
If something can be described as 'maybe' deceptive, than it probably is deceptive. I don't mean this flippantly - playing cute with being deceptive is not really helpful to customers.
Citation, please? I'm very aware that US citizenship comes with legal hurdles when dealing with foreign banks, especially in Europe - but I'm not aware of any such issues with non-US citizens merely owning a US business entity.
I am not a legal expert but this is from the application form of Citibank: 7) US PERSON CERTIFICATION: I/We certify under penalties of perjury that (Please tick one box) (i) I am/We are not a U.S. Person (as defined below) ... “U.S. Person” as used by the Bank means any of the following: ... (ii) a United States resident; meaning: ... d. an individual with a U.S. mailing address or U.S. telephone number. Make of that…
IANAL. That said, here's my armchair, never-done-it analysis from Canada: That is what a W8 form is for. So if you have an individual account with a US bank, the bank knows you aren't a US resident, meaning you don't actually reside in the US. Now, as someone non-American but connected to a company doing business, that's another W8 or W9 form. But even then, while you might have reporting obligations to the IRS as an individual (I'm not sure) your company definitely would, as in all scenarios, a US based company is considered a "US person" even if it has foreign shareholders. That you pay taxes on the company should reduce the need to pay taxes as an individual. If you reside in the US more than 50% (IIRC) of a year, you become a US resident even if you don't have a special visa or citizenship. If you don't actually live that long in the US it's easy to argue that you're not connected to the US, but you will likely have to self-report that. It might be a question of how you get paid too. If you set up a subsidiary C-Corp where dividends go back to the parent company, you'll pay taxes on the profits and taxes at home, but as mentioned elsewhere, you shouldn't pay more tax than your rate in both countries, whichever is higher. This is the cost of doing business -- taxes. Alternatively, you could work remotely for the company, thus taking profits before they are subject to tax. This is a more complicated structure and you might end up paying more taxes, it depends on the income brackets at your local jurisdiction. The reason you consult is not because US law is complicated but because most legal systems internationally do not have easy ways of dealing with US company income for taxation. LLCs can be especially interesting internationally, because their tax obligations can change based on how they declare themselves on the IRS form.
I just checked the prohibited businesses https://stripe.com/de/prohibited-businesses I am fine with most of them being prohibited but at some points it's getting quite restricted: 1. Virtual currency that can be monetized, re-sold or converted to physical or digital products or services or otherwise exit the virtual world 4. Sexually-oriented or pornographic products or services 9. Engaging in deceptive marketing pra…
While I don't have much to add, this is very interesting and almost feels patriotic (as an American.) Stripe is, in a way, hacking the global economy and luring entrepreneurs to the do business in the United States. While this iteration may fall short of perfection, or open questions, it also opens up some imagination and interesting ideas or possibilities.
Could this be the beginning of startups offering citizens of one country, the ability to (easily) incorporate / operate a business from any nation? Perhaps this is more interesting when considering crypto-currencies which are already eroding national boundaries in some sense. While I cannot say this is a good or bad thing, it is interesting to think about the consequences and evolution of this concept plus crypto.
To me, the idea of operating a business (pseudo-person or entity) in any nation, is intriguing. Especially mixing in the possibilities of Ethereum, Blockchains. Forex. Hm... Imagination running wild right now.
Wow! This solve so many problems that our startup (www.worldpackers.com in Brazil) have! We are a global marketplace, so we have to charge people from everywhere, and stripe still doesn't cover Brazil. Opening a Delaware company is a must have as we are starting a series A fundraising. And the network, wow! BUT... I wonder how achievable is the direct application as a way for getting in the beta. We are not part of a…
Don't you have a local payment processor being able to process global payment? Or what about paypal?
We accept international credit cards through a local processor, but the stripe solution has some advantages.
I'd have to copy a whole page of various things that make you fall into that definition. Citizens and residents obviously are such US persons but there are others like having a US phone number. See my comment above.
Again, IANAL, and I'm Canadian with a US bank account but yet to "do business" in the US (just having an expense account does not qualify in most/all jurisdictions): Having a US phone number does not make you a US resident -- but having a US bank account means proving to the IRS and your bank that they should not withhold any taxes on your personal account. Having a US phone number does not in any way on its own require you to fill out IRS forms. Having a bank account does because your assets could be frozen, hence W8 and W9. Having a company in the US means potential tax returns, because now you're officially doing business federally and also at a state level for your company. Even then, you are NOT a US resident personally, unless you physically reside within the US more than X% of the year. There are also many different tax treaties under which your W8 forms can provide exemptions, though some declarations might still require annual filing to declare you're not a resident, or pay taxes on dividends. Your US company is considered a US person, however.
I live in Algeria, and we can't use credit cards here, my bank account doesn't support debit cards transfer and if I veer receive 10$ from outside the country, then I'm in for 1 day of questioning the resources for those money, This is a great use case for my country and great initiative from Stripe, Thank you.
How would you receive the money from the US bank account then?