Foundlie Blog
LLCs, banking, payments and compliance, explained clearly for founders in Egypt and the Gulf.
Featured Tax & EIN ·
Keep the records that define the company for as long as it exists, and the records behind each year's Form 5472 at least until the IRS can no longer assess tax for that year or collect tax it has already assessed. For the Form 5472 information, the assessment period cannot end until three years after the form is filed. Here is the record-by-record table, the rules behind it, and where the records may be kept.
Formation Forming a US LLC from abroad takes six steps, four of them with a state office, a registered agent or the IRS, and each one feeds the next. Here is what the state and the IRS ask for at each step, what Wyoming, Delaware and New Mexico charge, how to get an EIN without an SSN, and which filings come due once the LLC exists.
Payments A US Airwallex account charges 2.8% + $0.30 on a US card and 4.3% + $0.30 on an international card, with no monthly fee on the Explore plan. Three costs are easy to miss: the $0.30 also applies to failed attempts, a sale that settles in a different currency costs a flat 1% more, and, since 12 October 2026, international local transfers on the free plan cost $1 or more in most currencies.
Banking You have a formed LLC and an EIN. This walkthrough covers what to do before you apply: get the provider's own list, collect the company records and IDs, confirm the IRS evidence for your EIN, check that the same facts agree across your records, and write a business description your website supports.
Banking The words on a US business account application and in your payment settings come from anti-money-laundering rules, IRS forms and the payment networks. This glossary explains each one, why it matters to an owner outside the US and where to read more, grouped by when you meet it: applying, receiving money, sending money and staying compliant.
Formation Forming a US LLC from abroad does not require a US address of your own. This guide follows the address question in the order you meet it: the state filing, the registered office, Form SS-4, Form 5472 and tax mail, then bank and payment applications, and says whose rule applies at each step.
Formation A US LLC in Wyoming, Delaware or New Mexico names someone in the state to accept legal papers. This guide explains what that agent legally does, who may serve in Wyoming, Delaware and New Mexico, why living abroad usually rules you out, how to change agents, and what state law says happens if an agent resigns and is not replaced.
Formation What the words on US LLC forms mean and why each one matters, grouped by when you meet them: forming the company, getting a tax identity and running it. Includes the terms that are easy to mix up, such as responsible party and beneficial owner, and the three meanings of "foreign".
Formation The IRS says most states do not restrict who owns an LLC, and Delaware and Wyoming set no citizenship or residence test. This FAQ explains the conditions behind that answer: sanctions rules, what ownership does not allow, the EIN without an SSN, how a foreign-owned single-member LLC is classified, and why banks and payment providers make their own decisions.
Payments The right way to get paid by a client abroad comes down to two questions: who is paying you, and how. Eight routes, with figures from the providers' own pages, a comparison table and a numbered path to your answer.
Payments PayPal Business in Egypt gives you a checkout on your site, payment links, invoices and subscriptions you can set up from the dashboard, with money landing in a PayPal balance rather than your bank and card services enabled at PayPal's discretion. If your customers are individuals abroad who already use PayPal, it may be enough. If a store or SaaS needs card fields on its own page and payouts to a bank account, look at a gateway.
Formation A Wyoming, Delaware or New Mexico LLC files no beneficial ownership report with FinCEN, even with an owner outside the US. Here is who still reports, the one FinCEN ID duty a non-US founder can still have, how to check a BOI letter or add-on, and what your LLC still owes the state, the IRS and your bank.
Payments Stripe, PayPal and Airwallex are payment processors: you stay the seller, and the sales tax or VAT is yours. Paddle, Polar and Dodo Payments are merchants of record: they become the seller, handle that tax and pay you out, for a higher fee. On a $100 US-card sale, Stripe takes $3.20 and Dodo Payments $4.40. All three merchants of record exclude human services and physical goods, so agencies, freelancers and stores generally need a processor.
Tax & EIN A foreign-owned US LLC answers to four separate places each year: the state, the IRS, FinCEN and your bank or payment provider, plus your home country. One table, one dated example and a budget, so you can plan the year and spot services you do not need.
Formation The report is due on the first day of your LLC's anniversary month, can be filed up to 120 days early, and costs $60 unless the company has more than $300,000 of assets in Wyoming. Miss it by more than 60 days and the state dissolves the LLC. Here are the dates, the filing steps and the way back.
Startups & e-commerce A US entity solves specific problems: a contracting party, an ownership structure, or eligibility with a payment provider. This guide separates the four questions the decision bundles together, explains when waiting is a reasonable choice, compares Stripe through a US company with a merchant of record such as Paddle, and lists what to confirm before you decide.
Payments Both are merchants of record, so the choice is about cost and payouts. On a $100 US card sale Dodo Payments keeps $4.40 and Polar's free Starter plan keeps $5.50, as published on 28 September 2026. For a $29 US subscription, Polar's $20-a-month Pro plan becomes cheaper than Dodo from about $2,857 of monthly subscription revenue, before payout costs.
Payments On a $100 US card sale, Airwallex keeps $3.10 and Polar's free Starter plan keeps $5.50, as published on 28 September 2026. Airwallex is cheaper per sale and holds balances in several currencies, but sales tax and VAT stay with you. Polar costs more because it sells as the merchant of record and handles that tax, then pays out through Stripe Connect.
Payments On a $100 US-card sale, Airwallex takes $3.10 and Dodo Payments takes $4.40; on a $1,000 international sale, $43.30 against $55.40, as published on 28 September 2026. Airwallex costs less but needs a company registered in an eligible country and leaves sales tax and VAT with you. Dodo Payments costs more and handles that tax as merchant of record.
Payments On a $100 US-card sale, PayPal Checkout takes $3.98 and Polar's free Starter plan takes $5.50, as published on 28 September 2026. PayPal leaves sales tax and VAT with you and brings buyers who already hold a PayPal account; Polar charges more but acts as the merchant of record for software and digital products, and its paid plans lower the per-sale rate.
Payments PayPal is a payment processor; Dodo Payments is a merchant of record that also handles sales tax and VAT. PayPal costs less on US and international card sales in dollars, but its conversion spread makes it costlier when the buyer pays in another currency: $8.48 against $5.90 on a $100 sale in our model.
Payments PayPal is a buyer-facing wallet with higher fees and a conversion spread of roughly 3–4% built into its exchange rate; Airwallex is a business account that also accepts cards, charges 1% when a sale converts and 0.5–1% above interbank when you convert a balance. On a $100 international sale paid in another currency, PayPal keeps $8.48 and Airwallex $5.60 in our model.
Payments On a $100 US-card sale, Stripe keeps $3.20 and Polar's free Starter plan keeps $5.50. Polar's paid plans lower its rate in exchange for a monthly fee, and on subscriptions the gap with Stripe Billing becomes small. Polar handles sales tax and VAT as merchant of record, but it pays out through Stripe Connect, so you must be able to receive Stripe Connect payouts where you are.
Payments On a $100 US-card sale, Stripe keeps $3.20 and Dodo Payments keeps $4.40. Stripe is cheaper per sale, but you remain the seller and own the sales tax and VAT work; Dodo costs more because it becomes the legal seller and handles that tax for you. Without a US company, a merchant of record is a way to start; with a US LLC, Stripe is usually cheaper as volume grows.
Payments Card pricing is almost identical: 2.9% + $0.30 on Stripe and 2.8% + $0.30 on Airwallex for a US card, so a $100 sale costs $3.20 or $3.10. Airwallex's edge is multi-currency accounts: keeping a sale in its own non-USD currency costs 0.5% rather than 1%. Stripe's is its integrations. A common setup uses Stripe for checkout and Airwallex to hold and convert currencies.
Payments On a $100 sale from a US card, Stripe keeps $3.20 and PayPal Checkout keeps $3.98; when the buyer pays in another currency the gap grows to $5.70 against $8.48. Stripe is the cheaper card processor with a wider product suite, while PayPal adds a button many buyers already trust. Many sellers run both.
Payments A bought Stripe account never becomes yours: Stripe verified the seller's entity and identity, payouts land in the seller's bank account, and the agreement lets Stripe close the account at any time. The legitimate route is your own company and your own application, which Stripe still reviews and may decline.
Payments Atlas is the better choice for a venture-track Delaware C corporation run by an English-comfortable founder. For an LLC built to take payments from Egypt, the state, the annual cost and the support language decide it. Neither route guarantees a Stripe account.
Payments Yes, you can accept payments without a commercial register — but not by every route. Five real options, each one right for some cases and wrong for others, with a comparison table to place yourself.
Banking There is no single Mercury alternative for a non-resident-owned US LLC. Relay wants a physical US address, Lili accepts only twenty citizenships, Wise verifies the real trading address, Airwallex wants a genuine US place of business with two exceptions, and nsave's business account is not tied to a US entity but is for payroll use only. Each provider decides after its own review.
Banking Egypt is not on Wise's list of countries where you can hold money, so a personal account from Egypt can send but cannot keep a balance or get USD details. A US LLC changes the business's registered country, not where you live and work, and Wise reviews both.
Banking Mercury accepts applications from US-registered companies whose founders live anywhere, and Egypt is not on its prohibited-countries list as of 23 September 2026. The company still needs US operations, both to apply and to keep the account, and an operating address that is not the registered agent's. Eligibility is decided only after Mercury's review, and Mercury may ask for proof of US operations after approval.
Banking nsave and a US business account answer different questions. nsave is a personal multi-currency account you can open from Egypt, with a firm rule against payments addressed to a company. A US LLC with a business account is for people who need to invoice, get paid and take card payments in a company's name.
Banking Payoneer gives you receiving details for transfers from business clients and marketplaces, with no company. A US business account needs a US company and is what Stripe pays out to. Neither replaces the other, and neither is a card checkout on its own.
Payments Egypt is not on Shopify Payments' supported list, so an Egypt-located store uses a third-party provider, PayPal or manual payments. A US LLC opens the US route, but Shopify's US requirements include a physical US operating address and a US bank account, and Shopify decides after review.
Payments PayPal in Egypt works for receiving money and paying it out, with a free automatic transfer on the first of every month. Its fee stack and its account terms make it a secondary channel, not the foundation of a store or a subscription business.
Payments As of 20 September 2026, Stripe lists the UAE and not Egypt or Saudi Arabia. The list is about where the business is registered, so a UAE-licensed business can apply, while founders in Egypt or Saudi Arabia need an entity in a supported country, and Stripe still decides after its own review.
Startups & e-commerce Company formation, licensing, tax registration and payment-provider onboarding are separate questions. This guide explains what each one covers so you can check the requirements that actually apply to your dropshipping business.
Formation A state filing, a mail service and a payment provider are each asking about a different address role. This guide explains what a registered agent address, a virtual mailbox and an operating address are for.
Formation Four documents carry most of the weight for a US LLC. This guide explains who prepares or issues each one, what it evidences, and which request each one answers.
Tax & EIN You can apply for an EIN for a US company even if you do not have an SSN or ITIN. Here is what international founders need to prepare and how the IRS process works.
Payments A US company makes you eligible to apply to Stripe; it does not activate the account. This guide walks through Stripe's published requirements one by one and separates what a service does from what Stripe alone decides.
Banking A US LLC and an EIN make you eligible to apply for a US business bank account, nothing more. This guide gathers the providers' published rules and separates the account that needs a company from the alternatives that do not.
Formation LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp? Non-resident aliens cannot hold S corporation shares — and that is a US tax status, not just living abroad. Here is what each term actually means.
Formation Wyoming, Delaware, or New Mexico: what actually differs for a non-resident founder, and which one fits your business.
Formation Thinking about forming a US LLC from Egypt? Here’s a practical overview of the typical steps, documents, and considerations freelancers should review before moving forward.
Tax & EIN A foreign-owned single-member LLC can owe no US income tax and still have to file Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120. The trigger is a reportable transaction with its owner, such as money you put into the LLC or take out of it, not profit. Here is the process in plain language.