How to Set Up a US LLC from Sweden (2026 Guide)

Swedish founders increasingly use a US LLC to bill US clients, access Stripe and American banking, and look credible in the US market. Here is exactly how to set one up remotely, and the home country tax questions you need to answer before you do.

Why founders in Sweden open a US LLC

If you sell to US customers, want a Stripe or Mercury account that behaves like an American business, or you are building a SaaS product where US clients expect a US entity, a US LLC solves a real, practical problem. It is not about avoiding Swedish tax, it is about having a business structure that looks and functions like a local company to your American customers and payment processors.

The catch is that a US LLC does not exist in isolation from your life in Sweden. You are still a Swedish tax resident, and Sweden has its own rules about how it treats income from a foreign entity you own. We will get to that. First, the setup itself.

Step by step: setting up a US LLC from Sweden

1. Choose a state

You do not need to live in, visit, or have any connection to the state where you form your LLC. Most non-US founders without US investors pick Wyoming because it has low, predictable annual fees, strong privacy (no public listing of members in most cases), and no state income tax. Delaware is the default for startups planning to raise venture capital because investors and lawyers know its case law well, but it comes with a franchise tax calculation that is more expensive and less predictable for a small remote business than Wyoming's flat annual report fee.

2. Register the LLC and appoint a registered agent

You file formation documents (Articles of Organization) with the state and appoint a registered agent, a person or company with a physical address in that state who receives official mail on your behalf. You cannot use your Swedish address for this. Most non-resident founders use a commercial registered agent service.

3. Get an EIN (Employer Identification Number)

The EIN is the LLC's tax ID number, and you need it to open a bank account, file taxes, and generally operate. As a non-US resident without an SSN, you cannot get an EIN through the IRS's online system. You apply using Form SS-4 by fax or mail instead, which takes longer, typically several weeks. This is the step that trips up most DIY founders, because the SS-4 has to be filled in correctly for a foreign-owned single-member LLC, and mistakes mean starting the wait over again.

4. Decide if you need an ITIN

An ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) is for you personally, not the LLC, and it does not require a US visa or any immigration status. It exists specifically for people who are not eligible for a Social Security Number but still need a US tax ID, for example to file a personal US tax return if one becomes necessary, or for certain banking and platform requirements. You apply with Form W-7. Not every founder needs one immediately, some banks and platforms are fine with just the LLC's EIN, but plan for it if you expect to file a US personal return or if a specific bank requires it.

5. Open a US business bank account

You do not need to fly to the US. Providers like Mercury, Wise Business, and Relay let non-resident founders open US business accounts fully remotely once the LLC and EIN exist. Each has different underwriting and documentation requirements, and approval is never guaranteed, but remote opening is well established practice now for foreign-owned LLCs.

6. Ongoing compliance: Form 5472 and the pro-forma 1120

This is the part most guides skip and it is the most important one. A foreign-owned single-member LLC (disregarded entity) has to file Form 5472 attached to a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, even if the LLC had zero income and zero activity. This is an information return, it reports transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner, it does not calculate or owe tax by itself. The penalty for not filing is 25,000 dollars, and the IRS does enforce it. Alongside this, your state will usually require an annual report and fee (Wyoming's is low and simple).

Wyoming vs Delaware for a Swedish founder

Unless you have a specific reason to raise from US VCs who expect Delaware, Wyoming is the practical default for most Swedish founders running a service business, agency, or software product from Sweden.

The Swedish tax angle you cannot skip

This is the part that actually matters most, and it is where DIY setups get into trouble. In the US, a single-member LLC owned by you is a disregarded entity by default: the IRS looks straight through it to you as the owner. Sweden does not automatically see it the same way.

Skatteverket has, in guidance and rulings on US LLCs (including Delaware and similar structures), generally treated a US LLC as a separate foreign legal entity (utländsk juridisk person) for Swedish tax purposes, rather than as a transparent pass through the way the US treats it. That mismatch matters, because it changes when and how you are taxed in Sweden: profit kept inside the LLC may be treated differently from profit you pay out to yourself, and the US and Swedish characterizations of the same entity can genuinely disagree with each other.

On top of that, Sweden has CFC rules (controlled foreign company rules) aimed at foreign entities that are considered low-taxed relative to the Swedish corporate rate. If your US LLC's profits are taxed lightly or not at all at the entity level in the US, and you hold a significant ownership stake, those rules can potentially require you to include the LLC's income on your Swedish return as it is earned, rather than only when you take it out. Whether this applies depends on your ownership percentage, the LLC's activities, and how the income is taxed, so it is genuinely case by case.

There is also a treaty wrinkle: fiscally transparent entities like disregarded LLCs are not always treated consistently under the Sweden, US tax treaty, since the treaty was written with more traditional corporate structures in mind. This is a real area of complexity, not something a formation service or a generic blog post can resolve for your specific situation.

None of this means a US LLC is a bad idea for a Swedish founder. It means the entity choice and the tax treatment at home are two separate decisions, and you need a Swedish tax adviser (skatterådgivare) who has actually looked at foreign owned US LLCs before you assume how it will be taxed.

Practically, that means before you form the LLC, or very soon after: talk to a Swedish tax adviser about how the entity will be classified, whether CFC rules could apply to your situation, how dividends or distributions from the LLC should be reported, and whether you need to declare the LLC as a foreign asset. Keep clean books inside the LLC regardless, since good records make this conversation much easier and cheaper.

Where a done-for-you service fits in

The US side of this, choosing the state, filing formation paperwork correctly, getting the EIN through the fax/mail process without delays, applying for an ITIN if needed, and getting a US bank account opened remotely, is mechanical but easy to get wrong on your own, and delays compound quickly when one form is filled in incorrectly. Founders Credit handles that entire US setup for non-US founders end to end, remotely, so a Swedish founder is not stuck guessing at IRS fax numbers or chasing a bank's compliance team alone. What it cannot and should not replace is Swedish tax advice, that part stays local and specific to you.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming the LLC is automatically tax free just because it is disregarded in the US.
• Skipping Form 5472 because the LLC had no income, the filing is required regardless.
• Using a Swedish home address as the registered agent address, which is not allowed.
• Waiting until tax season in Sweden to ask a tax adviser how the LLC is treated.
• Picking Delaware by default when Wyoming's lower flat costs fit a solo or bootstrapped business better.

Frequently asked questions