If your business has an American side, you need someone who speaks both worlds: US tax law and your language. That is exactly why we exist. Since 2008, Mount Bonnell Advisors in Austin has looked after clients in everything that concerns their US structure, from formation and annual compliance to the question of how the LLC fits into your life in Lisbon, Dubai or Buenos Aires. Written correspondence is in your language.
This page shows you what we take on, who advises you and how to get started. How the US LLC works for tax purposes is explained on our foundation pages: the formation guide, the exempt LLC in detail and the guide for Swiss residents.
Book a consultationConsultations are held in English only.
What we take on for you
The formation. We form your LLC in the right state (all 50 compared), including the name check, Registered Agent, formation documents and privacy protection through our firm's address. We draft the Operating Agreement with your country of residence in mind, because whether your LLC is treated there as transparent or as a corporation depends on how it is drafted.
The tax numbers. We obtain your LLC's EIN from the IRS; it is the key to banking, payment providers and clean compliance. You get your personal ITIN with the Credit Builder, because a US LLC no longer gets its owner an ITIN these days.
The annual obligation. Every foreign-owned single-member LLC owes the IRS Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 each year. Miss the deadline and you risk a 25,000 dollar penalty (here is how the rescue works). With us, the return is part of the package, together with the state annual reports, the state fees and monitoring of US beneficial ownership reporting. From formation onwards, deadlines are our problem, not yours.
The extras that make the difference. US business accounts and payment providers, building your US credit with the Credit Builder, a contract library drafted by attorneys, mail scanning through our address in Austin, and a team that answers your email before the sun goes down in Texas.
You will find the full scope of services in detail on the services page, and prices by state on the pricing page.
Who advises you
Behind zerotax.llc is Mount Bonnell Advisors in Austin, Texas, part of the same group that has looked after clients in London since 2006. The US side of your structure is handled by US-licensed professionals: your LLC's tax returns are prepared and signed by professionals licensed in the US, and the contract templates in the library were drafted by attorneys. Advice on the overall structure comes from Sebastian Sauerborn, an international tax expert who has lived in six countries himself and has done nothing but cross-border tax for twenty years.
The link between the two is the team: you explain your case once, in writing and in your language, and we translate it into the American forms, deadlines and registers. For the tax return in your country of residence, you also work with a local adviser; we supply them with the US figures, the documentation and the basis for classifying your LLC, so that both sides of the same calculation fit together.
See prices and order your LLCWhy a firm rather than a formation portal
These days you can get an LLC on every corner of the internet, in ten minutes, for a hundred dollars. What you do not get there is the part that starts after formation: the tax number that actually arrives, the Operating Agreement that fits your country of residence, the 5472 filed on time and correctly, and a person who picks up when the IRS sends a letter. Our model is the opposite of the portal: one price, ongoing support from the firm, one point of contact.
The difference shows most clearly in year two. Portal customers then realise that the formation was the cheapest part of the LLC and go looking for someone to clean up what was missed. A considerable share of our engagements begins exactly like that, as a transfer of an existing LLC to us. The more relaxed route is to start with support from day one.
Your LLC's year with us
After formation, the support becomes routine, and it is our routine:
- Annual report and state fees. Every state requires its annual report plus a fee, and the deadlines differ from state to state. We monitor and handle both; the fees are built into the package.
- Form 5472 with pro forma 1120. Your LLC's annual report to the IRS, explained here. We ask you for the figures we need, prepare the return and file it on time.
- Registered Agent and mail. Service of process, official mail, scans to your inbox, and whenever something looks like it needs action, we get in touch proactively.
- Beneficial ownership monitoring. The rules on US reporting have changed course several times (the current position). We keep watching them; if anything changes, we handle the filings.
- Bookkeeping as needed. The typical exempt LLC needs no US balance sheet, but your country of residence wants to see figures. We supply the statements your local adviser needs for that (what is required and what is optional, explained here).
Who our support is built for
For people moving abroad and those who already have. You live in Paraguay, Cyprus or Thailand and invoice through your LLC? Then annual US compliance is your compulsory programme and our routine.
For digital nomads and perpetual travelers. The LLC is the standard vehicle for location-independent business, and the pitfalls differ by passport (the honest analysis is here). We build the structure and keep it clean, year after year.
For entrepreneurs with US customers. You sell into the US and need an American billing address, US banking and a point of contact for sales tax and VAT? The LLC is your tool; we are the workshop.
For people staying put, with a plan. You still live in your home country and want the LLC for the right reasons: the US market, liability protection, credit, or as a vehicle prepared for a later move abroad. Then formation comes with an honest calculation of what your home country's tax authority will make of the LLC. We work out exactly that calculation in the consultation, before you order.
Honest advice as a working principle
The internet is full of LLC promises that die in the small print. Our counter-model is uncomfortable and proven: we also tell you when the LLC is the wrong tool for your case. Anyone who wants to save tax while still living in their home country gets no tax-haven poetry from us, but the calculation their tax authority is going to make.
That includes the documentation side of our support. We build your LLC from the start so that it stands up to scrutiny: a clean Operating Agreement, documented decisions, traceable figures. It is unspectacular, until the day it makes the difference.
And because the legal position keeps moving, we move with it: our news desk follows IRS practice and registration requirements, and our clients hear about changes before they reach the forums.
How to get started
Route one: you know what you want. Choose a state, order, fill in the questionnaire, and we take care of the rest. From filing to an LLC ready for business with an EIN and an account, we guide you step by step, with honest timelines.
Route two: you want to clarify the structure first. Residence questions, how your home country classifies the LLC, how it fits with a company you already own, a planned move abroad: that is what the consultation with Sebastian is for, held in English. One hour, honest feedback, a 15-minute guarantee, and at the end you know whether the LLC is your tool and how it needs to be built.
The most common questions when starting
Do I have to travel to the US for the formation? No. Formation, EIN, account and compliance all run fully remotely; you never need to set foot on American soil.
What does the support cost? One price per state, everything included, no surprises: the price list. Bought separately, the components would cost you several times as much.
Do you take over existing LLCs? Yes. If your LLC sits with another provider and you want better support, we bring it over to us (how the transfer works).
What about my tax return at home? Your local adviser prepares it, and gets everything from us that they need to know about your LLC: figures, classification, documentation. That way both sides mesh instead of contradicting each other.
Do you talk directly to my local adviser? Gladly. Many clients simply copy us into their email threads; more complex cases we settle in a joint call in English, so that your LLC is classified the same way on both sides of the border.
What do you need from me during the year? Not much, but on time: your LLC's key figures for the 5472, replies to our deadline reminders and up-to-date contact details. We handle the rest from Austin, from the forms to the state fees.
Your next step
If your plan is set, the shortest path to ordering runs through the price list. If you want to clarify the structure first, book the consultation with Sebastian (held in English only). And if you would rather read up first: the formation guide is the best first door.