Getting paid from India
Stripe lists India as a preview market and says Indian businesses can no longer sign up through its website; they must request an invite, while existing Indian accounts keep working. PayPal closed its domestic payments business in India in April 2021 and now focuses on international sales for Indian businesses. Shopify Payments is not available in India, so Indian Shopify stores use third-party gateways.
With a US LLC, its EIN and a US business bank account, you apply for US Stripe, US PayPal Business and Shopify Payments like any American company. The providers still review the business, the website and the owner's passport, and they decide; nobody can promise approval.
At home
Sending money to the LLC
Putting money into a foreign company is an overseas direct investment under FEMA and the Overseas Investment Rules, 2022. A resident individual invests through an authorised dealer bank within the Liberalised Remittance Scheme limit of USD 250,000 per financial year, a limit shared with travel, education and other remittances. Your PAN is required.
Your bank files the reporting, usually Form OI when the money goes out and an annual report on the foreign entity afterwards. Some structures are restricted for resident individuals, such as a foreign entity in financial services. Our India guide covers this step by step.
Indian tax and disclosure
As an Indian tax resident you are taxed on worldwide income. How India treats the profit of a US LLC, and whether a company run entirely from India is seen as managed in India (POEM), depends on the facts. The US and India have an income tax treaty, but how it applies to an LLC is a question for a chartered accountant.
The LLC membership and its US bank account belong in Schedule FA of your Indian return from the first year. Money you later bring home arrives as an inward remittance; keep the paper trail on both sides.
Starting a US LLC from India: what Indian founders need to know
Read the full guideThe US side is the same for everyone
Where you live does not change the US part. It is done online, without travelling, without a US address and without an SSN.
- Choose a state: Wyoming or New Mexico for low running costs, Delaware if you plan to raise money from investors.
- The formation document is filed with a registered agent in that state, within 48 hours.
- The EIN is requested from the IRS as soon as the state approves. No SSN or ITIN is needed.
- You get the operating agreement that banks and payment providers ask for.
- With those documents you apply for a US business bank account, for example at Mercury.
- Every year: the registered agent, the state's annual report where there is one, and Form 5472 for a single-member LLC owned by a foreign person.
Which state?
With no people or premises in the US you can choose any state. Most founders abroad choose on yearly cost and speed.
Sources checked on November 2, 2026
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; check your own situation with a chartered accountant in India before you form the LLC.
