Am I allowed to open a US LLC and a US bank account as a Swiss resident?

Real Estate
1

Hi, looking for your help and your experience:

I am considering buying a house in the US for investment.
For that I will need to create an LLC, and open a bank account. Would that change anything with regards to my status in Switzerland, e.g for my bank account here, or for my tax status?

Thanks all!

2

Hi

I’m an investor in the USA – tax sale (liens&deeds), real estate syndication and some land:)
I have a llc and business bank account in the states.

Always talk to your cpa , before you start with a llc or inc.

3

This seems to be one of those threads where the title is misleading with regards to the actual question.

So to answer the question in the title:
Sure, why not? Why would anyone be prohibited from opening a bank account or own a US company?

Bot answering the additional question directly.
I‘d much rather (and first) worry not about your status here - but rather there (in the US).

4

Thanks for the info, it helps a lot!
Can you please elaborate about what could be the issues with the status there?

5

Speaking of your „status“, the - potentially - problematic thing likely isn‘t having or declaring US assets as a Swiss person and/or resident. It‘s being regarded as a U.S. taxpayer.

You probably don‘t want to fail to meet any obligation to declare to the U.S. tax authorities.
And Swiss banks most definitely don‘t want to either. They have no problem with you owning U.S. stocks, fund units etc. through them - or your LLC and property.

What they‘re concerned with is whether they have to report you to the IRS - that‘s why they ask you if you’re a „U.S. person“ (and that definition may not be limited to citizenship or primary residence).

You should find out to which extent you become tax-resident or a reportable person to the U.S. authorities according to U.S. law by your owning assets and operating/owning a company there.

Maybe it‘s a total non-issue, maybe it depends on your legal setup, I don’t know.

6

Can I ask how you declare the US LLC in your Swiss tax return?

I have US property in a US LLC which I elected to be “pass through” for US tax purposes (all rents and costs are attributable to me in my US tax return). So I have been applying the same treatment in my Swiss tax return ie report all rents and costs. It seems to be a grey area in Swiss law - the alternative would be to report an investment in the LLC at cost then any withdrawals from the LLC would be dividends

7

It is necessary to file a US tax return once you buy and rent out property - regardless whether you put it in an LLC or not. It does not make you tax resident, so long as you do not plan yo spend a lot if time there

8

That’s what I assumed.
Nevertheless, while Avadis explicitly mentioned (among others) the following…

“dass keine anderen Gründe vorliegen, die eine Ansässigkeit in den USA im Sinn der US-Steuern begründen (Eigentum an US-Immobilien oder Beteiligungen an beziehungsweise Forderungen gegenüber US-Unternehmen, zum Beispiel einer US-Personengesellschaft, begründet für sich genommen keine US-Ansässigkeit.)”

…in their request for FATCA self-certification, other banks and brokerages have asked me different questions for determination of my status, such as whether I have a tax liability there for “other reasons”, whether I have a US TIN, or even if I have authorised anyone with a US address to sign on the account.

The question then becomes how the bank or broker interprets this information given and if they are willing to continue keeping an account.