Local resident director services in the US — how much of this can I do myself?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: the structure question is settled state by state: the incorporating state sets what officers and directors are required and who may serve, and a registered agent with a physical address in that state is a separate, standing requirement.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Do US states require company directors to live in the state?
Generally no. Most states do not impose a residency test on directors, which surprises founders who have been told they need to find somebody local before they can incorporate. The requirements that do bind are different ones: what officers and directors the incorporating state requires at all and who may serve, a registered agent with a physical address in that state, a responsible party named on the federal tax registration, and whatever the bank applies on top. We map which of those actually apply to your entity rather than solving a problem you may not have.
What is a registered agent and why does every company need one?
It is a standing requirement, separate from the board, that the company maintain someone in the incorporating state with a physical address there to receive legal and official documents on its behalf. A post box does not satisfy it and a director living abroad does not either. It is not a governance role and it carries no decision-making authority, which is why conflating it with the director question sends founders looking for the wrong thing. It also has to be maintained continuously, not just arranged once at formation.
Who should be named as the responsible party on our tax registration?
The federal tax registration asks for a responsible party, and this is a real question rather than a formality. It should be a person with genuine control over the entity, and the answer you give should match the governance documents and what the bank is told. Naming somebody convenient rather than somebody accurate is the mismatch that surfaces later, usually when an account is being opened or a filing is queried. We settle who it is, check it against the corporate records, and keep the answer consistent across every registration.
Why does our US bank want somebody with a US address on the account?
Because banks apply their own control and identification rules on top of anything the state or the tax registrations require, and those rules are not published as a checklist you can work from in advance. What one institution accepts another declines. This is the requirement that most often stops a foreign-owned US entity in practice, well after the incorporation is done and paid for. We find out what the intended bank will actually need before the structure is finalised, so the structure is built to satisfy it rather than adjusted afterwards.
Does appointing a US officer change where our company is managed?
It can, and the effect is not limited to the United States. Where a company is really managed feeds how it is treated for tax, including by the countries where its shareholders and its other operations sit. Giving a US-based officer genuine authority over the business moves those facts; giving them a title and no authority creates a gap between the documents and the reality. We keep the tax consequences of each appointment in view before anyone signs, rather than treating the appointments as an administrative step and the tax as a later question.
Which state should foreign founders incorporate in?
There is no single answer, because the state you choose sets what officers and directors are required, who may serve, the agent obligation, and the annual filings you will live with. Founders often pick a state on reputation and then find themselves registering in a second one anyway because that is where the business actually operates. We start from where the activity will be, what the bank will want, and which requirements the group can realistically meet year after year, then choose on that basis.
Can exit tax exposure be reduced before expatriating?
The levers are timing and facts, not a filing position. The certification test rewards having five clean years behind you, which takes planning rather than paperwork. Where assets are held, when gains are realised, and how deferred compensation and retirement interests are structured all change the outcome, and the effect of gifts before departure has to be weighed against the separate regime for gifts and bequests from covered expatriates. This is planning that needs a runway of years. See departure planning timelines.
What is the US exit tax and who actually pays it?
How much it is depends on your unrealised gains rather than on a rate, because it is the expatriation regime rather than a fee. A citizen who gives up citizenship, or a long-term permanent resident whose status ends, is tested against three conditions; meet any one and you are a covered expatriate, treated as having sold your worldwide assets the day before you left, with an exclusion for a slice of the resulting net gain — $890,000 for 2025. Deferred compensation, retirement accounts and interests in trusts are handled under separate rules rather than the deemed sale. Form 8854 reports it. See Form 8854.
