I have researched quite extensively this topic and own 2 LLCs in the US.
1. The first question you need to ask yourself is: Do you want to do business in the US? If “no”, don’t bother opening a company there. If “yes”, I definitely recommend to open an LLC.
2. If your answer to 1 was yes, why an LLC? A. Because you won’t pay corporate taxes in the US, and thus avoid double taxation (if you open a corporation you need to pay BOTH corporate tax and dividend tax, which is a hefty 30% for foreigners) B. by choosing an LLC, you won’t be taxed for foreign income (income not derived from the US) and you won’t be paying any taxes even for US income AS LONG AS YOU DONT HAVE ANY US EMPLOYEES. If you have employees, you will be subject to a flat 38% on profits. Therefore, if you plan on opening an LLC in the US, having US employees would impact dramatically what you take home.
An LLC, is a pass-through entity for tax purposes, basically equivalent to a sole proprietorship. This means that, if you are a foreigner, the IRS will report your earnings to your home country. Therefore, the only way to shield yourself from this, is having another entity between you and the LLC.
How to shield your earnings from taxes and being reported to your home country? You can open a corporation in the British Virgin Islands (or in any other tax free country, for example the UAE) that owns the LLC you opened in the US.
To summarize, you will end up owning the corporation in virgin islands that owns the LLC in the US. In this way, you will be legally required to pay taxes in your country, only if you withdraw any funds from your account in the British Virgin Islands. But guess what? This is almost impossible for your home country to track, unless you transfer directly to your home country bank account. But you can always use your debit card from the British Virgin Islands. However, as a good citizen, you should report your taxes even if your home country cannot track this.
This is not professional financial and tax advice. You decide how you want to tackle this.
The best states where to open an LLC, in my opinion are New Mexico and Wyoming. I still prefer New Mexico because ownership is totally anonymous, is cheap, and you don’t pay any franchise.
To open a bank account, you can’t go wrong with Wise (wise.com), they support both companies in the US and the British Virgin Islands. They don’t make problems, like US banks do. And if you open the account in British Virgin Islands, they will even send you a debit card that you can use anywhere anytime.
Hope this helps