Non US resident with SSN. Do I need to pay tax if I have an SSN??

[tishmen]

Let me give you a little background on my company setup. I organized an US LLC in New Mexico. I plan on using Transferwise and Stripe for banking and payment processing, as I do have a SSN from working in the US legally 10 years ago. My SSN validity for work has expired but I can still use my SSN for government services and banking. I contacted Stripe and Transferwise and they have no problem with this setup.

I will be doing consulting services for US companies digitally. I don't have US employees or presence so I'm not engaged in a trade or business in the United States (ETOB) which makes me not liable for LLC tax.

However, I just finished my tax consultation call and the representative told me that I will need to pay taxes in the US because I have an SSN. He double checked that. However I'm not sure if I can trust him on the counsel since i haven't found any info about this online or in government docs.

Anybody in here with a similar experience or knowledge about this matter? Appreciate your replies!

 

[fshore]

No you don't just by having a SSN.
You need to give the companies you work for a w8-ben, not w9.
Stripe might change it's mind though, they require a contact person to be US resident or US citizens, and they require a real bank account.
Still with a SSN they might not look further into it.

 

[tishmen]

No you don't just by having a SSN.
You need to give the companies you work for a w8-ben, not w9.
Stripe might change it's mind though, they require a contact person to be US resident or US citizens, and they require a real bank account.
Still with a SSN they might not look further into it.

Thanks for the response! Yeah, i was thinking the same, having a SSN does not void my non resident alien status. I'm trying to consult with another CPA on the matter but it looks like you are right.

Regarding Stripe, I really hope that they will accept my SSN as a verification. I'm leaning towards using Mercury Bank for my business bank account since Stripe endorses them in their Atlas section. Does anybody know will this be a problem?

If it is, I will try to contact BOA for a business bank account since i already had a personal bank account with them years ago

 

[GAC Limited]

@fshore, the first accountant was correct. If you are using the SSN you are obligated to pay taxes under that SSN for income generated in the USA. If it is expired, then using it is illegal by US law (technically because it is expired). Regarding your merchant account, if you are using that SSN, they will run it and if they see it is expired, you 100% won't get a merchant account and if you have processed any funds via that payment solution, the account will be put on hold and reversed (returned to the remitter). For a retail bank account, keep in mind you MAY (as bank differ on this point) be required to present a US issued ID and utility bill (proof of address) that was issued within the last 90 days. Hope this helps.

 

[elisyumchild]

@fshore, the first accountant was correct. If you are using the SSN you are obligated to pay taxes under that SSN for income generated in the USA. If it is expired, then using it is illegal by US law (technically because it is expired). Regarding your merchant account, if you are using that SSN, they will run it and if they see it is expired, you 100% won't get a merchant account and if you have processed any funds via that payment solution, the account will be put on hold and reversed (returned to the remitter). For a retail bank account, keep in mind you MAY (as bank differ on this point) be required to present a US issued ID and utility bill (proof of address) that was issued within the last 90 days. Hope this helps.

The SSN never expires, meanwhile his/her work visa might have expired the SSN in permanent it will never expire and the use of it isn't illegal.

Now if you do use the ssn with stripe then you will have to pay taxes as at the end of the year stripe will report all the $$ generated. I sent you a PM with what you can do to avoid the use of your social

 

[GAC Limited]

I was referring to the visa/right to work. I see how that wasn't clear. The rest of the post is true.

 

[fshore]

@fshore, the first accountant was correct. If you are using the SSN you are obligated to pay taxes under that SSN for income generated in the USA.

OP isn't generating the income in USA. Maybe you mean effectively connected income ECI, but that would be taxable also without a SSN.

Now if you do use the ssn with stripe then you will have to pay taxes as at the end of the year stripe will report all the $$ generated.

I'm quite sure having a SSN does not affect tax status in the US. Almost no country will make you pay taxes just by having a tax number.
I wonder why guys believe that, maybe you can quote an online source? All IRS and other information talks about the resident status and if it's effectively connected income.

Stripe will report income (above 20K) to IRS using your EIN, not the SSN as far as I know. And even they report it that doesn't affect if you should pay taxes or not. Taxes are determined by the tax laws, not if it's reported or not.

OP isn't asking if he is taxable in the US, he's asking if using a SSN affect's if he's taxable in the US.

 

[GAC Limited]

@fshore, You should understand the USA tax code and what the OP is saying before commenting. If he enters into a business agreement using his USA registered LLC and if said LLC was set up using the SSN, he 100% is required to report the revenue generated and obligated to pay taxes. Because he has an SSN has nothing to do with the OP's question. Reading comprehension is key my friend. Once again, if the OP IS using the SSN with his US LLC he is required to pay taxes. If he is NOT using the US LLC and is simply doing business with American companies under his home country/company then he has no tax obligation. The USA is one of the few countries that DOES tax Americans, or US taxpayers, on income generated worldwide. There are stipulations to the tax amount to be paid of course. Do yourself a favor and go to www.irs.gov and that gives you more information about US tax codes and obligations than you will know what to do with. One final point, if the OP set up his LLC as a single member with the SSN, anything that company does is liable for USA taxes. How he handles that obligation is up to him and hopefully a very good accountant.

Free advice,