Looking for a Delaware or Nevada CPA for non-resident E-Business LLC

[Kungfubob]

Hi, I tried to say it all in the title! :)

I'm looking for an accountant qualified to walk me through planning the structure of my business before forming it. Once the business is formed, I want to know who to call with any questions concerning accounting and tax planning.!

I want to minimize taxes, protect the companies assets, and have an easily expandable and maintainable structure.

Here are some details.

I am a Canadian citizen and resident
I need to form a US company to gain access to a wider range of suppliers and service providers.
All business operations will be conducted online.
The business will most probably end up owning many web sites.
Single owner, but can have a second owner to form an LLC if necessary
No employees, all work will be handed out as contract work.
First web site will be a retail E-Commerce site.



From what I've read there are a bunch of advantages to Delaware and Nevada. Since I am a non-resident and will not be "conducting business" in another state, it seems almost like a no brainer.

So if you are or know a good CPA in any of those two states, I would very much appreciate an introduction.

Sincerely,
Yann

[Evan]

If you're operating online, your principal place of business will be in Canada if it's just you. Why would you organize the business in the USA unless you plan to actually conduct operations here? Just to say you're an American company?

Single-member LLC's are generally disregarded, and you'd have to file a US income tax return. There are also some potential legal hurdles you may encounter, so a tax attorney may also be advisable as well to get you started.

[Kungfubob]

Hey Evan

The motivation to register in the US is indeed to be able to say that it is an american company. Nothing else

The reason for this is that some suppliers only deal with american companies, limiting possibilities for non-american companies. Even Canadian companies are discriminated against ( gasp!.. we're all so nice and honest! )

For example, Google checkout is available in the US and UK only. Amazon stores are only available to US companies( at least they were 2 years ago.. ). And many B2B companies located in the US only do business with other american companies.

By having another member in the LLC it avoids it being disregarded by the IRS right? It's certainly something that I can do.

I'm aware that the business structure would get more complicated by forming it in the US. But, I need to understand the real implications and evaluate how they can be worked around before making a decision.

That's why I'm looking for qualified people to talk to :)

Again, if you have specific suggestions for people to contact it would be much appreciated. I really don't want to use the yellow pages!

[Evan]

It would seem suppliers would still want information on you, the owner. So even if your hiding behind an American entity, the fact is, it's still "you".

The problem could be suppliers don't want to ship to Canada, or feel that dealing internationally presents additional (and potentially unnecessary) risk. Not too sure how you'd curb those specific matters.