Legal Question in Business Law in Illinois

Hello,

I'm not a US resident and I want to file an LLC in Florida. I will apply for a registered agent service too. The problem is that I have to use a US business address (Not P.O. Box) which I don't have because I'm not US resident as I mentioned. So, I came up with two solutions. First, to use my relative's residential address in Illinois as my business address temporary in the filing. Second solution is to apply for a US business address service (Not a virtual office) like the service provided by "Mailbox Forwarding" at an affordable price. They say that various international companies use their address service as their business address.

I have couple of questions, hope you can help me find the answers:

1) Can I use my relative's residential address in "Illinois" without need to file the LLC there or I must use an address in FL (Where I'm filing the LLC) ?.

Someone told me that if I used the address in Illinois, I must file there and pay IL taxes too.

2) Would it be better if I applied for the service provided by Mailbox Forwarding and use their address in FL?

3) My business is online based, selling non-tangible products and services through my website. So, if we assume that I sold one service in 5 states (5 customers), that means that I have to qualify (or file) my LLC inside the five states and pay their taxes?

I hope that you could answer my questions. Any answer would be appreciated and thank you for taking time to read this.

Best regards.


Asked on 5/07/14, 4:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Adam S. Tracy Securities Compliance Group Ltd

Thank you for your question. Here are my answers:

1) if you wish to incorporate in Florida, and do not have a friend/family member in Florida who can act as the registered agent, you will need to pay for one (there are many services out there who act as registered agents for around $50-70/year. Typically, however, when given a chance, most people incorporate in Nevada because of its favorable privacy laws, etc. If you filed in Illinois, you would need to incorporate in Illinois, which is inexplicably expensive versus other states - $500

2) All you need is a commercial registered agent as discussed above. You can still inform your clients that your mailing address is out of the country where you operate from

3) You would NOT need to qualify in each state. Quite frankly, and I am not aware of what you intend to sell, but for an online business you may not really need to incorporate anywhere in the US at all. If you do, you are opening yourself to potentially having to pay taxes on your income.

If you have any further questions, as your issues are somewhat complex, feel free to call or email me www.IBankAttorneys.com

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Answered on 5/07/14, 6:13 pm


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