Madrid runs on dollar invoices it cannot easily collect. Founders in Chamberí, Malasaña, and the startup floors around Las Tablas bill US and global clients in USD, then watch Spanish bank fees and PayPal conversions eat the margin. A Wyoming LLC fixes the collection layer: a US entity, a US bank account, and Stripe US, all from Madrid for $397.
Why Madrid founders form a Wyoming LLC
Madrid is Spain's commercial capital, and its export economy is increasingly digital. The cluster around Madrid Tech City, Google for Startups Campus in Embajadores, Wayra (Telefónica's accelerator), and the SaaS and agency firms in Las Tablas and Méndez Álvaro produce a specific kind of founder: one whose customers are not in Spain. They sell to US software buyers, run Amazon and Etsy stores aimed at North America, do performance-marketing retainers for American agencies, or ship a subscription product where most paying users hold USD cards. For that founder, being a Spanish autónomo or SL is fine for Spanish and EU invoicing, but it is a friction wall the moment money has to come from the United States.
The friction is concrete. US clients frequently want to pay a US vendor with a US bank account and a W-9-style relationship, not a SEPA wire to a foreign IBAN they have to set up manually. Stripe's full US feature set, including faster payout rails and the cleanest US-card acceptance, is built around a US entity. Marketplaces and SaaS billing platforms that pay out to "US bank only" simply will not onboard a Spanish IBAN. A Wyoming LLC gives the Madrid founder a clean US-facing identity: a Wyoming entity, an EIN from the IRS, a US business bank account, and Stripe US underneath.
Wyoming specifically — rather than Delaware — fits the typical Madrid profile, which is bootstrapped SaaS, content, freelance, and agency work rather than a VC-track C-corp. Wyoming charges no state income tax, keeps member names off the public record, and runs an annual report fee of roughly $60 instead of Delaware's franchise tax. The Wyoming Secretary of State is the formation authority, and a single-member LLC there is light to maintain. For a Madrid founder who is not raising US venture capital and does not need preferred-stock cap-table mechanics, Delaware's higher cost and franchise tax buy nothing — Wyoming delivers the same US legal wrapper, the same access to Mercury and Stripe, and a lower annual burn.
There is also a quieter, operational reason Madrid founders move. Spanish banks and PayPal treat inbound USD as a foreign-currency event every single time, applying a spread and sometimes a fixed fee. When you bill, say, $4,000/month to a US client, the difference between receiving dollars into a US account and converting once a month versus taking a hit on every incoming wire is real money over a year. The LLC is the structural fix that lets you decide when and how dollars become euros, rather than the bank deciding for you on arrival.
Crucially, Spain has an active income tax treaty with the United States, modernized by a 2013 protocol that entered into force on 27 November 2019. That treaty changes the tax math in your favor (covered below), which is why Madrid founders can form a US LLC without walking into punitive US withholding on ordinary business income.
Cost from Madrid
The package is $397, all-inclusive, with the Wyoming state filing fee already included — there is no separate state charge to add. ITIN, if you need one for a tax filing, is a separate $297 add-on; most single-member LLC owners get an EIN (not an ITIN) and do not need it.
| Item | Cost (USD) | When |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming LLC formation (state fee included) | $397 | One-time, year 1 |
| Wyoming registered agent (year 1) | Included in $397 | Year 1 |
| EIN from the IRS | Included (we file) | One-time |
| Banking introductions (Mercury / Relay / Wise) | Included | One-time |
| Wyoming annual report | ~$60 | Every year |
| Registered agent (year 2 onward) | ~$100 | Every year |
| Ongoing total | ~$160/yr | After year 1 |
| ITIN (optional add-on) | $297 | Only if required |
At roughly EUR 145–150 per year ongoing (at typical 2026 EUR/USD rates), the maintenance cost is lower than a Madrid coworking desk for a month. There is no Wyoming income tax and no franchise tax to budget for — the recurring cost is just the annual report plus the registered agent.
Banking from Madrid
This is where Madrid founders get the most value, and where you should set expectations realistically. The major remote-friendly options are Mercury, Relay, and Wise Business.
Mercury is the most popular choice for non-US founders and tends to approve Spanish/EU profiles well — a clean Spanish passport, a real business website, and a coherent description of who your US customers are go a long way. Be aware that Mercury tightened its rules in 2025: per Mercury's own eligibility and prohibited-countries documentation, it now scrutinizes registered-agent-only addresses and reviews each application case by case. Spain is not on Mercury's prohibited list, so a Madrid founder with a legitimate business is in a normal, approvable position — but approval is never guaranteed, and you should apply with a genuine business description rather than a thin shell. Plan around the realistic outcome: most legitimate Spanish founders get approved; a minority get asked for more detail or declined and move to an alternative.
Relay is a solid second US-bank option with a similar nonresident-friendly posture. Wise Business is the reliable fallback and arguably the best multi-currency tool regardless: it gives you US ACH details, a EUR IBAN, GBP details, and cheap mid-market conversion. Many Madrid founders run Mercury (or Relay) as the primary US operating account and Wise alongside it for converting USD back to EUR at a far better rate than a Spanish high-street bank.
How this complements your local rails matters. Spain runs on SEPA and instant SEPA (Bizum is the popular domestic person-to-person rail; SEPA Instant covers business). None of those move USD well, and Spanish banks charge real spreads on incoming dollar wires plus conversion fees. With the LLC stack, USD lands in your US account via Stripe or client ACH, sits in dollars, and you convert to EUR through Wise only when you actually need euros in your Spanish account — instead of bleeding a conversion fee on every single payment. You keep Bizum and your Spanish SL/autónomo setup for the domestic and EU side, and bolt the US dollar layer on top.
You will need your EIN and formation documents to open any of these; all three onboard online from Madrid with no US travel. One more practical note on timing: because Madrid is six hours ahead of US Eastern, a banking application or support thread you start in your morning may not get a US human response until your early afternoon. Submit applications before midday Madrid time and you can usually clear any same-day verification step before US offices close.
If Mercury declines, do not treat it as the end of the road. Relay frequently approves profiles Mercury bounces, and Wise Business has the lightest onboarding of the three. The realistic playbook for a Madrid founder is: apply to Mercury first, keep Wise Business as a guaranteed fallback for receiving USD and converting to EUR, and you will have a working US-dollar setup either way.
Tax: US and your home country
Two governments are in play, and the treaty is what keeps it manageable.
US side. A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person is, by default, a disregarded entity. If you have no US employees, no US office, and no dependent agent in the United States — i.e., no US permanent establishment — your business profits are generally not subject to US federal income tax. Under the US-Spain treaty's business-profits article, Spain (your country of residence) taxes that income, not the US. The treaty itself is real and current: it was signed in 1990 and substantially upgraded by the 2013 protocol that entered into force on 27 November 2019, per the IRS Spain tax-treaty documents and the IRS United States Income Tax Treaties A-to-Z list.
What the treaty does for passive US-source income is significant. Spain is one of the most favorable treaty partners: the 2013 protocol cut source-country withholding on most interest to 0% and on most royalties to 0% (down from the old 10%), and set dividends at 15% general / 5% for 10%+ corporate owners / 0% for qualifying 80%+ holdings, subject to limitation-on-benefits. So if your LLC ever earns genuine US-source FDAP income, you claim these reduced rates by filing Form W-8BEN-E with the payer, citing the Spain-US treaty and your LLC's EIN. Note the contrast with no-treaty countries, where the default is a flat 30% US withholding on US-source FDAP — Madrid founders do not face that.
Mandatory US filing. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must file Form 5472 attached to a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, reporting transactions between you and the LLC. This is an information return, not a tax bill, but the penalty for missing or filing it late is $25,000 per FinCEN/IRS rules — so it is non-negotiable. Separately, a Beneficial Ownership Information report may apply under FinCEN's BOI regime; check current FinCEN guidance, as the rule's scope for foreign-owned entities has shifted.
Spanish side. Whatever the LLC earns generally flows through to you as a Madrid tax resident. Spain will tax that income under IRPF (or via your SL if you route it through one). Because the LLC is disregarded for US tax, there is no second US-level tax on ordinary profits, and the treaty plus Spain's foreign-tax-credit mechanism prevent double taxation. The exact Spanish treatment of a disregarded LLC (transparency, attribution of income, Modelo 720 reporting of foreign assets) is genuinely nuanced — confirm it with a Spanish gestor or asesor fiscal before year-end. We handle US formation and filings; we do not give Spanish tax advice.
Popular use cases for Madrid founders
- SaaS and micro-SaaS — A Madrid indie founder billing US and global subscribers through Stripe US, with payouts to Mercury. The LLC removes the "foreign vendor" friction that blocks some US B2B customers.
- Performance-marketing and creative agencies — Las Tablas and Méndez Álvaro are full of agencies doing retainer work for US and LATAM clients. A US LLC lets them invoice in USD and get paid by US ACH instead of chasing international wires.
- Content creators and educators — Madrid creators monetizing YouTube, Patreon, Gumroad, Teachable, and ad networks that pay cleanest to a US entity and US bank.
- Amazon and e-commerce sellers — Madrid sellers running Amazon US, Etsy, or Shopify stores aimed at North American buyers, where a US LLC simplifies marketplace payouts and US sales-tax registration.
- Freelancers and consultants on US platforms — Developers and designers working through Upwork, Toptal, or direct US clients who want to pay a US-domiciled contractor.
- App and AI product builders — Founders out of Google for Startups Campus and Wayra shipping products to a global, USD-paying user base.
The common thread: the customer pays in dollars, and the LLC is the clean container to receive, hold, and reconcile those dollars before they ever touch a Spanish bank. A Madrid agency might keep its Spanish SL for EU clients and run US retainers through the LLC; a solo SaaS founder might run everything through the LLC and only repatriate to Spain what they actually draw as income. The structure is flexible enough to match how your client base is actually split between euros and dollars.
Step-by-step from Madrid
Madrid is on CET (UTC+1, CEST in summer), which is 6 hours ahead of US Eastern and 9 ahead of US Pacific. Plan US-dependent steps for your afternoon, when US business hours open and support is responsive.
- Pick your LLC name and confirm availability. Choose a name and we check it against the Wyoming Secretary of State business database. Do this any time — it is not US-hours dependent.
- Order the $397 package. This covers formation, the Wyoming state fee, registered agent for year 1, EIN filing, and banking introductions. One payment, no surprise state charge.
- We file the Articles of Organization with Wyoming. Formation typically completes in about 24 hours. The registered agent address is provided as part of the package.
- We obtain your EIN from the IRS. As a non-US founder without an SSN, this is filed via Form SS-4 by fax/mail and can take a few weeks; we manage it. This is the longest-lead item, so start early.
- Open your US bank account. With formation docs and EIN in hand, apply to Mercury (primary) or Relay; add Wise Business for multi-currency. Do the application in your Madrid afternoon so US-side verification, if triggered, resolves same-day.
- Connect Stripe US. Use your LLC, EIN, and US bank details to set up Stripe US for card payments and subscriptions.
- File W-8BEN-E where needed. If any payer sends US-source income, give them a W-8BEN-E claiming Spain-US treaty rates so withholding is reduced correctly.
- Calendar your compliance. Set reminders for the Wyoming annual report (~$60) and the annual Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120. Confirm Spanish-side reporting (IRPF, Modelo 720 if applicable) with your gestor.
End to end, most Madrid founders are formed within 24 hours and fully banked within a few weeks, gated mainly by the EIN.
Common mistakes
- Assuming Wyoming formation triggers US income tax. It usually does not — with no US permanent establishment, your business profits are taxed in Spain under the treaty, not the US. Forming the LLC is not the same as creating US tax exposure.
- Skipping Form 5472. The single most expensive error. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120 annually; missing it carries a $25,000 penalty per the IRS. Put it on the calendar the day you form.
- Using a registered-agent address as your "real" address for banking. Mercury and others scrutinized this heavily in 2025. Be honest about your Madrid operating reality and your business; do not present the agent address as an office.
- Ignoring the Spanish side. The LLC does not make you invisible to Hacienda. The income still flows to you as a Madrid resident, and foreign-asset reporting (Modelo 720) may apply. Loop in a Spanish gestor early.
- Converting every payment to EUR immediately. That hands a conversion spread to your bank on each transaction. Hold USD in the US account, convert in batches through Wise only when you need euros locally.
- Buying an ITIN you do not need. Most single-member owners need only an EIN. The $297 ITIN is an add-on for specific filing situations — confirm you actually need it first.
Sources: IRS — Spain Tax Treaty Documents; IRS — United States Income Tax Treaties A to Z; IRS — About Form 5472; Mercury — Eligibility and Prohibited Countries; Wyoming Secretary of State — Business Center.