Serving US clients (B2B) with a foreign-owned US LLC
Hello everyone,
Does anyone here provide B2B marketing, consulting or agency services to US clients through a foreign-owned US LLC?
I’m mainly talking about a single-member LLC that is treated as a disregarded entity for US tax purposes.
I assume many US clients automatically ask for a W-9 because they are used to working with US vendors or think a US LLC automatically means W-9. But in this setup, the correct form is usually the W-8BEN, not the W-9, because the owner of the LLC is foreign and an individual.
For those of you in this situation:
Do your US clients usually accept the W-8BEN without issues, or do you run into confusion because they expect a W-9?
Is it a minor back-and-forth or does it ever become a real obstacle or dealbreaker?
Would be great to hear how this works in practice, especially with B2B service clients.