Most guidance for non-resident LLC owners rests on one assumption: you have no people, premises or goods in the United States. FBA breaks that assumption by design — your inventory sits in American warehouses.
Why FBA is a different case
For a software or service business run from abroad, the usual conclusion is no effectively connected income and therefore no US federal income tax. The reasoning depends on having no US presence.
With FBA you have goods stored in US fulfilment centres, picked, packed and shipped from US soil. That is a materially different fact pattern, and it is one of the situations most likely to create effectively connected income. See do non-resident LLC owners owe US tax for the underlying test.
Sales tax is the second layer
Separate from income tax, and often the more immediate concern.
US states apply economic nexus thresholds — commonly around $100,000 in sales into the state, sometimes a transaction count. Crossing one creates a registration and collection obligation in that state. Several states also treat inventory stored in the state as creating physical nexus on its own.
FBA distributes your stock across multiple states without asking you. That can create nexus in states you have never thought about.
The practical relief: marketplace facilitator laws now require Amazon to collect and remit sales tax on marketplace sales in most states. That covers a large part of the exposure — but it does not automatically remove registration obligations everywhere, and it does not cover sales you make off-marketplace.
Why an LLC at all
- Amazon's requirements. Selling on Amazon US as a foreign individual is possible but a US entity simplifies verification, banking and payouts.
- Liability. Physical products carry product liability that software does not. This is the model where the separation genuinely matters.
- Supplier relationships. US suppliers and freight forwarders generally prefer contracting with an entity.
What to sort out before your first shipment
- The LLC and EIN. Standard sequence — see forming a US LLC from abroad.
- Banking that Amazon will pay into. Some fintech accounts handle Amazon disbursements better than others.
- An EIN or import number for customs. Importing into the US requires a customs bond and an importer of record; decide whether that is you or your freight forwarder.
- Product liability insurance. Amazon requires it above a sales threshold, and you want it before then.
- A CPA engaged before the first shipment lands, not at the first tax deadline.
The cost profile is different
An FBA business carries costs a service business does not: customs duties, freight, FBA fees, storage — including long-term storage penalties — returns, and sales tax compliance software if you sell off-marketplace as well.
The LLC itself is a small line by comparison. Budget for the compliance around it rather than the formation. The base figures are in what a US LLC actually costs.
What goes wrong
- Applying non-resident tax reasoning to an inventory business. The premise does not hold.
- Assuming marketplace collection removes every sales tax duty. It removes most, not all.
- Ignoring long-term storage fees on stock that is not moving.
- Mixing personal and business money — worse here, because product liability is the exposure the LLC exists to contain.
- Engaging an accountant after the first filing deadline rather than before the first shipment.
If you are selling digital products or services instead, the general case in do non-resident LLC owners owe US tax is the one that applies to you.