Looking for Advice: Transitioning My Consulting Business from Hong Kong to the U.S.
Hey everyone,
I’m currently based in Hong Kong and run a consulting business that I originally started with two other partners. When we started, they kept their full-time jobs while I went all-in and worked on it full-time. Now that the business is growing, I’m looking to separate and start fresh under a new name—this time, structured in a way that helps me scale and attract more high-value clients.
Here’s my plan:
• Register a new LLC in the U.S. to give the business a more premium and global presence.
• Create a Hong Kong branch under that U.S. entity, since I’ll still be working from Hong Kong.
• Since I’m physically in Hong Kong, I assume I’m liable for HK taxes—but I want to understand how U.S. LLC taxation works in my case.
My Key Questions:
If I open a U.S. LLC as a non-resident, will I need to pay any U.S. taxes, or does it remain tax-free as long as I have no U.S. clients/employees?
Since I’ll be running operations from Hong Kong, would all my income still be considered Hong Kong-sourced and taxed accordingly?
Is this structure even worth it for the perceived value of having a U.S. LLC, or should I just keep things local in HK?
Would love to hear from anyone who’s done something similar or has insights into the tax side of things. Thanks in advance!