The US LLC question, answered with arithmetic

Half of freelancer social media sells the Wyoming LLC as a tax trick. Run the actual numbers and the picture flips: a Turkish sole proprietorship with the 100% export deduction usually keeps more, and what the LLC really buys is Stripe and PayPal access. This tool computes both paths for your revenue.

Inputs

Annual foreign revenue

USD / year

Work qualifies for the export deductionSoftware, design, engineering and similar services invoiced to non-residents and used abroad; generic consulting does not qualify, and that changes this comparison materially.LLC path collects by card via StripeAdds 2.9% processing; the checkout access is the LLC's actual product.

Verified 22 Aug 2026IRS rules, FinCEN final rule, Turkish CPA guidance

Two paths, one year

The Turkish sole proprietorship keeps $17,571 more per yearWith the 100% export deduction, the sole proprietorship pays almost no income tax; the LLC route pays the full progressive scale on distributions with nothing to credit.

$57,368

sole proprietorship keeps (4.4% total burden)

$39,797

US LLC path keeps (33.7% total burden)

$803

LLC fixed US costs per year

$17,660

Turkish tax on LLC distributions

LLC path: you keep: $39,797 / yearTurkish tax: $17,660 / yearUS costs: $803 / yearCard processing: $1,740 / year

The honest framing. The LLC buys payment rails (Stripe checkout, US PayPal, Mercury banking), not a tax rate. Leaving profits inside the LLC is deferral with real compliance risk, not a 0% outcome; and skipping the annual Form 5472 filing costs $25,000 per miss. Declared distributions are taxed in Turkey as dividends at the progressive scale.

Methodology and sources

Path A runs the revenue through our verified freelancer tax engine (Bagkur at the minimum base, regular-payment discount). Path B takes midpoint US fixed costs (state fee, agent, mandatory Form 5472 preparer, amortized formation), optional card processing, and taxes the distributed remainder in Turkey as dividends at the general tariff with no deductions and nothing to credit.

Zero US tax without US-performed work; 5472 mechanics and penalty · IRS sourcing rules and Form 5472 instructions
BOI reporting permanently dropped for US entities · FinCEN final rule, effective 14 Aug 2026
Turkish treatment of LLC distributions as dividends; export deduction inapplicable · Turkish CPA guidance (evrenozmen, alomaliye, PwC TR commentary)
Stripe country list (Turkey absent); PayPal exit 2016; Wise Turkey restrictions since May 2023 · stripe.com/global; Wise help center

US federal income tax is zero when the work is performed from Turkey with no US office, employees or dependent agent; the Form 5472 + pro forma 1120 filing stays mandatory every year with a $25,000 penalty for missing it.

Since the FinCEN final rule of 14 Aug 2026, US-formed LLCs file no beneficial ownership report even with foreign owners.

Turkey taxes the LLC's distributed profits as foreign dividends at the full progressive scale, with no export deduction and nothing to credit; leaving profits in the LLC is deferral with compliance risk, not a tax rate.

An LLC run entirely from Turkey risks recharacterization as Turkish-managed (25% corporate tax plus dividend withholding); practitioner warnings are explicit.

Stripe does not serve Turkey directly; PayPal left in 2016; Wise stopped serving Turkey residents in 2023. Payoneer and bank wires remain the sole-proprietor rails, and the export deduction anyway requires bringing the money home.