🇲🇾 For founders in Malaysia
Form a US company from Malaysia
Malaysia's developers, designers, agencies, and SaaS founders (in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Cyberjaya, and beyond) increasingly sell to American and global clients. At some point a local Sdn Bhd or working as a sole proprietor stops being enough: clients in the United States often want to pay an American company, prefer American invoices and a US business account, and some marketplaces, payment processors, and SaaS vendors only onboard entities registered there. A US LLC or C-Corp closes that gap without you leaving Malaysia.
Such an entity gives you a US EIN, a US business account opened through our licensed partner, and clean USD invoicing: the setup that American payment processors and investors expect. A Delaware C-Corp is the standard if you plan to raise from American venture funds; a single-member LLC is simpler and, for a non-US owner with no American operations, is disregarded for federal tax purposes in the United States: it files an informational return rather than paying US corporate tax, though Malaysia may treat the LLC differently from how the United States does. Which is right depends on your fundraising and product plans, so confirm with a cross-border accountant.
Forming the company is the easy part. What actually trips up Malaysian founders is that there is no US–Malaysia tax treaty, how the United States taxes your income, how you bring earnings home under Bank Negara's Foreign Exchange Notices (FEN), and how Malaysia's territorial tax system treats money you remit. That is what this page covers.
General information about forming a US company. Not legal, tax, or investment advice. Rules and figures cited are current as of July 2026 and change frequently. Consult qualified local and US advisers before acting.
The process, end to end
Form the entity
Pick a Wyoming LLC (solo/bootstrapped) or a Delaware C-Corp (VC-track) and file the formation remotely, with no US visit needed.
Read the guideGet an EIN
Apply for the company's federal tax ID. You can get an EIN without an SSN, and you need it to open a US business account.
Read the guideOpen a US business account
Open a US business account remotely with the EIN and formation documents. No US address or SSN required. Banking is provided through our licensed partner; StableCorp is not a bank.
Read the guideGet paid
Invoice US and global clients as a US entity and settle in USD, EUR, or INR, or in USDC on supported chains. Local-currency payout is available in select markets through StableCorp's licensed regional partners on compliant rails.
Read the guideMalaysia-specific considerations
There is no US–Malaysia tax treaty
Unlike Indonesia, the Philippines, or Thailand, Malaysia has no comprehensive income tax treaty with the US. There is no reduced withholding rate on US-source passive income (the statutory 30% applies) and no treaty permanent-establishment article to rely on. You still file Form W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E to document non-US status, but any argument that your business profits aren't US-taxed rests on US domestic 'effectively connected income' rules alone, so keep operations genuinely outside the US and get the position reviewed.
Malaysia's territorial system usually helps, but check the conditions
Foreign-source income remitted to Malaysia by a resident individual is exempt through 31 December 2036, but only if it was subject to tax of a similar character abroad and you declare and document it. A US single-member LLC that pays no US corporate tax may fail that 'taxed abroad' condition, which could make your remittance taxable at rates up to 30%. Don't assume the remittance is automatically tax-free; confirm with a Malaysian tax agent based on your entity type and how profit reaches you.
LLC vs C-Corp changes your US filing
A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person is usually disregarded for US federal tax (no US corporate tax if there's no US trade or business), but it must file Form 5472 plus a pro-forma 1120 every year, with steep penalties for missing it. Malaysia may not treat the LLC the same way the US does. A C-Corp pays US corporate tax on its profits and is the structure US venture investors expect. Choose based on whether you're raising US VC or simply invoicing clients.
FX is easy inbound, but watch the outward-investment cap
Bank Negara's Foreign Exchange Notices (FEN) let residents receive foreign currency freely with no inbound cap and hold Foreign Currency Accounts, so bank transfers from your US entity are straightforward; keep invoices for AML checks. Funding the US entity from Malaysia is the constrained direction: under FEN Notice 3, a resident with domestic ringgit borrowing is capped at RM 1,000,000/year (individuals) or RM 50,000,000/year (entities) in foreign-currency-asset investment; a resident with no ringgit borrowing may invest abroad freely. If you convert digital assets to ringgit, use a Securities Commission-registered Digital Asset Exchange; passive holding isn't taxed, but LHDN's badges-of-trade test can treat active trading or crypto received for services as taxable income.
Getting your money home to Malaysia
Malaysia taxes on a territorial basis. Residents are taxed on Malaysian-source income at progressive rates up to 30%, and foreign-source income received in Malaysia by a resident individual (all classes except income from a partnership carrying on business in Malaysia) is exempt from tax from 1 January 2022 through 31 December 2036. Budget 2026 extended what had been a 2026 sunset out to 2036. The exemption is conditional: the income must have been subject to tax 'of a similar character to income tax' in the country where it arose, and you must declare it on your Malaysian return and keep supporting documents. That condition is the catch for founders drawing from a US LLC that paid little or no US tax: if the underlying profit was not taxed abroad, your remittance may not qualify for the exemption and could be taxable in Malaysia, so confirm your specific structure with a Malaysian tax agent. One point that is easy to miss runs the other way: funding or capitalising the US entity from Malaysia is an outward investment in foreign-currency assets, and Bank Negara's Foreign Exchange Notices (FEN), specifically Notice 3, cap a resident who has domestic ringgit borrowing at RM 1,000,000 per year for individuals (RM 50,000,000 per year for entities) in Investment in Foreign Currency Assets; a resident with no ringgit borrowing may invest abroad freely. On receiving the money: the FEN let residents freely receive foreign currency from non-residents, hold Foreign Currency Accounts (FCA), and there is no cap on inbound funds. The ringgit is convertible for current-account purposes. Physical currency movement above USD 10,000 equivalent must be declared, but bank transfers from your US entity into a Malaysian FCA or MYR account are routine. Keep invoices and contracts, since banks apply FEN and AML reporting and may ask the purpose of larger inflows.
On the rails: StableCorp settles to your US company's account in USD, EUR, or INR, and where a market supports it, arranges local-currency payout through licensed regional partners. It is not itself a licensed Malaysian exchange. If you convert digital assets to ringgit, that step runs through a Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) registered Digital Asset Exchange (DAX): the SC prescribes most tokens as securities under the Capital Markets and Services Act and licenses the DAX platforms through which crypto is legally converted to ringgit. On tax, Malaysia has no capital gains tax and no dedicated crypto tax for individuals: long-term, passive holding is generally not taxed, but LHDN (Inland Revenue Board) applies a 'badges of trade' test: if you actively and frequently trade, or receive crypto as payment for services or business, those profits are treated as income and taxed at normal rates. So the underlying service income is still reportable whatever settlement layer it arrives on, and you should keep dated records of the MYR value at each transaction (LHDN expects records kept for seven years). Because both the FSI exemption conditions and crypto treatment are fact-specific, verify the current rules with a local tax agent before relying on them.
Malaysia & US taxes
No. There is no comprehensive US–Malaysia income tax treaty. Malaysia does not appear on the IRS 'United States Income Tax Treaties A to Z' list. The two countries have only a limited reciprocal exemption for shipping and aircraft income and a FATCA information-exchange agreement (under which Malaysian banks report US-person accounts), neither of which is a general income tax treaty. Practically, this means three things for a founder. First, there is no treaty rate to reduce US withholding tax on US-source passive income: US-source dividends, interest, and royalties paid to a Malaysian resident are subject to the statutory 30% withholding, and there is no treaty 'permanent establishment' article to lean on. Second, you still give your US payer a Form W-8BEN (individual) or W-8BEN-E (entity) to document non-US status and avoid backup withholding, even though no treaty benefit is being claimed. Third, and most important: whether your US LLC or C-Corp owes US tax turns on whether it has a US trade or business / income that is 'effectively connected' with the US. A founder running the company entirely from Malaysia with no US office, staff, or dependent agent generally has non-US-source services income, but without a treaty this analysis rests purely on US domestic 'effectively connected income' rules, so get it confirmed by a cross-border tax advisor. The absence of a treaty does not create double taxation by itself here, because Malaysia's territorial system (below) generally does not tax foreign-source income of individuals, but it removes the treaty safety net, so structure and documentation matter more.
StableCorp helps founders in Malaysia form a US company, get an EIN and a US business account, and get paid on compliant rails, both sides.
Get startedFrequently asked questions
Do I need to live in the US or have a US visa to own a US LLC or C-Corp?
No. Malaysian founders can form and fully own a US LLC or C-Corp while living in Malaysia, get an EIN, and open a US business account remotely through our licensed partner. Ownership isn't tied to any visa. What you can't do is physically work inside the US without the right immigration status, but running the company from Malaysia is fine.
Is there a US–Malaysia tax treaty to reduce my US tax?
No. Malaysia isn't on the IRS treaty list: there's only a limited shipping/aircraft exemption and a FATCA information-exchange agreement. So there's no treaty rate on US-source passive income (the statutory 30% applies) and no treaty PE protection. You still file Form W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E to prove non-US status, and whether your business profits are US-taxed depends on US 'effectively connected income' rules. Worth a cross-border advisor's review.
Will I be taxed in Malaysia on money I bring home from my US company?
Malaysia taxes on a territorial basis, and foreign-source income remitted by a resident individual is exempt through 31 December 2036 (extended in Budget 2026), but only if it was subject to tax of a similar character abroad and you declare it. Income from a US LLC that paid no US tax may not meet that condition and could be taxable up to 30%. Confirm your case with a Malaysian tax agent.
How do I convert to ringgit, and what's StableCorp's role?
MYR conversion goes through a Securities Commission-registered Digital Asset Exchange (DAX). StableCorp settles USD, EUR, or INR to your US company's account and, where a market supports it, arranges local payout through licensed regional partners. It is not itself a DAX. Malaysia has no capital gains tax and passive holding isn't taxed, but LHDN's badges-of-trade test can treat active trading or crypto received for services as taxable income, so keep dated MYR-value records and declare your service income.