Running a US Company From India: Banking and Platforms

Mercury's list of 48 prohibited countries does not include India, and neither does Relay's list of 31, checked September 1, 2026.

That is not the same as an approval. It means this gate does not close on you, and the rest of each institution's diligence still applies. But it means you should start with banking rather than treating it as the impassable step, which is the right advice for India and the wrong advice for Nigeria or Pakistan.

One thing to check before applying to Relay: it tests citizenship as well as residence, for every owner named on the application. If a co-founder holds a passport from a country on Relay's list, the application fails regardless of where anyone lives.

India does not appear among the 79 territories on Wise's inclusion list. It appears only in the restrictions note:

"India - you can hold money in your account when travelling overseas."

Wise, Where do I need to live to hold money with Wise?.

That is a different condition from residency eligibility and we have not tested how it works. Note also that this page governs holding money; sending and receiving have separate coverage we have not retrieved.

Stripe. The residency sentence is scoped to unregistered businesses and does not reach your registered LLC. The obstacle is the address field, which wants the physical location where the majority of your business activity is carried out. That is your desk in Bengaluru or Mumbai, not your registered agent.

Shopify Payments. Residency rule covers individuals and sole proprietorships only. Requires a full US checking account, ACH-eligible.

Etsy, through Payoneer. India is one of sixteen starred countries:

"Sellers in countries with * next to their names can accept Etsy Payments with a Payoneer Payment Account."

Etsy, Countries Eligible for Etsy Payments.

Google Play. Choose the organization account:

"The government-issued photo ID can be issued in any country"

Google, Required documents by country and region.

An individual account requires a United States government-issued photo ID, which you do not have. The organization path accepts your Indian passport.

Apple Developer. No residency or citizenship requirement stated. Requires a legal entity, a D-U-N-S number, a work email on your own domain and a live functional website.

A claim circulates that Apple enrollment in India is only available through the Apple Developer app. No India-specific content appeared on Apple's enrollment page when we read it, so we could not verify it and are not repeating it.

Upwork. Open. India is not on its restriction list.

Four to eight weeks from certificate to first invoice, assuming nothing is declined. India's advantage is that the banking step is not the open-ended one it is for other corridors.

India has substantial rules governing residents who own foreign entities: the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, FEMA, overseas direct investment reporting, and GST treatment of services invoiced from a foreign entity.

We have not verified any of them and this page makes no claim about them. They are real, they carry real consequences, and they require an Indian chartered accountant. Summarizing another country's exchange-control and tax regime from memory would be exactly the kind of unsourced assertion this site exists to avoid.

What we can tell you is that the US and India do have an income tax treaty, unlike Nigeria and Brazil, so the analysis has a framework that those corridors lack.

A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, on paper, due April 15 and extendable to October 15. The penalty for missing it compounds per related party once the failure continues after IRS notice.

Failing to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed carries a $25,000 penalty.[1]Internal Revenue Service, Instructions for Form 5472 (12/2024)

That obligation is independent of whether you owe any US income tax, and independent of the treaty.

If your customers are Indian and pay in rupees, a US LLC adds a federal filing, a state filing, an annual state fee and Indian regulatory obligations, for no benefit your business needs.

If your customers are American and prefer contracting with a US entity, or you need US payment rails on US terms, or an app store requires it, the calculation is different.

The US side is sourced and the Indian side needs a chartered accountant. Which questions to ask, and what to bring to that meeting, is set out on US tax for India-resident LLC owners.