US LLC/bank still the best?

[AnchoredUnbound]

My friend is from Ukraine and runs a small business sourcing items from Japan/Korea. He imports to storage/distributor in Bulgaria and then sends to clients where necessary. So far this has always been in crypto, but he wants to start taking bank transfers.

My understanding is from Ukraine he can set up an anonymous US LLC as well as a bank and/or EMI of some kind to receive payments from clients.
No business is happening in US so no tax there correct?
And US bank/EMI will never report back to Ukraine for taxes correct?

Is US LLC/bank the best option for him, or am I missing something? If it is the best option, any recommendations about specific banks/EMIs to use?
Would be good if at least one of these accounts were suitable for converting significant amounts from fiat to crypto and back, as necessary.

 

[Sols]

Ukraine is partially sanctioned, so it can be very challenging to open and maintain bank accounts. Throw an anonymous company from an unrelated part of the world into the mix and you've almost got a full "Unbankable" bingo card, unfortunately.

Your friend does business in Europe and has economic ties to Bulgaria, right? Form the company in Bulgaria, appoint a local Bulgarian as director, and open bank accounts in Bulgaria. All things being relative, Bulgaria is quite cheap, fast, reliable, and tax efficient for something like this. Provided your friend is not resident in any of the sanctioned parts of Ukraine, opening a bank account in Bulgaria or elsewhere in Europe is probably not that hard.

Bulgarian banks might be a little iffy with crypto on/off ramping. It varies a lot. Might be enough to put a crypto friendly EMI between the crypto exchange and the bank. Something to discuss with the bank at account opening.