When to register for a bank account for a C-Corp with no official money
Technically, it's only when you need to pass money through. However consider that the length the account has been open builds history with the financial institution, so I'd open ASAP. Longer history with the bank can help with getting approved for things like business credit lines, business cards, and other perks, though if you're not making money with that business, seek out a bank that does not charge money to have a business account open with them.
"Since as you say, an LLC is a pass-through entity, you will be making income in the U.S. when you sell to U.S. customers.  And so you will need to file the appropriate personal tax forms in the US.  As well as potentially in one or more States.  The US government does not register LLCs.  The various States do.  So you'll be dealing with Oregon, Wisconsin, Wyoming, one of those for the LLC registration.  You will also need to have a registered agent in the State.  That is a big deal since the entire point of forming an LLC is to add a liability shield.  You would lose the liability shield by not maintaining the business formalities.   Generally nations aim to tax income made in their nation, and many decline to tax income that you've already paid taxes on in another nation.  A key exception: If money is taxed by the U.S. it may also be taxed by one of the States.  Two States won't tax the same dollar. Registering an LLC in one State does not mean you'll pay state taxes there.  Generally States tax income made in their State.  It's common to have a Wyoming LLC that never pays a penny of tax in Wyoming.  Officially, an LLC doing business in a State it did not form in, must register in that State as a ""foreign LLC"" even though it's still in the USA.  The fee is usually the same as for a domestic LLC.  ""Doing business"" means something more than incidental sales, it means having a presence specifically in the State somehow.  It gets complicated quick.  If you are thinking of working in someone's app ecosystem like the Apple Store, Google Play, Steam etc. Obviously they want their developers coding, not wrestling with legalities, so some of them make a priority out of clearing and simplifying legal nuisances for you.  Find out what they do for you." Through your question and then clarification through the comments, it looks like you have a U.S. LLC with at least two members.  If you did not elect some other tax treatment, your LLC will be treated as a partnership by the IRS.  The partnership should file a tax return on Form 1065.  Then each partner will get a Schedule K-1 from the partnership, which the partner should use to include their respective shares of the partnership income and expenses on their personal Forms 1040. You can also elect to be taxed as an S-Corp or a C-Corp instead of a partnership, but that requires you to file a form explicitly making such election.  If you go S-Corp, then you will file a different form for the company, but the procedure is roughly the same - Income gets passed through to the owners via a Schedule K-1.  If you go C-Corp, then the owners will pay no tax on their own Form 1040, but the C-Corp itself will pay income tax. As far as whether you should try to spend the money as business expense to avoid paying extra tax - That's highly dependent on your specific situation.  I'd think you'd want to get tailored advice for that. "It might be best to step back and look at the core information first.  You're evaluating an LLC vs a Corporation (both corporate entities).  Both have one or more members, and both are seen similarly (emphasis on SIMILAR here, they're not all the same) to the IRS.  Specifically, LLC's can opt for a pass-through tax system, basically seen by the IRS the same way an S-Corp is. Put another way, you can be taxed as a corporate entity, or it's P/L statements can ""flow through"" to your personal taxes.  When you opt for a flow-through, the business files and you get a separate schedule to tie into your taxes.  You should also look at filing a business expense schedule (Schedule C) on your taxes to claim legitimate business expenses (good reference point here). While there are several differences (see this, and this, and this) between these entities, the best determination on which structure is best for you is usually if you have full time employ while you're running the business.  S corps limit shares, shareholders and some deductions, but taxes are only paid by the shareholders.  C corps have employees, no restrictions on types or number of stock, and no restrictions on the number of shareholders.  However, this means you would become an employee of your business (you have to draw monies from somewhere) and would be subject to paying taxes on your income, both as an individual, and as a business (employment taxes such as Social Security, Medicare, etc). From the broad view of the IRS, in most cases an LLC and a Corp are the same type of entity (tax wise).  In fact, most of the differences between LLCs and Corps occur in how Profits/losses are distributed between members (LLCs are arbitrary to a point, and Corps base this on shares). Back to your question IMHO, you should opt for an LLC.  This allows you to work out a partnership with your co-worker, and allows you to disburse funds in a more flexible manner.  From Wikipedia : A limited liability company with multiple members that elects to be taxed as partnership may specially allocate the members' distributive share of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit via the company operating agreement on a basis other than the ownership percentage of each member so long as the rules contained in Treasury Regulation (26 CFR) 1.704-1 are met. S corporations may not specially allocate profits, losses and other tax items under US tax law. Hope this helps, please do let me know if you have further questions.  As always, this is not legal or tax advice, just what I've learned in setting several LLCs and Corporate structures up over the years. EDIT: As far as your formulas go, the tax rate will be based upon your personal income, for any pass through entity.  This means that the same monies earned from and LLC or an S-corp, with the same expenses and the same pass-through options will be taxed the same. More reading: LLC and the law (Google Group)" "Probably she asked for some kind of registered delivery, someone asked her, ""what are the contents worth?"", in order to get a number to put into the insurance calculator, and she said ""$60000"". If that's true, meaning that if the letter goes astray, you can't get a new one issued, then yes you should insure it to the value of $60000 (or rather, since the insurance is so much, you should not post it at all. Your girlfriend could perhaps return it to her client and agree with them another way to transfer money). I'm also not sure what happens when a letter hits US customs with a declared value of $60000! However, it's probably not true. This is a check (or, if drawn on a bank here in the UK, a cheque), not a bearer bond. If it goes missing then (with some trouble and expense) she can almost certainly get another one issued. So the correct answer to ""what's this worth?"" is the cost of replacing it, not the amount of money that it instructs the bank to transfer. As for whether it'll cause a red flag for you, I'm afraid I don't know enough about US banking to say. Here in the UK there should be no problem with a cheque for that amount, unless one of the banks involved has reason to suspect money laundering or related financial crime, in which case they're required to report it. But if the cheque is from a non-US account and you're paying it into your US account, then maybe you need to make a customs declaration?" Funds earned and spent before opening a dedicated business account should be classified according to their origination. For example, if your business received income, where did that money go?  If you took the money personally, it would be considered either a 'distribution' or a 'loan' to you.  It is up to you which of the two options you choose. On the flip side, if your business had an expense that you paid personally, that would be considered either a 'contribution of capital' or a 'loan' from you. If you choose to record these transactions as loans, you can offset them together, so you don't need two separate accounts, loan to you and loan from you. When the bank account was opened, the initial deposit came from where?  If it came from your personal funds, then it is either a 'contribution of capital' or a 'loan' from you. From the sound of your question, you deposited what remained after the preceding income/expenses.  This would, in effect, return the 'loan' account back to zero, if choosing that route. The above would also be how to record any expenses you may pay personally for the business (if any) in the future. Because these transactions were not through a dedicated business bank account, you can't record them in Quickbooks as checks and deposits.  Instead, you can use Journal Entries.  For any income received, you would debit your capital/loan account and credit your income account.  For any expenses, you would debit the appropriate expense account and credit your distribution/loan account. Also, if setting up a loan account, you should choose either Current Asset or Current Liability type.  The capital contribution and distribution account should be Equity type. Hope this helps! Check with the state that you lived in. Inactive accounts typically get turned over to the State Treasury or Comptroller to be claimed. The time is typically set by statute. Hopefully, you don't live in a state like California or Arizona that treats abandoned property like booty. "You have figured out most of the answers for yourself and there is not much more that can be said. From a lender's viewpoint,  non-immigrant students applying for car loans are not very good risks because they are going to graduate in a short time (maybe less than the loan duration which is typically three years or more) and thus  may well be leaving the country before  the loan is fully paid off. In your case, the issue is exacerbated  by the fact that your OPT status is due to expire in about one year's time. So the issue is not whether you are a citizen, but whether the lender can be reasonably sure that you will be gainfully employed and able to make the loan  payments until the loan is fully paid off. Yes, lenders care about work history and credt scores but they also care (perhaps even care more) about the prospects for steady employment and ability to make the payments until the loan is paid off.  Yes, you plan on  applying for a H1-B visa but that is still in the future and whether the visa status will be adjusted is still a matter with uncertain outcome. Also, these are not matters that can be explained easily in an on-line application, or in a paper application submitted by mail to a distant bank whose name you obtained from some list of ""lenders who have a reliable track record of extending  auto loans to non-permanent residents."" For this reason, I  suggested in a comment that you consider applying at a credit union,  especially if there is an Employees' Credit Union for those  working for your employer. If you go this route, go talk to a loan officer in person rather than trying to do this on the phone. Similarly, a local bank,and especially one where you currently have an account (hopefully in good standing), is more likely to be willing to work with you.  Failing all this, there is always the auto dealer's own loan offers of financing.  Finally, one possibility that you might  want to consider is whether a one-year lease might work for you instead of an outright purchase, and you can buy a car after your visa issue has been settled." You would need to setup a company (even if it's just a sole proprietorship, in the US) to be able to apply for a true merchant account.  And thus have a terminal; either real or virtual in your home or business. However, many services such as paypal allow you to accept credit cards (both online and with a card reader) and when the customer is billed it appears as paypal + your account name.  So you essentially have the benefits of a merchant account, without having to set one up.