For years, European founders have been told a simple story:
“Just set up a New Mexico or Delaware LLC.
The U.S. doesn’t participate in CRS.
Your name stays off the public registry.
You’ll be invisible.”
It sounds clean. Elegant. Offshore-but-not-offshore.
Except… it’s not true.
And most founders only discover this when their tax authority shows up holding bank statements they thought were “hidden.”
Today, let’s break this down clearly — with zero jargon and maximum clarity, the way we do at The Freedom Brief.
🔍First, the part everyone gets wrong about CRS
Here’s the simplest possible explanation:
✔ CRS (Common Reporting Standard)
= a global system where banks report:
who owns an account
their tax residency
account balances
transactions
…back to the person’s home country.
It doesn’t report companies — it reports people.
This is the key most people miss.
If you are a European tax resident, CRS is designed to find you,
regardless of what jurisdiction your company is in.
❓“But the U.S. doesn’t participate in CRS!”
We know.
Everyone says this.
And yes — U.S. LLCs technically don’t get reported under CRS because the U.S. didn’t sign it.
This is why gurus push:
New Mexico LLCs
Delaware LLCs
Wyoming LLCs
Florida LLCs
etc.
The marketing line always goes:
“CRS doesn’t see U.S. companies.”
Correct.
But here’s the part you didn’t know — and why we wrote this article:
🚨You don’t get exposed through the COMPANY.
You get exposed through the BANK.**
CRS applies to financial institutions, not corporate registries.
So even though your NM/DE LLC sits comfortably in a non-CRS jurisdiction…
…the moment you open a bank account or payment account ANYWHERE outside the U.S., everything changes.
Anywhere means:
Stripe
Wise
Payoneer
Revolut
UAE EMIs
HK/SG banks
European EMIs
African fintechs
Caribbean fintechs
Once you do the KYC for these, your “anonymous” LLC becomes transparent.
How?
Keep reading.
Everyone knows CRS.
Almost no one understands FATCA.
Here is the simplest explanation in the world:
✔ FATCA = a U.S. law forcing every bank globally to identify
Who really controls every entity.
Not report.
Not send data to the IRS.
Just identify.
Meaning:
When you open an account, the bank MUST ask:
Who is the real owner?
What is your citizenship?
What is your tax residency?
What is your personal tax number?
Who controls the company?
Are you U.S. or non-U.S.?
They must collect this before they can classify the entity.
This is where the trap begins.
🎭 FATCA unmasking → CRS reporting 🤝
Here’s the sequence that no “offshore guru” on YouTube ever explains:
Step 1 — FATCA forces the bank to collect your real identity
(even for a U.S. LLC)
Step 2 — The bank discovers you’re European
(frankly, you tell them during KYC)
Step 3 — Now the bank must classify your LLC
Non-U.S. controlling person = Passive NFFE
This is a high-reporting category.
Step 4 — CRS kicks in
Once FATCA unmasked you, CRS takes over.
The bank now must report:
YOU (the UBO/controlling person)
Your tax residency
The LLC’s account balances
All associated information
…to your home tax authority.
CRS doesn’t need to see the LLC.
It only needs to see YOU.
And FATCA makes that possible.
This is why European tax authorities receive:
Stripe balances
Fintech transactions
EMI bank statements
Digital payment flows
Corporate UBO links
…even though your LLC is in New Mexico or Delaware.
So yes — the U.S. doesn’t participate in CRS. But your bank DOES.🔪
Your NM or DE LLC isn’t hiding you because:
📌 Registries don’t matter. Banks do.
📌 KYC overrides anonymity.
📌 FATCA unmasking enables CRS reporting.
📌 CRS follows the owner, not the company.
📌 Opening ANY non-U.S. account exposes your tax residency.
📌 Even Stripe triggers CRS via its banking partners.
It doesn’t matter that the U.S. refused to sign CRS.
What matters is:
Europe signed it.
Your bank signed it.
Your payment processor signed it.
Your fintech signed it.
The U.S. LLC is irrelevant.
💻 Why this matters for digital founders
If you’re:
selling in Europe
collecting payments through Stripe
scaling through EMIs
invoicing international clients
operating remotely
…then the belief that “my U.S. LLC keeps me invisible” is not only wrong — it can be dangerous.
Because your tax authority receives:
income reports
merchant balances
account values
financial flows
directly through CRS.
And they cross-check:
VAT
corporate tax
personal income tax
controlled foreign company rules
foreign-owned business reporting
This is why so many European founders are getting:
“offshore business” letters
unexplained wealth inquiries
VAT audits
CRS discrepancy notices
shock tax bills
…even when using U.S. entities.
🎁 Final takeaway — your NM/DE LLC is not a privacy tool
You’re not hidden. You’re not invisible.
You’re not outside the system.
Because FATCA ensures you're unmasked.
And CRS ensures you’re reported.
If you want a real privacy-preserving structure that:
keeps your name off registries
avoids automatic reporting
bypasses CRS exposure
solves merchant/banking compliance
works for remote founders
— then you need a structure designed specifically for digital businesses, not 2014-era “offshore tricks.”
Remoove believes utmost privacy is vital — and has already developed a structure built to avoid these reporting leaks entirely. Chat with them to learn more.
To allow you to fact-check the information above, here is a shared link of a ChatGPT chat where you can easily fact-check the info as well as dive into the sources:
https://chatgpt.com/share/69202667-7394-8004-950a-1457da1262be
Paid Placement — The Global Vault by Remoove