[mathrawka]

If you prefer to use a pseudonym, why not just register an LLC? There are services out there that will register your company and be your registered agent in states that do not require your name ever made public (Wyoming for example). These services also provide a mailbox that would work for anything you need.

You can then get a business checking account (Mercury works well) with your newly registered business.

You can then create a business account on Apple and Google (and anywhere else).

All of the public facing information will be your company name. If you want more details or help, just ask here.

[Dracophoenix]

> If you prefer to use a pseudonym, why not just register an LLC? There are services out there that will register your company and be your registered agent in states that do not require your name ever made public (Wyoming for example).

Congress passed a bill with rider a that now makes the creation of anonymous LLCs difficult.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/467017-house-passes-bill-...

https://maloney.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/congress-...

https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/02/04/the-end-of-the-an...

[mathrawka]

That looks like it requires disclosure of the owners to the US government, not on the public record. If I'm misunderstanding the documents you linked, please let me know.

[Dracophoenix]

You're correct. However, anything that can be disclosed to the US government can always be disclosed to the public, whether by law or by leak[1]. I did say the law makes establishing anonymous LLCs difficult. I didn't say establishing them was impossible.

[1] https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trov...

[pc86]

This should still be fine, especially for LLCs which presumably exist at least conceptually in order to make money. The government has a well-defined, broadly accepted (outside the fringes) interest in knowing who is doing commerce and making money.

Making money completely anonymously, without reporting this to the IRS and state tax authorities, at least in the US as a US citizen, is and should be illegal. But still seems pretty straightforward to stay anonymous on the front end.

[Dracophoenix]

> Making money completely anonymously, without reporting this to the IRS and state tax authorities, at least in the US as a US citizen, is and should be illegal. But still seems pretty straightforward to stay anonymous on the front end.

All for-profit companies doing business in the United States have always been required to report to the IRS and state tax authorities. There's never been a way to make money anonymously short of simply not filing with IRS (definitely illegal). This new law doesn't change or improve upon that in any way.

Prior to the bill being passed, one could set up a shell company in Nevada without giving away one's name. With the passage of this bill, one's ownership in an LLC is kept in a registry by a government agency for the sole purpose of surveillance. There's only as much "privacy" from the general public as there is the likelihood that the Treasury's servers are secure. And there's absolutely none from the members of the US government.

There are purposefully installed concessions that were requested by certain entrenched interest groups. For example, a company employing at least 12 people won't have to report anything. And the fact that the bill was a rider on a veto-proof legislation shows the substance of it wasn't quite popular enough to devote a legislative session towards the issue. It's little more than a privacy buster under the guise of an anti-corruption bill.

[ghaff]

The 90% use case is that someone wants to make it quite hard for an Internet rando (or maybe their employer) to connect them to their "true name" and, by extension, all the other data connected to their true name--likely including their address among other things, especially if their name is uncommon or other data is already known. This is pretty easy in the US.

Making it so no one can make the connection is much harder (as in close to impossible) and probably illegal in many cases especially if money is changing hands.

[New_California]

Anon LLC is US specific. Not available in other countries.

[DarthNebo]

Not limited by LLC, registering a company anywhere can ensure it to an extent

[necovek]

At least where I am from (Serbia), registry of all LLCs is publicly available with personal data on all the "members" (whole- or part-owners). The best you can get is by having a foreign LLC where there is no name requirement register an LLC here.

[New_California]

No, company board and owners are public and readily available data in virtually all countries, US being an exception to the rule.

[weego]

The seychelles is also a good choice for a completely anonymous company (note that banking may be a bigger issue to solve)

[sschueller]

In Switzerland that would require you to deposit at least 25k or you can not use a fantasy name.

[calvinmorrison]

Well there goes my "Middle Earth Orc Roundup Pest Control" business name...

[867-5309]

to the Orcs, we are the pest

[ocrb]

And even then there's a public entry that you are the owner, there are no anonymous LLCs in Switzerland.

[tmp2343EU]

...or strike a deal with existing LLC. This is what my company does. We sign contracts and you re hidden behind offshore corporate veil.

[dijonman2]

Excellent suggestion, but how do you find an existing LLC that won’t fuck you?

[tmp2343EU]

Meet the people behind it, draft good contracts, trust your guts. It will always be a gamble, tho.

[adbachman]

Go looking.

What have you tried that didn't work?

[dijonman2]

Partnered with the wrong person and lost money/time.

[runnerup]

In many states if you want anonymity you ALSO have to pay a lawyer to be the principal agent in addition to the registered agent.

Basically the lawyer is the CEO/“Owner” but since you pay them to do exactly as you say, they delegate everything back to you and just sign forms occasionally that you put in front of them.

[vanattab]

I always wondered about these situations? What prevents the Lawyer from just taking off with company assets if they are the owner? If there are other contract terms limiting the lawyer and giving someone else control is the lawyer still "legally" the owner?

[wombatpm]

Bad lawyers can and do. They also end up in jail.