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🌱 Step 1) Form Company

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As soon as we get your information + payment, we will start the process of forming your company!

To get started, we don’t need any documents. All we need is your information at https://app.startpack.io! This form only takes a few minutes to fill out and asks for:

• Your Company name
• Your Personal Address (This doesn’t need to be in the U.S. and we will be providing you with a U.S. Business Address!)
• Phone number and email to contact you

Later in the process, the only other document you’ll need is a Passport, to set up your bank account.

Timeline: Up to one week on average.

Dependencies: The State. This is dependent on how fast the state processes the forms.

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📑 Step 2) Apply for EIN

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Once we have your company formed and have received formation documents from the state, we will get started on your EIN (Employer Identification) application. A U.S. SSN is not required and we can apply on your behalf for an EIN, either way!
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Timeline with a US SSN: < 1 week on average.

Timeline without a US SSN: 45 – 90 business days on average (2-4 months). You can see real-time updates on processing times at this page:
https://www.startpack.io/how-long-will-it-take-to-get-an-ein

You might be thinking: Wait, what? Why does it take so long without a U.S. SSN?!

The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) offices were closed for three months, due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. They now have a MASSIVE backlog of applications that they are trying to sort out.

​”IRS has 1 million unprocessed returns and 3 million pieces of unopened mail after COVID-19 wreaked havoc on tax season” –
Marketwatch

COVID-19 has severely impacted many people around the world, and also impacted many businesses. The IRS is not excluded from this impact and they have felt the impact dearly. This has caused delays in processing EIN applications.

We are in communication with the IRS every week regarding this timeline and we will update this page as soon as we have new information on EIN processing timelines. If you would like to confirm this information for yourself, no hard feelings 😄, here is how to contact the IRS:

• Call the Business & Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933
• The hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday.

Given these delays, we are working around the clock to get EIN applications sent to the IRS as fast as possible and are advising entrepreneurs like yourself to submit their EIN applications ASAP to receive their EINs sooner rather than later 🙏

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🏦 Step 3) Apply for Bank Account

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Once we have your EIN (An EIN is required to apply for and to open a bank account, you do not need to be a U.S. resident) you’ll be able to apply for a U.S. Bank Account through our custom partner portal.
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We primarily work with
Mercury but you can see if you are eligible for other banking options on
this page (scroll down to Banking)

Dependencies: The bank. This is dependent on whether or not the bank has follow up questions regarding your application.

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💵 Step 4) Set up Payments

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Once your bank account is set up, you can connect it to your payment processor to start processing payments, which are deposited in your account!
Timeline: A few days on average.

Dependencies. The payment processor. This is dependent on the payment processor reviewing your business verification!

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