Selling in the USA

Question

We’re a small music publishing company in the UK. One of our artists has potential to sell CDs to a niche market in the USA. We plan to manufacture 1000 CDs in the US, for sale only in the US. What is the simplest way to learn about our tax obligations? There is no export/importing involved because the product will be made and sold in the USA.
Any advice appreciated!

Answer

Hi Michael

In my answer I have assumed when you say “we plan to manufacture…” you will be setting up a US entity and not contracting out manufacturing of the goods.

I would recommend you talk to BritishAmerican Business (formerly the American Chamber of Commerce UK and British-American Chamber of Commerce). BAB will be able to give you practical support & guidance on taxation & other legal considerations:

http://babinc.org/

Also as an independent UK music production company you may be able to obtain a grant of £5-50k from the new UKTI & BPI music export growth fund:

http://news.bis.gov.uk/Press-Releases/Export-scheme-launched-to-promote-British-music-overseas-69302.aspx

I hope this helps & good luck!

Kind regards

Gemma
@ExportExpertUK
[email protected]
www.export-expert.co.uk

Answer

Gemma,
Thanks so much for the answer. I’ll definitely try both! But, no – we weren’t thinking of setting up an entity out there. We’d like to do it the simplest way possible, because it’s small scale at the moment. We were basically thinking of duplicating the CDs in the US, and then selling them there. Our problem is our lack of knowledge of tax laws out there.
Thanks again,
Michael

Answer

Hi Michael,

I recently posted an article about US Tax on Open to Export, which you may want to check out. Hope this helps.

https://opentoexport.com/article/top-ten-u-s-trade-questions-4-tax/

Best,
Diana Lau
UKTI USA

Export Action Plan