Claudio,

In order to have a home remodeling business in New York you will have obtain a license from local authorities. For example, at this link (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dca/html/licenses/100.shtml) you can read about the process of obtaining a license in New York City.

As you will see from the requirements, there are two ways to organize your company for this purpose. One is a slightly complicated way, where you would have to obtain a Certificate of Good Standing for your Italian LLC from appropriate Italian authorities (and make sure that you include an Apostille that is valid in the United States). When we have that information, we can register your company with New York State for something called “authority to do business.” The total cost of this process on the U.S. side will be approximately $600 plus the fees necessary to publish an announcement of registration of your company in newspapers (a legal requirement in New York). A newspaper announcement in this case should cost additionally close to $200.

Another way, that I recommend considering, is to form a corporation in New York State that will be fully-owned by your Italian LLC. The advantage of a corporation in this case is that New York does not require corporations, as opposed to LLCs to publish newspaper announcements about its formation. In addition, by forming a U.S. entity you will avoid the trouble of having to get any documentation from Italy. Of course, you have to consider tax consequences of this choice, because corporations (as opposed to LLCs) are taxed on the corporate profits in addition to the income tax on employees’ salaries. To form a NY corporation with us would cost approximately $530 dollars.

Please let us know how we can be of further help to you.

Felice anno nuovo!