It was total liability too, otherwise I would have needed a board and accountant. But since the company had no assets (other than the invoice money for some days) or debt it was low risk.
Optics of your local tax office ? Definitely not, they're going to view you as trying to skip around local taxes.
Basically, if you’re not in the US, they know they’ll have a hard time suing you. The LLC won’t help obscure that.
If you go the US LLC route, make sure you understand the tax implications. Preparing your American tax return may be very expensive. (When I lived in NYC as a European expat, the paperwork for my private tax return cost several thousand dollars each year. American tax advisers who have experience handling foreign professionals know their price.)