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Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

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Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#41

Post by candiodari »

nlitened wrote: post #38

Would you consider Cyprus? A member of European Union, EUR currency, 12.5% corporate tax (for most software businesses could go as low as 2.5%). You collect and pay VAT only for European customers, otherwise no VAT. Supported by Stripe. Foreigners pay 0% dividend tax. Rather low setup and maintenance costs, can effectively have no physical presence in the country. Most documents are in English. Good climate, too, if…

What about bank account + transfer fees + how like are you to trigger terrorism enforcement?

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#42

Post by JimDabell »

muzani wrote: post #2

If you're living in Thailand, how about Singapore? Corporate tax at 17%. Personal tax capped at 22%. Incorporation cost seems quite cheap, but you might want to ask them directly. They're a startup launchpad for a good reason. Plenty of American and Asian investors & acquirers. The latter is more valuable now as American investors struggle with the economy. Also really good finance infrastructure. Stripe has trouble…

In Singapore you need at least one director who is locally resident, a qualified company secretary, and a local business address. Companies exist that will file the paperwork and supply all that for you, but if you aren’t locally resident, you’ll pay extra for the local director. The local banks also tend to require your physical presence to open an account, although neobanks like Wise don’t.

I’m not saying it’s a terrible choice – I‘ve incorporated in Singapore and there are lots of advantages. But if you aren’t locally resident, there might be better options.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#43

Post by oezi »

a_lex wrote: post #23
a_lex wrote: post #9

Consider UAE freezone. Setup is not cheap, but corp tax 0% (9% after 1M revenue), personal tax 0%. I welcome differing opinions

License cost is about ~4k per year Total initial costs could be about 10-15k Yes I agree those fees are actually a hidden tax, but it totally depends on your revenue, at some point you can save a lot on corporate and personal taxes.

Don't you still have to pay taxes in your country of citizenship?

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#44

Post by stavros »

candiodari wrote: post #41
nlitened wrote: post #38

Would you consider Cyprus? A member of European Union, EUR currency, 12.5% corporate tax (for most software businesses could go as low as 2.5%). You collect and pay VAT only for European customers, otherwise no VAT. Supported by Stripe. Foreigners pay 0% dividend tax. Rather low setup and maintenance costs, can effectively have no physical presence in the country. Most documents are in English. Good climate, too, if…

What about bank account + transfer fees + how like are you to trigger terrorism enforcement?

They do try to gouge you a bit on the bank accounts, but nothing too bad (I think a few tens of euros per month). Things have tightened down in recent years, so the "foreigners pay 0% tax" bit doesn't easily apply, you need to be a permanent resident of Cyprus to get the 0% bracket and it's hard for them to consider you a permanent resident, and it's more like 2% in the end.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#45

Post by nlitened »

candiodari wrote: post #41
nlitened wrote: post #38

Would you consider Cyprus? A member of European Union, EUR currency, 12.5% corporate tax (for most software businesses could go as low as 2.5%). You collect and pay VAT only for European customers, otherwise no VAT. Supported by Stripe. Foreigners pay 0% dividend tax. Rather low setup and maintenance costs, can effectively have no physical presence in the country. Most documents are in English. Good climate, too, if…

What about bank account + transfer fees + how like are you to trigger terrorism enforcement?

You could get a bank account in Revolut Business, where for a small monthly subscription you get zero or very low transfer fees, good currency conversion rates, very nice web/mobile apps, and pretty reasonable KYC with responsive support (especially compared to average European banking experience).

If you don’t do any shady stuff, you should be fine.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#46

Post by moralestapia »

nlitened wrote: post #38

Would you consider Cyprus? A member of European Union, EUR currency, 12.5% corporate tax (for most software businesses could go as low as 2.5%). You collect and pay VAT only for European customers, otherwise no VAT. Supported by Stripe. Foreigners pay 0% dividend tax. Rather low setup and maintenance costs, can effectively have no physical presence in the country. Most documents are in English. Good climate, too, if…

Thanks, this sounds real nice,

>Rather low setup and maintenance costs

Can you give an estimate on that?

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#47

Post by stavros »

Symbiote wrote: post #39

Taxes pay for society: education, healthcare, infrastructure, defence, culture. You benefit from these, and expect to benefit in the future from them (e.g. expecting to employ someone with a good education). You should pay your share.

While I agree in spirit, there are only a few countries in the world where I'd be comfortable paying taxes and trust that the money won't be embezzled: Basically the Nordics and Switzerland. Maybe also Germany.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#48

Post by maremmano »

Symbiote wrote: post #39

Taxes pay for society: education, healthcare, infrastructure, defence, culture. You benefit from these, and expect to benefit in the future from them (e.g. expecting to employ someone with a good education). You should pay your share.

I would really love the hypothetical world you describe. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way in many parts of the world. Mine included. And no, you can't change it that easily even if you decide to dedicate your life to this.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#49

Post by nlitened »

moralestapia wrote: post #46
nlitened wrote: post #38

Would you consider Cyprus? A member of European Union, EUR currency, 12.5% corporate tax (for most software businesses could go as low as 2.5%). You collect and pay VAT only for European customers, otherwise no VAT. Supported by Stripe. Foreigners pay 0% dividend tax. Rather low setup and maintenance costs, can effectively have no physical presence in the country. Most documents are in English. Good climate, too, if…

Thanks, this sounds real nice, >Rather low setup and maintenance costs Can you give an estimate on that?

I’d estimate around $2k for set up and around $2k yearly — if you’re willing to outsource absolutely everything (registration, legal, accounting, audit) and never visit or do anything personally.

Likely could go cheaper in exchange for more personal time spent.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I incoporate my business

#50

Post by resing »

nlitened wrote: post #38

Would you consider Cyprus? A member of European Union, EUR currency, 12.5% corporate tax (for most software businesses could go as low as 2.5%). You collect and pay VAT only for European customers, otherwise no VAT. Supported by Stripe. Foreigners pay 0% dividend tax. Rather low setup and maintenance costs, can effectively have no physical presence in the country. Most documents are in English. Good climate, too, if…

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