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Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

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Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#51

Post by pjc50 »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #43
r2dnb wrote: post #17

I've incorporated in the UK but I kind of wonder if I made the right choice. It's a fantastic country, but one thing that bothers me and that I discovered too late - only a few weeks ago - is privacy. This is a real one, pay attention to it. Basically, private companies are as public as american public companies. It's ok to have disclosures to make to the government, but here you also have to disclose your financials…

if privacy is an issue open up a Luxembourg SA (société anonyme). Compared to others Luxembourg has a good standing and no image problems combined with good banking privacy. You can sign contracts with anyone without being labelled as operating in a tax haven. Operating costs are more competitive than France. Most people speak 3 languages. Accountants & Lawyers are familiar with the law and tax code of their neighbou…

no image problems

It's kind of on the second tier of tax havens. Cayman/Man/Channel Islands/BVI etc are the first: incorporating there is a dead giveaway of tax avoidance. Ireland on the other hand has a low tax rate and forgiving regulators but large enough to have genuine business operations there. Luxembourg is kind of in the middle.

Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#52

Post by MatthewWilkes »

desdiv wrote: post #38
MatthewWilkes wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private vs public refers only to the way that shares are bought and sold, corporations don't have a right to privacy. The details that are public about your company are related to the size of the company.

That really depends on the jurisdiction. For example, the stockholder, director, and officer information of a Nevada corporation[0] is not disclosed to the public. AFAIK there's no limit on a Nevada corporation's size for these privacy guarantees to continue to apply. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_corporation

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I was speaking about Europe, and the UK in particular.

Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#53

Post by r2dnb »

SixSigma wrote: post #37
r2dnb wrote: post #17

I've incorporated in the UK but I kind of wonder if I made the right choice. It's a fantastic country, but one thing that bothers me and that I discovered too late - only a few weeks ago - is privacy. This is a real one, pay attention to it. Basically, private companies are as public as american public companies. It's ok to have disclosures to make to the government, but here you also have to disclose your financials…

I'm a UK citizen. I am more shocked that the information you are uncomfortable in disclosing is not shared by a US incorporation. Creating a Limited Company is in order to protect company owners from the debts of the company. For me to expose my company to the liability of doing business with your company, e.g. give you credit terms, I would rather like to know your financial soundness. Society agrees to waive your d…

I understand your point of view, at the same time when I read that :

>For me to expose my company to the liability of doing business with your company, e.g. give you credit terms, I would rather like to know your financial soundness.

I'm thinking : then we can enter into a bilateral agreement and choose an independent auditor that will certify my accounts. (Which is the idea behind the american legislation).

I really think that the government shouldn't force people to make these disclosures. It makes me very uncomfortable, as a citizen I feel my rights and my property are violated. Even at the time I'll be making 10M profit a year, I'm sorry but this is privacy, I should be free to choose with who I share this information.

And don't forget that if someone wants me to disclose but I don't, he is still free to do business with my competitor.

Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#54

Post by emailgregn »

bbrazil wrote: post #34
phillc73 wrote: post #9

Ireland perhaps. Forming a Limited company in Ireland is cheap and straightforward. That is compared to a GmbH in Austria or Germany where you need thousands of Euros in share capital just to form.[0] Ireland uses the Euro, which might be an advantage over the UK with Pounds Sterling. No forex worries. Ireland also has a low corporation tax rate of 12.5% The only two trickier bits are setting up a registered address…

The going rate for setting up an Irish company is around €250, and mine only took a few days. Getting an Irish bank account is painful though, and that's with me being Irish in Ireland. I wouldn't try it from Portugal - though presumably you could use a local bank.

This is worth consideration too. Getting a bank account can be difficult.

Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#55

Post by kyriakos »

tzaman wrote: post #24
nimbix wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, being incorporated in Malta just screams "shady business" - at least here in Slovenia where such companies belonging to questionable characters are constantly in the news.

I wasn't aware of that. Not Malta at least. Cyprus definitely :)

lots of legit startups incorporated in Cyprus

Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#56

Post by emailgregn »

nimbix wrote: post #23
lazyjones wrote: post #12

If taxes are the main priority, Malta seems like a good choice: http://www.fbsmalta.com/malta-tax-structures/malta-company-t...

Unfortunately, being incorporated in Malta just screams "shady business" - at least here in Slovenia where such companies belonging to questionable characters are constantly in the news.

It's interesting to hear that having recently experienced the wholehearted enforcement of KYC rules and general efforts avoid/shed that reputation.

Re: Ask HN: Where would you incorporate your European startup?

#57

Post by aharonovich »

siscia wrote: post #45
mikkom wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need more than a physical address, you need to live in estonia if you don't want to pay extra taxes. This is true for at least Finland, I have consulted tax lawyers about this.

I have explored quite a bit the idea of opening a company in Estonia via e-residency and this particular point of extra taxes never showed up. I am sure is not something that they would put on the first page, however I am a little surprise. Do you care to elaborate ?

AFAIK the extra taxes apply to your country of origin, not to Estonia.
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