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Ask HN: Should I incorporate a company for software side projects?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I incorporate a company for software side projects?

#71
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's simply false information.

No, you're the one peddling misinformation here. It's true that you have to tell German authorities about your foreign business (not just your income from that business) for tax purposes if you're actually operating your business from within Germany (i.e. you're running a "Gewerbe"). There are also some rules to follow you're merely conducting business with German customers, i.e. how to collect VAT etc. In any case,…

I havn't said that you need to convert your business into a GmbH. What I said (or at least meant) was that if you found a Limited while living in Germany, it will be seen and handled similar to a GmbH by the authorities here in Germany.

Re: Ask HN: Should I incorporate a company for software side projects?

#72
You're selling software, which you can exclusively purvey on a different continent, and you're probably unhappy about relinquishing quite a bit of coin to VAT and/or other taxation. Am I right in thinking this is why you're considering incorporation?

While it may very well be true that if you try to incorporate some alter ego of yourself as an LLC or similar in another jurisdiction (e.g. the US) and thus you'd be subject to local taxation, there's probably a much simpler approach, of simply being the majority investor in an established overseas corporation.

You buy say a 51% stake, it sells your software (with your marketing and continued development efforts) and it acts as a passthrough, keeping your hard-earned money (probably earned largely outside the EU) away from the watchful gaze of local tax authorities. You derive any income in the form of dividends or draws held in overseas accounts. (The minority owner might also be some form of you, or an agent willing to own 49% and do nothing for a reasonable fee).

The US is not exactly paradise for all entities and purposes but buying a Wyoming-based shell corporation can be done for under 1000 EUR. This can provide you with a US situs for the business, which unlocks all kinds of doors for legitimacy, particularly when it comes to accepting payments. Am not a tax expert but it occurs to me that taxes can be legally avoided through this approach, given the size of the "shell company" industry in Wyoming (and a few other states) and the level of foreign interests therein.

Re: Ask HN: Should I incorporate a company for software side projects?

#73
post #48
post #28

Check out https://www.leapin.eu/ for an easy way to set up an Estonian company and manage the accountancy around it. You can probably also contact them how it works with their German customers, and what your obligations and taxes would be exactly. Pretty sure if you keep all your revenue inside the legal entity, you don't have to pay any taxes. Only once (if?) you distribute profits or pay yourself a salary it'll req…

> Pretty sure if you keep all your revenue inside the legal entity, you don't have to pay any taxes As a person doesn't have to pay taxes until you pay out money to yourself, but the company itself still has to pay corporate taxes (on the profit it makes (Körperschafts- and Gewerbesteuer)). For a GmbH/UG it is usually good to pay yourself a salary (if it makes money), because otherwise you essentially get taxed "twic…

I was talking about Estonian companies, they don't have corporate taxes.
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