Mostly concerned about tax and governance, ESPECIALLY if I choose to switch jurisdictions later.
Would appreciate any people's opinions and experience.
Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
1–10 of 11 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#2Estonia e-residence program[1] is worth looking
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#3Where are you based now?
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#4Ireland with the UK as runner up.
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#5Be careful with CFC rules. If you own more than 50% of the company you'll be liable to pay taxes in your country of residence.
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#6Depends on where you live and where you have to pay taxes at the moment. Usually, incorporating in a country that's not your country of residence isn't worth the trouble.
For certain business models some countries make more sense than others. For instance, many franchises are based in the Netherlands because of low taxes on licence fees. However, I wouldn't worry about that in the beginning. Those potential future benefits are likely offset by the additional hassle of essentially having to run a company in two legal systems simultaneously.
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#7Ireland with the UK as runner up.
UK is a bad idea considering Brexit. You should really choose country that you are living in. If you want to go trough a trouble of company in another country you can look in to Malta, Ireland, Austria or Estonia.
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#8A lot of people here in Israel incorporate in Cyprus.
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#9Should mostly consider who you'll be raising money from. Rasing American pre-A money with a European incorporation is going to be tough.
Re: Ask HN: Where to incorporate a European startup?
#10If you are making incorporating decisions based on taxes, you should probably not incorporate. How will you address CFC rules in your home country?