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E-Residency in Estonia, Part I

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21–25 of 25 posts

Re: E-Residency in Estonia, Part I

#21
post #12
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting e-residency is pretty easy. You would have to pick up your ID card, and residency package, at one of the authorized locations, though, and there is none is Serbia. I think the closest may be the Estonian consulate in Vienna. But, if you are going to travel, it may be more worthwhile to go to Tallinn. Once you have e-residency (which takes a few weeks to be granted) opening a company can be done in a day. You…

Thanks for the answer. I have seen this "The first turned me down because I could not prove sufficient ties to Estonia." on some other place as a reason for a turn down. What they actually need to prove ties to Estonia when you are only e-citizen? Or that other bank that accepted you is not requesting such proof? If you have income with that company, how hard and costly is to take that money (as I understood they tax…

The proof of your links to Estonia is really up to the bank. They each have their own policy. I think, in my case, it helped that LeapIN was there with me. A local business partner who speaks the language and is there with you for support, I think is an advantage anywhere.

If your company is a foreign-operated LLC (OÜ), which is what I opened, and what was recommended to me (I have no employees and reside in another EU country) then the only taxes are VAT, and dividend tax, which is incurred when dividend is paid out. There is no income tax.

Note that the dividend tax liability is of the company making the payment, not of the individual receiving the payment. So, even if there was a taxation treaty between Estonia and Serbia to avoid double taxation, you personally may still be liable for dividend tax in Serbia, if Serbia taxes foreign dividend income. But, here comes the usual disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or an accountant. You'd better check with one!

Re: E-Residency in Estonia, Part I

#22
post #20
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've had this in Sweden for like 10 years. It's all pretty clunky, even though you can now use an app instead. You generally have to have your card, then some plug-in, then the host have to implement the whole thing. Usually signing things isn't the whole story either, so you still have to deal with e.g. payments. The Estonian system is probably better, since it's newer, but the challenge isn't really in handing o…

That's the trick, all Estonian government services + all private services which benefit from strong authentication or authorization have implemented the ID-card log in and signature functionality to their services/apps/websites. So whether I send 5€ to my mother, or I sell my car to a stranger on other side of the country, or I submit my yearly tax data, or I complete my 1 000 000 € M&A deal, I use my digital identit…

Don't get me wrong that's all good and well, but it's still 15 year old technology being implemented and not a paradigm shift. Most of the time you're still going to be typing in your e-mail, postal address and credit card number when doing things online. It's not like you swipe your card once for logging in to you computer and then when buying some service online to verify the setting up a subscription payment and having all your data at the provider encrypted with your identity.

Re: E-Residency in Estonia, Part I

#23
I applied for this about a year ago and actually got approved. I was instructed to go to their New York embassy to pick it up but I live in SF. I wish they would mail it in or were okay with it being picked up at other consulates/embassies.

Re: E-Residency in Estonia, Part I

#24
post #23

I applied for this about a year ago and actually got approved. I was instructed to go to their New York embassy to pick it up but I live in SF. I wish they would mail it in or were okay with it being picked up at other consulates/embassies.

I'm afraid there's a fingerprinting requirement

Re: E-Residency in Estonia, Part I

#25
post #2

Toomas Hendrick Ilves, the current Estonian President, represents a cybersecurity expert. Things like that can mean a big deal, with respect to policy. I lived next door, in Riga, Latvia, for several months, in late 1997; during that time, we visited the beautiful city of Tallinn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallinn . Definitely worth the trip.

I went to Tallinn recently! Beautiful city with a wonderful medieval old town neighbourhood. I second that it is worth the trip, plus you can take a boat to Finland and visit Helsinki :)
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