281–290 of 402 posts
This is cool, but they should not offer a C corp as the default choice. An LLC should be the default for the vast majority of entrepreneurs. The only reason VC-funded companies are C corps is becaused VC LPs don't want to be hit with taxable income (which would flow through the VC to them). An LLC is much better for a variety of reasons: - Flow through taxation = you only get taxed once. With a C corp you pay corpora…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm in Colorado and it costs only $50 to file for an LLC online. Where is it costing you $250?
- State filing fees = $50 - Processing fees(paying someone to file for you, obtain EIN etc.) = $50 - Registered agent service = $100/year - EIN for foreigners = $50
Registered agent... that's a tricky one. I saw this advice on Reddit: "Lots of small business law firms will serve as registered agents for free. Really the only purpose of the RA is to accept service if you get sued, and they figure you're most likely to hire the firm that's already looking at the complaint and forwarding it on to you."
Also some registered agents are national, e.g. Harbour Compliance, just one I found on Google. Here are others: http://registered-agents.credio.com/ (hmm, this website is less useful than I expected, remember to check off "All 50 states" or you'll be missing some...)
Stripe seems to be positioning his as targeted at emerging markets. But it also seems like a good value for self-starter U.S. based companies that are not in accelerators.
If Atlas is implemented as promised (probably a safe assumption given the Stripe team), it will afford founders throughout the world a pain-free entry point into the world's most advanced economy, opening the way for key financing, for seamless payments processing, for ease of banking transactions to get people paid and to move funds easily, and for access to advice and guidance from people in the know to address a w…
I'm still a little confused on whether or not this is better than incorporating in your own country. Is this more geared to accelerator startups who are thinking of moving to the US? Certainly US incorporation is not required (or even all that helpful?) in establishing a US presence?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for the feedback! We agree that C Corps may not be for every company: we're looking at support for other company structures, including LLCs ( https://stripe.com/atlas/faq#Can-Stripe-help-me-set-up-a-dif... ). To kick off the beta, we found that the C Corp was the best place to start based on what entrepreneurs in emerging markets were already looking to do. We go into much more detail about C Corps and their t…
For tax purposes it would be best to request to be taxed as an S-Corp. You can then incorporate as an LLC or a corporation.
As others have mentioned, we've started with the C-Corp form because we think it will be what most of our users would prefer initially, but we'll look at expanding it to other forms.
All so that Stripe doesn't have to solve the schlep of sending payments to any country, a schlep already solved by pretty much any other payment processor out there...
It would be wonderful if they could provided incorporation in the Cayman Islands or some jurisdiction without corporate income taxes, so that you don't get double taxed.
If Atlas is implemented as promised (probably a safe assumption given the Stripe team), it will afford founders throughout the world a pain-free entry point into the world's most advanced economy, opening the way for key financing, for seamless payments processing, for ease of banking transactions to get people paid and to move funds easily, and for access to advice and guidance from people in the know to address a w…
I'm still a little confused on whether or not this is better than incorporating in your own country. Is this more geared to accelerator startups who are thinking of moving to the US? Certainly US incorporation is not required (or even all that helpful?) in establishing a US presence?
The gist is that certain countries have a better business and banking infrastructure than others for entrepreneurs looking to establish a global company. This isn't necessarily specific to the US—and we'll be expanding Atlas to more countries—but the US is a solid starting point, based on what many entrepreneurs in emerging markets already do.
For example, incorporating in a place like Delaware allows companies to issue stock to employees, makes it easy to raise money from global investors, and provides the stability of clear corporate rules and case law. (Most Fortune 500 companies are established in Delaware). Getting started with a US incorporation also makes many more services accessible to you, that might not be available if you incorporated in your own country with less support for new businesses.
It's a personal decision, for sure, but if you're in a country where you're finding your business constrained by the lack of particular banking infrastructure or access to business services, we think Atlas can help.
This is cool, but they should not offer a C corp as the default choice. An LLC should be the default for the vast majority of entrepreneurs. The only reason VC-funded companies are C corps is becaused VC LPs don't want to be hit with taxable income (which would flow through the VC to them). An LLC is much better for a variety of reasons: - Flow through taxation = you only get taxed once. With a C corp you pay corpora…
Double taxation for C corps is on dividends but not salary so this isn't really as big a deal as you'd think.
(Thus completely avoid corporate taxes by never paying dividends, and nominally having zero profit.)