Not to forget: Instant(!!!) green card for anyone earning more than 65000 Euros/year. The only issue I still have is the "awful German language" ;-) http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html (Mark Twain's 1880 book A Tramp Abroad.)
Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
11–20 of 43 posts
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#12If I form a startup in the USA and it goes belly up once assets are sold off to pay creditors I am free..however in the EU if startup goes belly up you are still on the hook as far as the difference between what is owed creditors and what the assets sold for..or am I wrong on this point?
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#13The nice thing for europeans is that if you're part of the eurozone, you can live and work wherever you like. A business doesn't have to be domiciled in the same location as its headquarters or employees. In the US, many businesses are domiciled in Deleware with no employees in that state. But I think the question for Hacker News, or at least for the Hackers who are interested in doing startups outside the USA is-- w…
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#14It seems to gloss over this .. If I form a startup in the USA and it goes belly up once assets are sold off to pay creditors I am free..however in the EU if startup goes belly up you are still on the hook as far as the difference between what is owed creditors and what the assets sold for..or am I wrong on this point?
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#15glaring omissions from the article what are the personal and corp tax rates? (high!) and how easy is it to hire and fire employees (hard I hear). No one doubts the nightlife and leafy suburbs of germany are nice
Personal tax rates are higher, at the same time you get better (and cheaper) healthcare. Corporate tax rates are indeed higher in Germany. At the same time, there are lots of funding opportunities for startups from communal, national and EU business development programs, that can be seen as sort of a tax break. Hiring is probably harder, since programmers are generally less interested in startups and prefer safe corp…
Private healthcare here is much better, and about the same cost. It's a red herring.
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#16I thought it was Lond.. no Helsi.. I mean Amst... Oh, never mind. There's only one thing remotely comparable to Silicon Valley in Europe and that's Ireland. It's where the laws are right for tech. companies and Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and possibly even Twitter got together and are attracting a ton of engineers, which are creating a ton of start-ups, networking events, and even quite a bit of…
Moreover, the atmosphere is not exactly right for startups. The weather sucks. The food is dismal. And when I was there it was expensive as hell, and the bubble hasn't finished exploding yet.
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#17It seems to gloss over this .. If I form a startup in the USA and it goes belly up once assets are sold off to pay creditors I am free..however in the EU if startup goes belly up you are still on the hook as far as the difference between what is owed creditors and what the assets sold for..or am I wrong on this point?
The catch is that if you incorporate as an Einzelunternehmen or GbR, it's much easier to get credit from banks or other stuff because you're fully liable.
EU law allows you to incorporate in a different EU country with a type of business entity common there, but it's usually more convenient to incorporate in the country where you're residing.
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#18The nice thing for europeans is that if you're part of the eurozone, you can live and work wherever you like. A business doesn't have to be domiciled in the same location as its headquarters or employees. In the US, many businesses are domiciled in Deleware with no employees in that state. But I think the question for Hacker News, or at least for the Hackers who are interested in doing startups outside the USA is-- w…
Is saving a few % of taxes that important for an IT company?
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#19The nice thing for europeans is that if you're part of the eurozone, you can live and work wherever you like. A business doesn't have to be domiciled in the same location as its headquarters or employees. In the US, many businesses are domiciled in Deleware with no employees in that state. But I think the question for Hacker News, or at least for the Hackers who are interested in doing startups outside the USA is-- w…
Is saving a few % of taxes that important for an IT company?
Re: Berlins new techno beat. why international tech startups should move to berlin.
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personal tax rates are higher, at the same time you get better (and cheaper) healthcare. Corporate tax rates are indeed higher in Germany. At the same time, there are lots of funding opportunities for startups from communal, national and EU business development programs, that can be seen as sort of a tax break. Hiring is probably harder, since programmers are generally less interested in startups and prefer safe corp…
The healthcare is not included in the cost of personal taxes. Private healthcare here is much better, and about the same cost. It's a red herring.