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Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

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Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#61

Post by zeroq »

littlecranky67 wrote: post #47

You said you are from Germany but not where you are now. If you are still in Germany, forget it. Just because you incorporate outside of Germany does not exempt your from any taxes (and its beauraucracies) in Germany. That is, even with an estonian corporation, you will owe german corporate taxes (plural - one goes to the state one to the county - a.k.a. Körperschaftsteuer and Gewerbesteuer). That implies you will ha…

You're not wrong, but you're missing the best part. Estonian company does not pay taxes (*). As long as the money stays within the company he's golden. The company can pay for his car, his apartment/office, etc.

It is only when he decides to withdraw the money the problem occurs.

What you're saying applies to most EU countries. Here where I live you have to reside for majority of the year in given residency to pay taxes over there.

Here's the tricky part.

Estonia is part of Schengen Area. Which means you can travel there and back without passport. There's no paper trail of your arrangements. You can easily create a reality in which you reside there for majority of time.

But again, that's not the selling part of Estonian LTD. Which is - it's extremely easygoing and as long as money stays in the company you're not paying taxes.

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#62

Post by ipnon »

Bluestein wrote: post #7

I professionally have been helping folks set up and maintain e-Residence and businesses, and all said here in the comments so far tracks: Estonia is absolutely unsurpassed qua administrative ease (this giving you a clear and lasting business advantage), the tax advantages are real, and the jurisdiction only gets better .- Banking and being scrupulous on your personal taxes at your place of personal residence are issu…

Hopefully the program continues its success and becomes basis for 25th EU regime

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#63

Post by ipnon »

murkt wrote: post #20
nnurmanov wrote: post #17

What about EU Inc? Is there any timeline?

Long way ahead still: > Given its key importance for the EU's competitiveness, the Commission is calling on the European Parliament and the Council to reach an agreement on the EU Inc. proposal by the end of 2026.

In Brusselsese that means we should be able to start business sometime around the turn of the century, right?

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#64

Post by AndrewKemendo »

Why aren’t European people starting businesses in the US as pass through entities?

It doesn’t make sense to me why Europeans don’t use registered agents or foreign corporation state registrations to do business as US entities in order to get up and running quickly.

Europeans complain about the difficulty starting a business can just start a business as a US entity, you’re just using the US system as the financial layer.

At the point where you’re making enough money for edge cases or moving to a more favorable jurisdiction then you can afford to because you’re in business now

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#65

Post by vaginaphobic »

trollbridge wrote: post #58
shrink wrote: post #18

I've had companies in a few different jurisdictions, including a Delaware C Corp[1] and currently an OÜ through Estonia's e-residency program. Yes, it is fantastic and delivers on all of the promises. The only potential headache is that you must collect your e-residency card from an embassy which, depending on your location, might require travel to a nearby country. I used Xolo but there are lots of agents in the dir…

The U.S. is not a great place for offshore business registration mostly because the reporting requirements around taxation for foreign-owned businesses are so severe. It's just a lot of useless paperwork.

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#66

Post by zeckalpha »

unmole wrote: post #60
trollbridge wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The U.S. is not a great place for offshore business registration mostly because the reporting requirements around taxation for foreign-owned businesses are so severe. It's just a lot of useless paperwork.

> reporting requirements around taxation for foreign-owned businesses are so severe. What exactly are you referring to? This doesn't match my experience at all.

It depends on which direction you are referring to the ownership flowing.

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#68

Post by plantain »

zeroq wrote: post #61
littlecranky67 wrote: post #47

You said you are from Germany but not where you are now. If you are still in Germany, forget it. Just because you incorporate outside of Germany does not exempt your from any taxes (and its beauraucracies) in Germany. That is, even with an estonian corporation, you will owe german corporate taxes (plural - one goes to the state one to the county - a.k.a. Körperschaftsteuer and Gewerbesteuer). That implies you will ha…

You're not wrong, but you're missing the best part. Estonian company does not pay taxes (*). As long as the money stays within the company he's golden. The company can pay for his car, his apartment/office, etc. It is only when he decides to withdraw the money the problem occurs. What you're saying applies to most EU countries. Here where I live you have to reside for majority of the year in given residency to pay ta…

Have you never heard of fringe benefits tax?

Re: Ask HN: Founders of estonian e-businesses – is it worth it?

#70

Post by zeroq »

plantain wrote: post #68
zeroq wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not wrong, but you're missing the best part. Estonian company does not pay taxes (*). As long as the money stays within the company he's golden. The company can pay for his car, his apartment/office, etc. It is only when he decides to withdraw the money the problem occurs. What you're saying applies to most EU countries. Here where I live you have to reside for majority of the year in given residency to pay ta…

Have you never heard of fringe benefits tax?

Have you read my post?

Let say I am a junior SWE in EU. I incorporate in Estonia and issue my employer with an invoice from said company. That company pays for my house, my car, my dental service and whatnot, and what's left I take as a employee salary.

I pay local tax for that salary, but that's only a fraction of what I've billed my employer.

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