Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you think that stuffs are different in Italy, Spain or France? Just to cite some others
Yes, it is different in Netherlands, Sweden, Poland.
Expections occur
Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
661–670 of 789 posts
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#662Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it’s generally a pretty terrible idea. Germany applies taxes based on the place where a company is managed. If you live in Germany and remotely manage your Estonian company then you’re expected to pay your corporate and other company taxes in Germany. The overhead of managing the international situation is more complicated than opening a company in Germany to be honest
This is insane. So I need to work 5 years on site in Germany as a contractor being paid by foreign parent company, why should the company be liable to be registered and pay taxes in germany. Eg Microsoft sends tech to fix Azure system fir Mercedes.
I don’t understand your point. Are you managing the company from Germany? If you’re a contractor I don’t understand why you would be managing the company
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#663Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are plenty of similar “monopolies” in the EU they just value safely exploiting consumers more than rapid growth. Regardless US tech monopolies are almost as dominant in the EU as in they are in the US”. At least local companies wouldn’t syphon money to a different continent and could be regulated
American monopolies are not much regulated, they are entirely above the law. The legal system heavily biased toward rich corporations. I did not said europe does not have monopolies. I said America has "winner takes all" economy that systematically creates monopolies everywhere you look. It does not create competition, it creates what you call "incumbent". Americans look down on markets where middle sized companies c…
> American monopolies are not much regulated, they are entirely above the law
Yeah exactly and they are only barely more regulated in the EU. Apple, Google, Microslop and FB almost completely control their respective markets in the EU to a comparable degree they do in the US. Its still winner takes all.
EU might fine them occasionally but that’s just the cost of doing business with hardly any consequences (remember the third part iOS app stores in the EU? I barely do…)
Outside of tech there are plenty of homegrown conglomerates and oligopolies in the EU, I don’t see how is there meanimgfully more competition outside of low value added sectors where small/medium companies are fighting for scraps.
> Great company is the one that has say in goverment
Yeah, exactly the same as in Europe (and unlike in the US there are hardly many alternatives besides going that route if you want to grow signficantly).
> trying to make it comply to law is seen as attack.
That might be a differentiator, of course companies generally find it less objectionable to comply with laws they had a significant say in writing like in much of Europe.
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#664Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you register your company in WY but will be doing business in e.g. MA, you will have to pay registration fee in both jurisdictions. Doesn't sound like a saving to me. If you mean why not register in your state, then Delaware has some tax benefits I believe. Not sure they will apply in MA though, maybe somewhere else?
MA was going to be quite a bit more expensive. I did the transaction through Stripe and they use Delaware.
Since my business is in MA it doesn't matter where my LLC is, I would have had to pay registration fee for "Foreign LLC" in MA to stay legal. That is in addition to fees I would have paid to DE. Not sure if MA is so unique, but I don't think it is.
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#665Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thats cause the software and computing industry early on, disclaimed all liability. "Computers are hard, yo!". It devalues the profession. And I thought no liability was bad enough... But no. Now its LLMs and " for entertainment purposes only". I take it management and leadership also read that, and don't give one fuck.
The ability to build reliable software has existed for a long time. Commercial airlines make heavy use of it, and serious failures are vanishingly rare. The problem is building software to those standards of reliability is expensive and slow. Consumer software never justifies it. Business software rarely does. If you want me to accept liability for the consequences of bugs in code I write, I'm giving you a schedule f…
And your mindset is the problem.
It does not need 100% error free anything. Hell, our food and goods we buy has error rates. Recalls, replacements, etc. Mistakes happen.
Liability is about taking responsibility for your stuff you emit. And the fact that software companies are getting worse shows me that there isn't any sort of maturity in this industry.
You can't even buy a fucking game without it being encrusted in anti-user DRM. And even on MS Windows with a Windows game that doesn't run, there is no basic warranty of "does this thing run?" You're basically shit outta luck if it doesn't. And if you bought it on Steam, better not charge back or they delete your account as a vengeance response. And lack of any liability and responsibility is why they can.
Its also a whole other thing to then rely on said software for correctness. That's what 'limited liability' is all about. If you need heavier liability, then sure, reach out and pay for it.
But the fact that software has gone from 'No Liability' to 'for entertainment purposes only' is a fucking farce for the software industry.
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#666I've run a tech business on three continents, and nothing comes close to the Kafkaesque labyrinth of the German world. Everything is unbelievably complicated and over-engineered, and every layer is immune to change. Every rule was rational when it was added, and now everyone has a financial stake in continued complexity. The German notary is the highest-paid notary in the world, and the highest-earning professional i…
> You were never supposed to incorporate a company. You were supposed to get a job at Volkswagen.
This is it. They can't fathom a world in which people do their own thing.
What gives me pause for thought though, is the fact that the German economy does comparitively well within the EU.
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#667Before Europe gets lumped in as one country, founding a company in Netherlands and Sweden, speaking from personal experience, is a breeze. Although Sweden is a bit strange in the fact that banks have as much equal say as the government authority does in you starting a company, and if they don't want you as a customer, they can simply deny the right for your company to start!
I've also done it both in Sweden and the Netherlands. Sweden is a breeze if you have BankID, sure (and as you said, if the bank likes you). The Netherlands wasn't exactly a breeze — I had to book a face-to-face appointment with KVK and all the slots in Amsterdam were taken, so I took the train about an hour away.
I found the face to face a nice part of it, it made it less impersonal. My suspicion however, is that they want to run through the form to correct mistakes they see all the time, and this is the fastest way of going about it.
As for waiting times, don't live in Amsterdam ;)
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#668Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've also done it both in Sweden and the Netherlands. Sweden is a breeze if you have BankID, sure (and as you said, if the bank likes you). The Netherlands wasn't exactly a breeze — I had to book a face-to-face appointment with KVK and all the slots in Amsterdam were taken, so I took the train about an hour away.
The face to face meeting is not a thing any more. There are some exceptions but they can often be done online if at all.
It is very much still a thing. Why do you think it's not?
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#669Don’t they have Haftpflichtversicherung in Germany? Set up as a sole trader, get good-enough liability insurance, send invoices on Day 1, earn actual money while you wait for however long it takes to get that elusive company registration set up. In Austria as an IT Consultant you get liability insurance under a very reasonable group deal through the Wirtschaftskammer. Pay a bit more to get a private policy with more coverage of that’s important to you. I’d be really surprised if similar options aren’t available to our friends across the Alps.
Re: Founding a company in Germany: €9600, 152 days and I still can't send an invoice
#670Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is refreshing to hear. Unfortunately I can't get out because of exit tax, an unrealized capital gains tax for the privilege of leaving the country. That is way worse than what I mention in this post and will get its own post soon.
You phrase this as if it’s absurd. Why should it be possible to offshore your future capital gains without paying an exit tax? You live in a country with a tax system that assumes people pay into it.
It is absurd to be taxed on _unrealised_ gains, even more absurd to hold you hostage over it.