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Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

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Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#61

Post by vidarh »

HalfPriceDigi wrote: post #12
latj wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised there is no law prohibiting people from telecommuting from U.S. to bypass U.S. laws.

You have to keep in mind that a company is its own entity and since my startup was formed in the UK, it is a UK company that is governed by UK laws. The UK has no problem with non-resident company directors, but setting up a bank account for a company with a non-resident director is another story.

Have you tried talking to US banks that have UK branch offices? Note that even those who don't have consumer branches may still offer accounts at those branches. E.g. Bank of America has a huge presence in Europe, mainly via MBNA and Merrill Lynch, but also some other services - I don't know if they offer accounts (the way to find out is likely to talk to their US international banking team).

I know that may be non-ideal for you from a risk POV, but you may also find the UK amusingly (or infuriatingly..) bureaucratic and byzantine in that having a UK bank account is the best way to prove to another UK bank that you are worthy of opening a bank account with them afterwards.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#62

Post by bergerjac »

dllthomas wrote: post #15
csomar wrote: post #13

How is it legal for someone based in the US to setup a UK company to run his business? Isn't this a recipe to get the IRS to investigate this as a tax evasion scheme? I mean if it's possible, then every online business should incorporate in HongKong and avoid Taxes, VAT and several other complications that the IRS put.

He unquestionably still owes taxes on that money.

.. when that money is repatriated to the U.S. (e.g. upon paying himself).

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#63

Post by vidarh »

alextingle wrote: post #49
Beltiras wrote: post #45

If you were willing to spend hundreds of dollars, why not hire a lawyer to proxy your application? With a POA the attorney should be able to sign documents on your behalf.

I'm not sure that's true. The EU's "know your customer" rules for banks are pretty strict.

I don't think there's anything there that doesn't boil down to providing sufficient identity documents. Worst case making him spend a fortune with a notary public to get copies of various documents notarised and possibly having apostille's issued.

His bigger problem is likely to be US reporting requirements as I've mentioned elsewhere, that makes it very unattractive for non-US banks to handle smaller US clients.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#64

Post by kalleboo »

wonkaMikeTV wrote: post #43
conformal wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

haters gon hate :) nice response

But seriously... selling "used" software? Used. Software. That's like selling used poems, or used voicemail greetings. Hey guys! This particular hard copy of Ezekiel 25:17 from the bible is almost new! It's only been seen by human eyes three times! Verified as authentic via flatbed scanner and then CRC32 checksumming it's OCR results! Hardly any wear and tear! $150 and it's yours! I know, how about we start selling u…

Yes, who ever would buy used software http://www.gamestop.com/browse/games/xbox-360?nav=1385-50-ff...

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#65

Post by mcherm »

hayksaakian wrote: post #41
dobbsbob wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.priorbank.by/e/ or infobank. Min deposit was 25,000 Euros but I was told other banks it's a lot smaller, like 5,000 Euros but this is the best bank. Be aware this is Belarus, and it's a dictatorship so you're flying by the seat of your pants finances there's nothing to stop the government just taking your money but then again, US does this all the time too. If you want to open a mega bitcoin exchange there…

This seems completely legit. Thanks for the information.

dobbsbob writes: > Belarus seems to have no financial police whatsoever [...] they didn't even ask me the source of the income [...] watch shady Russian businessmen walk out with bags of cash

hayksaakian writes: > This seems completely legit.

I find myself unable to tell whether you (hayksaakian) are being serious or ironic.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#66

Post by mcherm »

alextingle wrote: post #49
Beltiras wrote: post #45

If you were willing to spend hundreds of dollars, why not hire a lawyer to proxy your application? With a POA the attorney should be able to sign documents on your behalf.

I'm not sure that's true. The EU's "know your customer" rules for banks are pretty strict.

The wonderful thing about hiring a lawyer is that they will tell you whether or not this is the case.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#67

Post by kintamanimatt »

Brig303 wrote: post #32
dobbsbob wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's legal as long as you report any income you make from it personally. There's nothing stopping you from incorporating in the Seychelles, and getting a bank account in Latvia, Belize, or Panama/St Vincent. Just so long as you report foreign income paid out to yourself. The foreign corporation doesn't have to report anything (this might have changed, i'm not a lawyer). That's why you see all those shady collector co…

But what if you end up "working" for your company? Let's assume that you are in the US and might have to put in hours to hack together a product or a service. And none of your "employees" are in Latvia or Belize. Is it still legal?

I'd imagine that strictly speaking one would have to register the foreign company with the secretary of state as a branch or foreign company, if certain conditions were met.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#68

Post by kintamanimatt »

dwightgunning wrote: post #52
wiradikusuma wrote: post #46

I'm in a very similar situation: I remotely incorporated in Delaware, US, and now trying to open a bank account in the US (for Stripe). Help, anyone?

I'm a non-US citizen based in the EU with a DE C-Corp. I set up a BoA account for the business last July while on vacation in the US. I also contacted SVB (branch in London) and they said they could do it without requiring a trip to the US.

At least judging by the UK account fees SVB are horrifically expensive and seem to charge through the nose for everything. I'm not sure whether this is the case for a US-domiciled bank account though.

HSBC have a decent international banking department and can open accounts in different countries last time I checked.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#69

Post by atmosx »

HalfPriceDigi wrote: post #5
atmosx wrote: post #3

Why is this on frontpage? This website is so poorly designed and (probably) generates so little revenue that couldn't seriously be considered as a study case for Bitcoin substituting bank accounts for business.

Hey atmosx, the site is an MVP, but yes I agree the design needs work. The site itself and its revenue is irrelevant to the issue at hand. Any US citizen (or non-EU citizen) who wants to form a company in Europe is going to run into the same banking problems I ran into. Bitcoin can provide some relief for this issue.

Sorry, for any sort of discomfort caused. I am not a hater, I just don't see how this is a model for anything of sorts.

Bitcoin has very specific flaws compared to country-backed currencies. More specifically:

* Doesn't devalue - which means that it's inherently BAD for transactions.

* You can't readily cash out: How are you going to make your BTC dollars? Even MTGOX has very low hard-limits.

* What about taxes and sales? Okay in Germany BTC is somewhat regulated. But what happens to other countries?

The 3rd issue, is non-existent if your turn-over is from small to non-existent but it's a huge deal if your turn-over becomes more than 15k per year.

Not to mention that a currency that fluctuates that much is semi-suicidal for any long-term business.

Apart from all the above, I wish you all the best in the world mate. Seriously, nothing personal.

Re: Bitcoin accidentally solved my startup's international banking problem

#70

Post by dllthomas »

bergerjac wrote: post #62
dllthomas wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He unquestionably still owes taxes on that money.

.. when that money is repatriated to the U.S. (e.g. upon paying himself).

My understanding is that this is mostly correct. Money held by the company probably isn't considered his and probably isn't taxed; money he pays himself certainly is (whether it goes to an account nominally in the US or not, and whether it is denominated in bitcoins or not). Obviously he should be talking to an accountant and/or tax attorney and making sure that's all straight.
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