Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

You don't understand because of the following idiotic strawman.

"If you want to be sued into utter oblivion and live on the streets with a nonexistent social safety net I guess it's all right."

Rather than whining about your impression of the US on HN, maybe you could do some research on your own to find out why it's such a strongly preferred place to start a business.

>(not some rinkydink app that mysteriously needs €30 million in funding so you can fail more spectacularly)

This further illustrates your lack of understanding of investing. To get that kind of capital, you need to have a good business plan or a really good app to start with. Investors don't intentionally lose money.

If you just meant that Ireland doesn't have any money to invest in software, then you should already see why nobody is interested in starting a business there. The capital pool is not as deep so your borrowing costs will be hire and it will take significantly more effort to get investments.

Non-EU folks in Germany as well, for example, don't get the equivalent of a "green card" out the gate either. Looks like it's 5 years in Germany, which happens to be the same for the United States.

As a manager/executive with your company, I'm surprised there weren't EB-1 Visas available, which is exactly the tool meant to support the case you were looking at. Or EB-5 visas, because interestingly, there actually is a Visa (and Green Card track) for entrepreneurs in the US [2][3].

US immigration policies are indeed crazy sometimes. Your friend probably moved to the US around/not long after 2001, I'll bet? Everything ground to a half around then as DHS was getting set up.

But if you're listing all of these failings and I'm finding the opposite to be true with 20 minutes of Googling at a time, I'm suspect of the quality of support you got from your lawyers. Again, I feel a great deal of empathy for what sounds like you guys getting screwed by poor representation. I've had many friends enter the US to work and start businesses with little undue stress.

[0]: http://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/working/guide-to-workin... [1]: http://www.bbk-berlin.de/con/bbk/front_content.php?idart=195... [2]: http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-through-job/green... [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-5_visa

1. Just prepare the tax returns and file them. Good for regular people; the likelihood of you owing any U.S. taxes is low. You have risks of penalties (undisclosed bank accounts = FinCen 114 form filled in online -- that's the biggest one). If you are a very small potato floating in the stew pot of life, that's probably fine. You either start now and ignore the past, or you go back in time and file. Usually three years is sufficient, sometimes six.

2. Search for "Streamlined Procedure" via your favorite search engine and you'll find the IRS official "Come to Jesus" program for US taxpayers abroad who are "low risk." Like most bureaucratic endeavors to write rules controlling all humans, the procedure is contradictory. If your income tax is under $1,500 you are probably safe. If your income tax is even slightly above $1,500 in any one year, the program's FAQs say it's OK but the questionnaire you have to fill out says you are not eligible for a "no penalties, just file" solution to the problem. Find the questionnaire, look at question 2, then look at the paragraph below question 3.

3. If your situation is more complicated (higher income, or you own stock in Canadian corporations -- like your business!) etc., you need a more nuanced analysis. Here your primary risks are undisclosed financial accounts (heavy penalties for not filing FinCen Form 114, IRS Form 8938), Form 5471 (you own stock in a foreign corporation), Form 8621 (you--God Forbid!--bought regular Canadian mutual funds as an investment), or you have a Canadian tax-free account that is not an RRSP or RRIF. You need someone to tell you the best way to jump back into the pond.

4. You have gobs of money and high income. In that case you look attractive as a mugging candidate for the IRS. There's money to be made here for the government, and they like to threaten you with life-altering penalties (300% of your bank accounts is something I have seen as an opening bargaining position) and prison. You really shouldn't Come to Jesus on your own here. You need the Pope and St. Peter to guide you. :-)

The problems that The One and Only Netai (I love that, by the way) complained of in the business context apply equally in the individual context. So take care in how you choose a solution. Shoot me an email and perhaps I can connect you with someone in Canada who can help you. I will be in Toronto next Tuesday, FWIW.