Nice try Italian government. But hey dude, don't do it. We are a sinking ship.
Italia Startup Visa
41–50 of 214 posts
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#42If I remember correctly, Peldi Guilizzoni (Balsamiq) highly discourages against starting a company in Italy. Something about how taxes are collected...
I don't recall the specific, but could be the fact that basically there are taxes even if you don't make a profit, which for newly founded companies would be a relatively bigger issue than for established ones.
(I think there is a dispensation for that as of a couple years ago if the founders are below 35 years)
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#43I would argue that most countries just make really half assed attempts at creating an international startup environment and this is one of them.
Mostly there are very few investors locally, visas are difficult to obtain, the laws aren't really business friendly at all and not suitable for investors etc.
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ndrangheta is not in Naples, organized crimes has different names in different parts of the southern Italy. That unfortunately doesn't change the fact that we have organized crime in Naples (Camorra). And I'm sorry and sad to say it but northern Italy has been reached by organized crime a long time ago (they have different businesses, they work in different ways, but they are there). Disclaimer: I'm Italian, and I'm…
Point taken and thanks for the correction. I would have to ask however, would mafia tentacles reach into software based businesses if it's basically a development office?
It is expected they'd do, people collectively seem to believe they'd do, but concretely there hasn't been any large public case. (keyword: public)
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#45If I remember correctly, Peldi Guilizzoni (Balsamiq) highly discourages against starting a company in Italy. Something about how taxes are collected...
I do? I don't remember saying that.
I don't really want to get into this debate, but I've been running Balsamiq from Italy since 2008, and it's been just fine. Then again, YMMV...we're just a little mom-and-pop software shop, not a "startup" in the paulg sense of the word.
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#46If I remember correctly, Peldi Guilizzoni (Balsamiq) highly discourages against starting a company in Italy. Something about how taxes are collected...
I don't recall the specific, but could be the fact that basically there are taxes even if you don't make a profit, which for newly founded companies would be a relatively bigger issue than for established ones. (I think there is a dispensation for that as of a couple years ago if the founders are below 35 years)
You're referring to the IRAP tax that used to have this weird effect in some cases, but that's mostly fixed since FY15 with the new laws. There have been an outstanding number of changes in labor and fiscal laws in 2014; they don't fully fix 50 years of anti-entrepreneur culture of course, but they are good steps in the right directions.
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#47Ehh, I thought I was negative about Italy, but seeing what everyone else is saying, I'm probably the most positive person here. The pros: - There are some absolutely excellent open source developers who can be hired much more cheaply than the US. - Life is excellent. Italy is a really beautiful country. - Lots of incredibly low hanging fruits. Italy has a lot of great companies that makes excellent products the entir…
> Public sector contracts are given to people who are completely incompetent but well connected
to be fair, I believe this to be the case about everywhere. I.e. the Oregon healthcare site fiasco[0] seems straight out of italian newspapers.
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you elaborate on that? Switzerland is not part of the EU, so how would that help?
It's not part of the EU but it is part of the Schengen Area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area
This allows you to travel to Switzerland. Working there is an entirely different thing.
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I fail to see the connection between opening a startup and the current crisis, honestly. Or with the closure of 30% (?) of the local shops. Also, there are a few interesting tax incentives that are finally available. For example, a law passed last month introduced 25% and 50% tax credits (depending on the expense category) on R&D investments, including labour costs for "highly trained" (MSc or PhD) workers. Sure, Ita…
Couldn't agree more. If your startup sells internationally, the current crisis won't affect you.
Maybe, but you'll still be paying more taxes than you would if you were based in almost any other country. Too many useless state expenses here, and they turned into too much debt and taxes. Check how many Italians with the skill set to open a startup moved to London and Berlin in the last few years.
Re: Italia Startup Visa
#50Wouldn't this be a great way for non-EU citizens to get a residence-permit within the EU? Then, one could move and work in more lucrative places, like Switzerland. (Full disclosure: I am interested in tech-recruiting in Switzerland - see https://medium.com/@techrecruiting.ch/eight-reasons-why-i-mo... )
It wouldn't work. I am an American who has lived and worked in Switzerland for 8 year previously. I currently have a working visa for France and the Czech Republic, both Schengen, but (essentially) can't work in Switzerland.
(1) Couldn't you offer services to Swiss companies?
(2) Couldn't you get an Italian passport? (As an EU-citizen, you can work in Switzerland without hassle).