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Estonia is running its country like a tech company

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Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#151

Post by Mirioron »

odiroot wrote: post #99
znq wrote: post #4

I've run and invested in businesses in multiple countries (Spain, Germany, US, UAE, Sri Lanka). One of them (Mobile Jazz - a fully remote company) we've moved to Estonia in 2016. One of the best business decisions we've made admin-wise. While there are for sure better alternatives when it comes to "saving on taxes" (I'd say Estonia is in the European average with 20% corporate tax and an interesting taxation model on…

Would you recommend Estonia for setting up a freelancing business -- as in establishing a legal entity for self-employment?

It depends on what your alternatives are. My guess is that it's not worth it because you still have to pay the taxes an employer would and what an employee would - social security and income taxes. You can take a look at the calculator: https://www.calkoo.com/en/salary-calculator

The taxation system itself is very simple, if VAT isn't involved. You can just enter your annual income and the calculator will tell you all of the numbers. Just make sure you use the "salary/wage fund" as the income field for a freelancer.

One thing to keep in mind though is that countries where you actually perform the work usually want a piece of the pie. That can complicate things significantly.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#152

Post by [deleted] »

juped wrote: post #139
juskrey wrote: post #103

I had a pretty intense honeymoon with Estonia, even had a relatively popular blog on e-residency, have visited Estonia twice (great experience btw).. And, after four years, I have reopened my company in UK and trying to liquidate my Estonian one (today I have received a denial letter which says that only Estonian citizen can close my company).. In short: Vague frequently changing rules, introduction of strange comple…

Sounds like they're running it like a tech company.

[deleted]

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#153

Post by anthonybsd »

jaydenseric wrote: post #57
socialdemocrat wrote: post #19

As a Norwegian I can relate to many things written here. Estonia is clearly ahead of us but this thing of not being the innovator but still using off the shelf technology was something I was forced to reflect upon while living in the US 15 years ago. It was surprising how the country behind so much technology innovation was so bad at using it. It was noticeable both in the private and public sector. It was something…

America is very backwards in tech for daily life. About 2 years ago I was blown away when I arrived at the San Francisco airport and had to buy a train card with a Visa card; the customer service guy got flustered and pulled an old carbon paper swiper thing out from under the desk, and asked for my signature. In Australia it's all wireless payWave or PayPass. My Chinese GF uses her phone to pay for things and conside…

I think your experience is a complete outlier. I literally only go the ATM when I need to give cash to a friend or something weird like that. I spend most of my life in NYC / Financial District. I can't recall the last time I even had to use a physical credit card - everything is either Apple Pay or Level Up, i.e. pay with the phone. Even the subway lines I use have been converted to touchless entry. It's pretty marvelous.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#154

Post by kuratkull »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #129
corford wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard a borderless account with TransferWise can be a quick, painless route

That's what we ended up with. So far the experience itself was good, but unfortunately it does not solve all our banking needs: for example, to receive payouts from Google Play you need your bank to be in the same country that a company is incorporated in. Since TransferWise is in Germany, it just doesn't work for Estonian companies. We didn't yet publish our software in Apple App Store, but I've heard that it could…

TransferWise is an Estonian startup btw and works great here.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#155

Post by juskrey »

Mirioron wrote: post #149
juskrey wrote: post #103

I had a pretty intense honeymoon with Estonia, even had a relatively popular blog on e-residency, have visited Estonia twice (great experience btw).. And, after four years, I have reopened my company in UK and trying to liquidate my Estonian one (today I have received a denial letter which says that only Estonian citizen can close my company).. In short: Vague frequently changing rules, introduction of strange comple…

As an Estonian I thought the e-residency system was pretty much a scam from the start. I didn't think anybody would fall for it, because the moment you ask "So what can I do as an e-resident that I couldn't before?" you realize that the answer is essentially "Nothing". But try saying this to other Estonians, they'll raise a fuss. Edit: perhaps calling it a scam is inappropriate. It just doesn't seem like the program…

Well, I wouldn't certainly call it a scam from the start, still at some point e-residency PR team have indeed started to disseminate lies, deliberately telling only some better parts of the story or manipulating the narrative etc (which of course some will call marketing, I call BS).

Like with those nasty surprises when in reality you need to "know" some Estonian to start and stop a company.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#156

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Scoundreller wrote: post #137
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven’t used checks routinely for the last 20 years in the states. I’m always really annoyed when some random niche activity requires it and can’t accept an online transfer. Then I have to go to the bank and get a temporary one.

You might want to bite the bullet and buy the 200 for $10. At least they don't expire.

It is annoying. I can get certified checks for free at the bank.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#157

Post by barce »

ivarv wrote: post #146
barce wrote: post #143

This piece is shocking in that nobody was interviewed. Not one single source anonymous nor named. This fails journalism 101 for me.

The author is the president of the country! Who would you expect her to interview?

Ordinary citizens: Even in a US presidential state of the union, the Presidents (Trump included) will quote ordinary citizens about how the country is doing.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#158

Post by fzeroracer »

buboard wrote: post #58
dimitar wrote: post #55

No opinion on Estonia and its e-government, but running a country like a tech company sounds like a plot of a comedy set in a dystopia. I certainly hope that Estonia is ran better than most tech company Tech companies have many problems that I don't want see in a Government: - Security breaches (and just like every other tech company Bulgaria recently had a dump of the personal data of 5 million citizens) - Privacy i…

Most countries are ran far worse than a company. If citizens had the option to freely jump between countries, most of them would go bankrupt, that's why they rely on coercion. Very few countries are ran efficiently and they re typically very small like Singapore.

I feel like the only people that can honestly say this are those that are not familiar with just how poorly ran a lot of companies tend to be.

The major difference being that an inept government is generally much more visible than an inept company. But as someone that's worked both commercial and government, I've seen enough to make a definitive statement that a lot of companies are incredibly poorly ran. You just don't see it.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#159

Post by frooxie »

goatinaboat wrote: post #127
znq wrote: post #4

I've run and invested in businesses in multiple countries (Spain, Germany, US, UAE, Sri Lanka). One of them (Mobile Jazz - a fully remote company) we've moved to Estonia in 2016. One of the best business decisions we've made admin-wise. While there are for sure better alternatives when it comes to "saving on taxes" (I'd say Estonia is in the European average with 20% corporate tax and an interesting taxation model on…

Estonia (in fact all the 3 Baltic States) under-taxes at present in a way that’s not sustainable. For example there is a significant NATO presence there to protect them from the Russians. At some point someone will want them to make a fair contribution to that, such as purchasing a few tanks and fighter jets... https://www.army.mod.uk/deployments/baltics/ https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_165751.htm

According to NATO's 2018 report, Estonia was one of only six NATO countries (out of 29) that met the goal of dedicating 2% of their GDP to defense. Not that dedicating 100% would stop Russia if they wanted to invade.

Re: Estonia is running its country like a tech company

#160

Post by pinkfoot »

frooxie wrote: post #159
goatinaboat wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Estonia (in fact all the 3 Baltic States) under-taxes at present in a way that’s not sustainable. For example there is a significant NATO presence there to protect them from the Russians. At some point someone will want them to make a fair contribution to that, such as purchasing a few tanks and fighter jets... https://www.army.mod.uk/deployments/baltics/ https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_165751.htm

According to NATO's 2018 report, Estonia was one of only six NATO countries (out of 29) that met the goal of dedicating 2% of their GDP to defense. Not that dedicating 100% would stop Russia if they wanted to invade.

The entire French and UK nuclear arsenal raining down on Moscow and St Petersburg is not a deterrent?

Try not talk nonsense on HN.

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