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Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

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Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#301

Post by lstamour »

jonmrodriguez wrote: post #248
STRML wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's something I've considered. As a now resident of Hong Kong, I was surprised - and delighted - with how incredibly easy it was to handle my taxes. Front-to-back, I could do the whole thing, including payment, in less than an hour and understand the whole system. Unfortunately, it is nowhere near so simple in the US, and they have no regard for expats. The US treats its expats worse than any other country in the wo…

By the way, if you hate the US's horrible tax forms, you should boycott the company Intuit (makers of Mint.com, QuickBooks, TurboTax, and more). Intuit spends a huge amount of money every year lobbying to make sure that tax forms are as complicated as possible: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/turbotax-maker-funnels-mill... So evil!!!

I would point out that Mint.com was a startup at first, and I can't see how it or Intuit can prevent further competitors, e.g. personal capital. So... While I do prefer free tax filing tools over QuickTax, I'm not sure Mint is to blame. If anything, by using a free service, aren't you costing them money?

Edit: I might be mistaken as in Canada (where I am) it's not as easy as pay what the Government says you owe, but in turn the system does let you login to view your (bigger company) tax forms, your last return results; other relevant forms haven't been too hard for me to get ahold of digitally. Digital deposits are quick and there's multiple competing Windows and web-based clients that are both free (not just for low incomes) and certified as compatible by the CRA for each year's tax season. This has pushed more than one company to offer their products free or at a discount, but I actually really like one of the Windows clients so I'll use it next time.

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#302

Post by kartikkumar »

arjie wrote: post #291
kartikkumar wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had you seen my body language when I posted the comment, you might not have decided that it was made out of any sense of smugness. NOTE: Since my comments in this thread were downvoted, implying that they were not taken in the spirit they were intended, my contribution to this thread should be considered obsolete. I'll leave my original comments in place to serve as a reminder to myself to be careful about what I say…

No need to play the martyr. It's a tangential issue. If you brought it up in conversation people would say something like "ha ha yeah, you know what I mean" and continue discussing the original topic. There it quickly dissipates because voice is quickly damped but here it is just noise that takes time to be damped out.

I absolutely am not playing the martyr. I raised an issue that I felt was of importance. The fact that others disagree is something I'm willing to live with, but it by no means sways me.

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#303

Post by karangoeluw »

philiphodgen wrote: post #134

I am an international tax lawyer and this stuff is my day job. Consider this comment an AMA. For smaller companies, the bureaucratic cost of international tax systems is insane. For US citizens abroad ... I will just say that my biggest area of growth is helping people shed their US citizenship and tax paperwork/penalties is the number 1 reason. Anyway. If you are in a position like The One and Only Netai -- or don't…

Any ideas on how it would work if I inc in India, but operate in the US (I'm in the US on F1 visa)

I'm an Indian citizen

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#304

Post by falconfunction »

jonmrodriguez wrote: post #248
STRML wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's something I've considered. As a now resident of Hong Kong, I was surprised - and delighted - with how incredibly easy it was to handle my taxes. Front-to-back, I could do the whole thing, including payment, in less than an hour and understand the whole system. Unfortunately, it is nowhere near so simple in the US, and they have no regard for expats. The US treats its expats worse than any other country in the wo…

By the way, if you hate the US's horrible tax forms, you should boycott the company Intuit (makers of Mint.com, QuickBooks, TurboTax, and more). Intuit spends a huge amount of money every year lobbying to make sure that tax forms are as complicated as possible: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/turbotax-maker-funnels-mill... So evil!!!

You are so right, they should be undercutting the bidders for building it for the government and really becoming the primary developers. Why can't I deal with Intuit every day?

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#305

Post by lstamour »

raverbashing wrote: post #233
philiphodgen wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience with this is yes that you need to be in the USA to open the bank account for the US corporation. It MAY be possible to work something out if you deal with one of the multinational banks like Citi or HSBC but don't count on it. To keep this sleeping corporation alive: 1. File the paperwork in Delaware every year and pay the fees there. 2. File a Form 1120 (the corporate income tax return) with zero incom…

The requirement for being present in the US to open a bank account comes IIRC from the Patriotic Act The multinational banks won't help you with this.

Not sure about that, though that's definitely part of what makes it harder and transactions tend to take longer to process. Ironically, it seems I already have a US account from years ago and never noticed. And I signed up for it online, though I had previously visited a Canadian branch. Apparently at least part of it is the routing numbers attached to the account. http://f.redflagdeals.com/showthread.php?t=1327886&mobile_ty...

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#306

Post by ajtaylor »

jpatokal wrote: post #272
joseph wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supposing one does not want a second citizenship and is willing to renounce their US citizenship entirely, which country would you recommend switching to? How difficult is it and what are the consequences?

+1 for Singapore, at least from a business perspective: http://gyrovague.com/2013/10/30/half-the-donut-why-an-entrep... Personally, I'm going for Australia though -- there's more to life than low taxes.

I'm starting the work for my PR in Australia. We love it here, plus the paths are short and straightforward: 2 years as 457 => PR through employer sponsorship, 1-2(?) years as PR => citizenship.

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#307

Post by lstamour »

jpatokal wrote: post #274
Systemic33 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've lived in Sweden for 6 years, and the danish public transport is pretty much the same, while I think Stockholm's is better. My point is that good public transport is not an argument for having ludicruos taxes. Sweden does exceptionally well and doesn't require a 180% reg. tax. Vehicles used for business is cheaper, still significantly more expensive than vehicles in Sweden. Let's check with the Volkswagen Golf, a…

Try Singapore! VW Golf 1.4 TSI DSG (A) S$132,800 (104.9k USD) http://www.sgcarmart.com/new_cars/newcars_pricing.php?CarCod...

Huh. While the US market goes cheap. http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2045 In Canada this translates to under CA$19,000 (or 10% off USD) and the electric's $35k or so, last I googled. I didn't know I had it that good. Still waiting for self-driving cars, personally.

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#308

Post by lstamour »

nitai wrote: post #118
oesmith wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Webmaster Tools' "Fetch as googlebot" feature is useful in debugging these problems. See http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/fetch-as-googlebot-tool-hacked...

Awesome. Thanks. Should be good now. Though, will test some more.

This sort of malware spreading often hides itself from (a) logged in users and be (b) browser strgins that aren't Google. This can ultimately hurt your Googlerank if for no other reason than serving a different page to Googlebot than you would to outsiders. And yes, Google checks. This is why they used to have a campaign to register your mobile site with them if you were sniffing for mobile useragents.

Re: Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

#310

Post by jsankey »

girvo wrote: post #295
jpatokal wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for Singapore, at least from a business perspective: http://gyrovague.com/2013/10/30/half-the-donut-why-an-entrep... Personally, I'm going for Australia though -- there's more to life than low taxes.

Yeah, while our taxes here in Aus are high, so are our standards of living. Although our new government seems intent on ruining that, in a bid to out-do the US in terms of idiotic legislation and curbing freedoms...

Actually, our taxes are not high compared to other OECD countries (only Mexico and Chile have significantly lower tax/GDP ratios):

http://www.treasury.gov.au/Policy-Topics/Taxation/Pocket-Gui...

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