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Why you might not want to incorporate in the USA

thenitai.com

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

#331

Post by xyzzyz »

apa-sl wrote: post #200
mattlutze wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Labor also moves relatively freely in the US. Here in Germany, I get the impression that an employee is incredibly "safe" compared to the US -- is it the same elsewhere in the EU? This has the double effect of probably making any one community more resilient to small market movements, but I have a hunch it also suppresses the volume of desirable candidates in the unemployment pool. I'd wager that a robust, high-turno…

In Poland when you want to hire someone "as it should be" with a proper work contract it is quite a pain in the ass for the employer. 1) Many rights for the empolyee, not so many for the employer, 2) VERY high real costs of employment (only ~40% of total employment costs lands in the hands of the employee to his/her disposal). That's why many companies are using some "alternative" ways to hire someone still legally w…

I highly recommend comparing these numbers for Poland with numbers for other European countries. You'll find that Poland is on the cheaper end of the employment cost spectrum - that 40% figure (which is actually 38%) only refers to the cost of employing a minimum-wage worker, and it's not 38% that's taken home, it's 38% that's taken by government, and it's still lower than EU average.

As personal and corporate income taxes in Poland are quite low (again, compared to other European countries), combined with the fact that labor in Poland is extremely cheap (in EU, if I remember correctly, the labor is cheaper only in very poor countries like Latvia, Lithuania or Bulgaria), employing Poles and doing business in Poland is very cheap. It's very illuminating to compare the percentage of corporate income spent on worker wages in various countries -- companies spend very little on employees in Poland in general.

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

#332

Post by dcc1 »

dleskov wrote: post #297
dcc1 wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

re: fastsrping "You have the option to pay either 8.9% flat or 5.9% plus $.95 per transaction. " Wowza, thats steep! edit: Sorry but experience has been different here in west, in another lifetime I worked on an "innovation partnership" with EI, it was nothing more than a way to funnel state money to politically connected "friends", the business idea was crippled from day 1 but that didnt matter the objective was tra…

> re: fastsrping > "You have the option to pay either 8.9% flat or 5.9% plus $.95 per transaction. " > Wowza, thats steep! FastSpring customer here. First, they handle lots of boring and complicated stuff for you, not just taxes. How much would it cost you to accept all major credit cards, PayPal, checks and (international) wire transfers, and provide customer service for all of those transaction types? Second, if yo…

I see, still thats quite a bit especially when need to hand over a large chunk on any sale from Irish/EU28 customers in tax!

Currently working with Elavon for credit card payments (cant disclose exact rates, but much cheaper than Stripe),

completely avoiding Paypal who can go and f&*k themselves,

and getting several of the larger customers to pay via SEPA bank transfer or bitcoin which have nearly no fees.

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

#334

Post by dusanbab »

hartator wrote: post #222

I had a similar experience. I run a france-based company specialized in online advertising and I wanted to expand our activities to the US, who does not? Obviously France is way worst than Denmark and the US for business, tax and work laws, so I can't really relate for the tax part. I relate mostly for the visa stuff. What I am getting from the OP post, Nitai was doing L1-A. I have been doing L1-A too. (I recognized…

Sorry to hear L-1 was unsuccessful for you. Care to share what the eventual denial reason was?

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

#335

Post by dusanbab »

mattlutze wrote: post #321
nitai wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for your comment. As a fact I know 10+ US citizens that have had no problem coming to Germany and live and work. All self employed and sufficient to provide for themselves for some time. It might have changed, but the last time I've checked it was way easier then getting any Visa in the USA. Speaking off, yes, we tried to get a B* visa but the 67000 visa they issue per year was filled within 3 days. One can…

As a fact I know 10+ European citizens that have had no problem coming to the US to live and work... you're a techie, we both know anecdotes are not data. No one challenges that US visas are difficult at times to get. But if it was such an issue, I've gotta ask -- how is your software company's offering and positioning so unique that only you could manage operations from the US? Also, to note, B1/B2 visas are for "te…

Regarding your second point, why should he delegate that critical task to someone he hasn't worked with extensively before?

Why should he prove someone else couldn't do that job? They probably could, but he can do it better and it's his money/equity after all.

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

#336

Post by jpatokal »

ajtaylor wrote: post #306
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.

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.

You need 4 years total though. Which is still pretty good though, in places like the US you're lucky to get even a green card in 10 years...

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

#337

Post by dusanbab »

I think the frustration with the various state differences is less interesting, to be honest. That's part of what makes the US great IMO - states have to compete with each other as people and businesses can vote with their feet.

The difficulty you encountered during what I would have thought should be a routine L-1 is most concerning & perplexing. I really never understand this point - more than a million new green cards were issued in 2012 [1] but you can't even easily get a temporary work visa.

To make matters worse every year 50K new green cards are issued to completely random people, I mean it's a lottery after all [2]. Why does the US want to hand out residency en masse and then stop people who can create jobs and grow the economy? As an outsider looking in I would think you're getting the worst of both outcomes.

I don't believe there is a good answer. Regrettably decision making has become so paralyzed in the US Congress and Senate and the whole machine only exists to serve itself.

[1] - http://www.voanews.com/content/us-issues-million-green-cards... [2] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity_Immigrant_Visa

Edit: references

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

#338

Post by girvo »

vacri wrote: post #325
girvo wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

As jsankey says, we're really not highly taxed. Our tax load is on par with the US, and we have the benefit of a much simpler tax system, from income tax to business taxes. Cost of living is high, though.

Mmm, yeah I suppose that's more what I meant. Our tax isn't that high per se, but you feel what tax there is more as our cost of living is quite high.

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

#339

Post by nitai »

nitai wrote: post #128
gopi wrote: post #127

Hmm, Seems the Google Cache version of this article is full of viagara links? - http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xBaBObi...

Cleaned it up. Should be fine by now. But still working on it.

Ok, wasn't good before. Now completely reinstalled WP and all good again. Sorry guys.

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

#340

Post by saalweachter »

philiphodgen wrote: post #144
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…

I think it is Clay Shirky who said something to the effect that bureaucracies have every incentive to not solve problems. Otherwise the reason for the bureaucrats' existence would cease. We won't see solutions from the US government. Ever. Yes the tax stuff is painful but as in your case there are reasons to keep the citizenship.

I think blaming bureaucracy in general is giving a free pass to Congress.

A lot of the federal government is fully aware of their problems, and knows solutions, but they are not authorized dictate policy (except in small, limited ways) or otherwise enact solutions ... they are following their mandate set up by Congress. Congress sets up the bureaucracy to fail, and then blames it for failing. The classic example is the USPS, which is micromanaged by Congress and then berated when the micromanagement produces the expected failure.

So blame Congress.

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