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Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

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Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#81

Post by hnhg »

yorwba wrote: post #46
hnhg wrote: post #17

I am surprised to see Germany so high. Germany is a hostile place to start a company, especially if you are not German, not least because there is the issue of a very harsh and inflexible exit tax. Should you decide to leave Germany, even temporarily, you will be faced with a tax of around 30% of the current valuation of your worldwide holdings in companies. The rules for this became even harsher in 2021. I have obvi…

It's probably generally a bad idea to start a company in a country you intend to leave permanently. What's the point of having a company in Germany if you're not in Germany yourself? Most companies in Germany are probably started by people who intend to stay, or are subsidiaries of international conglomerates, or have not gained enough in value to cause a significant tax burden, so the edge cases affected by the exit…

You might have a sick relative and want to temporarily spend some time with them. Or you might need to relocate to lead expansion to another market. Or move to the sun after retirement but still keep ownership of some shares to pass on to your children. There are a range of unplanned scenarios that can lead to that. For many, it is not worth the risk.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#82

Post by snowpid »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #75
snowpid wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe there are things in Germany where the country excels other countries. Energy price is not the only indicator!

Considering that Germany is losing business left and right, companies moving to other countries, rates of reemigration falling down, I’d say there’s not much positive development in Germany right now. Totally unappealing to start a new business and the bureaucracy is crazy.

Considering there are still major investments into Germany, there is still much positive development. I guess some people are just blind.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#83

Post by hnhg »

yorwba wrote: post #65
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> bad idea to start a company in a country you intend to leave permanently Agree if the intention is there from the beginning. Disagree that the inflexibility doesn’t have a cost. Even if you fully intend to stay in Germany, are you 100% sure that’s the best decision for your business? If the answer is no, the law incentivises moving preemptively.

I wasn't trying to say that there is no cost, I was pointing out that the cost is not large enough to affect the ranking on this index. With an index composed of many different factors, you can always focus on one aspect that is particularly positive or negative, but that doesn't mean the overall ranking is wrong just because it also takes other factors into account. The EIU gives Germany an overall score of 8.35. Ho…

It raises the possibility that it perhaps isn't a useful index.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#84

Post by hnhg »

gndk wrote: post #51
rwmj wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why the EU hasn't clamped down on it? Surely it is incompatible with the Internal Market (unless by "leaving Germany" you meant "leaving the EU").

Because nobody has sued the German tax office and taken it up to the EU courts yet. From my understanding and anecdotes from my tax advisor, most of these cases get settled by the tax office before going to court to avoid creating a precedent. The tax office just lost a case at the highest German court against an entrepreneur who moved to Switzerland, which will force them to accept an unlimited interest-free deferra…

Unfortunately, so far that deferral will most likely come with the requirement for a security, typically cash. That is the prevailing view of tax specialists right now, but will depend on each individual's experience with their local tax authorities.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#86

Post by kavouras »

I'm a Greek and this article saddens me.

Greece is run by a populist government, one of the two parties that had be running Greece to it's demise. Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the first Greek politician in my opinion to understand modern media and how to manipulate them, appearing as the sensible choice to people who don't put any effort into researching politics.

All that while we've had the government donating millions to friendly media,

the Greek version of Watergate, with the goverment spying on politicians, journalists and others

and two trains colliding because of state incompetence with many students dying.

All that have not been investigated properly.

Finally the average greek person has not been feeling any "fastest improving business environments" one of the reasons being that the sectors that thrive are not beneficial to the country.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#87

Post by yorwba »

hnhg wrote: post #81
yorwba wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably generally a bad idea to start a company in a country you intend to leave permanently. What's the point of having a company in Germany if you're not in Germany yourself? Most companies in Germany are probably started by people who intend to stay, or are subsidiaries of international conglomerates, or have not gained enough in value to cause a significant tax burden, so the edge cases affected by the exit…

You might have a sick relative and want to temporarily spend some time with them. Or you might need to relocate to lead expansion to another market. Or move to the sun after retirement but still keep ownership of some shares to pass on to your children. There are a range of unplanned scenarios that can lead to that. For many, it is not worth the risk.

If you leave for less than 7 years (less than 12 if you file for permission), you're not covered by the exit tax. That should cover anything truly temporary at least.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#89

Post by TheCapeGreek »

Irishsteve wrote: post #27
BillyTheKing wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things with Greeks (in Greece) really is that they're notoriously pessimistic and depressed, unlike what people usually associate with the country. I do think though that there's a bit of a new spirit though among the younger generation which is slightly less focused on 2k year old history and a bit more realistic in the way they approach the world. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my end

I've been keeping an eye on Greece as they started to introduce benefits for foreign capital / workers similar to what Portugal did. I've a feeling this is why Greece is seen to be doing so well. If it ends up being like Portugal, it will be foreign investors and a select few locals that benefit the most.

From the one or two accounts I follow that talk about these macro trends, the benefits for capital at least are helping, not sure about individual incentives. As Greece's tech hubs grow, they also start to paint a different picture of work and work culture in Greece.

Re: Greece, Argentina and India are the fastest improving business environments

#90

Post by hellectronic »

hnhg wrote: post #17

I am surprised to see Germany so high. Germany is a hostile place to start a company, especially if you are not German, not least because there is the issue of a very harsh and inflexible exit tax. Should you decide to leave Germany, even temporarily, you will be faced with a tax of around 30% of the current valuation of your worldwide holdings in companies. The rules for this became even harsher in 2021. I have obvi…

Germany is hostile to everyone who wants to start a business. You have to check with different agencies/offices and just work it through. A lot of time consuming. Finanzamt, Rentenversicherung, Krankenkasse, Berufsgenossenschaft, Gewerbeamt, everyone has its own rules.

For the super rich its a good place.

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