3 ms·

Playing devils advocate here: > What annoys me the most is that, as a small company, I can't evade from my country tax system. I pay the taxes. All of them, at

by mtrn 9y ago

Playing devils advocate here: > What annoys me the most is that, as a small company, I can't evade from my country tax system. I pay the taxes. All of them, at full rate. How about a startup providing "tax-optimization" for the masses? Keep a cut of the money saved: win-win. Or win-win-lose, if you include the state.

_acme 9y ago
How would this possibly work? Just throwing out the word 'startup' doesn't solve anything. The only way to reasonably take this comment seriously is as subtle sarcasm.
- nikcub 9y ago
  Similar services exist. If you're a foreign short-term contractor in the UK it's common to use a services company to setup a company in Jersey for you, setup the bank account and then run payroll for you. I could see something like Stripe Atlas but in an offshore jurisdiction - they set you up with a company, bank account and merchant account which you can then process international credit card transactions out of (ie. transactions that originate from countries other than the one you're based in) The other application is for entrepreneurs in developing nations where there are regular occurrences of businesses being shaken down (or outright taken over) by corrupt officials. Using local banks can often tip off the wrong type of people as to who is wealthy enough to go after
pjc50 9y ago
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-moves-offshore-to-avoid-tax-on-local-business-a6728971.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-... However, most of these techniques have a high fixed cost. For Apple paying $1m fixed cost to reduce the percentage tax to zero is economical, for a corner shop it isn't.
Maarten88 9y ago
You do have to make a profit and pay corporation tax in order to be able to "optimize" it... Most startups I know do not, and they benefit (in the future, or via transfer to shareholders) from the inverse taxation on losses.

by mtrn 9y ago

_acme 9y ago

How would this possibly work? Just throwing out the word 'startup' doesn't solve anything. The only way to reasonably take this comment seriously is as subtle sarcasm.

nikcub 9y ago
Similar services exist. If you're a foreign short-term contractor in the UK it's common to use a services company to setup a company in Jersey for you, setup the bank account and then run payroll for you. I could see something like Stripe Atlas but in an offshore jurisdiction - they set you up with a company, bank account and merchant account which you can then process international credit card transactions out of (ie. transactions that originate from countries other than the one you're based in) The other application is for entrepreneurs in developing nations where there are regular occurrences of businesses being shaken down (or outright taken over) by corrupt officials. Using local banks can often tip off the wrong type of people as to who is wealthy enough to go after

pjc50 9y ago

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-moves-offshore-to-avoid-tax-on-local-business-a6728971.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-... However, most of these techniques have a high fixed cost. For Apple paying $1m fixed cost to reduce the percentage tax to zero is economical, for a corner shop it isn't.

Maarten88 9y ago

You do have to make a profit and pay corporation tax in order to be able to "optimize" it... Most startups I know do not, and they benefit (in the future, or via transfer to shareholders) from the inverse taxation on losses.