4 ms·

You may want to start a Delaware C-Corp if others are investing money. That is the standard. But it is far from the cheapest way to "start a company" in the Un

by Digory 3y ago

You may want to start a Delaware C-Corp if others are investing money. That is the standard. But it is far from the cheapest way to "start a company" in the United States. Usually, it is easiest to start a "limited liability company." Smaller states compete for the lowest LLC cost. For example, Arizona, Mississippi and Missouri all charge $50 for an LLC, with no recurring fees. Kentucky charges $40, but requires a $15/yr report. But you may need a registered agent or other ongoing costs in those states. By comparison, Clerky (a popular C-Corp startup service) charges $99 + $328 in state fees. If you get people interested, you can easily convert from an LLC to a Delaware C-Corp. But if you are in Taiwan, why do you want a US company?

ddxv 3y ago
Thanks for the advise. As for your question, I'm an American citizen and generally get advise to not directly create a Taiwan company as the tax and banking system are incredibly bureaucratic. Having painfully started a subsidiary here in the past, though not an actual TW corp, makes me suspect the advise I hear is worth listening to.
- Digory 3y ago
  Sounds reasonable. People hold IP in LLCs all the time. Obviously, though, the outcome depends on TW law and its loopholes as much as the IRS and state law. And the cheapest US LLC services just won't have any clue about any of that.
- digianarchist 3y ago
  If you’re operating a foreign company from Taiwan then it’ll probably be deemed a Taiwanese company anyway for tax purposes. Check local laws.
- jake_morrison 3y ago
  If you need a company in Taiwan, it's generally best to have your main company outside and have a branch in Taiwan. It has significant tax benefits, particularly for foreigners. A branch can repatriate profits to the parent company, after paying Taiwan tax. If you have a standalone Taiwan company, then you have to pay dividends, then pay personal tax on it. If you are not resident in Taiwan, then you would pay 20% tax on those dividends. There is also a 5% tax on retained earnings. Another benefit is that if your company pays someone overseas for services, then Taiwan considers that "Taiwan source income", and they owe 20% tax on it. Other countries like Hong Kong would not tax that money. As foreigner, if you leave, then you would find it difficult to run your company remotely. So you might as well set up somewhere else.
- louison11 3y ago
  A follow up question I have is why create a company if you think you’re gonna have no to little revenue? Why not just wait until you actually make money to register? Adding a business entity before having any cash flow will probably only make your life more complicated.
Beijinger 3y ago
Listen to this guy. "The business will be mostly open source and likely to have low to no revenue." No revenue would be interesting for a UK company. Just fill a dormant status. Delaware is not a bad option. "What is the recommendation for a company to manage an open source project?" Start without a company? Investments (Domain, Server) could also be tax deductible from your current income. https://incorp.com/ https://incorp.com/ is generally a good incorporation service. But in the past their administration interface required windows. Don't know how it is now. My gut feeling: Start without a company. (I am not a lawyer). Edit: Open in Rwanda. Free and nobody is going so sue you there for sure! :-) https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Affordability-of-Starting-A-Business-By-Country-Full.html https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/...
- gumballindie 3y ago
  > No revenue would be interesting for a UK company. Considering atrocious taxes and a broken hmrc i would not advice anyone to register a uk company.
  - Beijinger 3y ago
    You must be obviously a British citizen. Please be advises, compared to the rest of the core EU your taxes are pretty decent (lets not talk about HU, BG etc.) And what most angel-sax people are not aware of: Everybody can open a company in the UK or US with a few mouse clicks. Try this in some other EU countries :-) (e.g. Germany). And as a non UK/US resident, HMRC is not realy relevant to you.
    - gumballindie 3y ago
      The issue is with paying high taxes and getting services of a quality comparable to hu, bg and so on. Things are really that bad in the UK (albeit more friendly and relaxed). You can indeed create a company in a few clicks, but the system has so many small issues here and there that it becomes frustrating real fast. Post brexit uk is seriously under skilled (the media calls it under staffed, but we all know whats really happening).

by Digory 3y ago

ddxv 3y ago

Thanks for the advise. As for your question, I'm an American citizen and generally get advise to not directly create a Taiwan company as the tax and banking system are incredibly bureaucratic. Having painfully started a subsidiary here in the past, though not an actual TW corp, makes me suspect the advise I hear is worth listening to.

Digory 3y ago
Sounds reasonable. People hold IP in LLCs all the time. Obviously, though, the outcome depends on TW law and its loopholes as much as the IRS and state law. And the cheapest US LLC services just won't have any clue about any of that.
digianarchist 3y ago
If you’re operating a foreign company from Taiwan then it’ll probably be deemed a Taiwanese company anyway for tax purposes. Check local laws.
jake_morrison 3y ago
If you need a company in Taiwan, it's generally best to have your main company outside and have a branch in Taiwan. It has significant tax benefits, particularly for foreigners. A branch can repatriate profits to the parent company, after paying Taiwan tax. If you have a standalone Taiwan company, then you have to pay dividends, then pay personal tax on it. If you are not resident in Taiwan, then you would pay 20% tax on those dividends. There is also a 5% tax on retained earnings. Another benefit is that if your company pays someone overseas for services, then Taiwan considers that "Taiwan source income", and they owe 20% tax on it. Other countries like Hong Kong would not tax that money. As foreigner, if you leave, then you would find it difficult to run your company remotely. So you might as well set up somewhere else.
louison11 3y ago
A follow up question I have is why create a company if you think you’re gonna have no to little revenue? Why not just wait until you actually make money to register? Adding a business entity before having any cash flow will probably only make your life more complicated.

Beijinger 3y ago

Listen to this guy. "The business will be mostly open source and likely to have low to no revenue." No revenue would be interesting for a UK company. Just fill a dormant status. Delaware is not a bad option. "What is the recommendation for a company to manage an open source project?" Start without a company? Investments (Domain, Server) could also be tax deductible from your current income. https://incorp.com/ https://incorp.com/ is generally a good incorporation service. But in the past their administration interface required windows. Don't know how it is now. My gut feeling: Start without a company. (I am not a lawyer). Edit: Open in Rwanda. Free and nobody is going so sue you there for sure! :-) https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Affordability-of-Starting-A-Business-By-Country-Full.html https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/...

gumballindie 3y ago
> No revenue would be interesting for a UK company. Considering atrocious taxes and a broken hmrc i would not advice anyone to register a uk company.
- Beijinger 3y ago
  You must be obviously a British citizen. Please be advises, compared to the rest of the core EU your taxes are pretty decent (lets not talk about HU, BG etc.) And what most angel-sax people are not aware of: Everybody can open a company in the UK or US with a few mouse clicks. Try this in some other EU countries :-) (e.g. Germany). And as a non UK/US resident, HMRC is not realy relevant to you.
  - gumballindie 3y ago
    The issue is with paying high taxes and getting services of a quality comparable to hu, bg and so on. Things are really that bad in the UK (albeit more friendly and relaxed). You can indeed create a company in a few clicks, but the system has so many small issues here and there that it becomes frustrating real fast. Post brexit uk is seriously under skilled (the media calls it under staffed, but we all know whats really happening).