4 ms·

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Estonia so far. I looked into it a while back, and it all seemed very easy to set up. You just needed to get an e-Resident ID (

by gpjt 3y ago

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Estonia so far. I looked into it a while back, and it all seemed very easy to set up. You just needed to get an e-Resident ID (which was pretty simple) and there were cheap local companies to handle all the paperwork for you. Corporation tax was low, and importantly was only charged if you paid dividends: profits retained for future investment were not taxed. Perhaps I misunderstood things (I wound up not going ahead with it) or things have changed, but it looked like a great option, and they were marketing it for people exactly in your situation.

101008 3y ago
Stupid question that probably depends where you live, but if I register a company in Estonia and do all my work through them, do I have to pay taxes in my country too?
- throwaway53465 3y ago
  IANAL, but generally, yes. In most setups, the company is a separate tax entity, so corporate taxes are one thing, mostly determined by the country where the company is incorporated, usually paid on profits. Then you move the money from the company to yourself, either as a salary or as a dividend. This is generally taxed by the country that you live in as personal income tax or a dividend tax. This varies greatly. Things can get more complicated, e.g. if you stay in a country for over 60 days, one can argue that the company now has a dependency in that country (because you as the sole owner / employee are living there), so you might be forced to incorporate in that country as well / pay (corporate) taxes there.
throwaway53465 3y ago
Couple of years old, but some reasons not to incorporate in Estonia: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16752054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16752054
- gpjt 3y ago
  Thanks! Looks like that was just after they got started, though, so perhaps things have changed? It all seemed pretty simple and will organised later on that year, do could have been teething troubles.
- Tommstein 3y ago
  > Couple of years old . . . Almost six years old.
grokys 3y ago
I'd recommend not incorporating in Estonia if you're going to need a bank account. They're not easy to get.

by gpjt 3y ago

101008 3y ago

Stupid question that probably depends where you live, but if I register a company in Estonia and do all my work through them, do I have to pay taxes in my country too?

throwaway53465 3y ago
IANAL, but generally, yes. In most setups, the company is a separate tax entity, so corporate taxes are one thing, mostly determined by the country where the company is incorporated, usually paid on profits. Then you move the money from the company to yourself, either as a salary or as a dividend. This is generally taxed by the country that you live in as personal income tax or a dividend tax. This varies greatly. Things can get more complicated, e.g. if you stay in a country for over 60 days, one can argue that the company now has a dependency in that country (because you as the sole owner / employee are living there), so you might be forced to incorporate in that country as well / pay (corporate) taxes there.

throwaway53465 3y ago

Couple of years old, but some reasons not to incorporate in Estonia: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16752054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16752054

gpjt 3y ago
Thanks! Looks like that was just after they got started, though, so perhaps things have changed? It all seemed pretty simple and will organised later on that year, do could have been teething troubles.
Tommstein 3y ago
> Couple of years old . . . Almost six years old.

grokys 3y ago

I'd recommend not incorporating in Estonia if you're going to need a bank account. They're not easy to get.