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Not everyone shares your rigor to not buying from strangers. Pieter Levels is a one-person show that has started multiple businesses with just a single page &

Not everyone shares your rigor to not buying from strangers. Pieter Levels is a one-person show that has started multiple businesses with just a single page & a Stripe Checkout earning millions per year and I don’t believe he’s incorporated. https://x.com/levelsio https://x.com/levelsio

scrollaway 2y ago
A stripe account requires a legal entity of some sort behind it. This can be a "physical person" (eg a freelance activity), depending on the country, but that still requires registration -- and if it's millions per year, it's usually a terrible idea to do it as a freelancer. The money has to go somewhere. That somewhere needs to be banked. That banked entity needs to be incorporated, or treatable as a corporation.
- lmm 2y ago
  > This can be a "physical person" (eg a freelance activity), depending on the country, but that still requires registration Not necessarily. Many countries do not require sole proprietors to be registered. > if it's millions per year, it's usually a terrible idea to do it as a freelancer. In the US with its liability lawsuit culture yes. Elsewhere operating as a sole proprietor is not always such a terrible idea. > That banked entity needs to be incorporated, or treatable as a corporation. It really doesn't.
  - popcalc 2y ago
    >In the US with its liability lawsuit culture yes. Elsewhere operating as a sole proprietor is not always such a terrible idea. It's a terrible idea because as a non-American you can easily hire a firm like Appleby to evade nearly all taxes if you're rolling in millions.
  - scrollaway 2y ago
    It's a terrible idea because in most countries, it's much more expensive to pay yourself as a freelance than operate a corporation than can easily reinvest profits into itself. It's not even "hiring a firm like Appleby". It's "hiring an accountant". Paying $1-2k a year to save yourself hundreds of thousands in difference. And yes if you're hoping to process payments on Stripe, you need to be banked, and the banked entity will undergo KYB. I have no idea why you're denying this. Is this some sort of gaslighting nonsense?
    - lmm 2y ago
      > in most countries, it's much more expensive to pay yourself as a freelance than operate a corporation than can easily reinvest profits into itself. Maybe. I've found people in my country tend to assume a corporation has stuff to spend on and/or be doing expenses fraud, and actually if you're doing things properly the all-in tax rate is potentially worse for a corporation by the time you actually have the money in your personal account. > if you're hoping to process payments on Stripe, you need to be banked, and the banked entity will undergo KYB. Perhaps, but you absolutely don't need to be a corporation for that. You give them your name and (personal) tax number and maybe a one-line description of what business you're in and that's that.
petesergeant 2y ago
> and I don’t believe he’s incorporated Why would you believe that? He was incorporated in Singapore last I spoke to him. Looking back 8 years ago, to last time I bought something from him, it's from an NL company with a VAT number.
- rvba 2y ago
  A sole proprietorship probably needs to register for VAT in EU countries after exceeding some yearly sales threshhold. Lots of small companies (hairdressers, small shops) were not really incorporated.

scrollaway 2y ago

A stripe account requires a legal entity of some sort behind it. This can be a "physical person" (eg a freelance activity), depending on the country, but that still requires registration -- and if it's millions per year, it's usually a terrible idea to do it as a freelancer. The money has to go somewhere. That somewhere needs to be banked. That banked entity needs to be incorporated, or treatable as a corporation.

lmm 2y ago
> This can be a "physical person" (eg a freelance activity), depending on the country, but that still requires registration Not necessarily. Many countries do not require sole proprietors to be registered. > if it's millions per year, it's usually a terrible idea to do it as a freelancer. In the US with its liability lawsuit culture yes. Elsewhere operating as a sole proprietor is not always such a terrible idea. > That banked entity needs to be incorporated, or treatable as a corporation. It really doesn't.
- popcalc 2y ago
  >In the US with its liability lawsuit culture yes. Elsewhere operating as a sole proprietor is not always such a terrible idea. It's a terrible idea because as a non-American you can easily hire a firm like Appleby to evade nearly all taxes if you're rolling in millions.
- scrollaway 2y ago
  It's a terrible idea because in most countries, it's much more expensive to pay yourself as a freelance than operate a corporation than can easily reinvest profits into itself. It's not even "hiring a firm like Appleby". It's "hiring an accountant". Paying $1-2k a year to save yourself hundreds of thousands in difference. And yes if you're hoping to process payments on Stripe, you need to be banked, and the banked entity will undergo KYB. I have no idea why you're denying this. Is this some sort of gaslighting nonsense?
  - lmm 2y ago
    > in most countries, it's much more expensive to pay yourself as a freelance than operate a corporation than can easily reinvest profits into itself. Maybe. I've found people in my country tend to assume a corporation has stuff to spend on and/or be doing expenses fraud, and actually if you're doing things properly the all-in tax rate is potentially worse for a corporation by the time you actually have the money in your personal account. > if you're hoping to process payments on Stripe, you need to be banked, and the banked entity will undergo KYB. Perhaps, but you absolutely don't need to be a corporation for that. You give them your name and (personal) tax number and maybe a one-line description of what business you're in and that's that.

petesergeant 2y ago

> and I don’t believe he’s incorporated Why would you believe that? He was incorporated in Singapore last I spoke to him. Looking back 8 years ago, to last time I bought something from him, it's from an NL company with a VAT number.

rvba 2y ago
A sole proprietorship probably needs to register for VAT in EU countries after exceeding some yearly sales threshhold. Lots of small companies (hairdressers, small shops) were not really incorporated.