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Truly, this is one of the greatest losses of the UK leaving. For both parties. Advising EU startups on where to incorporate that isn’t London could be so much s

Truly, this is one of the greatest losses of the UK leaving. For both parties. Advising EU startups on where to incorporate that isn’t London could be so much simpler.

whateverboat 9mo ago
What about Luxembourg?
- embedding-shape 9mo ago
  If you have to setup a company today, and want the easiest path to EU-wide SaaS, probably Estonia is the way to go, very easy for EU citizens (don't know how the experience would be from outside, if it's even possible).
  - psychoslave 9mo ago
    Interesting https://eurosaasedge.substack.com/p/the-estonian-saas-formula-europes https://eurosaasedge.substack.com/p/the-estonian-saas-formul...
  - MrJobbo 9mo ago
    Too bad that Estonia won't exist after 2027...Russia will gobble it up alongside Latvia and Lithuania.
    - embedding-shape 9mo ago
      Yeah, such a shame Estonia isn't in NATO nor the defense clauses of the EU, so they're sitting there all alone at the border...
  - Tangurena2 9mo ago
    It seems easy enough for US residents as well: https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/nomadvisa/ https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/nomadvisa/ Checking the requirements, it seems to me that any "first world" citizen would encounter a low barrier for entry, with exceptions for Russians ("second world" citizens).
- belter 9mo ago
  Avoid Luxembourg like the plague unless you are a company like Amazon. And even them are making a massive mistake form a governance and risk management point of view of being based there. But they have their tax deal...
  - codingcodingboy 9mo ago
    Can you explain why?
    - belter 9mo ago
      Where should I start... :-) - They are optimized for Big funds, Holding structures and Multinationals If you are a bootstrapper, or small company or any early stage startup, the ecosystem works against you. - Setup costs are absurdly high if you include Notary around plus possibly Lawyer, Bank onboarding plus accounting you are looking at burning €10k to €20k easily before making a cent. - The scourge of the state Fonctionnaires. Untouchables and incredibly well paid state employees. One told me would take care of my long delayed VAT returns... AFTER they would return from their long summer holidays in Switzerland ... - It only works if you have some special deal like the famous Mr Marius Kohl also known as Monsieur Ruling used to do... "Leaked Documents Expose Global Companies’ Secret Tax Deals in Luxembourg" https://www.icij.org/investigations/luxembourg-leaks/leaked-documents-expose-global-companies-secret-tax-deals-luxembourg/ https://www.icij.org/investigations/luxembourg-leaks/leaked-... - Banks will treat you like a criminal by default and assume, you are laundering money, or hiding taxes and you are compliance risk. They have extreme KYC requirements, and do account freezes for trivial reasons. - Accounting is rigid, expensive, and slow. Taxes are not low in practice. On paper, it all looks good, but in reality they have the Corporate tax and municipal tax. Many complex withholding rules and limited deductions unless structured perfectly. - The legal system is slow and formal. Everything takes a lot of time and a LOT of paperwork with more costly intermediaries. Small changes like directors, statutes will force Notary, Formal filings, Delays. - The ecosystem is completely closed and relationship driven and the few startups like Talkwalker and Doctena are coming and financed from local families. Luxembourg runs completely on local networks and specially reputation over merit. If you are not local, from finance, or law or government circles you are invisible. - Incredibly promiscuous relationships between the banks, law and legal professions, with a permanent revolving door between local companies and banks management and government officials. We are talking about less than just a few hundred people. This means Luxembourgeois families with long term historical relationships. Good luck on any legal or business dispute between you...and a local, who is a cousin from the local judge or government official.... I have had the chance of setting up and running companies in many countries. Specifically for Europe, currently I would suggest as two best options right now: Estonia and the Netherlands. Avoid France, Luxembourg and definitely avoid Germany.

Truly, this is one of the greatest losses of the UK leaving. For both parties. Advising EU startups on where to incorporate that isn’t London could be so much simpler.

whateverboat 9mo ago

What about Luxembourg?

embedding-shape 9mo ago
If you have to setup a company today, and want the easiest path to EU-wide SaaS, probably Estonia is the way to go, very easy for EU citizens (don't know how the experience would be from outside, if it's even possible).
- psychoslave 9mo ago
  Interesting https://eurosaasedge.substack.com/p/the-estonian-saas-formula-europes https://eurosaasedge.substack.com/p/the-estonian-saas-formul...
- MrJobbo 9mo ago
  Too bad that Estonia won't exist after 2027...Russia will gobble it up alongside Latvia and Lithuania.
  - embedding-shape 9mo ago
    Yeah, such a shame Estonia isn't in NATO nor the defense clauses of the EU, so they're sitting there all alone at the border...
- Tangurena2 9mo ago
  It seems easy enough for US residents as well: https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/nomadvisa/ https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/nomadvisa/ Checking the requirements, it seems to me that any "first world" citizen would encounter a low barrier for entry, with exceptions for Russians ("second world" citizens).
belter 9mo ago
Avoid Luxembourg like the plague unless you are a company like Amazon. And even them are making a massive mistake form a governance and risk management point of view of being based there. But they have their tax deal...
- codingcodingboy 9mo ago
  Can you explain why?
  - belter 9mo ago
    Where should I start... :-) - They are optimized for Big funds, Holding structures and Multinationals If you are a bootstrapper, or small company or any early stage startup, the ecosystem works against you. - Setup costs are absurdly high if you include Notary around plus possibly Lawyer, Bank onboarding plus accounting you are looking at burning €10k to €20k easily before making a cent. - The scourge of the state Fonctionnaires. Untouchables and incredibly well paid state employees. One told me would take care of my long delayed VAT returns... AFTER they would return from their long summer holidays in Switzerland ... - It only works if you have some special deal like the famous Mr Marius Kohl also known as Monsieur Ruling used to do... "Leaked Documents Expose Global Companies’ Secret Tax Deals in Luxembourg" https://www.icij.org/investigations/luxembourg-leaks/leaked-documents-expose-global-companies-secret-tax-deals-luxembourg/ https://www.icij.org/investigations/luxembourg-leaks/leaked-... - Banks will treat you like a criminal by default and assume, you are laundering money, or hiding taxes and you are compliance risk. They have extreme KYC requirements, and do account freezes for trivial reasons. - Accounting is rigid, expensive, and slow. Taxes are not low in practice. On paper, it all looks good, but in reality they have the Corporate tax and municipal tax. Many complex withholding rules and limited deductions unless structured perfectly. - The legal system is slow and formal. Everything takes a lot of time and a LOT of paperwork with more costly intermediaries. Small changes like directors, statutes will force Notary, Formal filings, Delays. - The ecosystem is completely closed and relationship driven and the few startups like Talkwalker and Doctena are coming and financed from local families. Luxembourg runs completely on local networks and specially reputation over merit. If you are not local, from finance, or law or government circles you are invisible. - Incredibly promiscuous relationships between the banks, law and legal professions, with a permanent revolving door between local companies and banks management and government officials. We are talking about less than just a few hundred people. This means Luxembourgeois families with long term historical relationships. Good luck on any legal or business dispute between you...and a local, who is a cousin from the local judge or government official.... I have had the chance of setting up and running companies in many countries. Specifically for Europe, currently I would suggest as two best options right now: Estonia and the Netherlands. Avoid France, Luxembourg and definitely avoid Germany.