simon
2016-05-28 19:58
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jumichot
2016-06-09 07:26
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replay
2016-07-15 21:19
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replay
2016-07-16 00:59
recently i've been looking lot at investing in myanmar. especially myanmar telecom sector is set to grow fast, unless some unexpected political events happen. but i'm not sure if the risk isn't too high. I considered this company, but not sure if they can be trusted: http://myanmarinvestments.com
maxsuur
2016-07-31 19:21
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yura-by
2016-08-09 00:42
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2016-09-14 20:21
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2016-09-27 11:42
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2016-09-27 12:24
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rupyb
2016-10-04 19:56
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jase
2016-10-11 12:43
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jase
2016-10-11 16:11
Anyone have thoughts on the best way to be paid from Canada>HK?
jase
2016-10-11 16:11
Canadian banks are stuck in the 60's, you have to walk into a bank and sign a form to do a wire
jase
2016-10-11 16:12
Stripe is quite expensive though - most professional though
maxsuur
2016-10-11 23:45
Transferwise?
rjmarsden
2016-10-16 07:45
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arcaballero
2016-10-28 10:06
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josh
2016-10-29 04:37
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2016-10-31 12:21
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2016-11-02 22:51
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2016-11-03 15:17
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2016-11-03 18:53
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2016-11-06 21:00
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darwin
2016-11-08 22:53
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darwin
2016-11-09 16:44
Just joined, thrilled to find this community. Starting a new company and want to incorporate and setup business banking in Hong Kong. Is there a recommended read on the most current experiences and recommendations?
maxsuur
2016-11-09 18:02
it is scattered all over the channels. You could search "hong kong" on the search bar, great discussions so far in the past
p32kz
2016-11-09 19:56
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harvie
2016-11-10 03:14
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harvie
2016-11-10 03:19
Hi All,
I've setup a business in Hong Kong (makes around $80k year) but I'm having a hard time getting a bank account. I found a few in Belize and other areas but they are charging pretty high fees to do anything.
I am a UK citizen (and a UK tax resident) and was thinking about starting a UK LLP with myself and my Hong Kong Business.
My question are:
1. Will I be able get UK business banking with this formation?
2. What accounting information would I need to send to the Hong Kong IRD each year as the business would be dormant (I think?) because all business is going through the UK LLP.
Or would I be better flying to Singapore (I live in Thailand ) and setting up an account there.
I've also heard it can be hard to get an offshore tax status claim for a HK business? By heard, I mean read on Internet forums, I've talked to some accountants and they said it should be fine if you have the right papers to show. My HK business is only 1 week old. Thanks!
rjmarsden
2016-11-10 06:46
hi @harvie you will struggle to get UK business banking with a HK business
rjmarsden
2016-11-10 06:47
we've tried over the years with both an IOM and Irish company but to no success
harvie
2016-11-10 09:55
@rjmarsden thanks for the heads up, guess I'm back to the drawing board in terms of banking :disappointed:
jase
2016-11-10 09:57
Did HK knock you back @harvie?
harvie
2016-11-10 10:01
@jase I have not been to HK yet but from my business type (online marketing consult, mostly using Upwork), the company who setup my business said that I would have less than a 50% success rate when they reviewed the documents I would present to the bank. I'm in talks with two CPAs and both also said it's much easier to file for an offshore tax claim for a HK business if you don't bank in HK or have visited HK. For all these reasons I'm now a little reluctant to try and visit HK and would prefer an option when I can do it online or somewhere near Thailand.
harvie
2016-11-10 10:30
Does anyone have banking suggestions for me? Or should I ask this questions in the banking chat? I'm currently using a UOB personal account in Thailand to handle all business transfers.
simon
2016-11-10 10:41
@harvie Considering you receive your money from Upwork, I'd recommend having a look at WorldFirst. The way their service works is pretty neat. When you register, they open a business bank account for you in the US. You then link that account to your Upwork. When Upwork sends money to that account, Worldfirst converts it into whatever currency you want and forwards it to your bank account (can be in Thailand if you prefer). It's a bit like Transferwise but with a business bank account number. https://www.worldfirst.com/us/online-sellers/
simon
2016-11-10 10:43
This allows you to have a stable US bank account number to receive your payments while at the same time being able to bank anywhere you want.
simon
2016-11-10 10:44
As for the business bank account, if you already have a UOB account in good standing opening one for your HK business in Singapore could be a good option.
harvie
2016-11-10 10:44
That looks good Simon, I forgot to add I also have affiliate websites and I do have some clients paying via PayPal/direct Transfer, so was looking for a more all round solution. I want to get off Upwork because of insane fees they charge and looking to setup my own businesses too.
I will be in Taiwan in 2 weeks but can't find much there and was thinking of flying straight to Singapore after to get it done. My UOB is in good standing but only a few months old. I'm new to your website but if you have any content about getting a business account in Singapore would be much appreciated and saves you time answering my questions.
simon
2016-11-10 10:52
Taiwan has some interesting banks but it's usually hard to open an account as a non-resident.
simon
2016-11-10 10:53
You might have some luck at Fubon bank
simon
2016-11-10 10:54
It's a Taiwan bank with a big presence in Hong Kong
harvie
2016-11-10 10:59
Thanks, will get planning. One final question, are there any downsides to having a personal account for my HK business in the short-term (3-6months) for when applying for a offshore claim later in 18 months time.
simon
2016-11-10 11:12
There's no tax downside. The main issue with using a personal account is liability. In most cases, you lose the limited personal liability that keeping everything separated would provide.
jase
2016-11-10 13:07
On that topic @simon, do you recommend using a holding company for investments to limit liability?
jase
2016-11-10 13:07
Even when not actively working on the business?
harvie
2016-11-10 13:50
(last question of the day :D) I came across this thread when looking for business setups/banks: http://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/hong-kong-is-a-trap-a-fake-good-offshore-jurisdiction.18734/
Just wondering what everyone thinks of the content and comments. I recently setup a HK business and after speaking to a CPA their cost will be around $1,000us per year and yearly running costs around $700 which I'm happy with. There is a video half-way down where a guy talks about applying for an off-shore claim and the issues people like me face. I'm now a little bit worried about whether I picked the right location for my business, or if I should have picked Belize or somewhere else?
From the comments I see people are worried about showing their personal tax bill (I'm not, I actually want to pay a little bit of personal tax, hence the business setup). Secondly, it seems like a lot of nomads did not know they have to file for an off-shore claim after 18 months and were caught off guard.
Has anyone here applied for an off-shore claim, or have any thoughts about the things said in that thread. I really have no idea whether I made the right choice of if I should cut my losses and close the business and setup a new one in another jurisdiction.
jase
2016-11-10 14:40
My guys did an offshore claim, seemed to be a formality
simon
2016-11-10 14:51
@harvie As long as the work is performed outside HK, for clients outside HK, you do not need to pay taxes. No need to apply for the offshore exemption. I'm a HK resident and have been doing business here for years without issue. Territorial taxation can be tricky at times but it definitely works very well for tax optimisation.
simon
2016-11-10 14:52
@jase An Andorra holding company?
jase
2016-11-10 14:53
@simon most likely. I work on a lot of side projects - it's tempting to just work on them as an individual in the early days but I don't know if this exposes me unnecessarily
simon
2016-11-10 14:56
Unless it's risky stuff (legal, pharmaceutical, construction etc), you should be fine working on those projects in your personal name. I do that all the time myself, start a project -> validate the idea and business model -> register it
harvie
2016-11-10 15:13
Thanks for the prompt reply. I'm a little confused then as on this blog and company site they mention that you must apply for it after 18 months :
https://www.globalfromasia.com/offshorehongkongcompany/
http://asiabc.co/blog/2015/03/4-questions-to-proof-your-offshore-sourced-income-tax-exemption-claim-in-hong-kong/
From your comments @jase and @simon I think I've got the wrong end of the stick, can someone point me to the right end? If I don't need to apply for an off-shore claim, Which businesses are the websites referring too, the way the content is written it appears to me that I had to apply for an off-shore claim.
jase
2016-11-10 15:27
@simon often it's more consulting for established businessed
jase
2016-11-10 15:27
eg: manufacturer of parts currently sells B2B but wants to sell B2C. I do that on their behalf/take a commission, but it's all done through their name
jase
2016-11-10 15:28
I'm a pseudo staff member of their company
jase
2016-11-10 15:28
"consultant"
simon
2016-11-10 15:35
@harvie I'm currently out but when I come back home I'll send you the docs from the HK IRD.
darwin
2016-11-10 22:57
Back to the basics framing question. Company incorporated outside of citizenship country allows you to follow tax codes within host company (e.g. deductions allowed that aren't allowed in US). You still have to pay personal tax in citizenship country but by moving some expenses to company expenses, you can reduce your taxable income and taxes too. But you need to incorporate and setup a business bank account in the host country.
Has anyone heard of a path to success for getting a business account (recently) in Hong Kong? If not, what are the other countries where this type of setup is similar?
jase
2016-11-11 08:51
In a lot of countries you may have all company income fall under Controlled Foreign Company laws if it's a one man freelancing business - so you can't just pay yourself $10,000 per year and keep the rest in the company.
jase
2016-11-11 08:53
RE: account opening in Hong Kong, it's all about risk. Bring previous invoices, contracts if you have them, give them your business card (respectfully, I don't know if this made any difference for me but I figure every bit helps), tell them who your clients are, be confident about the services you provide, etc. No risk! Then let them know how they are going to make lots of money off of you in fees. Incoming wires, outgoing wires, etc.
https://www.streber.st/2014/04/why-banks-say-no-to-you-but-yes-to-me/
rik
2016-11-11 12:30
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harvie
2016-11-11 13:33
@simon thanks looking forward to it.
@jase thanks for the headsup, I checked and to be considered a CFC in the UK you need to make £500,000 per year or more, raised from only £50,000 a few years ago, thanks for the heads up though.
jase
2016-11-11 13:36
Nice! I know Australia has some of the strictest laws in the world there so I am usually on the cautious side.
darwin
2016-11-11 17:50
Thanks for the insights @jase & @simon; For context, I?m forming a new company that will provide business support services via outsourced call centers and integrations with CRM systems. As such, the services rendered will be outside of the client?s home country and the data will be stored in the cloud (not interested in the discussion about where those servers are sitting in this thread; another day). Point being I?m setting up a company rather than structuring this for my personal consulting business. My goal is to setup operations/inc in a foreign country where the local tax code is more liberal in terms of what is a business expense (hence the initial focus on HK).
Appreciate further correction of my thinking:
1. The heyday of easily opening bank accounts in foreign countries is over. For a corporate account, its possible but there is preference to established companies able to present documentation of history (e.g. client contracts, agreements, invoices) and other materials common with established firms (e.g. business cards, website, marketing collateral? all the way down to seemingly silly email correspondance).
2. Even though there is lots of process and documentation to consider, showing up in person to open the account to convey professionalism goes a long way too. There really isn?t any formula for getting accepted so I?m probably going to need to fly in to approach several banks via preset appointments. My goal will be to rank my bank?s by preference, schedule 2 hour appointments with each. I?ll be showing up looking sharp armed with a copy of my documentation for each and a suitcase full of cash (even if I don?t get approved, at least I get to pretend I?m James Bond for the day).
Seems like a lot of time and money invested with a good chance of flying home exhausted without a successful bank account opening. However, that?s the price of entry.
Appreciate expansion on these points too:
A. Foreign Bank Account - not sure of the full benefit of this, assuming if monies earned for services rendered outside of the host country are subject taxation in your country of citizenship but model for determining profit/loss/taxes via the host country?s tax code necessitates the monies being in a host country bank account. Is that the primary purpose of the host country corporate bank account? Are there additional reasons why one would want to establish a personal bank account in the host country (not focused on frequent flyer miles here, just personal finance)?
B. Foreign Incorporation - so too, if you?re going to be following host country taxation codes you?ll need to be incorporated in the host country. There are registered agents that can help you determine what paperwork to fill out and will submit it on your behalf.
It seems everyone is still hot on Honk Kong despite the uncertainty of getting a bank account open. Still unclear what other countries have similar business expense definition benefits of HK. For example, is there a similar tax code benefit in Andorra? What about Mexico (my wife is a Mexican citizen)? Since the end game isn?t to live in the host country, is the short list really just Hong Kong? Or are there lots of similar tax exemption friendly countries on the list?
jase
2016-11-11 18:17
On point #2 @darwin, cash wasn't a concern for HK. They give you 30 days to make a deposit - I don't even think it was particularly high minimum deposit from memory. Maybe HKD1000 or something like that.
A: not sure what you mean by "host country" - personally if you're incorporating in HK and business banking in HK, I wouldn't also use a personal bank account in HK unless it saves you a huge amount in fees. That said, it really depends on what is more important - simplicity, fees or diversification. If you're taking the flag theory route, you'd want to incorporate in HK, do business banking in Singapore, personal banking in Australia and Switzerland, use your UK passport (ideally have another too), have residency in Malta, etc, etc Nowadays however, this makes it all very hard to get anything done.
B: If you're incorporated in HK you likely need a local secretary anyway. For US$2k or so per year you get your address, an audit, incorporation fees covered and so on.
I'm not necessarily hot on HK, but I'm not hot on anywhere. There's no perfect option in the world at this point in time. HK works well enough for us, long term I'd like to think we can find a better solution. The rabbit hole is deep on this one, enjoy researching :slightly_smiling_face:
This site may be of interest: https://incorporations.io/
jase
2016-11-11 18:17
*I have no affiliation with it
darwin
2016-11-11 20:06
Thanks @jase , appreciate the thoughtful response and the link to http://inc.io. By ?host? country I?m referring to the country in which I?m incorporated and possibly business banking. I?m still stuck on the point of where and why setting up a foreign business banking account.
Other than Flag Theory, what are the reasons why I would setup my business bank account in same country I?m incorporating (e.g. HK)? For example, am I likely to run afoul of being taxed in another country if I open my business bank account there?
jase
2016-11-11 20:12
Unless you have an office or serious presence there, no.
jase
2016-11-11 20:12
Credit card processing can be hard to set up without bank account and company in the same country @darwin
simon
2016-11-11 22:44
@darwin As Jase said, you will need to have your bank account in the same country as your company otherwise you will run into roadblocks every step of the way. As for jurisdictions offering tax benefits, there are many. There are the reputable territorial taxation countries like HK and Singapore, the not so reputable territorial taxation countries like Panama and Paraguay, the true tax havens in the Caribbean and the middle east, the high-tax countries in the west that offer tax benefits (or loopholes allowing you to operate tax-free) like the US, UK and Estonia. There are also the high-tax countries offering low-tax structures like Canada, Ireland, Bulgaria etc.
simon
2016-11-11 22:45
@darwin The best jurisdiction for you may be very different from the best jurisdiction for me. It really depends on your business, what you do.
simon
2016-11-11 22:46
@darwin Do you plan to hire employees or is it a one-man company? Also, do you know where your clients will be located (countries)?
darwin
2016-11-12 02:57
Yes there will be both contractors operating out of countries like the Philippines, India and USA plus employees in the US. Global offering so clients could be anywhere but most will be in the US.
bastianernst
2016-11-12 08:32
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jase
2016-11-12 14:46
So if we start a UK LLP as non residents that does not do business within the UK, we only pay tax on profits in our country of residence, and do not have to charge VAT.
jase
2016-11-12 14:47
What happens if:
1. We get a customer in the UK? So we need to charge VAT to them, or everyone worldwide?
2. If we add a UK partner? Does that just mean they are responsible for paying tax on their pass through income in the UK?
simon
2016-11-12 14:51
@jase If you are all non-residents (the partners) and you have no UK-sourced income, you owe no taxes in the UK. If you have UK-sourced income, you have to declare and pay taxes on that income only. If you add a UK resident partner, that partner has to pay UK taxes on his share of the LLPs global income. It can also affect what you have to report in your annual return. As for VAT, you need to pay UK VAT on UK sales, French VAT on French sales etc. Non-EU sales have no VAT regardless.
simon
2016-11-12 14:52
I recommend reading this PDF, it explains how non-resident LLPs are taxed.
jase
2016-11-12 14:52
Perfect, sounds like a reasonable scenario then for a very reputable country. I will check it out. Thanks Simon.
darwin
2016-11-12 16:39
@simon/@jase Merging these two conversations. As a US citizen living in the US), taking a wage I'm subject to personal taxation in the US but the corporate tax is defined by HK law but...
1. Corporate tax is allocated to each country based on the clients we have in a given country? Meaning if we take on a client we pay tax to the country they are incorporated in (just for the revenue from that country and our allocation of expense).
2. Does the citizenship of the corporation's directors subject the company to taxation in their country? Not necessarily a partner function, what if I had a CEO in Mexico? What about employees vs contractors? Does where the work performed matter?
jase
2016-11-12 16:50
Being a US resident is not something I'm familiar with, but here's some guessing (not advice):
1. As I understand it, theoretically every business should be charging a sales tax in the country that it is selling. If you are selling low amounts however, few governments would spend the time/money to force you into this. Read into, GST/VAT/other sales tax thresholds around the world.
2. Absolutely. If there is no established office in the country of incorporation (a virtual office may work, but as soon as you're investigated the onus is on you to prove a history of meaningful establishment elsewhere - staff, office, etc - company residency if you will. If you can't prove this, company profits become part of your personal taxation, which is often at a higher tax rate than company tax would be in the US, not to mention the additional overheads of doing business abroad. There are ways around this, but IMO (please feel free to disregard) the effort is better spent earning income. I've heard of people having friends "invest" in from different countries and in some cases going public, while using friends family to buy shares which the other buys back later. All seems like a lot of effort if you aren't making millions each year.
On CFC law: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Tax/dttl-tax-guide-to-cfc-regimes-14-july-2015.pdf
The questions are, how strict are the CFC laws where you are from (how broke is your government)? Are you willing to operate in a grey area? Are you making enough to pay for high quality advice and maintenance of a complex structure?
simon
2016-11-12 20:31
@darwin 1. You pay income tax in the country where you are tax resident (same for a company). If your company is a tax resident of HK, that is where it pays taxes. As for VAT / Sales taxes, each jurisdiction has their own rules but technically speaking you are "supposed" to collect it and remit it to the country where your buyer is located. B2B sales aren't usually subject to VAT.
simon
2016-11-12 20:32
2. As Jase said, location matters. You want to make extra sure that your company is tax resident in it's country of registration.
yamahoto
2016-11-13 00:23
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darwin
2016-11-13 07:04
And for Hong Kong does a company's tax residency require more than being incorporated in Hong Kong?
jase
2016-11-13 09:14
As far as I understand this, it is more on your country of residence to determine this. But in all cases, yes.
rjmarsden
2016-11-13 16:04
@jase the turnover threshold for UK companies triggers when you need to register for vat, I'm sure the link that Simon provided covers it but thought I'd mention it just in case
simon
2016-11-14 13:10
@darwin Yes, your company needs to pay some taxes in HK to be considered a HK tax resident.
jase
2016-11-14 14:10
Thanks @rjmarsden
simon
2016-11-14 14:15
It can make sense to register for VAT from the beginning to appear "more reputable" and "better established" if that is something you think your clients would care about.
simon
2016-11-14 14:16
Or if you buy services / products in the EU and you do not want to pay VAT on those.
alexanderhay
2016-11-15 16:13
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david99
2016-11-16 16:47
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harvie
2016-11-17 10:03
How do you make a website apart of your business? Is it as simple as setting up a privacy policy and saying it's owned by the business, or do you change your hosting and pay using your business account?
theremotetrip
2016-11-17 10:51
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scorps
2016-11-19 15:24
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gary
2016-11-19 19:47
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josh
2016-11-20 02:05
@harvie If the domain is your business name or similar, or you can show that the site is clearly about your company, that is legit. But you should pay for it from the company account as well. Company email should reference the domain too.
If it's a company with multiple domain holdings or sites published though that's going to be more complex, but unless it's for the tax man or merchant processing it's not likely to be an issue.
tal
2016-11-23 16:07
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scorps
2016-11-26 09:37
@simon you mention RAK offshore as the best entity for large trading accounts. How about a Delaware LLC? As a non resident alien (I'm a non resident Canadian), I'm thinking of forming a Delaware LLC and using it as a means to solely trading/investing in the US stock market. I'm trying to find disadvantages of going this route, any ones experience with this would be appreciated.
gary
2016-11-27 21:05
has anyone used RAK offshore?
jase
2016-11-28 19:50
Seems to be a recurring theme @gary. Do a quick search, @simon did post about it in September briefly. If you do find out anything please share it with us.
torsten
2016-12-01 16:30
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soebusiness
2016-12-08 10:43
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mescos
2016-12-11 13:57
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rupyb
2016-12-12 19:24
Does anyone here have a Hong Kong registered business? I have a question that I need to ask
harvie
2016-12-13 03:51
I do but I have only had it for a few month so maybe not the best person to ask but will do my best.
trevorjames
2016-12-13 17:33
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harvie
2016-12-14 07:20
Hong Kong Business with Singapore business account as a UK citizen - what payment processor can I use to take payments in SGD online from clients. PayPal won't let me without a physical address in Singapore, I'm trying Stripe but I think they are the same from first glance (contacted support).
Do I just fake an address/ virtual address or is there something out there I can use?
jase
2016-12-14 10:59
Last I checked Stripe require company, bank account and address in the same country.
maxsuur
2016-12-14 11:01
At least that's what they do with Stripe Atlas
harvie
2016-12-14 11:06
Thanks maybe Stripe > personal account > business account is an option with a virtual address. seems like having a HK business is an up-hill battle for small time nomads if you cannot get a bank account there. Only a few months old with no transactions but really considering closing it, taking the small hit in fees and setting up in the UK or Estonia. It's just been a pain in the neck, just wish I found this site a few months earlier.
harvie
2016-12-15 10:18
Hi everyone, I think I'm in a pickle and need some advice.
I setup a Hong Kong Business before joining this group or knowing much about the CRS hoping to get an off-shore status and pay 0% tax. After speaking to @simon I learned that I should not apply for it because of the CRS.
I also learned that I won't be able to get HK business account unless I have strong ties with HK businesses (I don't have any). This was one of the main reasons I wanted to create a HK business.
I'm in the process of getting a Singapore business bank account but am now struggling to find a payment processor that allows me to send money to a Singapore bank account without living there (I live in Thailand/UK). Most of my clients pay me via PayPal and the last thing I want to do is send it to a UK account then wire it to Singapore (as they pay me in USD which goes to GBP then SGD).
I didn't mind the high fees that come with a HK company as I assumed (stupidly) that if I'm paying 0% tax the high fees are not much of a big deal. I don't even mind the yearly fees if I can easily take payments online to a SGD account without having an address there but I am struggling, anyone know a way around this with PayPal/Stripe? It seems there is little upsides to a HK business if I cannot someone get payments to a Singapore business account.
I'm in a little bit of a mess and not quite sure if a HK company is best suited for me or worth the hassle given the past month or so with banking and receiving payments. Any words of wisdom? I keep thinking that I should close my HK Business (1 month old) and setup a business in the UK (20% tax), but I really don't want to keep too much money there. I'm kind of lost. UK citizen.
maxsuur
2016-12-15 12:47
I just find that too many people are attracted to the honk kong thing. It may have been appealing in the past, but when everybody rushes to the same place, as a general rule, things become tough. I guess harvie you must answer yourself several questions: what do I want? What should my future life look like? What do I need to sacrifice to get what I want (losing your uk tax residency status, find a new tax residency) etc.
jase
2016-12-15 13:36
While I agree that HK isn't the best option, @harvie I'd personally stick with it. You have sunk a lot of energy into it so far so keep going rather than start from scratch again.
Another option is to get the Singapore/elsewhere bank account and run your business through a more expensive payment processor for a year. Then go back to HK with proof of your banking history to open an account.
harvie
2016-12-15 15:45
@maxsuur yup I agree, hindsight is a wonderful thing :disappointed: . At the time of setting up I was listening to two friends who sold me on the idea (they have had them for a few years) and I read quite a few blogs who sold me too. It was only when I came across Simon's post on another forum that I thought maybe there's a better option.
@jase great advice as always. I just want to say your comments over the last month or so have helped me a lot. I think Payoneer will let me take payments to a Singapore account with a UK address on the bank account so hopefully things will be smoother from now on end.
jase
2016-12-15 15:49
Glad they have helped @harvie. I have been down this road, it's frustrating and I used to ask why I am making life hard for myself. But now I can look back and see how much better off (not just financially) I am for it. It's been worth it!
josh
2016-12-16 07:49
I have an aged HK shelf company for sale with an aged bank account. Just came up - rich guy in the US that never really used it, set it up as a hedge and now thinks Trump is going to fix things so he is willing to just sign and transfer shares. EXPIRES END OF DECEMBER. If you are interested PM me.
This is a huge opportunity to legally and essentially immediately take over an aged Hong Kong company with a bank account. Price is negotiable. If it can help anybody here I thought I'd post it - just found out, pretty flabbergasted he's that crazy but he's making piles of money in the US and thinks everything is going to go his way now politically. :face_with_rolling_eyes:
josh
2016-12-16 07:50
@harvie @trevorjames see above if interested
simon
2016-12-17 02:00
@josh He may or may not solve every problems but what's for sure is that it will be an interesting four years! I personally hope that he will keep his promise of lowering the tax rate to 15% and will make the US a territorial taxation country. This would spark the biggest tax war in modern history and we (entrepreneurs) would all benefit tremendously.
josh
2016-12-17 02:03
That's what my friend is counting on, the 15%. Still pretty dumb to just throw away an aged HK corporation set up with nominee directors. But someone will benefit!
josh
2016-12-17 02:03
I will believe Trump when I see it though.
josh
2016-12-17 06:26
Update - also available is an aged (2010) Samoa shelf corp that has an HSBC bank account, was set up using the same reg agent and would only require transfer of shares and signer on the bank account. The HSBC account alone would make it worth it to tie the corp into your structure somehow, it's similar to Marshall Islands or Nevis et al.
josh
2016-12-17 06:28
This one hasn't been used for anything. The HK company moved a considerable amount of money through the account the past few years, all legit and above board, they have gone through the HK audit each year etc.
josh
2016-12-17 06:29
If nobody here wants them I'm going to snap them up but then the price will go up if I resell in the future! :wink:
mescos
2016-12-17 15:35
Question: What are the best restructuring options to eliminate/minimize tax in the following scenario?
UK private limited company has an online business with no physical ties or business footprint in the UK. The company is currently being taxed at a rate of 20% in the UK and wants to restructure to eliminate this tax. Shareholders are BVI company and EU citizen individuals. No US citizens are involved.
The requirements for the new company include:
A ? New company pays less than 20% tax (preferably no tax or very low tax)
B ? New company is able to open a bank account in decent jurisdiction with ease; also needs payment processing for online transactions
C ? New company is able to distribute to BVI shareholder with ease. (unclear if this is possible with a UK LLP?)
Options:
1) Bulgarian company - 10% corporate tax, 5% on dividend. Able to bank in EU & access payment processing
2) UK LLP - 0%, distribute to shareholders and shareholders pay tax. Unclear to if an LLP can distribute to an offshore corporate shareholder with ease if the beneficial owner is an individual? What issues exist with an UK LLP structure in this scenario?
3) Singapore/Hong Kong are obvious options but bank account opening is a hassle, therefore not a realistic option.
4) What other strategies/option exist?
alexanderhay
2016-12-17 17:01
What is the nature of the business?
mescos
2016-12-17 17:26
@alexanderhay online publishing.
alexanderhay
2016-12-17 17:36
Ok. Then you might want to consider the Republic of Georgia. First of all they have adopted and improved upon the Estonian model. No taxes due unless you actually take a dividend distribution. Not only is the tax not paid if no dividend, the tax liability does not carry forward to the next year. In addition to this there is a very interesting tax exemptions named the "Virtual Trade Zone for IT". A poor name in my opinion since it is not a free trade zone, but a tax exemption, but awesome all the same. It provides that all income earned from "foreign" sales is tax exempt. Period. No special company is required, and no special location. Just a simple application to the Revenue Service after formation of the company.
jase
2016-12-17 17:39
What payment processors work for Georgia @alexanderhay? Are they at standard rates 2.9% or the higher 3.9%? What is the dividend withholding tax in Georgia?
jase
2016-12-17 17:40
@mescos in option 2) UK LLP the tax rate is 0% for sales outside of UK, correct?
alexanderhay
2016-12-17 17:41
Not sure about merchant rates on cards (I suspect the higher rate for non-georgian transactions). 5% flat dividend tax on dividends, but really I am not quite sure why you would want to do that. There are other ways of getting your money out without paying a dividend (and thus incurring a tax obligation in addition to the dividend tax).
mescos
2016-12-17 17:41
@alexanderhay what is the tax rate for dividend distributions in Georgia?
alexanderhay
2016-12-17 17:42
^^^
alexanderhay
2016-12-17 17:42
Ok. Have to go pack my bags. Catching a flight in a few hours! ttfn
mescos
2016-12-17 17:43
@alexanderhay - This sounds similar to Bulgaria - but Bulgaria has a 10% corporate flat tax and is able to easily bank in EU countries. What other jurisdictions will open bank account for Georgian companies?
jase
2016-12-17 17:46
Holy crap, Braintree are moving to Andorra and pricing is goooood https://www.braintreepayments.com/en-ad/braintree-pricing
max
2016-12-19 05:27
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harvie
2016-12-21 06:14
Any suggestions on a good best pre-paid debit/mastercard for businesses?
djoneverett
2016-12-21 11:08
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simon
2016-12-21 22:21
@jase You can get a better deal if you shop around. For Freedom Surfer, my payment processing rate is 1.2% (there are no additional transaction fees).
simon
2016-12-21 22:22
@harvie In Singapore? Or in general?
harvie
2016-12-22 03:15
@simon Singapore, business account does not have a debit card so I would like one in its name so I can pay for hotels/flights/ FB and Google ads etc. Will email my bank now asking for a CC and I'll put down a deposit, but if you got any ideas on who I could use in the meantime feel free to advise.
jase
2016-12-22 07:01
@simon is that for a HK company? If so would you mind sharing who they are? That in interesting to me.
harvie
2016-12-23 03:59
Called the bank, OCBC don't offer credit cards for businesses, only debit for SGD accounts so need to get myself a prepaid debit card, will do some research today, if anyone has suggestions lmk, thanks!
harvie
2016-12-23 08:59
These were the two options I found for business pre-paid debit cards:
https://mychoicecorporate.com/en/home/
https://moneypolo.com/
Found a few bad review for Money Polo. Called MyChoice, English speaking and very helpful. Think I will go ahead and use them.
I contacted American Express but they need my business to be opened for 2 years. I asked to put down a deposit they said they would contact me to let me know.
harvie
2016-12-23 09:32
T24 Black Card also said they can help me. They told me to sign up via the link posted below, but don't ask for any business information, could I use that as a prepaid business debit? I think I will pull the trigger on the MyChoiceCorporate card, any reasons not to @simon? I need my handheld on every step :blush:.
https://apply.t24blackcard.com/formwizard/1
jase
2016-12-23 12:32
I used one @harvie, it worked, technically but it was a pain in the ass.
jase
2016-12-23 12:32
I've since cancelled it
jase
2016-12-23 12:32
They also raised their fees on me while dropping the travel insurance level
jase
2016-12-23 12:32
I felt it was also expensive to use
jase
2016-12-23 12:32
Long story short it did not represent value to me
harvie
2016-12-23 15:36
Thanks @jase was this the T24 black or MyChoice?
jase
2016-12-23 15:36
Black
jase
2016-12-23 15:36
The product may have changed since then
harvie
2016-12-23 15:38
@jase yeah thought so and I agree the fees are pretty darn high. My friend used MyChoice and he said their target market is lower end clients which it seems I fit the bill nicely. He said the service was fine but they have very high fees (he used the credit card). Prepaid seems reasonable and I spoke to them on the phone, guy was very nice and responsive. Will just wait for our Lord Commander to comment on whether there is anything better or easier to obtain before I do.
petr.novak
2016-12-27 09:29
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remy
2016-12-27 10:31
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alex
2016-12-27 23:54
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2016-12-28 10:36
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2016-12-28 14:28
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2016-12-29 04:18
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americanomad
2016-12-31 00:08
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harvie
2016-12-31 06:09
Does anyone know of a good payment processor for a HK business with a Singapore business account? I can't use Paypal SG because I don't have residence there. The goal is to bill my clients thought a single sysem that allows them pay using a number of methods and for it to go back to my Singapore account.
jase
2016-12-31 09:30
Also interested although HK>HK. Looking for something cheaper than PayPal/Braintree if possible.
petrsuska
2017-01-02 12:29
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dawn
2017-01-02 21:59
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vbraut
2017-01-04 13:05
I'm living in Croatia and I'm looking for a place to open a company. Not sure if it is relevant but I'm working only with US clients.
Malta seems like a good option since it has only 5% corporate tax. Anyone here has a company on Malta and/or would you recommend opening it somewhere else?
alexanderhay
2017-01-04 15:30
Actually the US may be the perfect location depending upon what you want to do. The USA is oddly enough a great tax haven as long as you don't live there, work there, or are a US citizen. Lots of ways of avoiding taxes.
tkrunning
2017-01-05 20:51
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ace01
2017-01-07 01:15
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stoplight
2017-01-08 02:41
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stoplight
2017-01-08 02:44
@vbraut ..agree with @alexanderhay ?if you structure a wyoming, delaware, nevada LLC properly..you may avoid some taxes?it will also depend if your clients will report their payments as well..if you have an online company..things will be easier as well?Malta is good but maybe complicated in the long run..have you considered other options such as Hong Kong maybe or even Singapore?
jase
2017-01-08 10:18
Are there issues with having US customers and being incorporated in US?
alexanderhay
2017-01-08 11:29
Only disagree with the issue of which state to choose. 15 years ago I liked Texas for a number of reasons. Then Texas changed some of its policies and I shifted to Delaware. Last year Delaware took a big hit from the Federal Government (it was essentially identified as a non-compliant jurisdiction within the USA and it is now facing increasing and unpleasant scrutiny). So now I am back to Texas. Nevada and Wyoming have never been appealing since they are "trick" jurisdictions. Unless you are doing business in those jurisdictions you are automatically targeted as a potential tax evader. No bueno! Another jurisdictions within the USA that I like: Florida (although I think Texas is better... for now). It is important not to get committed to any one jurisdiction or strategy in this business. Things are constantly changing.
josh
2017-01-08 12:11
The Rothschilds set up their operation in Nevada, they don't seem to be under much scrutiny. :) I know a lot of people who are set up in Wyo though with no problems, even having Wyo own businesses then registered in other states. It's work but so long as one follows the regulations it doesn't automatically put a red flag on you. Now if you live in the US and drive a Ferrari and live in a penthouse and claim you made no money, well...
alexanderhay
2017-01-08 12:17
Do what you like? I don't like my clients to be audited or harassed by the government. So I make great efforts to stay up to date on legal and policy issues. After all, it is my job.
princevaliant
2017-01-08 21:40
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saskia
2017-01-09 11:41
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josh
2017-01-09 11:59
It's not so much do what I want, it's that it isn't a true assessment that having a Wyoming or Nevada corporation is going to get you audited or harassed.
I respect that you stay up on legal issues - but both those jurisdictions are 100% legal and don't seem any more prone to raising red flags than anywhere else.
If the goal here is legal methods to structure that lower the tax bill, why would we scare people away from completely valid and legal jurisdictions?
skat
2017-01-10 13:24
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harvie
2017-01-12 04:28
Hypothetical question: you live in Thailand (no CRS) and client pays you in your GF personal account, she does not get taxed nor does the government care. Would you keep it as it is or would you ask the client to send the salary to a business account. The latter occurring more fees and 16-20% tax. The amount is not a great deal, but enough to cover most living costs.
josh
2017-01-12 04:29
If you trust your gf leave it there, seems like a nice way to cover living costs...
josh
2017-01-12 04:31
And it'd never ever raise suspicion as Thai girls getting nice deposits to their accounts is um, kinda common!
harvie
2017-01-12 11:23
@josh :smile:
jjlm
2017-01-12 22:36
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danz
2017-01-13 04:23
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yuli
2017-01-16 06:35
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2017-01-17 05:55
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alistair
2017-01-18 17:25
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jase
2017-01-19 17:02
This is pretty out there but, is anyone doing business with Iran? I stumbled my way into a meeting with their main hotel body. Is it a nightmare with banks and working with legitimate businesses over there?
arkdeeplove
2017-01-21 17:55
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rjmarsden
2017-01-23 08:52
hi @jase we have a client that has an office out in Iran. We tried to do a telephony project with them and it was very difficult. From my limited experience there are many easier ways and countries to work with.
hhenrikson
2017-01-23 09:29
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jase
2017-01-23 09:58
Thanks @rjmarsden I figured as much. Was it difficult due to culture or banking/legal challenges?
el_roberto
2017-01-23 13:10
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foreverlearning
2017-01-23 18:33
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tatelev
2017-01-25 15:27
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save
2017-01-27 08:35
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726dbr
2017-01-28 07:05
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wojtek
2017-01-28 15:58
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jase
2017-02-01 08:56
A question for you international business people - do you still use contracts for everything?
jase
2017-02-01 08:56
Or does a written agreement suffice/etc?
rjmarsden
2017-02-01 09:16
@jase Culture and rules really, they couldn't understand why the local office couldn't use a local telephony company. They had quite an old school mentality around internet and telephony, I'm fairly sure they thought we were trying to spy.
wojtek
2017-02-01 11:12
thinking about moving my company from the Seychelles to Estonia, anything you would advise? I have good friends in Estonia who provide me with a postal address, just started googling this topic ..
tatelev
2017-02-01 11:15
curious on what?s the reasoning behind this
wojtek
2017-02-01 11:17
the company provided me with this company starts to get expensive, and so does the cyprus bank, because they charge more and more and want more and more paperwork
tatelev
2017-02-01 11:19
ok, totally makes sense. And why Estonia among anywhere else? I am starting to see Estonia appear a lot. The Freedom Surfer company was set up in Estonia. Simon wrote a blog post detailing his experience, not sure if you read it
maxsuur
2017-02-01 11:26
It is in Europe, everything can be done online, payment-processing fees are reasonable, you can practically take it tax-free if you set up properly
maxsuur
2017-02-01 11:26
It is an interesting proposition
tatelev
2017-02-01 11:33
@maxsuur you mean no corporation tax in Estonia for income that company makes outside Estonia right?
maxsuur
2017-02-01 11:36
I'd recommend that you check out Simon's articles or ask him directly
tatelev
2017-02-01 11:37
(I was just reading now)
maxsuur
2017-02-01 11:37
but if you are a tax resident of a territorial taxation country or a tax haven and you sell your products to your US clients, you probably would pay no taxes
maxsuur
2017-02-01 11:37
or very minimal
tatelev
2017-02-01 11:42
in my specific case I already know I will end in Canada, not precisely a tax haven :disappointed:
tatelev
2017-02-01 11:44
I?m still trying to figure out if I will get any future benefit in Canada from operating as a separate company in US vs. all through my UK company
maxsuur
2017-02-01 12:02
Ahhh, not sure. Simon has just published a new article on some canadian LP-type-of structure
tatelev
2017-02-01 12:11
thanks, hadn?t seen it, just quickly read it
tatelev
2017-02-01 12:12
?...this structure should only be used if you (and the other partners, if any) are a tax resident of a territorial taxation country or a tax haven"
tatelev
2017-02-01 12:12
its advantage is for non canadian residents
tatelev
2017-02-01 12:12
but interesting read nevertheless
skat
2017-02-02 06:20
@maxsuur as an Estonian i moved out of estonia, because payment processing is pain in the ass. Paypal doesn?t withdraw money to any estonian bank accounts, stripe doesn?t work.
skat
2017-02-02 06:21
Tax is crazy, you can lower it down if your willing to take dividends yearly.
skat
2017-02-02 06:23
I?ve been trying to figure things out for couple of my friends who became e_residents. And i don?t understand why anyone would want to do it.
skat
2017-02-02 06:23
I?ve heard @tkrunning is doing a investment company in Estonia - that does make sense.
skat
2017-02-02 06:25
Most of my Estonian entrepreneur friends register company at BVI
simon
2017-02-02 07:13
@skat My PayPal account is linked to my business bank account at LHV in Estonia. It works pretty well too. Maybe this changed recently? Other than the signup process (which involved signing some paper forms), my experience with PayPal Estonia has been similar to my experience with PayPal US.
simon
2017-02-02 07:14
@simon uploaded a file: https://freedomsurfer.slack.com/files/simon/F40HELLKZ/20170202_140939.jpg
skat
2017-02-02 07:19
@simon oh, wow. didn?t knew about this. i closed my company 8 months ago and there was no ability to use paypal. I?m happy this is finally resolved!
simon
2017-02-02 07:23
You are right about Stripe though, it's not available. Braintree, a Stripe alternative, is available but the processing rates are crap 2-3% + a few cents. I use EveryPay, an Estonian payment processing company and pay 1.20% with no other fees. Very happy with them so far.
tkrunning
2017-02-02 07:56
Yeah, 1.2% is really good. Much cheaper than both stripe and braintree. EveryPay is owned by LHV, no?
tkrunning
2017-02-02 07:58
How did you experience the process for determining the rate they would give you? Easy to get a low rate in your case?
simon
2017-02-02 08:04
I applied through my account manager at LHV. He negotiated the rate on my behalf. All I had to do was sign the agreement with my e-Residency card.
maxsuur
2017-02-02 09:08
Which membership plugin do you use @simon? I guess that Everypay is integrated with it
maxsuur
2017-02-02 09:27
I have seen on their site that they charge a monthly 10? for using their services apart from the transaction fees
simon
2017-02-02 09:30
@maxsuur I do not use a membership plugin, I use Woocommerce on a multisite install with heavy customization. As for the 10 euro, it's quite easy to have it waved if you ask (when you apply).
maxsuur
2017-02-02 09:39
Great. I'll take into consideration. "Amazing insider tips" as always :)
jase
2017-02-02 14:25
@simon do you have thoughts on where the best location is for a company (with salaried employees) to be built for acquisition later down the road? Obviously low fees/management costs is important - how much does location come into play?
simon
2017-02-02 14:29
Depends on the business. For some types of business it's important to have a local precense (registered where your clients are) while for other types of business it doesn't matter. Obviously, if you are looking at a rapid exit you'll do better if you are registered in a country like the US, UK, Canada etc.
jase
2017-02-02 14:50
Thanks @simon. We are currently setup in HK but given I don't live there I feel there's some concern from clients (just lack of knowledge really). While it may make logical sense for Andorra, I don't know if that makes it any easier on the client side.
jase
2017-02-02 14:50
I'm not well versed in UK LLC's, they're not as efficient as UK LLPs are they
simon
2017-02-02 14:54
UK Ltd companies are fantastic and very easy to run but they do come with a tax burden. Depending on your type of business it may be possible to lower that burden significantly however. The base rate is 20% on all worldwide profits.
jase
2017-02-02 15:04
Thanks @simon, we have some research to do. For what it's worth, all shareholders would be outside of UK - Canada, and Andorra for now
simon
2017-02-02 15:07
Then an LLP might be an option :slightly_smiling_face: Under the right circumstances you get both the prestige that comes with a UK company and a 0% tax rate (in the UK).
jase
2017-02-02 15:09
The challenge there is we're wanting a very clear ownership structure. Maybe that's possible with an LLP - we'd planned to vest shares to at least one team member
jase
2017-02-02 15:09
I suppose in an LLP, instead of vesting you just amend the partnership agreement each year?
simon
2017-02-02 15:12
That or you setup holding companies to act as partners and you vest shares in those companies. Then the LLP's ownership structure never changes.
jase
2017-02-02 15:14
Interesting - but complicated. The partners/employees are unlikely to be keen on that type of setup (unfortunately!)
jase
2017-02-03 10:51
@simon is it challenging to sell a % of an LLP? Would it be harder to sell an LLP or LLC? Thanks as always for your thoughts
jase
2017-02-03 10:57
I always thought Isle of Man companies were UK LLC's, apparently not. Just stumbled on this:
Structure
Isle of Man registered company "Foo Bar Ltd"
* Has an address of the format: "Foo Bar Ltd, 123 Baz Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1AA", which looks just like a regular UK postal address
* Has a bank account of the format: 12-34-56 12345678, which looks just like a regular UK bank account, and is part of the UK banking system
* Has a GB VAT number
* I am sole owner, one of three directors (the other two directors are provided by a professional services company, and was a condition of bank account opening)
* 0% corporate tax rate
jase
2017-02-03 10:58
the additional directors is a major annoyance though
philippe
2017-02-03 11:43
simon: too bad for stripe :disappointed:
jb
2017-02-03 14:05
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simon
2017-02-03 14:58
@jase It is quite easy to add / remove partners to an LLP. That said, it's generally much harder to sell an LLP. Not because it can't be sold but because most people aren't used to them (interest vs shares).
jase
2017-02-03 14:58
Good to know, thanks as always @simon
gbennett
2017-02-08 02:38
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harvie
2017-02-10 04:53
Can you buy gold/silver through a HK business? If yes, can it be classed as an asset and wiped against the year's profits? Going to speak to my accountant next week but want to do some prior research first.
nemo
2017-02-10 13:07
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nemo
2017-02-10 15:53
Hello guys, any thoughts on best setup for an online business - web/seo/marketing agency? I'm Scandinavian, currently living in Thailand, with clients in US, Asia and Europe.
danz
2017-02-10 16:47
They are several options you have, depending how you want to structure it and how and where you want to live. From the Seychellen, Belize, to the UAE and more.
nemo
2017-02-10 17:24
I'm planning to live in Thailand. I've looked at the Belize IBC and read Simons review. But I need a bank account. is it realistic?
nemo
2017-02-10 17:35
I'm also trying to understand how the Tax Information Exchange Agreement affects me. My country has a TIEA with Belize. According to Simon, Belize doesn't file details about the beneficial owners. Are my details available or protected?
simon
2017-02-10 17:38
Your information won't be shared with your home country because only your registered agent has access to it and because most Tieas work on a pull basis. That said, if you open a bank account the bank will have to share your information and comply with CRS.
nemo
2017-02-10 17:49
Ok. Is not opening a bank account an alternative? I mean, are there alternatives to traditional banking I'm not aware of, that could be used in this kind of set up?
nemo
2017-02-10 17:50
I see that PayPal accepts Belize IBCs, but living in Thailand you need to have cash available
nemo
2017-02-10 18:17
It seems very inconvenient. I wish there was an easier way. My problem is Norways 4 year exit tax. Perhaps running an Estonian OU is a better option after all.
stoplight
2017-02-11 08:56
@nemo you can always connect Paypal to a bank account?there are lots of folks here in Thailand?best to ask them how they did it.. :slightly_smiling_face:
harvie
2017-02-11 13:24
Paypal to personal Thai bank account is very easy to do.
nemo
2017-02-11 15:24
Thanks guys. I have a Thai (personal) bank account. Would it work to set up a Belize IBC, use PayPal for payments, and connect the PayPal account to the Thai Bank Account?
harvie
2017-02-11 15:58
the only problem I see with that is that your Thai bank account will be in your name and not the business. You will not be able to get a Thai business account unless your business is in Thailand. Not sure how much of an issue that will be as I know very little about Belize IBCs
nemo
2017-02-11 16:24
Yes, I was thinking the same. PayPal might not appreciate that. Are you also located in Thailand? Where did you register your business?
tkrunning
2017-02-11 18:21
I guess you could do a PP Biz Belize to PP Personal Thailand to personal Thai bank account, but you would lose a few percent in the conversions.
tkrunning
2017-02-11 18:22
I'm a fellow Norwegian btw, and I've gone through the whole 4 year extended tax residency thing, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions @nemo
harvie
2017-02-12 02:53
You won't be able to setup a Paypal account in Belize without having proof of stay or that your business's office is located there (not virtual office), someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
harvie
2017-02-12 02:55
I'm in Thailand but my business is in HK. I also recently setup a BOI in Thailand although I didn't do anything, a friend did it all (I'm a very small shareholder). Not sure if this option is for you as you'll need 3 people to set it up and you don't operate in Thailand?
nemo
2017-02-12 05:15
Yes, you're right. You also have the unstable political situation. I don't think it will be a problem the next year, but looking 2-3-5 years ahead I'm slightly concerned.
nemo
2017-02-12 05:17
HK really does look like the best option. It's just the annual auditing fees that pulls me away, really. For a small agency like mine, do I really have to expect around 3000 USD in yearly maintenance?
wojtek
2017-02-12 07:08
@harvie can I have some info about that BOI?
harvie
2017-02-12 11:54
@nemo I went with HK but I think Estonia may be better. The only downside I really see is the high fees, Renewal fees are like $700 and I do my own accounting, takes less than an hour. Accountants I found in HK charge on various ends of the scale, one said $700yr while another quoted $3k for the same amount of work. 16.4% tax rate is lower than Estoina too.
I live in Asia (5 years) and plan to be here long-term. Also you CAN STILL get a bank account in HK/Singapore for a HK business, although harder it can still be done.
I also looked at Belize Syech,BVI but payment processors don't like them countries and it seems very hard to setup a bank account.
harvie
2017-02-12 11:56
@wojtek will do my best to answer your PM.
nemo
2017-02-12 14:35
I'm also doing my own accounting, but it's really one of the things I'd like to outsource. An Estonian OÜ with LeapIN handling the accounts looks tempting at EUR 79/99/month. http://Startitup.hk indicated $800/y for the accounting. I don't know anyone who's used them though, so not sure how their standards are. I think I'll go for the Estonian OÜ. It seems like the most hassle-free way of doing it - especially when it comes to banking and payments.
jase
2017-02-12 16:14
@nemo I have no personal experience but a friend and I both applied for our HK companies at the same time. Me through http://startupr.com, friend through http://Startitup.hk. My friend's company took months to get setup, mine was done in days. I also have serious concerns for the advice given to my friend by them.
jase
2017-02-12 16:14
I'm certainly not saying don't use them - just do your due diligence with whoever you choose
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:32
@jase when did you form your HK company? did you open bank account in Hong Kong?
jase
2017-02-12 16:32
approximately 2 years ago
jase
2017-02-12 16:32
did open account in HK
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:33
from some reading I did everybody seems to agree that it was a lot easier 2 years ago than now
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:33
apparently very difficult now
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:35
HK would be a place to incorporate in my radar due to their attractive taxing, their ties with China(I import from China) and it would seem that HK is not in the CRS right?
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:35
(interesting if opening bank account in HK was still feasible)
jase
2017-02-12 16:35
there are multiple banks in HK so i'm confident opening a bank account there is still possible
jase
2017-02-12 16:36
i don't believe it was any easier to get an account when i did, they went through plenty of scrutinizing with me
jase
2017-02-12 16:36
bring all of your documentation, minimize their risk and you should be fine
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:38
@jase what do you think in general that are their main factors for rejecting?
jase
2017-02-12 16:39
It's written in the personal sense, but any single shareholder non-resident company is essentially a personal account in their eyes IMO
jase
2017-02-12 16:40
95% of digital nomads seem to think owning a company in HK and using it as their personal bank account allows them to legally avoid tax. prove to the bank that you are actually running a business and have your affairs in order.
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:43
I understand, but what if you are wanting to open a HK business account for a newly formed HK company?
jase
2017-02-12 16:43
surely you have some motivations, business plan, some testing of the business idea using your personal account?
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:44
no business plan
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:44
some testing of the business with my UK company yes
jase
2017-02-12 16:44
then you're going to have a lot of trouble getting them to help you
jase
2017-02-12 16:44
Would you do business with someone that can't be bothered spending the time writing a business plan for you?
jase
2017-02-12 16:45
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but they don't need you
jase
2017-02-12 16:45
you need them
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:45
it does sound harsh
jase
2017-02-12 16:45
It's life in the current banking world
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:45
nobody asked me for a business plan in UK
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:45
so it is not a universal thing
jase
2017-02-12 16:46
Are you a resident in the UK?
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:46
no
jase
2017-02-12 16:46
So you opened a non-resident company bank account in the UK?
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:46
yes
jase
2017-02-12 16:46
With no business plan, no proof of clients, no documentation?
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:46
yes
jase
2017-02-12 16:47
I don't have an account in the UK but everyone certainly claims that opening a company bank account in the UK is no longer possible without a resident director
jase
2017-02-12 16:47
Regardless - you can always get away with things. There are ways through the system
jase
2017-02-12 16:48
personally if I'm spending a 3 days of my time, money on flights and accommodation to open an account, i'd prefer to go fully armed with as much information as possible
jase
2017-02-12 16:48
give yourself the best chance of succeeding
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:49
you mean write a business plan?
jase
2017-02-12 16:50
i mean bring any relevant documentation whatsoever
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:50
in my case with UK I emailed and talked on the phone with the banker before flying
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:50
and business plan was on my mind
jase
2017-02-12 16:50
i'm yet to have been told by a banker "you gave me too much information"
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:51
but I asked and he said it was not necessary so I didn?t bother
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:51
I agree totally with what you are saying @jase
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:52
I just haven?t yet decided what to do, my situation is complex and I am not getting much help
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:52
HK is just one of many options
tatelev
2017-02-12 16:52
haven?t decided yet what to do :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2017-02-12 16:55
I personally think HK just gets bad press from inexperienced business people
jase
2017-02-12 16:55
I was once one of those people
jase
2017-02-12 16:55
(still am!)
jase
2017-02-12 16:56
Once you can learn to see everything from their position it gets much easier
maxsuur
2017-02-12 17:07
One of the things I'd like to see is some kind of algorithm that tells you the best options for incorporating a business depending on your personal situation. There is so many options, sometimes it gets overwhelming for a lot of people
jase
2017-02-12 17:11
I do think there's risk associated in that - I know we've talked about it before - https://incorporations.io/
jase
2017-02-12 17:11
It's a good list of general ideas
jase
2017-02-12 17:11
but everyone's individual situation is so different
jase
2017-02-12 17:11
There's no silver bullet
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:22
nice website!
maxsuur
2017-02-12 17:23
Friend Edmund, found his site before Simon's, but FS got me
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:25
this came as a surprise, I picked ?Sole shareholder?, ?Sole Director?, Local Director not required?, ?Secretary not required?, ?Directors not disclosed? and ?Shareholders not disclosed? and the list ended very short, with one outstanding surprise:
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:26
@tatelev uploaded a file: https://freedomsurfer.slack.com/files/tatelev/F452Q9J3H/us.png
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:26
(at least a surprise to me :slightly_smiling_face: )
maxsuur
2017-02-12 17:27
At the end of the day, we as humans tend to go for what others have gone before. If a friend of mine has gone the HK route, and he tells me all of the wonders of it, I am presumably going with it instead of going "tiny emirate" or the "far-away"caribbean island
maxsuur
2017-02-12 17:28
It is just more convenient from a decision-fatigue-prevention point of view
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:42
in http://flagtheory.com they advertise an ?Amazon Seller Package? which I am interested in at least understanding, because that?s what I mainly do, sell on amazon
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:42
can anybody help me understand?
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:43
"This package is designed for non-Americans selling on the US http://Amazon.com website, allowing for ease of interconnection with US financial services, but managing US taxes to several possible offshore solutions"
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:43
"US BUSINESS SERVICES
Your Wyoming LLC will have reporting requirements, and as a foreign owner, you must now complete specialized reporting. Additionally, your company will require some tax compliance and other documentation. You will need a CPA drafted transfer pricing agreement between your Wyoming LLC and offshore company to properly manage your tax liability within the US.
** Note: An EIN is required for US Banking. You can complete this yourself, or we are happy to do it for you"
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:44
"US REMOTE BANK ACCOUNT
Your Wyoming LLC will need a US based bank account. Some clients prefer to travel to the US to open this, but if you are unable to make it to the states, then a remote open option may be the best solution. We have 2 options for you:
Standard ? Remote open US banking solutions for US company. Whether you have incorporated in Wyoming, Delaware, Nevada or any other US state, we can assist with your banking needs.
Premier ? High end banking in California and elsewhere. These banks are generally very selective of the clients and companies they will service"
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:44
"OFFSHORE COMPANY *
There are options in which offshore jurisdiction you can use with this structure.
Belize offers an inexpensive option that is both simple to administer and easy to set-up.
BVI is a well-known jurisdiction that offers good asset and liability protection.
St. Vincent is also great for asset and liability protection, and also has one of the strongest privacy laws in the world.
All international company packages include:
? Registration in private companies registry
? Articles of Incorporation/Organization
? Preparation of first minutes
? Registered office, agent (1 yr)
? Formal notarized physical documents
? International Courier
? VIP bank account opening support services"
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:44
Can anybody help me understand what this setup is about?
tatelev
2017-02-12 17:47
(I?m not interested in their package specifically, just want to understand what is this way of setting up company/ies)
harvie
2017-02-13 04:08
I used http://JumpStartOffices.com for my HK business, no issues and they have a chat Skype that is online during working hours, very helpful to ask questions. Before I paid them I asked what were the chances of me getting a HK business account and they were brutally honest and said less than 50% with my current paperwork.
@tatelev I opened a business account in Singapore, I did not have a business plan BUT I did have contracts from my clients, invoices, payment receipts and bank statements showing payment. If I were going to HK I would for sure get a business plan. You can go on http://Upwork.com and get someone to create one for you.
harvie
2017-02-13 04:09
@jase did you apply for the tax exemption for your business? If so can I ask what it cost in accounting fees.
harvie
2017-02-13 05:08
Also agree that HK is not that bad @jase, at the start I was wishing I didn't go there because of bank account issues, but it was easily fixed and I couldn't be happier. Just need to get me a HK bank account. I have 3 friends with HK businesses so will use them as refs and hopefully I'll get it sorted next year. One of the reasons it gets bad press is nomads who think if they have a HK business they pay 0% tax, not understanding that they need to pay $1-3k to apply for it. During that time they don't keep track of their earnings and when the IRD asks them questions they cannot answer them and are stuck paying the 16.4% tax.
stoplight
2017-02-13 05:20
@tatelev ..it looks like these are standard company formations and needs for someone planning to sell on Amazon?they?re pretty straightforward. The easiest solution to sell on Amazon, you?ll need a company, normally a US LLC, a US bank account and accountant to make your tax compliances. Opening an offshore company will also work but could be more complicated.
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:14
@stoplight maybe because I pasted so much text, the idea got a bit lost
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:15
what this formation company describes looks like a scenario that I have seen mentioned in other places but which I still don?t fully understand
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:16
it is for a non-US resident operating in USA by forming at the same time a US LLC and a Belize IBC
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:17
On the text I copied where this formation company describes the package I think the key is "You will need a CPA drafted transfer pricing agreement between your Wyoming LLC and offshore company to properly manage your tax liability within the US"
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:18
this setup I read about it in other places and seems to be a way where the US LLC (owned by a non-resident) ends up with roughly zero tax(though tax filing must be done yearly) due to very low reported profits and money from the business is funneled to the Belize IBC which has some sort of contract with the US LLC
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:19
I just don?t understand fully the concept and it feasability, challenges, implications, etc...
tatelev
2017-02-13 06:19
anybody can enlight me on this?
jamief
2017-02-17 09:52
has joined #business-general
arkdeeplove
2017-02-22 13:39
Does anybody know what are the steps to incorporate a Sociedad Limitada in Andorra ?
maxsuur
2017-02-22 14:28
Probably @jase knows a thing or two
jase
2017-02-22 14:29
Hello :grin:
jase
2017-02-24 09:11
does anyone recommend a HK auditor/accountant willing to work with Freshbooks?
scorps
2017-02-25 06:38
For those that opened a Singapore bank account, did you have to use a Singapore mailing address? Will the bank mail to an international address?
scorps
2017-02-25 06:39
Anyone using PO Mail Drop for mail forwarding instead?
danz
2017-02-25 07:35
You can use any mail adress, like Gmail or whatever.
harvie
2017-02-25 10:40
@scorps for both my personal and business I used my my UK home address. All statement and paperwork are being sent to my UK address.
scorps
2017-02-25 11:23
Perfect, thanks.
replay
2017-02-28 00:39
@scorps same here. i have an account with UOB, i used an address in Ireland
scorps
2017-02-28 02:51
Thanks @replay
ivopalazzi
2017-03-01 17:53
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jase
2017-03-03 10:14
What is everyone doing as far as their publicized business base? For example: company incorporated in Estonia, but you live primarily in Thailand. Do you publicly list an Estonian address/phone number and run it through a virtual office? Or Thai details? Or get a US address/phone to make yourself look more legit? Or obfuscate everything? :slightly_smiling_face:
harvie
2017-03-03 11:30
@jase certain payment processors want you to put the address your business is registered at so my website shows my HK address. Otherwise I typically just use my home address in the UK as it's the eaisest way for me to collect paperwork as I'm in a new location (or condo) at least 1 per year. I work with small businesses and we usually do face to face so they aren't too woried about my business address so much.
jase
2017-03-03 11:30
How about for clients - are they suss of your HK company? Or do they never know?
jase
2017-03-03 11:30
Ah right! That makes sense
harvie
2017-03-05 05:30
my HK account says it's okay to use Payoneer as a 'e-bank account' as they allow you to put your business name on the account. Useful to take CC payments for anyone who has a HK business.
josh
2017-03-07 11:14
Anyone from South Africa and set up a corporation somewhere else? I have some friends from RSA who have an international tour company that does really well. They are looking the set up somewhere else though to avoid RSA tax and oversight as much as possible, considering Malta. They are going after US clients, but currently have a lot from RSA and the EU. Any suggestions on jurisdiction would be appreciated.
yu138086
2017-03-07 15:21
has joined #business-general
mrblonde
2017-03-08 17:25
has joined #business-general
harvie
2017-03-09 12:21
For anyone living in the UK, from 2018 you can only claim £2,000 of dividends tax free instead of £5,000. Disgusting.
http://www.hl.co.uk/news/2017/3/9/budget-2017-what-it-means-for-you-and-your-money
globalconsulteurope
2017-03-09 12:50
has joined #business-general
maxsuur
2017-03-09 14:09
Really? Too bad.
harvie
2017-03-09 14:37
Yeah "There will also be a reduction in the dividend tax allowance, from £5,000 to £2,000, by April 2018, which Hammond said was designed to counter an increase in individuals setting up as companies in order to cut their tax bills." :disappointed:.
rjmarsden
2017-03-10 09:02
It is only an impact of between £600 and £1200 extra tax per annum depending on how much you earn, but I agree it isn't ideal. The most interesting part for me was the change to National Insurance as a result of too many of us moving to a self employed status. It doesn't have a big financial impact IMHO but it is interesting to see that the UK government have noticed how many of us are becoming freelance/entrepreneurs.
jerobo
2017-03-12 17:19
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highflier
2017-03-12 20:00
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johannago
2017-03-14 16:28
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crimsonpost
2017-03-15 11:28
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pedrodemendez
2017-03-16 13:38
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netroxx
2017-03-17 15:35
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roman
2017-03-20 10:05
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mi
2017-03-20 23:41
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andrew.m
2017-03-22 11:36
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globalconsulteurope
2017-03-22 12:05
I am going to establish a Delaware LLC with 2 shareholders (me and other Bulgarian citizen). Neither of us is US citizen, so that company shall be considered non-resident. I am aware of the basic steps but corporate bank account opening mostly worries me. Is still possible to open bank account remotely or I am obliged to visit US bank in person?
Any tips and tricks shall be appreciated :slightly_smiling_face:
stoplight
2017-03-22 13:45
@globalconsulteurope always best to do a in person visit when opening a bank account in the US. :slightly_smiling_face:
globalconsulteurope
2017-03-23 09:56
Don't I have any online banks options?
Other acceptable way is to empower local agent to represent me towards US banks. In next few months I am unable to travel to the US.
maxsuur
2017-03-23 10:12
@alexanderhay may know a thing or two
simon
2017-03-23 10:29
@globalconsulteurope You can open an account remotely with Silicon Valley Bank if your business is an online business
maxsuur
2017-03-23 11:06
The stripe atlas thing as far as I can recall
clr
2017-03-23 14:54
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globalconsulteurope
2017-03-23 16:04
Thank you for hints! I will definitely get in touch Silicon Vally Bank - personally or through Stripa Atlas. Presumably the last ones are experts in the field, so that they can give me better introduction to the bank.
@simon, as international expert probably you have any knowledge on regulations of p2p lending business in the US. Here in Bulgaria such platforms are not subject to licensing but as far as I know UK adopted legislation specifically on p2p lending. I guess the States did so.
globalconsulteurope
2017-03-24 08:33
I found a summary on lending regulation - http://www.chapman.com/media/publication/744_744_Chapman_Regulation_Marketplace_Lending_0317.pdf
nemo
2017-03-26 16:20
Any recommended agents for UK Ltd setup & accounting?
nemo
2017-03-26 16:56
For setup https://www.1stformations.co.uk seems OK. How about books & filing requirements? Any easy to use, hassle free services available?
skat
2017-03-27 10:42
@simon on your website you say that it?s possible to withdraw money from Payoneer to Revolut
skat
2017-03-27 10:42
how does that work, if revolut provides you bank details with reference number? and not on your own name?
tkrunning
2017-03-27 18:40
I haven?t tried, but you could top Revolut with your Payoneer card. Should be free if your Payoneer card is in EUR or GBP, otherwise FX conversion fee will apply
simon
2017-03-27 18:52
@skat What @tkrunning said. I tried it about a year ago and it worked fine. Not sure if it still works though.
simon
2017-03-27 18:53
Speaking of Revolut, I received an email from them today announcing the imminent launch of their business account. The email says "in the coming weeks"
maxsuur
2017-03-27 22:14
Are you going to sign up for it @simon ?
simon
2017-03-28 06:22
@maxsuur Yes, I think so. I'll give it a try at least.
roman
2017-03-28 08:47
My partner _(US citizen, frequent traveller)_ and I _(Canadian citizen, frequent traveller)_ are starting a new venture together. Most of our clients are, and will be, in US. We will need to receive monthly payments from clients via CC and bank transfers. Any tips on structuring this? Where and how to incorporate? Banking? Thanks.
simon
2017-03-28 09:33
@roman Does your partner qualify for the FEIE?
roman
2017-03-28 10:10
@simon That?s 330 days out of the country, right? If so, then he wouldn?t qualify, no. At least not yet.
aka
2017-03-30 16:31
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tatelev
2017-03-31 09:34
hi, any good recommendations for services in USA that can act as LLC official address, receive mail and scan it? Preferably one that has a plan suitable for receiving very low amount of mail per month(so very low fixed monthly cost at the expense of higher cost per each scan)
aka
2017-03-31 09:57
so just a virtual office? or a full incorporation as well?
maxsuur
2017-03-31 09:58
Mail forwarding address & related
maxsuur
2017-03-31 09:58
?
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:27
LLC is already incorporated
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:29
in UK I am very happy with the service I use https://www.scanmypost.co.uk/ they are awesome and I highly recommend them, both for their pricing but specially for their efficiency
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:29
I am looking for something similar in USA
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:30
an address to receive mainly post from the the state, IRS, bank...
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:32
in scanmypost I pay 15 GBP per year which has some scans included and then after that a fee everytime I receive mail(which they automatically scan and notify me by email)
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:32
very cost efficient if you are only going to receive 1-4 letters per month
tatelev
2017-03-31 10:33
any recommendations?
globalconsulteurope
2017-03-31 10:42
Registered agent covers such services, doesn't he? What does your registered office fee per annum include?
tkrunning
2017-03-31 11:02
I use http://www.virtualpostmail.com/ and I?m very happy with their service. Quite a bit cheaper than certain competitors, such as EarthPostMail, but with fewer locations (only California)
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:05
@globalconsulteurope good point, I better check with them first!
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:06
@tkrunning thanks for the rec. I?ll check them out
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:06
do banks normally accept agent?s address for account opening?
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:07
or this virtual mailbox services
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:10
in UK by law the company?s registered address must have your accounting books physically available if an HMRC inspector ever wants to show up to make an audit
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:11
many small businesses use virtual address services technically infringing this :slightly_smiling_face:
tatelev
2017-03-31 11:12
What's ok in USA?
simon
2017-04-01 09:36
Using the registered agent's address as a correspondence address is fine. Many offer free or very cheap mail forwarding plans to those who register their company through them.
clr
2017-04-01 22:39
I am using https://travelingmailbox.com since a few months ago and so far I am happy with them.
ma-x-us
2017-04-02 02:44
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tatelev
2017-04-02 15:11
@simon the company that I used to register the LLC is http://mynewcompany.com and they confirmed to me that I can only use their address to receive official letters(IRS, the state, etc?) but NOT for letters from the bank
tatelev
2017-04-02 15:12
in any case, it looks like the US bank I?ll open the account with will not require me to have a US address and they?ll be able to send me the account opening documents overseas, so in that case I might not need a virtual mailbox service
simon
2017-04-02 17:14
@tatelev I guess to receive bank letters at the address you would need to purchase their virtual office package.
tatelev
2017-04-02 17:18
yes, they sell it as separate service
tatelev
2017-04-02 17:18
but I might not need it for now
globalconsulteurope
2017-04-04 15:09
I am looking for good service provider for company formation in Hong Kong. Preferrably to be local professional, not international company, so that expenses will be lower. I know that bank account opening in HK is a serious matter, too. Thats why i am seeking for trusted professional or somebody of freedomsurfers community who can help locally.
harvie
2017-04-04 15:54
I used Jumpstartoffices. Very helpful and honest in everything. I love their Skype service where you can ask them as many questions as you want. They were also honest with me about the chances of forming a bank account. I know another member used them and they said they helped them with refs to setup a bank account.
jase
2017-04-05 02:16
@globalconsulteurope http://startupr.com are a good bunch of people. Affordable but they are on the ball.
harvie
2017-04-05 08:57
Would this formation work to lower my tax obligations?
HK Business
Me (UK citizen)
With the two above I form a UK LPP 90/10% split (HK business 90%, me 10%).
I bill my clients though the UK LPP.
stoplight
2017-04-05 10:54
hey @harvie ?should theoretically work bro?but is this strictly for invoicing only?
harvie
2017-04-05 13:19
@stoplight yes so I would invoice all my clients under the UK LLP. But when I pay my business the 90%, would that be classed as income and I'd have to pay the 16.4% HK income tax?
pragmatic
2017-04-05 16:07
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pragmatic
2017-04-05 16:13
I am considering a US LLC for my business needs. This will be mainly for a consulting business, as well as a business vehicle for investments. I am confused about all the different states.
pragmatic
2017-04-05 16:13
I see that Freedom Surfer recommends Wyoming.
pragmatic
2017-04-05 16:13
I've also read some things about New Mexico having anonymous LLCs?
stoplight
2017-04-05 17:32
@harvie yup..it looks like that?s what?s going to happen but there may be some caveat with you being a UK person as well for the UK LLP?best to double check with your accountant in the UK before you worry about the HK income tax...
stoplight
2017-04-05 17:37
@pragmatic ..I currently have a Wyoming LLC for our consulting business?if you?re a non-US person and your consulting business won?t raise flags with the DHS?then Wyoming should be ok?you could have your LLC up and running in a few days?New Mexico is perfect if you don?t want anything traced back to you?do take note though, this works great if you don?t intend to open a US bank account?eventually you?ll still have to show the UBO and all that jazz when you do?
pragmatic
2017-04-05 17:43
@stoplight I am intending on opening a US bank account for the business. What is UBO?
stoplight
2017-04-05 18:06
@pragmatic and there lies the problem?haha..Ultimate Beneficial Owner?suggest going on around Simon?s site..lots of useful info about LLC?s, banking and all that.. :wink:
pragmatic
2017-04-05 21:03
@stoplight thanks, I'll read around the site more...
pragmatic
2017-04-06 07:26
What would be the advantage of a RAK Offshore versus a US LLC, if I was to have a residency in a territorial tax country? In Both cases, taxes would be 0?
jase
2017-04-06 07:28
Not that I'm well versed, but frankly I want nothing to do with US - mainly because it's just another excuse for a bank to say no to me @pragmatic
jase
2017-04-06 07:28
That may not be a good reason though
stoplight
2017-04-07 17:23
@pragmatic ?for one, a RAK Offshore can give you access to residency in the UAE and more importantly, absolutely zero taxation. Once you comply with UAE?s obligations, you can easily get a tax certificate from the government as well.
The US LLC on the other hand is now cracking down on foreign-owned LLC?s which take advantage of the pass-through taxation. If anything, the IRS likes to get things more complicated. So expect more possible changes.
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/US_IRS_finalizes_regulations_requiring_reporting_by_foreign-owned_US_disregarded_entities/$FILE/2016US_04445-161US_US%20IRS%20finalizes%20regs%20requiring%20reporting%20by%20foreign-owned%20US%20disregarded%20entities.pdf
pragmatic
2017-04-07 17:37
@stoplight I understand that there is a yearly form that needs to be filed to the IRS, but it doesn't sound like it has any negative consequences tax wise compared to before?
pragmatic
2017-04-07 17:39
Also, a large portion of my clients will be US-based, and for some of them, it's much easier paying to a US based provider.
If there were more issues with the US LLC in the future, couldn't I make a RAK Offshore that would then own the US LLC?
stoplight
2017-04-08 00:46
@pragmatic yup..compliance is never simple as it sounds..specially with the IRS but if you have a good accountant that can do all that, then give it a go..and since you said you?ll be doing business with many US clients, you really might end up paying taxes to uncle sam depending on the kind of business you'll put up. Goods and tangible stuff to even software, you?ll pay some import taxes, royalties or what not. I?m not a CPA so i?m not 100% on this so it?s still best to confirm all of that with a US tax professional. You?ll get different answers from different people on this matter so best to get it from U.S. CPA?s.
If you think there will be more issues in the future then why bother opening a U.S. LLC in the first place? You?re essentially doubling your cost of doing business. Then again if cost is not an issue then yeah I guess that would really be a good way to keep yourself off any income taxes but do take note, it still doesn?t mean you?ll pay zero taxes to the IRS because you?re still going to do business with U.S. clients. How much or how little or even zero will depend on what type of business you?ll establish. Again, suggest you consult with a U.S. CPA on that. Lots of grey areas to consider.
Whereas you could avoid all of this hassle with just a RAK Offshore in the first place because UAE laws are much clearer when it comes to taxation which is zero nada zilch.
At the end of the day, in my opinion, it will all depend on how you?re relationship to your clients will be. Will they give a rats ass if you?re incorporated in Wyoming or Ras Al-Khaimah if your products/services are the best of the best? If it?s an Amazon or eBay business then that?s an entirely different story altogether. An under the radar low income U.S. LLC making a few hundred $ a month will probably not get noticed by the IRS if it perform?s compliance annually but if you?re LLC is receiving several hundred thousand $$$$$ a month into your U.S. bank account, then well, that would probably raise some red flags.
Here?s my not-so-professional suggestion?lols! :smile: If you want a "good" jurisdiction company and still get some pass through taxation advantages but at the same time sit well with your U.S. clients then consider opening an Ontario LP instead. Simon has more info on that somewhere on the site. :slightly_smiling_face: ?
pragmatic
2017-04-08 07:30
@stoplight as I understand US tax law, an LLC with foreign ownership could only be taxed in the US if the business is U.S. source income. That means that it was done in the US, having US clients does not count.
ahawkins
2017-04-08 07:40
I'm approved for estonian e-residency. I plan to open a company their and start doing all my business through there. What are the tax/reporting things I need to be aware from the US side (I'm a US citizen).
roman
2017-04-08 11:57
What is a good way to structure a business where one partner is a Canadian citizen, the second partner is US citizen (does not qualify for FEIE yet, and may never qualify). Most of our clients will be from US. We have to invoice clients, so don?t want to have any places that are too weird for the address. Also will need Stripe and banking. My thinking was to start a corp in Canada (15% tax rate under CAD$500,000) but I?m looking for any other suggestions. Thanks.
jase
2017-04-11 01:14
Anyone running a lifestyle company out of Singapore? Estimated maximum earnings of USD$200k per year.
Questions:
1. Is hiring a resident director an annoyance/risky?
2. Are management costs comparable or higher than a HK company?
jake
2017-04-11 14:43
has joined #business-general
tatelev
2017-04-11 16:12
hi, I am a bit confused(what a surprise) about what is considered a ?permanent establishment? in USA in order for a foreign owned LLC to be considered ETBUS(Engaged in a Trade or Business in US)
tatelev
2017-04-11 16:13
if I would pay for one of those mail scanning services to also act as:
tatelev
2017-04-11 16:14
1) for the the state where my LLC is registered the ?Principal office address?.
tatelev
2017-04-11 16:15
2) For the IRS FEIN, the ?Mailing address?.
tatelev
2017-04-11 16:16
3) For the LLC?s bank account to be the ?Address of the account?.
tatelev
2017-04-11 16:17
would setting any of those 3 to my mail scanning service?s address change the way my LLC is currently considered NOT ETBUS?
pragmatic
2017-04-11 16:21
@tatelev I'm interested in information about this too. http://ustax.bz/non-us-entrepreneurs/ has good info on ETBUS, but he doesn't say anything about your "address". I was looking at the addresses you need to enter to create an LLC on https://www.incorporate.com/ and I am also wondering what address I should put for the primary business address, etc...
pragmatic
2017-04-12 08:06
@simon again listening to the podcast you did with @jake - you mentioned that with an Estonia OU - you pay no taxes on salary to non-Estonian residents.
pragmatic
2017-04-12 08:06
Can't you just pay yourself all the profits in salary instead of "distributed profits"?
jase
2017-04-12 08:22
99% sure that answer is "yes" @pragmatic
jase
2017-04-12 08:22
Great for a lifestyle business. Not so great if building a company to sell IMO.
pragmatic
2017-04-12 08:23
Why is that @jase ?
jase
2017-04-12 08:23
You want accurate books.
jase
2017-04-12 08:24
Or at least, a buyer wants to see - Jase, CEO, paid market rate for his role in the company. Company profits: $xxxxxxxx
jase
2017-04-12 08:24
Not Jase, CEO, Paid 500% market rates. Company profit: $0.
simon
2017-04-13 11:07
@pragmatic Yes, you can pay yourself all the profits as salary. You can also pay yourself a tax-free per diem of 50 EUR when traveling (pretty much all the time if you are location independent). This is an easy way to boost your salary by ~1500 EUR tax-free every month (a per diem is not considered as part of your salary and is not usually subject to taxation at the personal level). Obviously, you can also use the company to cover all your travel expenses, new computers etc
tatelev
2017-04-14 11:02
@pragmatic I found explanatory article that might throw some light on the issue of what kind of addresses would be considered a "Permanent Establishment"
tatelev
2017-04-14 11:02
tatelev
2017-04-14 11:03
one relevant fragment from that article: "Multilateral Convention and Fixed Places of Business
The Multilateral Convention amends the ?fixed place of business? PE rule. To reiterate, under the Model Convention a PE exists where a nonresident has a fixed place of operations through which the business of an enterprise is carried out. The Model Convention does state, however, that ?the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character? will not trigger a PE"
sdfk787
2017-04-16 13:59
has joined #business-general
ayotech
2017-04-17 13:53
has joined #business-general
brepalco
2017-04-18 06:11
has joined #business-general
pedrodemendez
2017-04-18 08:06
Maybe of interest to some of you guys
jase
2017-04-18 09:30
Things are changing hey!
soniasofia
2017-04-18 17:10
has joined #business-general
tkrunning
2017-04-19 12:45
@simon @pragmatic I think Estonian tax authorities can get a bit antsy if your company makes 0 profit and you pay yourself a completely ridiculous salary, though.
Correct me if I?m wrong, but I believe the Estonian per diem rules only applies to trips of up to 30 days duration, which is quite restrictive. I think the rate was at the very least lowered after 30 days.
Then again, I always figured per-diem rates would follow both the country of incorporation (i.e. they need to make business sense, if not it?s not tax deductible for the company) and the country where you?re resident (i.e. over a certain limit would still be considered taxable income if it?s not documented expenses, even though country of incorporation might allow for higher per diems). Am I completely missing the mark?
But yeah, per diems are quite useful, if used right. That?s how I pay myself most of my income from my Danish company (higher per diem rates there than Estonia, ~100 EUR per day). :slightly_smiling_face:
pragmatic
2017-04-19 12:49
@tkrunning Thanks for the info. I was also wondering about this, listed on the website.
pragmatic
2017-04-19 12:49
Estonia OU ? This is by far the best entity for those looking to build a pension. This is essentially a zero-tax entity as only a distribution tax is levied and in this case, no distribution occurs until retirement. At that point, the company is simply dissolved and its assets are transferred to a tax haven entity or directly to the owner if tax haven residency has been secured. Why not use a tax haven entity from the start? Because an Estonia OU cost virtually nothing to maintain, won?t raise eyebrows with your tax authorities and can invest in a wider range of assets.
pragmatic
2017-04-19 12:49
How do you "transfer" the assets without being taxed on them as a distribution?
tkrunning
2017-04-19 12:53
Yeah, I?m not sure about that either, especially since Estonia operates with extra withholding taxes for payments to a long list of countries they deem as tax havens. @simon?
But paying yourself the bulk of your profits as a salary is a good approach (at least if you have your personal tax residency arranged in a way where you pay no or little income tax), just make sure you have some token profit on occasion, so the Estonian government at least gets some tax revenue.
pragmatic
2017-04-20 07:39
Do I understand correctly that IBCs are only useful if you have residence in a low/no/territorial tax country?
jase
2017-04-20 11:15
I'd go as far as saying most companies are like that @pragmatic unless you have a local base of operations. Otherwise CFC laws in most higher tax countries will have the income from your offshore company considered personal income.
jase
2017-04-20 11:15
It's a generalization but is mostly the case
jase
2017-04-21 05:18
Is anyone here operating an LLC in the USA as a non-resident? Do you have any feedback/thoughts on it? We're splitting off a part of our business to a new company and trying to decide where to incorporate. USA seems like a great location as it's low tax, low requirements, well supported by CC processing, trusted by companies around the world.
For sale of simplicity I'm trying to avoid operating a company in one country and banking in another for company audit time as many payment processors will want to deposit the local currency in your account (eg: operate a UK LLP, bank in Malta, clients pay in GBP and you receive EUR!).
jase
2017-04-21 05:21
I'm mainly interested to hear if:
- there is no office, staff or physical products located in USA, is it 100% exempt of tax
- as above, is there sales tax
- does it really matter which state you choose from the top 4? (Wyoming seems to be everyone's pick nowadays)
- how hard is it to get a bank account if all directors are non-residents
- 3 directors, all non-US citizens, is opening a bank account going to be possible given one of them visits the country?
- as above, will getting credit cards be possible so long as we secure it (put money down)
- are there any other hassles I'm not seeing?
simon
2017-04-24 10:18
@jase An LLC with no ECI (this usually includes selling to US clients) will not be subject to US taxation. It may be subject to taxation elsewhere. As for banking, it is very easy to open a US business bank account but in most cases you must do so in person. There is more paperwork to fill if only one member can visit in person but this is no deal breaker. Please note that most of the big banks do not operate nationwide, only in some states (although they accept businesses registered in all states). New York and Miami have all the important ones (Chase, Citi etc) and are used to dealing with non-residents. In my experience, you have to ask the bank to enable international wires when you open the account (otherwise you can only do domestic wires online).
simon
2017-04-24 10:20
@pragmatic IBCs can be useful even in high tax countries but rarely for active businesses. In most cases, they are used to hold real estate.
simon
2017-04-24 10:24
@tkrunning You keep the money in the Estonian company (re-investing it) until you retire then pay yourself a reasonable salary to manage the companies investments. As long your personal tax residency is sorted you can do so tax-free. You never pay out dividends.
tkrunning
2017-04-24 10:27
:+1:
jase
2017-04-24 11:22
Thanks @simon, very helpful.
skat
2017-04-25 08:38
Saying that I'm surprised to see Estonia at first places is not saying anything
skat
2017-04-25 08:39
But not seeing Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and etc kinda removes all the serious competition from the list, right?;)
simon
2017-04-26 06:44
@skat Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are not OECD members. If non-members were included on the list, it would look very different and Estonia would definitely not be number one!
brutus
2017-04-27 11:11
has joined #business-general
jase
2017-04-29 13:37
If one runs a non resident US LLC and pays themselves dividends, do they need to withhold taxes?
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:39
pass-through LLC ?
jase
2017-04-29 13:39
yeah
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:40
A pass-through LLC can not pay dividends. The income passes through to the person or entity holding it. So, either you own the LLC, and it's just income. Or another company owns the LLC, and it can pay out a dividend, in which case it depends on the rules of the jurisdiction of the parent company.
jase
2017-04-29 13:42
Ah I see. This may not work then! When you say "it's just income" - how do you mean? At the end of the year any profit is income?
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:42
Yes
jase
2017-04-29 13:43
So if we were going to reinvest profits, we need to do that before end of year
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:44
Well, I'm not an accounting expert, but I think re-invested profits are still profits.
jase
2017-04-29 13:44
Yeah good point - probably bad terminology on my behalf. I guess I mean spend on growing the business before they become profits
jase
2017-04-29 13:45
May be a confusing company structure for 3 shareholders - because we're building to sell, so being taxed on non-distributed profits (income) is a bit of a waste
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:45
Yeah, but you'd need to spend them on services, not on assets, because spending money on an asset does not reduce your profits, unless the assets depreciate.
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:46
Otherwise, you'd still have a profit for the year
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:46
I'd suggest you use an Estonian or Georgian company to hold the LLC.
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:47
As in those jurisdictions, taxes are only paid on profits when they are distributed
jase
2017-04-29 13:48
Yeah - the intention was to use the reputation of USA for this one - we'd looked into UK LLP too but too hard to get a bank account in the same currency
jase
2017-04-29 13:49
I'm personally comfortable with Estonia/Georgia but many businesses aren't (B2B company) - we're really trying to remove that friction in the sales process
pragmatic
2017-04-29 13:49
Well, I still suggest you'd use the US LLC and do business through it.
jase
2017-04-29 13:50
Thanks I will take that on board
simon
2017-04-30 06:45
@jase As @pragmatic said, using an Estonian company to hold your share of the US LLC would achieve the desired effect (being able to re-invest the profits tax-free). It would not affect the image / reputation of your LLC either if you register the LLC in a state where the ownership details of companies are not public.
simon
2017-04-30 06:46
I have a similar setup (with a UK company though), works really well
jase
2017-04-30 06:48
I'm actually more concerned for my partner (25%), who is a Canadian resident. I sort-of understand CFC law - as I understand it 25% of the company (his share) would be subject to personal income tax/seen as a CFC
pragmatic
2017-04-30 07:50
@simon i know you have much more experience with Edtonia than Georgia but do you have anything against Georgia which has the same rules for tax on distributed profits?
simon
2017-04-30 08:03
@jase Canadian CFC rules mainly apply to passive income and do not usually apply to companies registered in treaty countries (Estonia is an OECD member).
jase
2017-04-30 08:05
Interesting - maybe we are better off doing away with the US LLC altogether and using Estonia
simon
2017-04-30 08:08
@pragmatic Estonia and Georgia may have the same rules regarding profits distribution but they are not equal as far as jurisdictions go. Estonia is an OECD country, has tax treaties with most of the developed world, excellent banks and the rule of law. Georgia has none of that (although to be fair, it has a few tax treaties).
jase
2017-04-30 08:32
@simon do you know of any services similar to LeapIN that allow for multiple shareholders?
simon
2017-04-30 09:02
@jase You can register the company yourself and then hire someone to handle your bookkeeping, taxes etc. That's the easiest way as far as I'm concerned.
jase
2017-04-30 09:03
Is it still possible to do this remotely with the e-residency?
simon
2017-04-30 09:13
Yes, via the company registration portal: http://www.rik.ee/en/company-registration-portal
simon
2017-04-30 09:14
You can pay the registration fee using a credit card, and use the e-Resident card to log in
jase
2017-04-30 09:14
Great - I thought the multiple shareholder thing was a deal breaker. But maybe that was a year or 2 ago
jase
2017-04-30 09:14
I better get my paperwork in :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2017-04-30 09:16
It's a deal breaker with LeapIN because their business model is to focus on a few very specific types of businesses (one-man online companies, freelancers and app developers). Business whose bookkeeping is easy (otherwise their current plans would not be sustainable)
simon
2017-04-30 09:16
But it's not a deal breaker with Estonia as a jurisdiction
jase
2017-04-30 09:18
Is bookkeeping affordable outside of LeapIN? Sorry for all of the questions
pragmatic
2017-04-30 09:22
@simon CFC not applying to oecd countries is interesting. Do you have any more information on that ?
pragmatic
2017-04-30 09:28
Also do you know if the new EU regulations from 2019 change that ? https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/anti-tax-avoidance-package/anti-tax-avoidance-directive_en
simon
2017-04-30 09:35
@pragmatic You can find detailed information for most countries here: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Tax/dttl-tax-guide-to-cfc-regimes-120314.pdf
simon
2017-04-30 09:35
As you can see, most countries exempt OECD, EEA and other high tax countries.
pragmatic
2017-04-30 16:42
@simon thanks for the info on CFC - I don't understand why do some countries care only about passive income?
simon
2017-05-01 04:19
@pragmatic CFC rules were mainly created to prevent the use of offshore holding entities. For active income, there are different rules (place of management rules, permanent establishment rules etc).
simon
2017-05-01 05:12
@jase Depends on the number and complexity of transactions. It is also important to note that you must file a return every month, for the previous month.
pragmatic
2017-05-03 06:36
I understand that some countries do not treat US LLCs as pass-through entities. For example, the UK does not tax earnings via a US LLC as income, until the money is distributed to the owner in some way. Does anyone know if any other countries fall in that category? Apparently Georgia does also.
simon
2017-05-03 07:04
@pragmatic Nearly all do.
alexanderhay
2017-05-03 07:07
@pragmatic actually I have found that most major countries treat a foreign company the same way as it is treated in its jurisdiction of formation. So if a US LLC is treated as a "disregarded" or "pass through" entity in the US it is treated the same way. The UK provides a very interesting counter-model. I recently discovered that the Republic of Georgia also treats US LLCs like that. So if you own a Georgian company that in turn is the sole owner of a US LLC treated as a "dsregarded" entity, you do not maintain any nexus that creates tax residency in the USA, you do not receive any 'effectively connected US Source Income', and you do not pay any dividends to the Georgian company, then there will be no taxation in the USA and no taxation in Georgia.
pragmatic
2017-05-03 07:10
@simon Hmm, if nearly all countries do - then you can incorporate anywhere, use a US LLC subsidiary, and not pay tax on profit until you move it into the parent. In which case, the Estonia advantage isn't so big?
alexanderhay
2017-05-03 07:13
@pragmatic and Georgia uses the Estonian Model in a cheaper and less complex manner so it will cost less to form and maintain. And if you ever decide to run invoices through the Georgian company you will only have to pay taxes on income that is distributed unless you qualify for one of the many tax exemptions available in Georgia.
pragmatic
2017-05-03 07:15
Okay, so there's some disagreement here about whether most countries treat US LLCs as pass-through entities or if most countries do not :slightly_smiling_face:
alexanderhay
2017-05-03 07:22
Yes, but my disagreement may be based solely on my personal experience with a small number of countries. The UK is the only country other than Georgia that I have discovered, but I have not done an exhaustive survey.
alexanderhay
2017-05-03 07:29
I would be interested in knowing of other countries that treat the US LLC as a separate taxable entity as this makes the US LLC very useful indeed. In fact I would be rather embarrassed if it turns out to be a long list. But happily so!
simon
2017-05-03 07:30
@pragmatic @alexanderhay There has been a few cases here of Europeans who reported their countries treating US LLCs as non-resident taxable entities (such as Spain). It would certainly be interesting to have an up to date list of such countries.
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:21
Canada does not recognize US LLCs as disregarded entity and considers it as a Corporation
jase
2017-05-03 08:23
Also just discovered this @tatelev . Thankfully before a friend setup an LLC!
jase
2017-05-03 08:25
Wouldn't this be the same case for a UK LLP then?
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:25
Perhaps not, as it's a partnership. Someone else will have to chime in.
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:27
I was told this:
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:28
?There is one particular case I can think of where a US LLC has a disadvantage from a Canadian tax perspective, which has to do with carrying losses forward. In general, I?d say a US LLC potentially has great tax treatment in Canada because from a Canadian tax perspective a US LLC is considered to be a corporation but it?s generally a disregarded entity from a US tax perspective so you can end up in a situation where you?ve got a conflict of laws and the ability to have double non-taxation at least on a short term basis.
where you can potentially run into issue as a Canadian (or from various other jurisdictions) with using a US LLC is if you?re subject to US tax. If the income of the company is subject to US tax then there?s really no advantage of using a US LLC vs a C-corp. The reason to use an LLC is if you?re an American looking to avoid double taxation on the distribution of dividends or if you?re a foreign person wanting to gain access to the US financial system and infrastructure without incurring US tax. In other words for a foreign person not doing business in the US a US LLC is potentially very useful?
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:32
(in my specific case, as an amazon seller using amazon?s FBA for USA fulfillment seems like that would not be considered ETBUS -> Engaged in a Trade or Business in USA)
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:33
I'm not sure about that
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:33
check this out
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:33
?I?m not sure about that? -> about what specifically?
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:35
oh nevermind, misread what you said
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:35
I thought you said the amazon WOULD be ETBUS
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:36
no:slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2017-05-03 08:36
I would have thought if a Canadian resident owned a US LLC and Canada considered that a corporation instead of a disregarded entity, you'd have to declare everything as a CFC in your personal tax anyway
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:38
Only if the place of management is in Canada, right?
jase
2017-05-03 08:38
yeah - but if it's a single shareholder Canadian resident, that might be hard to prove
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:39
I was told this:
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:39
?The tax treaty is very clear that in cases of dispute residency of the entity goes to where it is registered not where it is managed and controlled:
?3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1, a company is a resident of both Contracting States, then
(a) if it is created under the laws in force in a Contracting State, but not under the laws in force in the other Contracting State, it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the first-mentioned State;?
More importantly though you?re not in danger here is the US LLC isn?t subject to tax in the US because you won?t end up with double tax only tax in Canada.?
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:40
(the USA-Canada tax treaty)
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:42
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Tax/dttl-tax-guide-to-cfc-regimes-120314.pdf so for Canada CFC only applies for passive income.
So I think you don't need to worry about that - only about place of management issues. Which are convered by tax treaties
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:44
the big disadvantage for a canadian resident to own an LLC from what I have understood, is if that person is ETBUS and liable and paying US tax
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:44
because there would be potentially double taxation
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:47
(my understanding of any of this must be handled with great care as I am a total dumb with all these stuff and just slightly starting to get some useful information:blush:)
jase
2017-05-03 08:47
Wouldn't place of management involve where the owner is operating the business (i.e., Canada)?
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:49
from Canada?s perspective yes
jase
2017-05-03 08:49
Is that not an issue for the Canadian resident then?
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:51
I understand that the canadian resident will pay canadian tax in Canada as if the LLC was a canadian corporation
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:51
but now I am confused by what the person I quoted before said
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:52
also, if canada would consider the us LLC as a canadian corporation and want to tax it, my question is how would it be taxed
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:52
there are different corporate tax rates in canada depending on what province the corporation was registered
jase
2017-05-03 08:53
I don't have the knowledge, but my assumption would be like a CFA (I think that's what they call it there)
jase
2017-05-03 08:53
Oh right - I guess it would be the province you are resident in
jase
2017-05-03 08:53
i.e., the province where management and control is located
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:53
one interesting thing that I found is that a Wyoming LLC can be very easily and inexpensively be converted to a corporation
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:54
(just another possibility for me to have in mind in case in the future the taxes in USA get lower)
jase
2017-05-03 08:55
I could be wrong but I think you'll find if you're a Canadian resident owning 100% of your entity, incorporating in Canada is going to be your best bet
jase
2017-05-03 08:55
They have a small business tax deduction FYI
alexanderhay
2017-05-03 08:56
CFC status does not mean you have to list everything on your personal income, only "passive" income from the foreign company.
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:58
@jase too late for me. I?ve gone the LLC route
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:59
I will pray and hope not to regret it too much in the future :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2017-05-03 08:59
Quickest way to find out - even if it costs you a small amount
jase
2017-05-03 08:59
This stuff is easy to analyse for years without taking action :slightly_smiling_face:
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:59
I agree
pragmatic
2017-05-03 08:59
You can always have a registered manager in the US for the LLC. That may help with the place of management thing
tatelev
2017-05-03 08:59
true
tatelev
2017-05-03 09:00
in the future more analysis will be required. I still don?t know for sure if I will move to Canada LOL
tatelev
2017-05-03 09:00
also laws, treaties.. can change over time
jase
2017-05-03 09:00
I've been looking into this for myself @pragmatic . Future company with 3 founders - 2 in Andorra, 1 in Canada.
jase
2017-05-03 09:01
I definitely like the simplicity of a US LLC... incorporation, bank, payment processing, credit card (with points) all in 1 country.
pragmatic
2017-05-03 09:01
Keep in mind that payment processing won't be that simple as a pass-through LLC
jase
2017-05-03 09:02
Oh, good to know
pragmatic
2017-05-03 09:03
Because you wont be able to give a W9
pragmatic
2017-05-03 09:03
which many (most?) will require
jase
2017-05-03 09:04
I did not know this :slightly_smiling_face:
pragmatic
2017-05-03 09:06
written by @alexanderhay
ivopalazzi
2017-05-03 12:34
Can anyone recommend any good offshore service providers?
pragmatic
2017-05-03 12:34
For what countries?
ivopalazzi
2017-05-03 12:37
Panama, Seychelles or Belize
pragmatic
2017-05-03 12:56
Well, @simon lists http://worldassets.eu/price-list/ on the site. Doesn't have Panama though.
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-03 13:14
Healy Consultants (http://www.healyconsultants.com) contacted me for a Bulgarian company formation last year. Since then we have been maintaining excellent business communication. I would recommend them for incorporations in Asia region definitely.
johncitizen
2017-05-09 00:05
has joined #business-general
paul
2017-05-09 04:31
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brab
2017-05-10 16:27
has joined #business-general
bmapilot
2017-05-12 08:20
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princevaliant
2017-05-12 09:40
I need an advice. I need to create a company with 4 founders (all living in Italy), the company should be able to invest all over the world, mainly in start-up companies but not necessarily (but nothing to sell). Company must be foreign (i.e. not Italian) with foreign bank account. It's not done to avoid taxes as everything will be made legally and in plain sight. Company should have low incorporation and maintaining costs and possibly no or very low bureaucratics requirements. The company incorporation and the bank account opening should possibly done without need to travel. Any advice? Maybe Estonian company (one member already has Estonian Id e-card), U.K. ? US llc? Any hint is very welcome. Thank you.
simonbcr
2017-05-12 09:53
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globalconsulteurope
2017-05-12 10:00
Bulgaria is also an option - low incorporation fees, low maintenance fees, remote company formation, remote bank account opening. Monthly duties for vat declarations submission, annual tax return and annual financial report publication
simon
2017-05-12 12:13
Bulgaria and Estonia are two good choices. Estonia if you intend to re-invest everything in the company and Bulgaria if you intend to regularly take money out. In any cases, better register in the EU as this will simplify things (tax treaties, easy to travel to, easy to open bank accounts etc).
princevaliant
2017-05-12 12:24
We will not take money out we intend to keep money invested and not usually take dividends. Any idea about Estonia's company costs and bureaucratic requirements to maintain it? Can an Estonian company invest anywhere and in any sector? Is it possible to open a bank account remotely? I read that they were working to make remote bank account opening possible to e-residents but I don't know about companies
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-12 12:31
@tkrunning maybe know more about it. He put me in contact with the guys who are beta-testing this service
tkrunning
2017-05-12 13:18
So Estonia has ?legalized? remote bank openings, but none of the local banks have actually shown much interest in implementing that. The E-residency team is currently working with Holvi (Finnish banking startup) to provide an account which you can open remotely: https://about.holvi.com/e-residents/
It?s a bit steep at 35 EUR per month, but I would expect the price to fall in the future when more of the Estonian compliance is automated on Holvi?s end. During the BETA it?s only available to EU/EEA residents.
Personally I would just fly to Estonia and open an account with some of the local banks there, e.g. SEB or LHV.
tkrunning
2017-05-12 13:21
FYI, Holvi comes with built in bookkeeping tools linked to you bank account and debit cards
jase
2017-05-12 14:46
Is Holvi backed by a government guarantee?
princevaliant
2017-05-13 07:00
The company should gather the money from the founders and then invest them as a company, and as most investments will be in the medium-long term (no trading, no stocks, no selling of products) the bank account probably will have only a few movement (bank wire incoming and out-coming) every year so we don't need a sophisticated account with lots of options.
simon
2017-05-15 11:49
@jase Holvi is owned by BBVA, one of Europe's largest banks.
jase
2017-05-15 11:50
@simon yeah - similar to Leupay with Satabank, but Leupay isn't backed by the government guarantee. I thought Holvi may be in the same scenario.
harvie
2017-05-17 04:37
is there any update on setting up a company in Estonia, I remember a month or two back there were roomers that they were going to change their 20% tax rule on profits? Any further news?
simon
2017-05-17 05:53
@harvie The rumours now say that the government is looking at offering rebates to businesses who regularly distribute profits (as opposed to keeping re-investing them tax-free or distributing them as tax-free salaries).
princevaliant
2017-05-17 07:50
I was just told by esparqnow to whom I asked infos about opening an Estonian company that all partners must be e-residents to have low opening and maintaining fees, is it confirmed?
simon
2017-05-17 07:57
@princevaliant The government fee is the same regardless of e-Residency. If the owners are not e-Residents (or citizens of some participating EU countries), however, a notary will have to be hired to verify the documents and you will have to pay extra for the service (not much). Once registered, compliance is the same (although it helps if one of the directors is an e-Resident as this enables electronic filing)
princevaliant
2017-05-17 08:18
Thanks Simon, I am e-resident but my friends (that should be partners in the company) aren't. So, considering the notary thing, is there no possibility to make everything by remote?
princevaliant
2017-05-17 08:19
Any idea if the costs involved in setting up and mantaining the company?
simon
2017-05-17 10:22
@princevaliant The state fee is 145 EUR. You also need a local address. If you do not have one, LeapIN can provide one for 15 EUR per month (last time I checked). You also need to pay for the notary (variable cost). There is no other cost, annual fee etc. There may be a bookkeeping fee if you require such a service (you can also do it yourself free of charge via the government run bookkeeping software).
simon
2017-05-17 10:24
Oh and at the moment it is still, in most cases, necessary to visit Estonia in person to open a bank account. The local banks have been saying for nearly a year now that remote opening will soon possible but this is not a reality yet.
princevaliant
2017-05-17 10:25
Ok, but can everything be done without traveling? Also with the notary for partners without e-residency?
simon
2017-05-17 10:27
Yes it is usually possible. Same procedure as in most other countries (send certified scans of due diligence documents).
simon
2017-05-17 10:28
But as I said, you'll need to travel to open the bank account.
simon
2017-05-17 10:28
Unless Holvi finally launch their Estonian business bank account. https://about.holvi.com/e-residents/
simon
2017-05-17 10:29
Although the 35 EUR / month fee is quite steep
princevaliant
2017-05-17 10:48
And is there some valid alternative for what I need to do with the company as for example U.K./Scotland or US Llc?
simon
2017-05-17 10:52
In both cases, opening a bank account will usually require travel (or a less-than-ideal alternative, such as an online wallet or one of the new online banks).
simon
2017-05-17 10:53
It's not a big deal though, you can be in and out in a few hours. You just need to show up to sign the account opening documents.
princevaliant
2017-05-17 11:31
Also the notary thing for non e-residents partners for Estonia company can be done online? Any idea of the notary cost?
johncitizen
2017-05-17 11:34
I think I paid $100 x 2 for my notary services in Japan for Estonia
simon
2017-05-17 11:35
It's usually cheaper to apply for e-Residency, if you are not in a hurry
princevaliant
2017-05-17 11:38
So the notary service should be done here in Italy and then the documents sent to Estonia?
johncitizen
2017-05-17 11:39
I agree, I honestly think it's better to go to Estonia as well and lay some foundation
johncitizen
2017-05-17 11:40
If you're already in Europe
simon
2017-05-17 11:42
@princevaliant You have a notary certify your documents in Italy, then you send them to the notary in Estonia who then registers your company. No need to send the actual documents
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-17 12:35
Notary certification in country A (EU-member) should be valid in country B (EU-member), if certain requirements are met.
1) Apostilization under Hague convention. If the countries have legal assistance treaty, its rules for documents certification are applicable;
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-17 12:35
2) Translation and legalization of the documents according to requirements of local administration;
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-17 12:37
E.g: Bulgaria and France have legal assistance treaty, under which rules documents certified by French notary may be used in Bulgaria without the need of apostilization
otkeedca
2017-05-18 05:22
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tkrunning
2017-05-18 07:27
@princevaliant Also worth noting that there?s no legal requirement for an Estonian company to bank in Estonia. Legally speaking, even a Leupay account would do the trick.
jase
2017-05-18 08:51
I'm amazed at how many people don't know this. It sort of used to be the foundation of flag theory. Only hassle to be aware of is lack of support from Stripe - they want to see bank and company in the same country.
maxsuur
2017-05-18 09:35
Thanks for the reminder @jase and @tkrunning
princevaliant
2017-05-18 10:31
@tkrunning I know this as also Holvi (not estonian) is making its package for e-residents, but I don't know if the main business activity of the company I need to set-up with my partners (investing mainly in other private companies and start-ups) is possible with an estonian company of this kind, Leap-in just told me they don't set up companies with multiple shareholders and with "investing" as main activity. Any idea ? Or can another low cost structure (uk scotland or US llc ) be used for this purpose? Thanks
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-18 11:09
@princevaliant, i already suggested Bulgaria. Georgia is also a cost effective option. Estonia, using other corporate service provider, if Leap-in do not open companies with multiple shareholders. All these countries do not have requirements for local bank account opening
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-18 11:10
You can establish your business, open account in other country or with virtual bank/payment service and start your commercial operations.
princevaliant
2017-05-18 11:35
So the fact that tha main purpose of the company is investing isn't a problem for the setup? Any other service provider you can suggest?
pragmatic
2017-05-18 15:39
@jase Stripe isn't supported in Estonia anyway
jase
2017-05-18 15:40
There you go!
princevaliant
2017-05-18 18:24
I don't need an account to get paid because we don't sell anything I need a simple account that can receive and send wires
otkeedca
2017-05-20 10:48
Hi folks, I'm trying to plan my tax strategy, but I have a question that has been bugging me. Could somebody help clarify a concept for me?
It seems to me that in order to minimize taxes for myself and my business, I would need to be domiciled in a low/no tax country that does not have "place of effective management" rules for companies, correct? Because otherwise, my country of residence could just claim my offshore company is a local company, and charge me the local tax rate, correct? It seems like most countries have these rules in place, so this limits the places I could live "tax free" or with relatively low taxes. Am I correct in assuming this or am I missing something?
pragmatic
2017-05-20 10:54
You are basically correct. But there may be ways to get around "place of management", by having a local "director", etc
otkeedca
2017-05-20 11:19
Ah, I see. But if required to, I would have to prove that the director is performing a management function I'm guessing? I'm not sure how I could get away with that, other than letting them actually manage the company
simon
2017-05-21 08:04
@otkeedca Hiring a local director will not do you any good if you are still considered to be in control of the company.
simon
2017-05-21 08:08
Anyone here has any experience doing business in Ireland? How to register, open a bank account etc? @arkdeeplove
pragmatic
2017-05-21 12:34
@simon But there's a difference between place of management and control (ownership) right? So for example, if the double tax treaty between his country of residence and the company's country of residence says that corporate taxes can only be taxed in the company's country of residence unless it does business in the other country via a permanent establishment (such as a place of management), and he has a local manager/director, AND his country of residence does not have CFC laws, or else they do not apply in the particular case - then it could work?
simon
2017-05-21 13:29
@pragmatic Most countries have anti-avoidance rules against the use nominee directors / shareholders for tax avoidance purposes. The scenario outlined above could work if the local director was really in charge of the company but from my understanding? of the post that would not be the case.
swiss_gael
2017-05-22 11:46
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globalconsulteurope
2017-05-23 13:38
I am looking for good virtual office provider for business address in the USA. Features that are required as follows:
- real address
- monthly forwarding of postal mails received to Bulgaria
- scan forwarding of all mails
- real phone and fax numbers
- phone forwarding to Bulgarian number
- voicemail and fax service
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-23 13:39
Those of you running US companies maybe recommend a good one?
simon
2017-05-23 16:11
@globalconsulteurope have you asked your registered agent if they offer such a service? I've found that they often do and their prices are hard to beat
stoplight
2017-05-23 16:36
Agree with @simon ?
brian
2017-05-23 21:14
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rjmarsden
2017-05-24 06:57
Hi @globalconsulteurope I do some consultancy with a small team that have just launched an online school showing how to do all the telephony stuff you describe very cheaply and it takes only an hour in total to setup: here are a couple links to get the courses for free if you or anyone else is interested: http://learn.mod.technology/p/3cxin30 and http://learn.mod.technology/p/adding-a-free-sip-trunk-to-your-3cx-phone-system/?product_id=312207&coupon_code=FREECOURSE&preview=logged_out
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-24 07:08
@rjmarsden , @brian,
thank you both for fast responses!
If i get it right, I can buy US cell number (via Nexmo) and link it to my own VOIP
pragmatic
2017-05-24 09:29
I may @brian
pragmatic
2017-05-24 09:29
I'll pm you
johncitizen
2017-05-24 09:46
?10,000 up for grabs for good business ideas. Jump on board. :)
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-24 10:14
That is great! It is a pity deadline is so close..
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-24 10:15
Maybe i will try to submit one
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-24 10:15
Have you made an application with your own project?
rjmarsden
2017-05-24 10:29
globalconsulteurope: Yes you can get US mobile and landline numbers through either Twilio or Nexmo
stoplight
2017-05-24 11:05
@rjmarsden ?informative course but still quite a bit too technical for us technically-challenged.. :smile: ..got a quick query?can you suggest a solution to get a number from some of the Caribbean countries like Antigua and St. Lucia?
rjmarsden
2017-05-24 13:59
hey @stoplight unfortunately the small countries aren't geared up for VoIP on an international level quite as quickly as other countries, so everything has to be local and in country for now. The two biggest worldwide providers are Twilio and Plivo and you can keep an eye on the countries they have inbound dialling for here: https://www.twilio.com/international and https://www.plivo.com/voice-api/coverage/ sorry I don't have better news :slightly_smiling_face:
stoplight
2017-05-24 17:35
@rjmarsden its all good?yeah..I guess there?s not so much demand either?.anyway?thank you so much for the info?will keep a close eye on these websites?thanks so much! :smile:
emondpph
2017-05-25 08:39
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architect
2017-05-25 12:27
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maxsuur
2017-05-25 12:41
Boom! Rumours were right
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:01
So how they intend to attract new clients with these rates?
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:01
I really hope it is just starting fee and they will optimize their costs in near future
simon
2017-05-25 14:05
Holvi Pro is 8? per month (for normal businesses). I'm thinking they just want to make a quick buck with the e-residents who can't travel to Estonia to open a real account.
simon
2017-05-25 14:06
It's crazy that they haven't been able to implement remote opening yet. In Canada we've been able to open accounts online for over a decade. Same in the US and UK.
simon
2017-05-25 14:12
The guy behind WB21 has quite a dodgy history. I wouldn't bank with them.
simon
2017-05-25 14:13
Speaking of fast transfers, I tried Jetcopay this week for the first time in HK. Works really well, you send the money to a phone number and it's instantly deposited into the recipient's bank account. Similar to Venmo but run by the banks and completely free.
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:19
That is their last development - https://www.mypos.eu/en/virtual-terminal
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:20
myPOS and LeuPay are part of the same financial group with roots in Bulgaria. As far as I know the people behind that idea started it here but currently there is no official tie to Bulgaria
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:21
I am using private LeuPay account, our company is helding myPOS account - everything is going smooth with them.
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:21
Not on daily basis
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:22
Are they crashing with a lot of transactions>
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:24
@brian, when you mention the following about WB21 "To send to a WB21 account you would transfer to an account for WB21 Pte Ltd and then in the transaction details list the WB21 customer name and ?account number?... in someway that is not so bad.
Probably WB21 Pte Ltd. is not obliged to report you having an account with them?
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:25
That's why such sub-account should be opened with trusted providers. I was just thinking over the structure of account and reporting obligations
globalconsulteurope
2017-05-25 14:30
I am in process of checking one right now. When i finish the process and get income/outcome payments properly done, I will share my impressions.
jase
2017-05-25 15:03
It's for this same reason I won't be storing large amounts in Leupay
jase
2017-05-25 15:04
I have my frustrations with traditional banks
jase
2017-05-25 15:04
But they are bound by usually pretty strict legal systems
tkrunning
2017-05-25 16:35
simon: If you?re an actual resident, you can easily do it online. And legally speaking, E-residents can too. But none of the local banks have shown interest in offering that. Probably out of fear of becoming the next Latvia.
Opening a bank account in the US, Canada without being a resident? Not that easy unless you have a sizable amount of business to bring the banks. That?s basically the same as in the Scandinavian countries, as long as you?re a resident, you can open accounts online.
The UK, Germany, the Netherlands, etc have all made it easy for EU residents to open accounts remotely, though. But it?s mostly new banking startups offering it still.
tkrunning
2017-05-25 16:42
simon: I think I shared it in the group a few weeks ago, but the reason for the high price initially is due to the fact that Holvi apparently still needs to do manual work for their service to be in compliance with Estonian laws and accounting practices. I don?t see why it won?t drop down to the regular 8 EUR per month eventually.
Keep in mind that it?s not just a bank account, but also an accounting suite as well. It?s not unheard of paying at least 20-25 EUR per month for good, standalone accounting software either. E.g. comparable Xero plans would be $20-40 per month, with no banking included. So keep that in mind.
tkrunning
2017-05-25 16:43
Again, though, there?s no need for an Estonian bank account for your company. Even Leupay is acceptable.
tkrunning
2017-05-25 16:46
@jase: Fair enough re: Leupay. I don?t store a lot of money there either (why would you?) But in the case of Leupay they are bound by similar EU regulations as for example Transferwise. They can?t use your money to cover their business expenses, and your money is still safe if they go bankrupt. On the other hand, if Satabank goes bust you might be fucked.
jase
2017-05-25 16:55
Good to know @tkrunning, I have heard of people putting substantial amounts through their account without issue (aside from BTC related)
simon
2017-05-25 17:44
But I thought the whole point of e-Residency was to solve this type of risk issue by outsourcing due diligence to the Estonian government.
simon
2017-05-25 17:48
@tkrunning I hope that the price drops to 8? but frankly even if it does I will still recommend opening a real Estonian bank account. As far as I'm concerned, one of the main benefits of registering in Estonia is the ability to easily bank there. Apart from a few annoyances, the main Estonian banks are pretty damn good.
tkrunning
2017-05-25 17:50
Yes definitely
brutus
2017-05-26 05:45
Hello everyone. Any experience please of owning US LLC and/or Estonian corporations through one or more offshore entity (Seychelles, Belize, etc...) ? Any issue for the US and/or Estonian entity with opening local bank account, local tax administration, etc... due to having parents company in offshore countries?
pragmatic
2017-05-26 08:09
@brutus No issue for a US LLC owned by offshore company
johncitizen
2017-05-26 09:27
Easy to do business
johncitizen
2017-05-26 09:28
Literally just show up
johncitizen
2017-05-26 09:28
Nice photo
pieter.j.becker
2017-05-28 14:28
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mep757
2017-05-30 10:56
has joined #business-general
pragmatic
2017-05-30 17:14
Are the owners of an estonian company public information?
simon
2017-05-31 04:11
@pragmatic Yes. For example, here's the info about me for Freedomsurfer OU on the public register.
simon
2017-05-31 04:11
@simon uploaded a file: https://freedomsurfer.slack.com/files/simon/F5L7PSC6N/image_uploaded_from_ios.jpg
maxsuur
2017-05-31 05:39
@simon what is the minimum contribution to start a company in Estonia?
simon
2017-05-31 07:48
2500 EUR
simon
2017-05-31 07:49
For a private company
maxsuur
2017-05-31 07:50
Thanks @simon
johncitizen
2017-05-31 13:04
Pretty sure you can take it out Brian.
simon
2017-05-31 13:06
You can take it out, you just need to deposit it once and have the deposit registered as payment for share capital.
simon
2017-05-31 13:07
It's certainly a hassle and they should remove the requirement.
simon
2017-05-31 14:15
@brian My accounts in Hong Kong are all fee free. That is what competition does in a healthy market (there are tons of banks in HK).
c-bass
2017-05-31 15:36
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roman
2017-06-01 00:55
Does anyone know if TransferWise Borderless would work with an Estonian LLC?
roman
2017-06-01 00:56
@brian there are free bank account options for both personal and business in Canada. Not every bank certainly. Many still do charge fees. But enough good options.
simon
2017-06-01 05:22
@brian Not if you are a non-resident and you use a tax neutral entity (such as the Ontario LP).
nickc
2017-06-01 07:53
has joined #business-general
roman
2017-06-01 14:06
@brian @simon But even for residents it can be not so terrible. Ontario corporation pays 15% tax on the first $500,000. If you are a resident you can have some of that as salary (up to minimal tax bracket) and some as dividends. Which makes it virtually tax free. Of course, now there is a ?problem? of having money left in your corporate account. But if you know what to do with that money, then it may not be such a problem after all.
roman
2017-06-01 14:07
Some people advocate for Bulgaria, which is 10%, not too far from 15%.
simon
2017-06-02 06:12
@roman In Manitoba the rate is nil, up to 450000$. You only pay at the federal level so it can be as low as 10.5%.
stoplight
2017-06-02 18:33
The Ontario LP is really attractive..was seriously thinking about it recently but the annual registration/maintenance is a bit prohibitive..well for my needs anyway?
roman
2017-06-03 01:36
@stoplight do you mean the filings? Accountant cost is about CAD$1,500-3,000 for a small business without too much complexity.
stoplight
2017-06-04 16:53
Yup..agree?but our US LLC?s, both of them..costs only about 20% of that.. :smile:
roman
2017-06-05 03:02
Really? Are accountants that much cheaper in the US?
pragmatic
2017-06-05 16:17
How do place of management rules work when the owners live in different places
pragmatic
2017-06-05 16:17
EG, say I start a company with two other guys, we each live in different EU countries, and register the company in a fourth EU country, let's say Estonia.
roman
2017-06-06 04:13
@brian by that merit you can file taxes yourself in Canada too. We also have software and cheap accountants. But I value my time more and gladly pay for the financial advise and peace of mind that everything is running smooth.
benjamin
2017-06-06 04:57
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harvie
2017-06-08 04:21
@simon I read your article about a UK LTD vs Estonia , just wondering if you think this is also a good option for UK citizens too, I see no reason why not but technically it's on-shore and I'm not sure if that has any impact on taxes etc. I am a Thailand tax resident now but if I own a UK business and pay myself a salary I'm not sure if that would mean I have to pay UK income tax as a UK citizen? (I know, I should speak to an accountant :smile: but maybe you can save me a Skype call).
simon
2017-06-08 04:59
@harvie This guide covers the subject pretty well: https://www.gov.uk/tax-uk-income-live-abroad/overview
simon
2017-06-08 05:00
To avoid UK taxation you would likely need to register an LLP instead of a Limited company
aka
2017-06-08 13:58
harvie you can also save your self a lot of money by paying below thresholds, and extracting money at the end of the year via dividens
aka
2017-06-08 13:59
always using all the allowances
aka
2017-06-08 13:59
also if you employ at least one person that gives you another set of allowances as well, and more tax free money
harvie
2017-06-09 00:22
@simon thanks. I remember talking to a UK accountant a while back, he said (and I'm paraphrasing because the call was a while back) "As a UK resident you would need a real good reason to form a UK LLP otherwise it will appear like you're evading paying taxes".
harvie
2017-06-09 00:23
@aka they are reducing the dividends from 2018 from £5,000 per year to £2,000 per year now but thanks I'll look into the other things you said. My big concern is paying income tax in the UK, it's quite high. On £20,000 earned with income and NI it comes to around £2,000~
aka
2017-06-09 07:48
I see
harvie
2017-06-09 11:26
Oh I should say, the accountant said that in the context that I should opt for a UK LTD over a UK LLP, there would need to be a very good reason for me to get the latter over the former. This was just one call and I cannot vouch for how good of an accountant he was.
pragmatic
2017-06-09 11:27
How do place of management rules work when the owners live in different places
EG, say I start a company with two other guys, we each live in different EU countries, and register the company in a fourth EU country?
tatelev
2017-06-09 14:48
Hi, now that disregarded LLCs seem to be an obstacle for Amazon selling, I?m shopping around to figure out what jurisdiction to incorporate as soon as possible in order to mainly operate my Amazon FBA USA business
tatelev
2017-06-09 14:49
because I?m about to travel in a couple of days to Canada and will be there all summer, it needs to be something I can set up remotely
tatelev
2017-06-09 14:49
ideally with low tax, of course
tatelev
2017-06-09 14:49
ideally easy to setup, manage and maintain compliance
tatelev
2017-06-09 14:50
I was recently mentioned Gibraltar
tatelev
2017-06-09 14:50
Anybody has any opinion on Gibraltar LLC for this kind of business?
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:02
welcome any other suggestions of jurisdictions to consider
stoplight
2017-06-09 15:19
@tatelev ?have you explored Ontario LP?s?
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:19
I took a quick look, sounded interesting
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:19
thanks btw
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:20
I understood it was advantageous while I am residing not in Canada
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:20
but if I end up residing in Canada(as I likely will in the future) might not be such a good setup?
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:23
also I understood that if I am both the general and limited partner at the same time, I don?t have much liability protection I think
stoplight
2017-06-09 15:28
If you want some security..maybe do something like register an IBC in any island country then a US LLC or UK Ltd. then have both part of the Ontario LP?or at least something to that effect anyway.. :slightly_smiling_face: ?it?s complicated but if you want to be protected?well?the deeper the network?the harder to follow :smile:
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:31
I want something simple
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:32
I?m too small a fish yet to be thinking in complex structures
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:32
plus I need to set it up so I can have it ready to make my next import from China ASAP
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:33
this obstacle with the disregarded US LLC on Amazon is a setback
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:33
I need to sort a new structure soon, easy and quick to setup remotely
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:33
but of course as convenient for the medium/longer term as possible
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:34
My plan B would be to continuer with my UK Ltd which I still have active and operational
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:35
but I read that UK Ltd in Canada could very well be a burden
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:36
also, If I could operate seemlessly and effortlessly with lower tax by incorporating elsewhere, why not? I hope there is a quick better option than the UK Ltd
tatelev
2017-06-09 15:41
@stoplight that Belize+US/UK as partners of an Ontario LP sounds complex to me to the point that I don?t feel capacitated to evaluate it. Maybe it is easier than what it sounds like to me :slightly_smiling_face:
pragmatic
2017-06-09 16:08
What happened to the two US LLCs idea?
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:11
Seems complicated and a bit dodgy
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:22
I mean I would be all the time thinking: what will happen when the IRS notices the loophole
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:25
Just sharing my thinking. I might be wrong
pragmatic
2017-06-09 16:26
I don't think it's a "loophole" exactly. You're not really trying to get around paying taxes in the US. You're trying to get around company policies of not accepting disregarded US LLCs that are foreign owned.
pragmatic
2017-06-09 16:26
I agree it does feel a bit weird though
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:30
there is also something that I don?t understand about this structure
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:31
after reading this:
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:31
(most of you must have read it by now)
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:31
it says:
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:31
?You?re ETBUS only if two things are true: (1) you have at least one ?dependent agent? in the US, and (ii) that dependent agent does something substantial to further your business in the US (as opposed to something purely administrative or ministerial).?
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:32
wouldn?t the LLC that acts as an agent for the disregarded LLC make the owner of the disregarded LLC ETBUS?
tatelev
2017-06-09 16:33
I?m most likely misunderstunding something, but that came to mind
pragmatic
2017-06-09 16:49
Interesting, I hadn't considered that. I'm not sure if this would be considered a "dependent agent" or not. I would think a payment agent is something administrative. But I definitely don't know for sure.
tatelev
2017-06-09 17:06
now that I?m researching where to setup, I?m finding 2 websites very useful for comparing jurisdictions. I?m sharing them here in case they are useful to others:
tatelev
2017-06-09 17:07
and:
tatelev
2017-06-09 17:20
yes, that?s the idea
tatelev
2017-06-09 17:21
but how does that agency relationship leave the disregarded entity is what I?m wondering
tatelev
2017-06-09 18:18
Btw, if anybody has any thoughts of Gibraltar or has any cons in mind, tell me
tatelev
2017-06-09 18:18
Gibraltar LLC
tatelev
2017-06-09 18:56
@brian did you read the article I linked from attorney Stewart Patton?
tatelev
2017-06-09 18:59
You can skip drectly where he talks about agents
tatelev
2017-06-09 19:00
And how they can make a foreigner/foreign company be considered ETBUS
tatelev
2017-06-09 19:02
That's what I was referring to
tatelev
2017-06-09 19:14
I mentioned Gibraltar as a separate question, nothing to do with the LLCs. It could be a potentially interesting option to operate a single Gibraltar LLC in my case, with some advantages, but I suspect there are disadvantages also, there always are
skat
2017-06-10 12:14
I?m a crossroads right now. Trying to figure out if i want to continue doing what i?m doing or move on?. So, I?m trying to validate some of my ideas before i make a drastic moves. Does anyone know any socially-inclusive businesses with big percentage of employees who are autistic, have asperger or down syndrome? I?m looking into helping friends with such disability, who are very creative, but struggle with business relationships and finding work.
gregor
2017-06-10 15:08
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simon
2017-06-11 10:37
@skat I remember reading somewhere that EY has quite a few autistic employees. Maybe they have published material about why they do that and their experience.
simon
2017-06-11 10:39
Ernst & Young, a large accounting company
simon
2017-06-11 10:40
I watched the movie, yeah Burry could definitely be autistic. Worked out pretty well for him!
simon
2017-06-11 10:41
Will add it to my reading list. Didn't knew it was based on a book.
jase
2017-06-11 14:04
Anyone here ever been denied for an offshore profits claim for a HK company?
skat
2017-06-11 18:09
cool, thanks @brian I figured how i can validate this project before going full on on it.
skat
2017-06-11 18:20
@brian i have two friends - one is autistic and one with asperger - both of them are very talented illustrators. I?ve been trying to help them for a while, i give them different project to complete if i have something for them. Always felt that both of them have huge potential, a lot of great and creative ideas. I?ve heard about a company that has 90% of people working who are ?challenged? (it?s russian company called www.everland.club ) and i?ve heard from people who worked with them - that results are great. As i understood, they just moved all conversation to online - texting, emailing - then conversation flows properly. I had a same experience, it?s hard to discuss business with my friends in person or via skype calls. But if i just email them everything have, they usually get me instantly.
skat
2017-06-11 18:21
@brian so i want to try to setup a website where people can order a their own caricature, by sending their photo and their pet. and paying as much as they are willing for it.
skat
2017-06-11 18:22
If it will work with my friends? who knows, maybe there are other challenged and creative individuals i can help in similar matter?
danielabagnale
2017-06-12 03:10
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rtiagm
2017-06-13 02:20
has joined #business-general
harvie
2017-06-13 03:24
@jase no but from speaking to my HK accountant he says the main reason for rejection was not keeping invoices, emails and all paperwork to prove it. I believe they ask you a set of questions (about 20) you may be able to find them online. If you can successfully prove you're offshore, it should be fine. I have a few friends who have been accepted for off-shore profits claim (This was not recently, about 1-2 years ago). @simon did mention to me that if you don't taxes then it could default back to your home country so you might want to check that out. If you do a quick Google you'll see cases of nomads who were having issues because they did not keep invoices, emails, etc of clients they worked with.
princevaliant
2017-06-13 07:29
Can an Estonia company be used for investments? I mean the company invests the money put by partners in several ways, private companies, start ups, cryptocurrencyes, eventually some stocks.
princevaliant
2017-06-13 07:32
I don't know, that's what I thought but one of the providers that I contacted for infos about setting up an Estonian company said it can't be used for investment purposes, it seemed strange to me actually
simon
2017-06-13 08:49
@princevaliant It can be used for that but you'll have to handle your own accounting (or hire someone to do it for you). The company formation services in Estonia only accept very simple businesses to keep their cost down (such as LeapIN).
simon
2017-06-13 09:13
@brian Yes
simon
2017-06-13 09:14
I registered a business with them and had a great experience. They will only deal with a few different types of businesses though (websites, app developers and freelancers I think).
simon
2017-06-13 10:54
There is no need to use them, you can easily register using the government site. If you register with LeapIN (even if they accepted the business model), you'd have to pay their monthly fee (for them to do basically nothing).
princevaliant
2017-06-13 10:57
Actually it was leapin if I remember well that told me that investing as a business model wasn't allowed (or maybe wasn't in the kind of business they do)
tkrunning
2017-06-13 11:12
Yeah that?s not allowed by them, not in general for Estonian companies
princevaliant
2017-06-13 11:16
So I could register an Estonian company myself without using one of the register agent? How simple/difficult is it?
simon
2017-06-13 11:18
Very simple. The only reason to use those services is for bookkeeping. You have to file a tax return on a monthly basis (unless no distribution occurred)
tkrunning
2017-06-13 11:34
Yeah Estonia takes it to a whole other level in terms of ease of registering a company. They even have a online wizard where you answer some questions and it generates the articles of association for you, etc.
They also provide accounting software (not the most user friendly, but it?s okay if you know the basics of accounting), which is free the first year, then 5 EUR per year thereafter if you have few transactions (I think it was less than 10/mo) or 5 EUR per month if you have more than that. And it integrates with all the various government reporting functions you might need, such as submitting tax returns, VAT declarations, capital distributions, etc.
tkrunning
2017-06-13 11:35
To be honest I haven?t tried the various government reporting tools yet, since my Estonian company isn?t really doing much yet, just some passive investments.
brutus
2017-06-13 11:36
@simon what about the company Estonian legal address? Where/how do you find it if you register your company by yourself?
simon
2017-06-13 11:38
@brutus If I remember correctly, LeapIN will rent you an address for 15? / month
tkrunning
2017-06-13 11:39
Yeah, that?s correct
tkrunning
2017-06-13 11:40
Or make some Estonian friends :slightly_smiling_face:
brutus
2017-06-13 11:41
Thanks guys, I'll check with my friends in the Baltic/CIS/Scandinavia!
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:43
I have a Wyoming LLC, I'm wondering if I do software development outside the US for an US company. Is this considered ECI (Effectively connected income)? I'm a non US national or resident.
pragmatic
2017-06-13 11:44
It is not ECI if you are doing it outside the US
simon
2017-06-13 11:45
From the IRS "If you own and operate a business in the United States selling services, products, or merchandise, you are, with certain exceptions, engaged in a trade or business in the United States. For example, profit from the sale in the United States of inventory property purchased either in this country or in a foreign country is effectively connected trade or business income."
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:47
@simon Thats confusing to me. Isn't doing software development to a US company considered a service?
pragmatic
2017-06-13 11:48
do you "operate" in the US?
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:48
@pragmatic no
pragmatic
2017-06-13 11:49
Then it's not ECI. Imagine if it was. That would mean that the US can tax any income done anywhere in the world, just because it's provided for US clients. That would be insane.
simon
2017-06-13 11:50
Indeed, the own and operate is crucial here.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:53
If I invoice my US client and they pay to the LLC bank account in the US is that considered an operation in the US?
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:54
would that make any difference in interpreting what the IRS says?
pragmatic
2017-06-13 11:54
No
pragmatic
2017-06-13 11:55
Assuming the LLC is a disregarded entity of course
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:56
ok. It's a disregarded entity.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 11:59
Being a disregarded entity, can I use the LLC business account to cover my personal expenses or is this not advised?
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:00
Not advised.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 12:02
@brian How would that impact things? Can you give an example?
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:04
@rtiagm It sounds like you want to hide your US LLC from your country of residence, so as not to bring in the money, but spend it right from the US LLC.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 12:10
@rtiagm Well, at the moment I don't have a country of residence unless you consider the country I was born in (Portugal) as my residence.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 12:11
I have a bank account in there, but would prefer not to transfer money to it. I have no plans to go back and would prefer to cut any ties to it.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 12:13
Yes, I would like to use money from the US LLC directly to cover travel expenses but only if legal and advisable, otherwise I need to look into a different setup.
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:14
I see
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:14
I would suggest you get a country of residence
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:14
since you seem to have none, you have some great options available to you where you can have a residency but still be mostly a perpetual traveller
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:15
As an EU citizen, Malta is a good option, particularly if you plan on staying around the EU
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:15
Then you can open an offshore personal bank account, and transfer money from the US LLC into there.
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:17
Having no residency can be unwise, because Portugal may some day ask you for proof that you lived somewhere else and if you can't provide it, they may want to tax you on the time you were claiming no residency.
rtiagm
2017-06-13 12:21
@pragmatic. Will look into Malta, seems a good option. At the moment I'm a non resident in Portugal. I was a tax resident of Japan for the last 2 years but recently left and gave up my working visa, so no longer a tax resident there. From the Portuguese tax authorities view point I'm still a resident there though until I let them know otherwise.
pragmatic
2017-06-13 12:22
Makes sense. It's always safer to have a residency than not.
princevaliant
2017-06-13 12:35
@tkrunning as the company will make investments it will receive some money from the partner mainly at the beginning and then will invest them very rarely maybe a few times a year and it can take some years to see some revenue so actually there would be very little movements made by the company (and bank too). In this case what about the tax returns to file monthly ?
tkrunning
2017-06-13 13:23
I think @simon have more knowledge on that topic than I do. I?m guessing you would at least need to update the values of your investments for annual reports, and so on. Or maybe you don?t. Not sure how that plays into corporate tax returns, etc.
Anyway, I doubt you need to file returns unless you receive dividends or perhaps yearly to reflect the current values of your investments. But yeah, I?m really not sure.
yuli
2017-06-13 20:06
Hi! I am opening a new project/company and I wish to accept Stripe in it, as I love the company and the way it handles user experience.
What is the best way to proceed with this, while staying on 0% regime as a digital nomad as I am right now, while still accepting Stripe? Anyone has any recommendations?
pragmatic
2017-06-13 20:38
Get a US LLC, or UK LLP
yuli
2017-06-14 02:20
read on those two options on @simon blog. Would I be taxed only for business within that country? If I go with UK LLP, I'll have to be taxed only for all of the business I would generated from UK clients?
yuli
2017-06-14 02:20
I am assuming a bigger chunk of my clients would be US based here, I'll probably have some UK clients, but it'll be a smaller market.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 03:22
No youd only be taxed for US or UK source income. Which basically means work done in those countries. It doesn't matter where you incorporate. If most clients are US based get a us llc
simon
2017-06-14 03:48
@yuli As long as you do not do business within the US (for an LLC) or UK (for an LLP) you do not need to pay taxes there even if you have local clients.
jase
2017-06-14 08:48
@simon for an entity doing business with both US and UK (but probably not a lot elsewhere), where is the next best option? Ontario LP? Estonia?
pragmatic
2017-06-14 08:49
@jase within? As in you will have operations/employees in the US/UK?
jase
2017-06-14 08:50
@pragmatic FBA business - everything would be contracted (Amazon, FBA prep services, local advertising, etc)
pragmatic
2017-06-14 08:51
Well, I don't know about the details of your business, FBA on it's own is not enough to be ECI.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 08:51
But as I understand, it doesn't matter where you incorporate, if you have US effectively connected income, you need to pay US taxes.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 08:51
If you don't, you don't
pragmatic
2017-06-14 08:51
It doesn't matter if you incorporate in the US, or outside.
jase
2017-06-14 08:52
Same deal for UK @pragmatic ?
pragmatic
2017-06-14 08:54
Yes, I believe so. But different countries probably have different rules for what counts as income from local sources.
jase
2017-06-14 08:55
Noted. One Option I've seen come up a few times now is Isle of Man, but I believe the ongoing fees are quite high
jase
2017-06-14 08:55
It's a "UK company", has a "UK bank account", etc
brutus
2017-06-14 12:11
@simon using a UK LLP with US clients and a US LLC with a UK clients would not remove the obligation to pay taxes? They are quiet cheap & easy to set-up/maintain?
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:34
@brutus if you are actually working/operating in the US/UK, no it would not.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:34
Just having US/UK clients does not mean you need to pay taxes in the US/UK.
brutus
2017-06-14 12:35
@pragmatic: no I am not working/operating at all from US/UK
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:35
Then you would not need to pay taxes in the US or UK
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:35
Even if you have a US LLC
brutus
2017-06-14 12:38
@pragmatic just to be sure I understand correctly, with an US LLC I would not have to pay taxes in US even if I sell to US based clients, because I am not working/operating in the US? And same with a UL LLP& UK clients (as I am not working/operating from UK either)?
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:38
@brutus Yes
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:41
Because these structures are pass-through entities, they do not exist for taxation purposes, the income is passed onto the owner.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:41
And the owner, if they are not a US/UK person only pays taxes in US/UK for income from operating there.
brutus
2017-06-14 12:43
@pragmatic What is my US LLC owns "rights"? Royalties paid to the LLC won't be taxed then in the US? Because I understood royalties paid to non resident have a 30% withholding tax
pragmatic
2017-06-14 12:44
Royalties work a bit differently. They might be. I'm not familiar with royalties.
mescos
2017-06-14 14:39
@simon - Does attending events/conferences in the US trigger ETBUS? For example, say you have a US LLC that accepts payments from US clients. The work is done from overseas, but a few times a year, you have to travel to a conference to meet with one of those clients - does that jeopardize everything?
pragmatic
2017-06-14 15:07
No
yuli
2017-06-14 17:55
Interesting, thanks. Would be awesome to have a business entity in those places, for benefits such as Stripe, and other potential benefits I guess.
My current ones are in less popular places, more off-shore.
yuli
2017-06-14 17:55
Do you know what happens when 50% of ownership of such entity is by me, who is 100% nomadic and no fixed location, and 50% ownership is in someone who lives and pays taxes Israel? How would taxes work that way in those entities?
pragmatic
2017-06-14 19:04
50% of profit goes to your partner who pays tax on it in Israel. The other 50% - is wherever you pay tax. Which as you say is currently nowhere.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 19:05
Just be aware that it's safer to get a residency in a low tax country or territorial tax country than have none. Because if you don't get a residency, the last place you had a residency could one day claim you owe taxes all those years you were a resident of nowhere.
pragmatic
2017-06-14 19:10
Also keep in mind US LLC is more complex with multiple owners
pragmatic
2017-06-14 19:10
From @alexanderhay
pragmatic
2017-06-14 19:10
"If there is more than one owner of the US LLC it will no longer be treated as a single non-resident alien, but instead will be treated as a US Partnership. Not ideal since you would then need to file a partnership tax return annually and disclose the names and addresses of all the Partners."
pragmatic
2017-06-14 19:12
Still won't need to pay taxes in USA but will need to file a return
yuli
2017-06-15 03:04
What you are saying makes sense @pragmatic . Thanks.
1) I am considering becoming a tax resident in Panama, I just do not see too many benefits yet, besides being extra safe for "one day" in the future.
I am a Citizen of Israel. And based on my lawyer, I am fully covered and they cannot claim anything from me. I don't plan coming back there to live in the future as well.
2) What happens when a UK LLP keeps the money in the company, and not distributes it in terms of taxation, in such a case?
simon
2017-06-15 05:27
@yuli 1) It is safer to have a residency, especially as banks nowadays require you to disclose your tax residency (which you cannot do as a resident of nowhere unless you lie to them).
2) The LLP is transparent for tax purposes so any profits earned is automatically attributed to the owners (even if they have not transferred it out of the business bank account).
simon
2017-06-15 05:36
@mescos You can attend conferences and business meetings in the US, that is not a problem. What matters is where you perform the work.
brutus
2017-06-15 08:46
For an offshore IBC company, any experience/suggestion if best Seychelles or Belize (or other location) please?
alexanderhay
2017-06-15 09:12
@brutus It really depends upon what you want to do. Belize used to be great, but it has fallen down a bit.
brutus
2017-06-15 10:50
@alexanderhay Cyprus resident are not taxed on dividends. I need to have an offshore behind the US LLC to receive dividends. Local lawyer recommending Seychelles because Cyprus DTA (not needed but "nice" to have). However from Dec 2018 Seychelles will have a central public Directors register (apparently not online but to consult locally). Belize seemed a goodalternative to Seychelles, without any public register
pragmatic
2017-06-15 10:56
@brutus With an IBC holding the US LLC, wouldn't the IBC's residency fall to your residency, ie, Cyrprus?
stoneagezen
2017-06-15 21:06
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yuli
2017-06-16 02:24
Thanks @simon !
stolzlos
2017-06-17 08:35
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evl4r
2017-06-17 12:07
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chaostar
2017-06-20 18:43
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fish
2017-06-21 04:59
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pascal
2017-06-21 11:26
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v
2017-06-21 11:38
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mikeseo
2017-06-21 12:11
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josh
2017-06-23 01:12
Nike will be selling via partnership with Amazon - that's bad for retailers (who are all screwed anyway in all industries it seems other than 7-eleven or McDonald's) but is also probably going to hurt small shoe resellers.
Seems like a few people here sell on Amazon, do you worry about getting pushed out by these kind of partnerships with Amazon?
millnmd
2017-06-23 04:34
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johncitizen
2017-06-23 06:43
My accountant just messaged me for my private limited Estonian company stating I need to register share capital with the government.
johncitizen
2017-06-23 06:44
When I established I dropped ?5000 euro into the bank account
johncitizen
2017-06-23 06:44
He's saying that's a personal loan from myself to the business and doesn't count as share capital
johncitizen
2017-06-23 06:44
How do I tackle this?
pragmatic
2017-06-23 07:16
?2500 i think it was
josh
2017-06-23 07:19
You can get it waived (unless they've changed the rules), I was told it's just a formality for documentation.
josh
2017-06-23 07:40
When I did the setup I think we just put ?2500 on that line, and they told me it's just needed as a formality. It was a year ago so maybe it's changed.
josh
2017-06-23 08:41
No, never had to. Didn't even have to deposit funds to open the bank account or merchant account which I thought was a bit strange
josh
2017-06-23 08:41
I did later obviously but on setup no
josh
2017-06-23 08:42
I think because I met with a rep in person when I got my card, so they didn't require me to go to Estonia. Now I think nobody has to go, so maybe they made other adjustments to what is required.
roman
2017-06-23 15:13
@mescos please do not @ everyone
gregor
2017-06-23 17:51
@mescos check out freedomsurfer
mescos
2017-06-23 17:56
Thanks @gregor. I?m aware of what is listed on the freedomsurfer website. I was asking more so for recommendations about what others are actually using or deem to be credible. Interested in a UK corporate service firm that can provide everything, not just an address - but also accounting, VAT registration, tax, filings, secretary, etc. Any other suggestions?
johncitizen
2017-06-24 14:04
So what you're after is just all the things freedomsurfer offers then.
johncitizen
2017-06-24 14:05
If you want all that, I'm sure Simon can bolt on a secretary for a fee
mescos
2017-06-24 15:16
Thanks @johncitizen, very helpful. I didn?t realize @simon provides accounting and VAT services for UK Ltds? I was also under the impression that he was focused on serving nomad businesses and LLPs - not larger businesses and Ltds?
johncitizen
2017-06-24 15:26
Best ask him, I the Ltd part
mescos
2017-06-24 15:29
1) I already have and 2) the website is still down.
tkrunning
2017-06-24 17:26
@johncitizen regarding the EE share capital, ideally the initial transfer to the company should have something along the lines of payment of equity or share capital in the description. Then you ask the bank for a confirmation that the share capital is paid, and then you submit a change in the business register portal stating that the share capital is paid up and attach the bank confirmation. You'll then be asked to pay 18 EUR for the change to be processed, and you should hear back the same or next day with a confirmation.
tkrunning
2017-06-24 17:27
You don't strictly need to pay the share capital (it can be postponed indefinitely), but you'll have to include that in the articles of association. But you can't pay dividends until the share capital is paid.
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2017-06-26 00:15
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2017-06-29 14:51
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2017-07-04 13:34
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2017-07-04 13:56
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2017-07-04 19:02
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2017-07-05 12:10
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globalconsulteurope
2017-07-05 13:03
I do not know where to post this exactly, so I am going to share it here and in #general channell too.
I am looking for maritime registration and consulting company/law firm in Holland. It is required to change the ownership of a small yacht within Holland maritime registers.
If some of freedomsurfers here, by any chance, has such experience, drinks will be on me :wink:
pedrodemendez
2017-07-05 20:30
@globalconsulteurope I have no experience. Here is a link: https://www.yachtregistration.nl/ When googling use the words 'jacht registratie'
tatelev
2017-07-08 15:17
Hi, I am a bit confused about what address to use when my foreign owned US LLC appears in documents, invoices, etc.... and if this could have any future relevancy, specially from the ETBUS/non ETBUS perspective...
tatelev
2017-07-08 15:18
right now I am already using my spanish address for IRS/FEIN, US bank account, Amazon/W8BEN, etc... but for several websites, hosting account, domains... I use my LLC's US registered address.
tatelev
2017-07-08 15:24
Now my confusion comes from the fact that I do currently have my LLC registered's address with a US address. Can I use one address for some things and one for others be problematic in any way in the future?
tatelev
2017-07-08 15:25
I have searched for information online about this but cannot clear this up. Anybody?
mikeseo
2017-07-08 15:30
I don't know for sure but I'd guess ETBUS is only if you or your employees are physically working inside the US?
mikeseo
2017-07-08 15:31
I use my US addresses for lots of stuff and my lawyer never said it was a issue. He just said don't keep using my ibc if I move back to the US
mikeseo
2017-07-08 15:31
otherwise some EBTUS something
tatelev
2017-07-08 15:31
@mikeseo you are american?
otkeedca
2017-07-08 21:26
@tatelev Is your address a maildrop? If so, from what I understand, that is a company providing your company with a service, and not a Permanent Establishment of your business in the US, so you wouldn't be ETBUS.
otkeedca
2017-07-08 21:26
but IANAL
tatelev
2017-07-08 21:49
Yes, I'm actually not worried so much about being ETBUS
tatelev
2017-07-08 21:51
But wondering if using my spanish address for some things and my LLC's us address for others could be problematic at some point
maxsuur
2017-07-12 09:43
anyone here using a New Mexico LLC?
etperth
2017-07-13 08:16
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2017-07-13 10:09
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harvie
2017-07-14 02:47
I don't think there is. I remember reading a blog on some site where they had 50% of their business offshore and 50% onshore, they stated they did 2 audits.
etperth
2017-07-14 07:28
Hey, is there anyone running an ecommerce store here ?
danz
2017-07-14 07:35
Kinda, got a dropshipping store.
brutus
2017-07-14 08:10
@brian "Had many in the past" Why did you stop ?
harvie
2017-07-14 15:12
https://www.jumpstartoffices.com/en/ These are good Brian, pretty cheap too. I got my own accoutant if you need his details too. Pretty cheap to other quotes I received.
stolzlos
2017-07-15 18:27
@brian how can you copy / paste your own comments? I tried but could not make it work.
etperth
2017-07-15 18:42
@danz @brian
Hey guys, I am running a dropshipping store. At the moment, I'm mainly targeting the french market. I have a UK company but I have to pay VAT on every sale I make in France (20%).
Do you guys know how I could go around this ?
maxsuur
2017-07-15 20:05
To my knowledge there is no way around it, unless you operate from a company outside the EU and decide not to pay that kind of tax.
danz
2017-07-16 02:37
Wouldn?t know either
tatelev
2017-07-16 22:18
@etperth where are the products that you sell in France stored?
etperth
2017-07-16 22:19
@tatelev I don't own any inventory
etperth
2017-07-16 22:19
I do dropshipping
tatelev
2017-07-16 22:19
I know
etperth
2017-07-16 22:19
everything is stored in China
etperth
2017-07-16 22:19
and sent straight to my customers in France
tatelev
2017-07-16 22:20
Ok. I asked in case it was stored in uk
etperth
2017-07-16 22:24
@maxsuur @tatelev Would you think setting up the business in Asia for ex would be a good idea ?
maxsuur
2017-07-17 06:35
It depends on a lot of factors
max
2017-07-17 15:37
@simon given a UK LLP, can you please explain what does doing business and what does having client exactly mean in this context? Doing business meaning as in residing in the UK? Given I am a resident of Panama, does that mean that as long as I reside outside of the UK I can still have clients in the UK and pay no tax on the UK sourced income?
pragmatic
2017-07-17 17:25
Doing the work in the UK
pragmatic
2017-07-17 17:25
so yes you can
pragmatic
2017-07-17 17:26
that would not be UK "source" income
pragmatic
2017-07-17 17:26
But you may still need to pay (or rrverse charge) UK VAT
max
2017-07-17 18:44
@pragmatic thanks, sorry to bother but I still have my doubts: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323787/hs380.pdf says ```Non-resident partners are only liable to tax on:
? profits that arise in the UK, although a corporate non-resident partner
will be liable on overseas profits which relate to a UK permanent
establishment```. The keyword here is: arise - as in being present on the UK territory while the profit is generated or arising from UK customers?
pragmatic
2017-07-17 19:07
It means if you do the work in the UK. Same as for a US LLC.
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2017-07-20 07:21
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etperth
2017-07-21 08:14
Hey guys,
I need a bit of your advise. On a personnal level i'll be soon become a Malta resident.
On a business level, I currently have a ltd in the UK but I want to move all the business (ecommerce) whether in Honk Kong or the US (Wyoming)
Is there anyone with this similar experience maybe advise me what would be the best option for me ?
Thank you guys
pragmatic
2017-07-21 08:34
Probably peopel will need to know more about what your business does
maxsuur
2017-07-21 09:12
Why do you want to move your biz to Hong Kong or the US?
maxsuur
2017-07-21 09:12
@etperth
etperth
2017-07-21 12:14
especially for vat
etperth
2017-07-21 12:14
& no corporate tax
etperth
2017-07-21 12:15
if you do business out
maxsuur
2017-07-21 13:13
the same goes for the UK i guess
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2017-07-24 08:46
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yannerbp
2017-07-25 22:46
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alex1
2017-07-27 11:06
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globalconsulteurope
2017-07-27 13:24
I will probably need some contacts of trusted attorneys/ corporate service providers in Spain and Portugal. Anyone who has company established there?
bitesak
2017-07-28 17:39
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etperth
2017-07-29 17:45
hey guys,
I currently have a UK limited company and I plan to be a resident of Malta. What do you think of the scheme of having a LLP on top of the LTD so I charge management fees and almost of my profit go to the LLP. And as a Malta resident I won't have to pay any tax.
Can you tell me your thoughts about this ?
Thank you
mrblonde
2017-07-30 05:06
I would double check with a UK accountant if I was you, seems ok in theory but HMRC could act if its seems obvious so better get some professional advice I think.
etperth
2017-07-31 10:38
yes I will definitely thank you !
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2017-07-31 14:40
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2017-07-31 20:36
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bigworld
2017-08-01 16:55
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lifecoach
2017-08-04 20:09
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jemmasta
2017-08-05 12:42
As one just starting out structuring, do you personally own a holding company which then own all other companies you start or do you prefer different approach?
adam1516
2017-08-07 05:39
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2017-08-07 08:29
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2017-08-07 09:02
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2017-08-07 09:15
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bigworld
2017-08-07 14:21
If you operate in simple laws jurisdictions, having a holding company and one or more trading companies, looks good to me.
bigworld
2017-08-07 14:44
Look for "associated enterprises". It could be good if you charge arm's length fees.
bigworld
2017-08-07 14:48
You probably won't, but your LTD will pay as normal for sure.
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2017-08-07 15:15
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2017-08-08 07:23
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tkrunning
2017-08-08 13:19
I'd say that depends on the jurisdictions you touch. Personally I own a Danish holding company to hold my Danish operating company, as that makes sense there. My Estonian company I decided to own directly, as that made more sense from a local law and practicality perspective.
It's also a cost/benefit calculation you'll have to make, as any layer of complexity adds to running costs and mental overhead.
danielmoise
2017-08-08 13:41
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jemmasta
2017-08-08 17:51
Thanks guys. My residency is currently located in Finland and will be for a while at least still. So that is far from tax simplicity. :)
yuli
2017-08-09 02:30
I am launching a new company in the next few months, and looking at the UK LLP/US LLC as the company structure. Without knowing where exactly my clients would be (I am estimating USA to be my biggest market, and than UK actually), how would you choose which structure to go with?
From what I understand with each of those companies, you are taxed for the actual income from that country, so if the majority of the clients (potentially) of the service would be from USA, it would make sense to go to the UK LLP?
yuli
2017-08-09 02:30
Any feedback would be appreciated :slightly_smiling_face:
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2017-08-09 07:36
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pragmatic
2017-08-09 07:52
You are not taxed where your clients are... you are taxed where you are.
pragmatic
2017-08-09 07:52
If your clients are mostly US, go with US, it will be easiest for them.
yuli
2017-08-09 17:02
Aha, so if I am not physically in the USA, and the "board meetings/CEO" is operating from elsewhere, no USA taxation will occur?
pragmatic
2017-08-09 17:24
and you don't have full-time employees in the US
yuli
2017-08-09 21:48
at the moment no. No intention to hire my team in the USA. What happens if I'll have full time employees from the USA though?
stoplight
2017-08-09 22:46
Once you have US employees, then you?ll be liable for their well-being?taxes..reports..social security?etc?lots of ties to the US?things will get complicated.
yuli
2017-08-10 00:04
Thanks @stoplight . Let's say I have 20 employees. And the 21st would be a USA employee.
It would complicate the tax situation of such a company within the USA?
pragmatic
2017-08-10 07:41
Then some of your income may be considered US based, and the company would need to pay US corporate tax for the amount of income arising from the US
danz
2017-08-10 09:40
Anyone has experience filling in a W-8Ben-E form to prove your not a US citizen?
roman
2017-08-10 10:00
@danz yes, what question do you have?
bitesak
2017-08-10 12:41
Does anyone have an Estonian business here?
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2017-08-11 07:54
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2017-08-14 22:12
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danielabagnale
2017-08-16 05:38
I'm looking for a suitable jurisdiction to reincorporate my business that would ideally have no taxes. My income comes primarily from royalties, which are all sourced in the US. There is unfortunately no way to avoid the US or PayPal in my business. The issue with most jurisdictions I've looked at is that there is no tax treaty with the US and so the irs withholds 30% in that scenario. The Netherlands is not an option for me as I hold a Dutch passport. I am told the only alternatives would be Ireland and Cyprus or possibly Malta. I wondered if anyone had experience with this kind of income and these jurisdictions and what you guys would recommend (or avoid). Thanks a million.
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2017-08-16 14:37
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stoplight
2017-08-17 09:09
@danielabagnale ..yes..they would probably be correct suggesting those 3 countries?among them, Malta would probably be the best option for new residency?several here have gone that route?
danielabagnale
2017-08-17 09:17
@stoplight thanks Matthew. I receive these payments through my company which I'm looking to reincorporate outside of NL. Do you think doing so as a LLC in Malta, in combination with residency in a territorial tax jurisdiction elsewhere (say Malaysia for example) would be a good solution? Or should I expect to have the US look at from where I actually run the company? (thereby condemning me to one of the few above mentioned options that have a treaty on royalties with the US?) Pretty specific stuff, I know. Any thoughts are much appreciated.
danielabagnale
2017-08-17 09:21
@brian I looked into the irs overview of tax treaties and unfortunately there is none with Singapore. As a result iTunes and the likes would withhold 30% of my royalty income and send it to the irs. Regardless of what I may or may not have to pay in Singapore..
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2017-08-17 16:15
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2017-08-24 08:56
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2017-08-25 17:47
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harvie
2017-08-28 09:21
I need to get my HK business papers notarized by the Thai embassy in HK to get a bank account in Thailand. Does anyone know if this is possible without having to fly to HK?
mrblonde
2017-08-28 11:21
Is this for a business account in Thailand harvie?
harvie
2017-08-28 15:35
correct.
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2017-09-01 15:13
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mattbellme
2017-09-04 06:28
is there anyone here who knows much about running business across borders? I have a few questions relating to Australia/Bulgaria/UK business taxes and royalties, I'm not sure where to look for advice..
alexanderhay
2017-09-04 08:16
@mattbellme talk to @globalconsulteurope
ivopalazzi
2017-09-04 19:51
Could someone recommend and offshore service provider for a company in Belize?
ivopalazzi
2017-09-04 19:52
Has anyone worked with offshore company solutions?
mikeseo
2017-09-05 01:00
I recommend this guy he's a US tax lawyer who moved to Belize. He has another url for Belize formations but I forget it.. just email him
yuli
2017-09-05 01:21
Hey guys, what do you think is the best resource to open with a Wyoming LLC in terms of time and money?
Also, do you know if there are ways to open a bank remotely afterwards, or I would have to fly in to the USA for that?
josh
2017-09-05 01:26
@yuli Wyoming Registered Agent has been reliable and you can do it online. After meeting them in person, they are pretty libertarian minded. However, to open a bank account with that address only Wells Fargo will do it and only in person.
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2017-09-05 02:45
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jase
2017-09-05 07:13
Could probably open a Leupay USD account for a US LLC.
jase
2017-09-05 07:14
Depends if you want a proper account or not. The big negative is really the fact that you don't have your money guaranteed.
sdfk787
2017-09-05 11:47
I recommend this guy he's a US tax lawyer who moved to Belize. He has another url for Belize formations but I forget it.. just email him
I've used this guy, they told me to piss off when I asked for help writing a contract for my offshore company to be 100% shareholder of the LLC
freediddly
2017-09-05 12:11
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mikeseo
2017-09-05 12:55
hmm I dunno, I've had a good experience with Stewart. He's done my taxes the last couple years and he's always friendly answering my random tax question emails.
mikeseo
2017-09-05 13:07
I was just looking over my papers, I'm the 100% owner of the LLC. He made a contribution agreement, contributing the LLC to the INC.
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2017-09-05 13:21
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maxsuur
2017-09-05 14:51
He sells courses for 2k a pop
yuli
2017-09-05 16:35
@josh thanks. Do you refer to https://www.wyomingagents.com/?
And if yes, any Wells Fargo in the USA in your opinion? No need to fly to Wyoming for that?
rtiagm
2017-09-05 19:44
Stewart from ustax is great but be aware that his fees seem a bit high to me.
josh
2017-09-05 20:48
I'm not sure about any WF - I only know it can be done in person in Cheyenne a block away from their office, and has been the same way for at least 10 years. And that no other banks in Wyoming will deal with registered agent addresses, particularly that one because it is known by them for being a registered agent address now. WF doesn't care.
patjk
2017-09-06 00:16
What's the best way to have a US LLC owned by a foreign entity (Singapore company)? What do I need to file and how do I go about it? Thanks.
yuli
2017-09-06 00:38
Thanks for the tip. I can fly in to USA to do that in person. WF sounds like a legit bank to me I believe.
yuli
2017-09-06 00:39
You mean you only know it can be done in Cheyenne - In Wyoming itself?
yuli
2017-09-06 00:48
I did, he has a really high quote though.
While other companies do the formation for around $499, his quotes get to $2,000.
sdfk787
2017-09-07 08:46
The concern was more with who he refers you to in WY that does the actual formation, jonathan from http://mountainbusinesscenter.com
sdfk787
2017-09-07 08:50
"Wyoming doesn?t have a register of members, so there?s nothing official from the state that shows the HK company as the member"
sdfk787
2017-09-07 08:50
"You are on your own to produce or procure an operating agreement for your company. We filed your company will handle your mail, and take care of any state obligations to keep your company current and active."
sdfk787
2017-09-07 08:50
my HK guy did it for me..
patjk
2017-09-09 21:34
For people who accept Paypal, is there any way to get a volume fee reduction? For 1 Paypal account, 95%+ of payments are international so fees are around 5.1% each month [crazy high] (I think it's 4.4% + $0.30 which is approx. 5.3% on a $35 sale).
sylvain156
2017-09-12 03:21
Hi guys! I created a Hong Kong company 18 months ago with a French intermediate very famous and trusted. Today he asks me to sign the 2017 tax return, writing my company has no business commences since 18 months. He says no one will ask me accounting or auditing. My real assets were 250k usd since 18 months.
Do some people know this kind of practice?!
I didn't do real accounting because he always told me HK will not ask my accounting I don't need to do it.
harvie
2017-09-12 09:54
@sylvain156 sounds like you need a new accountant. PM if you want mine
sylvain156
2017-09-12 09:56
I just mp you @harvie thanks!
stoplight
2017-09-12 10:05
wow..that?s scary..
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2017-09-12 23:01
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2017-09-18 10:36
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aka
2017-09-23 18:50
can i have a business account in singapore that accepts GBP?
skat
2017-09-23 20:47
sorry :wink:
skat
2017-09-23 20:47
your talking about bank account personal?
skat
2017-09-23 20:47
or business account?
aka
2017-09-23 20:48
business
aka
2017-09-23 20:48
or lets backpedal to my problem at hand? i have a ltd in uk, uk tax resident and of course i pay myself the most minimum possible to avoid any taxes, but this year i am a bit too profitable?
aka
2017-09-23 20:49
and i am trying to siphon funds from my company to be ? less profitable
aka
2017-09-23 20:49
i know i can take X as dividends but that doesnt really help me because profits are still too big, and i can only take as much without incurring into extra tax
aka
2017-09-23 20:50
my thought? setup in singapore, siphon funds there
mikeseo
2017-09-24 02:49
I'm not sure about UK tax law but I think you would need to actually become a non-resident of the UK, otherwise living in the Uk and operating a Singapore company would be a controlled foreign corporation and you would pay taxes on the Singapore company in the UK?
mikeseo
2017-09-24 02:50
what if you bought a bunch of mining hardware to lower your profits, and than you can be much more flexible with the coins it mines...
mikeseo
2017-09-24 02:50
for example buy gold in Singapore with bitcoins, or sell for cash in the UK using localbitcoins
mikeseo
2017-09-24 05:39
assuming your business is bitcoin related and you could claim mining hardware as a business expense
aka
2017-09-24 09:21
thats an interesting idea
aka
2017-09-24 09:55
my only view right now that miners are not worth it after a few months
aka
2017-09-24 09:55
and without all the electricity and etc costs, they need to be resold quickly
danz
2017-09-24 11:25
Can?t you spent it on digital assets that bring passive revenue to lower the profits?
aka
2017-09-24 11:53
what do you mean by that?
aka
2017-09-24 11:53
buying some ebooks/courses for reselling them?
danz
2017-09-24 13:18
Yes, like websites. On Flippa, but better on Empireflippers or other professional brokers.
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2017-09-25 00:42
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2017-09-25 09:12
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2017-09-26 16:43
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2017-09-28 08:17
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jase
2017-09-28 14:45
Does anyone have a quality resource on understanding subsidiaries and branch offices? I work with a number of manufacturers from asis, selling their products via e-commerce using a brand we create together. Many are offering up equity in their companies, but often that is problematic for me (for example, Taiwan, which has a heap of withholding taxes). I'm thinking to propose we setup a US LLC together, owned by both their company and myself. Given it means I own none of the "operations" end though, I need to be careful not to shoot myself in the foot. I suspect there's a heap to learn here around royalties and so on.
mrblonde
2017-09-28 15:03
I do a fair bit of business and manufacturing in Taiwan, but based on what you have stated I would say it would probably best to speak to a Taiwan based law firm to get specialist advice, as you may know already Taiwanese are extremely good at negotiating and getting things their own way :wink: but it does sound like you are in a very positive position so great stuff
mrblonde
2017-09-28 15:04
oh and just make sure you get yourself a solid shareholders agreement
aka
2017-09-28 15:27
@jase what are you selling?
jase
2017-09-28 15:29
Thanks @mrblonde. Their tax code seems strict but I often read about how it's a tax haven, so I am sure it's worth researching in detail.
jase
2017-09-28 15:29
A range of products @aka. So long as it's a quality product I am happy to sell it
mrblonde
2017-09-29 03:36
@jase it?s not a tax haven but there is a territorial tax system place.
jase
2017-09-29 07:18
@mrblonde interesting, I didn't discover that yet. So for Taiwanese individuals, a US LLC may be an interesting structure.
mattbellme
2017-10-02 11:14
anybody have experience with registering UK LLP's?
globalconsulteurope
2017-10-02 12:48
Hello Matt, would you like to send you the contact of colleague of mine?
globalconsulteurope
2017-10-02 12:49
He professionally establishes UK entities.
aka
2017-10-02 13:19
or you could do it yourself
aka
2017-10-02 13:20
12 gbp
aka
2017-10-02 13:20
some inc services do it for 10 though
aka
2017-10-02 13:20
if you also sign up for their other services
globalconsulteurope
2017-10-02 14:02
Is it really so cheap? I have never needed to do it alone so far
globalconsulteurope
2017-10-02 14:02
What are the relevant maintenance costs?
aka
2017-10-02 14:38
of your company?
aka
2017-10-02 14:38
or .. that registry service
aka
2017-10-02 14:39
you recieve a bunch of letters the following weeks, and submit them to a bunch of services depending on how will you pay salaries, and after a year you also need to file annual returns?
aka
2017-10-02 14:40
accountants deal with that usually
maxsuur
2017-10-02 21:22
Simon does it for 297$
johncitizen
2017-10-02 21:49
I used Simon, he was seamless, quick, and answers all questions
bigworld
2017-10-03 09:30
I have used https://www.companiesmadesimple.com in the past to form an LTD. Cheap and straightforward.
pedrodemendez
2017-10-06 10:33
Any of you experience with the Labuan company? Is it easy to get a bank account for it? is it trusted? Idea is to use it for stock/crypto trading.
brutus
2017-10-06 12:39
As @simon is not around so much lately, I will ask here.
I received an automatic email from "": You have received a voicemail from +http://58414306XXXX.To listen to this message, please visit this URL:<br>
But there is no URL... any idea what this URL should be? I can't find anything in "My Business" section of FreedomSurfer?
globalconsulteurope
2017-10-06 15:17
@pedrodemendez, specifically for crypto trading you can use Bulgarian limited company (EOOD). It is still not regulated.
As per stock trading, it depends whether you will be gaining and operating with third party funds.
My experience with Labuan companies shows they are expensive. Cannot say how easy is operate with such company globally.
silviu_ruj
2017-10-06 17:27
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rwinorganization
2017-10-08 11:11
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usman
2017-10-15 16:22
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alex.bosyj
2017-10-17 15:23
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alex.bosyj
2017-10-18 05:21
Can anyone recommend a good structure to optimize taxes for me? I'm a Ukrainian freelancer selling advertising services to US market, tax resident of Ukraine.
brutus
2017-10-18 20:00
@alex.bosyj What about Ukrainian PE? 5% tax on sales invoices + about 35 USD/month for social security is quiet good no?
brutus
2017-10-18 20:03
If you want additional protection, you could add an Estonian entity (open remotely if you register before for e-residency). Bank account, I suppose you could open (remotely) Leypay/Transferwise for that Estonian company!?
brutus
2017-10-18 21:04
PE = "Private Entrepreneur". Different types/level based on activity/income. For IT related business and up to 5 Millions UAH/year (as far as I remember), you only pay 5% tax on the Sales invoice amount (if no VAT deductible) or 3% (if VAT deductible) + around 35 USD/month for social security. It is a simplified tax system for private entrepreneurs.
You can apply for PE only if you are already resident in Ukraine (for which the conditions just changed and it is now much more difficult for foreigners). Similar PE also exists in Russia & Belarus but are limited to nationals for what I have been told.
alex.bosyj
2017-10-19 02:22
@brutus thank you! I'm already a PE and the only problem here I can't use PayPal and all cash is converted to UAH by the law. So will register an estonian OU via e-residency too
ggiampieri
2017-10-19 03:06
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brutus
2017-10-19 07:26
@alex.bosyj You are welcome.
I believe others wrote in forum earlier they could open Paypal for Estonian entity. Check its taxation, lot of advantages and you can repatriate to Ukraine only what you want/need (but am not sure if can be taxed under PE low tax regime).
Note that "Authorized contact person is needed in a situation, when you want to start an Estonian company but at least half of the board members reside outside the European Economic Area". Few weeks ago I saw somewhere a virtual office provider was going to include this in his address package from 01.01.2018 but I can't find that info any more? Maybe was http://1office.co but am not sure (ask them!)
From this forum and FS website, US and UK seem to offer best access to payment methods (Paypal, etc.) but probably more complex/costly as you have to declare/receive/get taxed your worldwide income in Ukraine. You would need expert advice on this.
jor.acker
2017-10-22 16:13
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ivan
2017-10-22 18:34
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ivan
2017-10-22 19:16
Hi everyone, new to the community. I'm registering an IBC in Belize as I don't really need a bank account for my company (I've been operating without one for 1.5 years). But I wonder if you guys have heard of Belize's IBC having issues registering accounts in Payoneer, 2checkout and EMI banks such as Paysera or Leupay.
ivan
2017-10-22 19:17
I run a web development business, so everyone having questions about related topics feel free to ask me and I'll gladly help you.
bountybairn
2017-10-26 20:20
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me1
2017-10-30 07:31
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jeanpaul
2017-10-31 06:24
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ggiampieri
2017-10-31 17:45
Anyone is doing B2B in Europe? How would you handle EU checks with estonian company/bank? Sepa direct debit is an option,but many customers are very old minded..
mattbellme
2017-11-01 10:04
Has anyone setup a UK LLP? Love to hear experiences, and how much it cost etc
ggiampieri
2017-11-01 10:13
@simon provides such a service, price is on the website man!
adiviz1
2017-11-04 12:45
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bountybairn
2017-11-06 09:48
Hey all new here. Looking for some suggestions...forming a corporate entity which will carry out business primarily in the UK by U.K. domiciled Owner / Operator. Simon seems to suggest Wyoming LLC is the best structure. Does anyone have views on 1) remote banking for a US entity from the U.K. and 2) types of transactions from U.K. Ltd that could pass to US tariff free? Thanks
ivan
2017-11-06 12:12
Hi @bountybairn you're trying to be tax-free in UK as well? With the operator, company and clients all in UK, it seems quite difficult.
ivan
2017-11-06 12:13
for my specific country the only way to reduce taxes in my tax-residence country is for the operation to not happen in the country (and be able to proof that somehow if the government asks). That basically mean business management like signing contracts and running the business happen elsewhere.
ivan
2017-11-06 12:15
IBC or similar holding company (maybe with nominees directors) + US LLC might be a good solution? Just me 2 cents based on my investigation so far.
ivan
2017-11-06 12:16
Even then, looks like my country went through some new tax reforms last week and that particular structure might not reduce income taxes at all from now on. For all practical purposes looks like it would be almost the same to registering here (except for the fact you don't pay some regional taxes for operation in other countries and have the benefits of jurisdictions with better business support like the US ). Have yet to confirm this as it's very new and implications are not clear enough yet.
ivan
2017-11-06 12:17
I guess international tax policies are adapting to these sort of structures
ivan
2017-11-06 12:20
As for banks for Europe, you might want to take a look at Transferwise, Paysera or Leupay.
ivan
2017-11-06 12:20
and then of course some proper banks.
bountybairn
2017-11-06 13:03
Thanks for sharing your thoughts @ivan I guess what I was contemplating was that a US LLC could be used whereby some transaction (Management Fees, Subscriptions or Loans) could be leveraged to get the money out of the U.K. and from there the funds could be utilised for purchasing etc via the LLC bank account. I had originally intended on a Seychelles IBC but the suggestion from freedom surfer content was that this was maybe not the best idea.
Keen on perspectives from others also.
ivan
2017-11-06 13:04
not the best idea because of reputation issues?
ivan
2017-11-06 13:05
LLCs are pass-through so you'll be responsible for paying taxes in your tax residence.
bountybairn
2017-11-06 13:06
Yes that?s what was suggested, difficulty obtaining banking specifically
ivan
2017-11-06 13:06
depends on where you want your bank to be
ivan
2017-11-06 13:07
with a Belize IBC I was able to get Transferwise, Worldcore and other services similar to banks
ivan
2017-11-06 13:07
as for real banks, it seems to be way harder. Banks in countries like Cyprus or Singapore seems more keen to open accounts for off-shores from low rep countries.
ivan
2017-11-06 13:08
not to mention the banks from the same countries: Bank of Belize, etc. But I read bad things about those and they're particularly expensive.
ivan
2017-11-06 13:09
@bountybairn
bountybairn
2017-11-06 13:11
Thanks @ivan some food for thought for me :thinking_face:
ivan
2017-11-06 13:14
you need to check with a local tax attorney, tho
ivan
2017-11-06 13:14
someone who knows the local tax policies very well
ivan
2017-11-06 13:14
because those policies will influence how does your country tax you in the end
johncitizen
2017-11-07 00:47
Hey all, can anyone recommend an all on ecommerce site creator for my Friend
johncitizen
2017-11-07 00:48
She wants something she can update with minimal technical experience and integrate PayPal/square plus also do reasonable sales and reporting from it.
roman
2017-11-07 00:48
Shopify
ivan
2017-11-07 19:10
Guys, in a structure with a holding company and a LLC in the US and regarding the filling of the SS-4 form for requesting an EIN to the IRS: The address is supposed to be that of the LLC in the US and not the address of the holding company, right? So if the agent isn't offering an address I should get a virtual office and use that one?
bombine
2017-11-11 22:44
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onlinesale2003
2017-11-15 07:08
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andrei_adam2001
2017-11-20 11:57
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bwings.office
2017-11-23 10:38
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ahl
2017-11-27 08:14
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mathieu.bouvier
2017-11-30 02:25
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johncitizen
2017-11-30 04:38
Chasing recommendations for a panama corp establishment including remote bank. I own land there and wish to move it under a company title for protection and to go for friendly nations visa eventually.
mikeseo
2017-11-30 05:35
@johncitizen I used Rainelda Mata Kelly for residency and a corp in Panama, they were fine, not the cheapest but professional.
mathieu.bouvier
2017-11-30 05:37
What kind of cost are we looking at for panama residency from cheapest to most expensive pro like you @mikeseo
mikeseo
2017-11-30 13:19
$1300 incorporation
$4000 lawyer fee for residency and drivers license and bank account help
$1000 dissolving the corporation
also deposited $5000 in the bank but I withdrew it after
cbf
2017-11-30 20:07
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johncitizen
2017-11-30 23:01
Thanks @mikeseo
tkrunning
2017-12-02 11:29
Hey guys, have any of you had to get a LEI code for any of your businesses? It looks like it will become mandatory in lots and lots of countries now for any business that trade pretty much anything (like stocks, bonds, etc), or have I misunderstood?
ivan
2017-12-02 13:51
Have anyone taken a look at this? https://stripe.com/atlas. Looks like Stripe is offering incorporation services now.
ivan
2017-12-02 13:54
Tax-Wise they open C-corps which might not be a great idea for many. But LLCs seems to be going that way anyways. But the service in general seems to be fairly cheap and they include the bank account opening with Sillicon Valley bank.
mark24
2017-12-02 23:58
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pablesque
2017-12-03 14:35
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maxsuur
2017-12-03 15:54
@ivan pretty old news.
maxsuur
2017-12-03 15:55
I got to know about stripe atlas back in June 2016
ivan
2017-12-03 15:58
haha, yes, I found out later.
mescos
2017-12-05 00:37
@mikeseo - $1k sounds rich for dissolving a panama corporation. Other than the deregistration / filing and legal fee, what other costs are being included there to get it to 1k? Can?t see that going above 550, unless the lawyer is inflating the legal fee.
mikeseo
2017-12-05 00:48
ya prolly just inflated legal fee
popaionut
2017-12-07 20:01
Hello everyone! I have an Amazon Business and am looking for a bookkeeper or accountant to get everything in place. Can you recommend anyone?
pristinegems4c
2017-12-11 17:05
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diamantino.ferreira
2017-12-13 19:00
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globalkibo
2017-12-17 10:35
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dfmanagement
2017-12-19 12:18
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alex.bosyj
2017-12-29 15:40
https://www.usa-corporate.com/blog/new-rules-llcs-for-foreigners/
Does this mean UK LLP is now more convenient than US LLC?
bifton1
2017-12-30 08:23
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rachel
2017-12-30 15:50
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ciorbaadrian82
2018-01-02 23:37
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franc.feliu
2018-01-03 11:24
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franc.feliu
2018-01-03 11:50
Hi there! I am a resident and citizen of Spain and run an ecommerce dropshipping business. For me its a must to be able to use Stripe and Shopify. What would be the best options countries to incorporate in? UK or Estonia are good options?
ggiampieri
2018-01-03 11:59
Welcome! Estonia does not support stripe, UK does. If you sell products to Eu mostly you need to find a way to manage customs and vat, unless you ship from abroad and avoid it somehow.. then HK would be best but hard for banks. If you plan to reside in your country, stick to a local company!
it.consultant.experti
2018-01-05 13:09
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geoffrey.theodule
2018-01-11 17:16
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petrus.luijpers
2018-01-13 23:29
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jase
2018-01-16 07:37
Anyone here keen on agriculture? Do you plan to start/buy/invest in farmland?
johncitizen
2018-01-16 07:39
@jase yes
johncitizen
2018-01-16 07:39
I own some small Farmland
jase
2018-01-16 07:40
I think we discussed this - in Central America, right @johncitizen?
jase
2018-01-16 07:40
How's it going for you? Do you plan to invest in more in future?
skat
2018-01-16 10:02
@jase i?ve been playing around with idea of growing different types of mushrooms and/or marihuana :slightly_smiling_face:
skat
2018-01-16 10:02
here in Thailand they already legalised growing marihuana that is not high on THC.
jase
2018-01-16 10:02
I mean, it would be great to get into the weed game - just lots of hassles short term
it.consultant.experti
2018-01-16 12:17
hi everybody, noob here. Is there any country where you can create your company and compliance isn't a big deal so that you can use your company credit card just like the way you want ?
johncitizen
2018-01-16 23:31
@skat @jase Agri-syndicate?
jase
2018-01-17 06:15
Keen @johncitizen @skat. I am interested in saltwater greenhouses. Theory being you can buy arid land where water isn't available in the cheap and have an endless supply of water and good growing conditions.
johncitizen
2018-01-17 06:34
Any links?
jase
2018-01-17 11:16
Could also be a good strategy for weed. Build the infrastructure with a business model that is profitable with tomatoes, then when the laws change go with someone a little more profitable. :slightly_smiling_face:
it.consultant.experti
2018-01-17 15:58
Hey guys, how are you doing !?
I was thinking - just to see how it works -, how can a situation like this can trigger an anormal behaviour:
- A company is created, let's say in Spain or Estonia, whatever.
- No bank account is opened with the company, or not used in this case.
- A bill is send to a customer, with the legal address of the company on it
- This bill has to be paid via an online service like Paypal or Payoneer, which is not linked to any bank account or company.
What if the guy just decide to use his money from his online account (Paypal/Payoneer) without accounting/not declaring to the company ?
I mean, how is that technically possible to see there is a problem here ? In which case ?
ivan
2018-01-17 20:22
@it.consultant.experti you can actually do that but there's some big risks and cons.
1) Why to register a company if you plan to do that?
2) Paypal and Payoneer will be obliged to undisclose your account informations if some government comes knocking the door and I'm not 100% sure about it but some of those services are supposed to inform your residence country about accounts movement to your name automatically even if your government doesn't ask, similarly to some banks.
3) If that's your main source of income you won't be declaring income you might want to use. Which will force you to be very careful about how you handle your money and expenses.
pragmatic
2018-01-18 07:29
weird question... let's say you make a contract between yourself and your company. Normally, with a contract, a company director signs, for the company side.
In this case, is it okay that you sign both sides of the contract?
timpetch
2018-01-18 10:24
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it.consultant.experti
2018-01-18 11:40
That's what I thought vndc, thanks
aka
2018-01-18 12:18
Can i bootstrap on your questions wobap?
aka
2018-01-18 12:18
and ask the same one in a similar way
aka
2018-01-18 12:18
i create a company, in UK, or anywhere
aka
2018-01-18 12:19
I pay for the whole process in GBP, declare myself as a director, but dont pay myself a salary in GBP
aka
2018-01-18 12:19
the whole company will operate on base of bitcoin/crypto
aka
2018-01-18 12:19
it will buy or sell services in crypto
aka
2018-01-18 12:19
it will never, touch fiat
aka
2018-01-18 12:20
unless i as a director need to loan fiat to the company to pay some yearly hmrc expanses...
aka
2018-01-18 12:20
anyone sees a problem with that?
aka
2018-01-18 12:21
@danz you might be more experienced withthis..
ivan
2018-01-18 22:02
@aka on one hand it will be hard for a government to notice your company's activity thanks to the fact you're using cryptos. On the other hand I don't think there's clear enough regulations about cryptos yet. It will depends on how your tax residence country handles cryptos and even then most of new regulations tend to be for BTC only.
thesimitch
2018-01-19 05:54
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smuft84
2018-01-20 22:11
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smuft84
2018-01-20 22:28
Looking for a lightweight option to incorporate a consulting company. Purpose: I have a consulting job in HK and want to shield myself from any potential taxes or liabilities by putting it behind a company as oppose to signing the contract as an individual. What country would you recommend setting this up in?
ggiampieri
2018-01-21 07:13
If your new company signs the contract how will you get the residence visa to show your home government? If you don't want to pay HK tax, you must reside somewhere else. Can your customer/employer write off your invoice from any country? If you can fix all this, go with pure offshore + HK or SG bank account. If you want to be lightweight and being paid by paypal personal open local HK account verified by #neat then move the money to nearby country with non resident bank account, possibly in a non crs country to be more safe. This way you don't need company. If you stick around Asia I would avoid Eu/Usa options!!
johncitizen
2018-01-21 10:27
Hey all, I swear I?ve asked this before but I registered my company in Estonia without paying the share capital, I?d like to do it soon. Anyone got a guide for doing it
smuft84
2018-01-21 10:56
@ggiampieri I'm a resident of another country that does not tax foreign income, I just come in and out of HK as a tourist occasionally (during my time in HK as a tourist, I go to the office I am consulting for and say hi :))
I am thinking something like BVI business with an HK bank account. But wanted to check with you guys to see if there was other options worth considering?
harvie
2018-01-21 12:05
not sure you can get a HK bank account with a BVI, is that not almost impossible nowadays without large $$$$?
smuft84
2018-01-21 12:18
harvie, that is likely the case, I have a couple of contacts in banks that may be able to help me but it's also very possible I won't be able to open an account in HK. If that's the case it's not a big deal I can just open a corporate account somewhere else.
harvie
2018-01-21 12:38
Singapore OCBC are an okay choice, not sure if anything has changed over the last year tho
smuft84
2018-01-21 12:49
as I understand it, it's very hard to open bank accounts in singapore these days without having singapore specific business
ggiampieri
2018-01-22 06:21
@smuft84 Uob just asked 2500usd for offshore company search, but they do open. Just pay and they do :)
pragmatic
2018-01-22 20:49
is a w9/w8ben only for when the contractor is doing the work inside the US?
pragmatic
2018-01-22 20:53
That is, if a US company hires a non-US person who does work outside the US, they don't need to worry about this form?
stoplight
2018-01-23 18:43
@ggiampieri can you please expound on UOB allowing to open bank accounts for non-SG companies? How was your experience?
stoplight
2018-01-23 18:44
@pragmatic maybe as long as the U.S. company keeps him out of the books?then shouldn?t be a problem I guess?
harvie
2018-01-24 03:16
@stoplight when I went to UOB SG in 2016, they said it would cost me $700 (USD) or so to submit my application which may or may not be successful with no refund. This was the branch at MBFC. Not sure if this is still the case today.
sdfk787
2018-01-24 11:15
uob didn't charge me anything
sdfk787
2018-01-24 11:15
neither did ocbc
mcdonald.ben
2018-01-25 23:47
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timpetch
2018-01-28 23:58
Hi Guys, is anyone involved in an amazon business near? Would be good to hear where you are setup up? :slightly_smiling_face:
geoffrey.theodule
2018-01-29 05:04
Same as @timpetch. Thinking about US LLC, UK LLP, and Irish LP for my amazon business. Does anyone has formed a LP in Ireland? Pros and Cons?
jor.acker
2018-01-29 09:53
Not 100% sure about that but you might be able to be good with stripe even with a bank account that doesn't support it (so Estonia) by using payoneer
jase
2018-01-29 17:55
Does anyone have a solid recommendation on a recurring credit card processor? Seems Chargify and Chargebee are great - but they take a % of the payment, on top of your payment processor.
roman
2018-01-29 18:16
Stripe has recurring subs
jase
2018-01-30 17:13
Yeah I can't do Stripe - only Braintree
jase
2018-01-30 17:13
Braintree has a subscription service but I need something to make Braintree and Xero match up
marius.pellegrini
2018-01-31 10:15
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manishwalia53
2018-02-01 05:24
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mescos
2018-02-02 20:24
@ggiampieri - What jurisdiction was the company that opened the UOB account? When was it opened?
mescos
2018-02-02 20:26
@sdfk787 - UOB and OCBC didn?t charge you anything for personal or corporate account? if corporate, what jurisdiction?
danz
2018-02-02 22:48
No, I never heard of a charge for personal accounts tbh. Didn?t had to pay anything for OCBC either. Corporate there is a one time fee sometimes.
brutus
2018-02-06 17:21
Hi! I guess would depends of the country!? I had similar case in Ukraine few weeks ago (2 companies but same director). We had to have another employee to get a Power of Attorney as that same director could not sign for both entities
travelosopher
2018-02-07 02:39
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sdfk787
2018-02-09 07:48
no they didn't charge me
sdfk787
2018-02-09 07:49
I want to open another foreign currency account and i noticed they put $500 fee on the bottom of the form.. with ocbc, maybe things are changing
vinodgn0088
2018-02-11 12:14
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burrup.lambert
2018-02-12 11:21
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rp_vpnet
2018-02-18 07:10
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ca
2018-02-18 18:34
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dustdancer
2018-02-23 02:04
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augustas
2018-02-23 17:49
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ledrewy
2018-02-24 01:51
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madtruckers
2018-02-24 09:44
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alex.bosyj
2018-02-25 12:54
Anyone has experience opening a Labuan company?
Which agents would you recommend, what are accounting costs?
mikeseo
2018-02-25 14:39
I emailed back and worth with Gary at http://labuantax.com he seemed decent but I didn't end up choosing Labuan
piotrstelmach
2018-02-25 15:00
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vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:38
Hi alex. I can give you info on Labuan
vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:39
2) If you have huge profit, better go for 20K MYR flat tax. Else go for 3% profit on audited profits
vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:41
3) Never ask trust company to do accounting. It will be pretty high. For audit the cost will depend on your turn over, no. of transactions etc. Expect minimum of 600 USD if you got only few transactions. There is a list of approved auditors, you can contact few and appoint one firm
vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:42
4) If you want to Employment pass, it will cost you 1500 USD, a visit to Labuan necessary
vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:43
5) For bank account, I would say have one it Maybank Labuan branch as you can savewire transfers fees when you make payments to trust company and audit fees etc.
vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:46
6) Important thing, if you want to Employment pass 250K MYR is the minimum paidup capital. You need to have operational office and residential address in Labuan ( not necessary to live there though). Trust company will help you to get those address lease agreements. Also, There is a requirement of 10000 MYR monthly salary for the applicant. (Make it 5000 Director salary, 5000 Director fees to squeeze out maximum tax benefit until year 2020)
vinodgn0088
2018-02-26 04:48
7) Labuan is tax heaven blacklist of most EU countries. So if you have clients from EU, make sure you have some sort of arrangement to avoid withholding taxes
freedom
2018-02-26 05:34
has joined #business-general
jase
2018-02-26 12:26
Anyone doing recurring monthly billing for their business? What are you using to take the payment? I use Braintree but need something to actually process the subscription each month that sends the invoice.
maxsuur
2018-02-26 12:27
ThriveCart is all the rage these days. Check it out :wink:
jase
2018-02-26 12:28
Will do.
maxsuur
2018-02-26 12:28
You can combine it with "Memberpress" and "Active Campaign" for instance.
roman
2018-02-26 15:04
Do you need an invite for ThriveCart? Website says to enter email to be notified when they go live?
augustas
2018-02-27 02:50
Here is the link where you can get Thrivecart for 600 usd https://thrivecart.com/private-pilotprogram/
roman
2018-02-27 04:49
600 usd?? That?s a bit nuts. Is it self hosted?
https://paykickstart.com/
Their direct competition and costs $100 USD /mo
augustas
2018-02-27 13:20
600 USD is one time. And it might get more expensive soon, as they are one of the best alternatives to Samcart and other monthly shopping carts.
ThriveCart is not something you install on your own server, but you can embed on your own website.
vinodgn0088
2018-02-28 02:57
Why don't you use a billing portal software like WHMCS or Blesta with a Braintree plugin installed
jase
2018-02-28 07:56
Been looking at WHMCS @vinodgn0088, thanks for another vote. I'm more trying to avoid setting something substantial up, but it may be the best way to go...
alex.bosyj
2018-02-28 20:33
thank you! I didn't realize Labuan is actually blacklisted, unlike Malaysia
thy
2018-02-28 23:49
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ivan
2018-03-01 21:19
@jase there's ton of options for that. Woocommerce + plugin can do it, Xero, Zoho Invoices, some ERPs. Do you want to offer your customers a client area as well?
jase
2018-03-01 21:43
Xero won't do it. The invoices will repeat but the payment must be made manually. No need to offer a client area at this stage @ivan
roman
2018-03-04 13:35
Ok but no matter how great a product is it needs a trial. How can I make sure that it fits a use case without testing it out? The sales portion of the website is pretty scarce on details. Do they expect people to jump in on faith alone?
jase
2018-03-04 16:05
Yep - not for Andorra though. :disappointed: "Rerun is currently only available in the United States."
augustas
2018-03-05 02:57
@roman Yes, a lot of people getting this product because it seems it is quite solid and has many features, plus quite good support, as far as I've heard.
When you purchase, you get 30 days money back guarantee, I am sure. So if it does not fit your needs, you can just get your 600 USD back, no problems.
anemariaconcepts
2018-03-05 14:19
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ec9731a
2018-03-08 08:39
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julienplefebvre
2018-03-08 13:26
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mart.herndz
2018-03-08 15:30
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smuft84
2018-03-12 05:56
Anyone know of a reputable agency/administrator for registering a company in BVI? (I'm open to other options as well; I'm registered a simple consulting company so the jurisdiction doesn't matter that muc has long as it's tax free)
vinodgn0088
2018-03-13 01:47
With Offshore company (Like BVI) getting a real bank account will be a problem.
smuft84
2018-03-13 03:08
do you have another suggestion?
sacrifice24-10-91
2018-03-14 01:59
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vinodgn0088
2018-03-14 07:18
Where you live now? If you are a constant traveler I think going for a UK LLP or Estonia company would be good choice.
paul.budny
2018-03-14 13:41
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freedomsurfer140
2018-03-14 16:29
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iulian.florescu91
2018-03-15 19:08
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smuft84
2018-03-17 07:01
travel most of the time and maintain an apartment in bangkok
smuft84
2018-03-17 07:02
this is a bit over priced?
johncitizen
2018-03-17 07:13
Depends on their reputation
smuft84
2018-03-17 07:44
lets assume its good
jase
2018-03-17 09:39
fair bit cheaper than HK
jase
2018-03-17 09:39
Which now has the added hassle of the Significant Controllers Register
ozdemir_can
2018-03-18 10:46
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stoplight
2018-03-19 12:00
@smuft84 it?s pretty much in the same territory as the other Caribbean countries.
stoplight
2018-03-19 12:01
Paying anything towards $3,000 would be indeed expensive.
chris2224
2018-03-21 13:21
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chris2224
2018-03-21 13:44
Can anyone suggest the best route. I am a UK national, but no longer Tax resident in the UK. I live in Thailand for about 3yrs - do not work, however I do trade Forex and own some crypto. My understanding with Thailand is as long as I do not bring money into the country within 1yr there is no capital gains to pay. I am looking for a solution to enable me to cash in my crypto and continue to trade/invest forex. Some have suggested a Belize IBC, other suggesting Panama and a a friendly nations visa.
ivopalazzi
2018-03-21 18:56
Hey, does somebody know if this is possible: Open an LLC in Wyoming under a holding IBC in Belize
ivopalazzi
2018-03-21 18:56
I do not reside in the States. My citizen is spanish
ivopalazzi
2018-03-21 18:56
What are the accounting and tax obligations?
ivopalazzi
2018-03-21 18:57
If I have some american customers here and there, If I am not mistaken I dont need to declare that income as it matters where the work is done from (non US-country)
robert.mihaila01
2018-03-26 21:08
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robert.gryphes
2018-03-28 16:25
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ivan
2018-03-29 13:43
@ivopalazzi, it's possible yes. The documentation for LLC is quite relaxed, so you choose the members yourself, not need to registar that anywhere.
ivan
2018-03-29 13:43
You can add the Belize IBC in the EIN form.
johncitizen
2018-03-29 20:32
Dear all with Estonian eresidency and Swedbank
johncitizen
2018-03-29 20:32
Potential risk. Your bank account Swedbank might be closed. And see this post. https://goo.gl/fmd1nU
thy
2018-03-30 09:38
@ivan US LLC could still be structured for tax-free and redtape free business, even with US customers? And even after Trump reform?
thy
2018-03-30 09:47
If anyone has this kind of LLC in the US, welcome to comment. :)
ivan
2018-03-30 10:05
@thy, I don't use it with US customers. To be honest I didn't end up using it at all. I only use the IBC to invoice my clients. Nobody had a trouble with it so far and I was able to open a Payoneer and Transferwise account which I use with all my clients.
ivan
2018-03-30 10:46
The thing is that many countries will consider the IBC passive and subject to taxes if it's just a holding company. Although most of the times those are the same countries that will subject the IBC to taxes for being considered a resident company if management operates from that country territory. In the end I think it's part of the same discussion with the authorities when they knock your door: is it a real company or not?
hozgur
2018-03-30 15:43
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thy
2018-03-30 16:38
@ivan Many thanks for pointing out the several things and views. Very appreciated. :)
philhech7
2018-03-30 18:06
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iamvaillancourt
2018-04-01 02:42
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tha.siva
2018-04-01 09:45
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prietonicolas
2018-04-05 15:51
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jase
2018-04-06 13:33
Are there any business models that are especially suited to companies being domiciled in countries with low or no corporate tax, or low or no sales tax?
jase
2018-04-06 13:33
Any competitive edges they have?
ivan
2018-04-06 21:11
I've been thinking about the same thing @jase. I'd guess commission related businesses have an edge. For a long time I was trying to do buy cryptos in the US and sell them in Argentina. There's always a considerable margin. But Argentina is about to change laws over here and tax all foreign companies trading in the country.
ivan
2018-04-06 21:12
I think that's the case with many other countries. Looks like most of the time low taxation countries have very small local markets.
jase
2018-04-07 10:34
My guess is the smaller businesses are the ones with the opportunities.
amrthewrestler
2018-04-08 16:04
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pabloaura
2018-04-09 09:27
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markamerling
2018-04-14 17:19
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ledrewy
2018-04-15 08:55
Does setting up a LLC in Wyoming constitute the owner/founder (although a non-resident and non-US citizen) to be a ?US Person?, thus subject one to the FATCA rules, and becomes restricted when opening other bank accounts elsewhere outside of the USA?
mikeseo
2018-04-15 08:55
no
ledrewy
2018-04-15 08:59
According to the link provided by HSBC,
http://www.fatca.hsbc.com/~/media/fatca/pdfs/global%20-%20common%20files/fatca-gpb-glossary.pdf
Partnership and corporation owners are classified as US Persons. LLC is exempted?
mikeseo
2018-04-15 12:05
llc is not a partnership nor corporation
mikeseo
2018-04-15 12:09
and I don't think having a us corp suddently makes you a us person.
mikeseo
2018-04-15 12:09
your US corp would be a US entity.
thy
2018-04-15 19:31
Do anyone here have any of the following corporate vehicles (resident solutions with substance) used for active online business, or even in a structure:
- UK (LLP or even Ltd.)
- Hong Kong (Ltd.)
- Isle of Man (Ltd.)
- Jersey, Channel Islands (Ltd.)
- Gibraltar (Ltd. - resident company with substance and 10% corporate tax rate)
- Ireland (Ltd.)
- Cyprus (Ltd.)
- Lithuania (Ltd. - UOB in Lithuanian language I think? 5% corporate tax for small businesses - up to 200k turnover)
- Republic of Georgia (Virtual IT free zone LLC or a regular ?deferred taxation until dividend distribution? LLC)
- USA New Mexico LLC or Delaware C-Corp
- UAE (Ajman or Ras Al-Khaimah offshore company with registered agent address in ?onshore? free zone)
- Bahamas
- Bermuda
- Cayman Islands
- Turks and Caicos
- Anguilla
- BVI
- Costa Rica
- Panama
- Seychelles
thy
2018-04-15 19:34
I am looking for suitable jurisdiction to incorporate a company with substance (effective management there, etc.). The business will probably have global customers from many parts of the World (B2C segment) and maybe even some B2B clients. Any experiences with actual solutions are welcome! :slightly_smiling_face:
thy
2018-04-15 19:53
I will get paid also as an affiliate marketer from some big companies, such as eBay partner network and Amazon associates program. Would prefer for profits to be tax-free until I distribute dividends or pay out profits from company in any way, that?s why I am asking for experiences from the community.
mikeseo
2018-04-16 04:22
USA NM/DE - don't choose if you will be also become a US resident because than you have to pay taxes.
Panama - the impression I got was to be a Panama resident but operate a non-Panama corp and keep quiet about actually working while in Panama. Plus the banks are kinda lame/expensive/hassle.
In my experience you separate personal residency and corporate residency. You live in a territorial tax country and keep quiet about working there. You have a corp and bank in another country that doesn't tax non-residents. You also have to satisfy your home country that you are a no longer a resident. For example live in Thailand, have a BVI corp, and a bank in Singapore. Or live in Panama, have a US LLC and bank.
ivan
2018-04-16 10:40
@thy, Depending on your country's laws only the corporations of that group will work tax-wise and only if the management substance is really verifiable in court and complies with the law in your fiscal residency country, otherwise those will be considered pass-through. LLCs and similar are pass-through by default so taxes will always translate to its partners as far as I understand. That's why many choose to register a holding company for them as well.
You'll still need to pay personal taxes for any salary or dividends you get from the corporation in your fiscal residency country (if they apply, which is the case in most countries) and your corporation will still be obliged to pay taxes for commercializing with some specific countries of the world.
So in practice you can avoid paying taxes for all the income in your company but not for the income you personally receive from it unless you move to a territorial taxation country. And that only applies if you can prove your corporation's management really happens outside your residence country.
ivan
2018-04-16 10:41
The other detail you need to consider is the business environment the incorporation country offers you. Many of the countries you mention above don't have great access to banking, payment gateways or are black-listed in the EU.
ivan
2018-04-16 11:02
In conclusion the only legal way of doing what you're trying to do is what @mikeseo just told you. You need to change where you live as well.
You might have heard stories or people trying to sell you stuff but offshores without moving to a territorial taxation country only work for people hiding money (because of the anonymity that's disappearing world-wide) not operative business which needs bank accounts and many transactions.
If you're not ready to move elsewhere you could be better off registering the company in your country.
ivan
2018-04-16 11:07
If your only intention is to not be taxed at the corporation level as you mentioned then you'll need a corporation of some kind. Payoneer works well with Amazon and Belize and similar places so that could work for you as a payment gateway. You just need to be sure you're able to proof the substance of your corp in court if the need arise.
smuft84
2018-04-16 15:17
What are the best places to open a bank account for a fresh BVI corp? I see @mikeseo recommend singapore bank / BVI corp pair but singapore banks don't seem that interested in opening account for companies that do not have business specifically related to singapore. Also the age of the company may be a concern in singapore (as well as a lot of other countries)
thy
2018-04-16 18:06
@mikeseo and @ivan Thank you very much for detailed insights. Actually I will move from a country where I live now in a few years, so it doesn?t make sense to establish a company here. Also it will be a global business, with about 0% of transactions within the country where I live.
thy
2018-04-16 18:07
I am living in a high-tax EU country (which follows the ?effective management? rules as I have read from Deloitte report) and will move residence in a few years, currently I am studying here and can?t move the residency.
thy
2018-04-16 18:09
I am seeking to potentially hold shares / economic interest in a company via Trust or foundation and US New Mexico LLC or Ajman IC with provable offshore substance, seems like a quite great choice. So as far as I have recognised, I just need the substance provable in court if needed? Do anyone know if New Mexico LLC needs to pay any US taxes if it has US based clients, but no added-value creation happens on US soil?
thy
2018-04-16 18:21
I am not planning to ever become US resident, nor citizen, though. :slightly_smiling_face:
ivan
2018-04-16 19:19
@thy,
Yes, you would need the substance provable in court. Since you'll probably be declaring the income you get from that company to your government, the company will be on their radar, so you better prepare yourself with a local tax attorney to make sure you have it covered if you get audited. Have in mind that nominee directors are usually not enough.
As far as the LLC goes. Most people states that LLCs wouldn't owe any taxes in that specific scenario but in practice I see many people avoiding it just in case. Seems like the law in that respect isn't 100% clear and there's a lot of confusion about it, even between US based tax attorneys. Maybe the New Mexico LLCs are different in that regard.
aka
2018-04-16 23:04
Hey guys, zero tax question time
I have a uk ltd, and it has served me well
but paying corporation tax at the end of the year sucks 19%
could be better spent elsewhere
so my thinking of opening an estonian company, and retain most of the money there, without drawing a salary, and only using it for business expanses and travels, and possibly hiring my UK company to siphon money into the Estonian one
i could potentially use the estonian one to invest, daytrade, anyone aware of capital gains taxes there, versus UK ?
thy
2018-04-17 01:24
@ivan Thank you very much for your opinions, much appreciated! :)
ivan
2018-04-17 01:26
No problem. I'm only speaking from my short experience, I'm no expert by any mean so take it with a grain of salt.
mikeseo
2018-04-17 02:00
@thy @aka if the country where you live has CFC laws than it's illegal tax evasion to operate a foreign company to not pay any tax. Even if you keep all the profit in the foreign company and don't pay yourself a salary. Because you are controlling the foreign company from your resident country, CFC laws means its treated like it was a local company. The only way to do a foreign corp and be tax free is to leave your high tax country and move to a territorial/3rd world country.
mikeseo
2018-04-17 02:08
@smuft84 the last I heard banks in Singapore will still open an account with a foreign corp like BVI, try OCBC and DBS. Say you're opening it because you also want to open a brokerage account with them and invest. You will need a bunch of papers, invoices, business info, referrals, corporate papers. Email the banks first to confirm what is required before you fly over there to open the account in person.
thy
2018-04-18 00:57
My country has not any explicit CFC rules as far as I know, just the ?effective management? rule which could be adapted to with economic substance creation and justification of foreign incorporation, I guess. I know about many people here who operate companies in UK, Cyprus, USA, etc. without any problems as far as I know, some of them even with ?effective management? being located here, being the sole directors and owners. I don?t know in practice for everyone, just know for a lot of cases without problems. Will seek professional advice and opinion as well, just to be sure. :)
Thank you! :)
mikeseo
2018-04-18 01:41
effective management rules = cfc laws. You could always take the risk that the UK/Cyprus bank won't report your finances to your residence country or use a USA bank that doesn't participate in CRS...but that is illegal tax evasion. I'm just speaking in general ideas, consult a few tax professionals in your country to know specifics.
thy
2018-04-18 02:27
Thank you for clearing this out. :) So there are many people here who evade taxes technically. There are also DTAs in place, so it may play well with some incorporations most probably. What about freedom of establishment inside the EU? :)
nikolay
2018-04-19 04:57
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erik.stromberg
2018-04-21 03:28
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ledrewy
2018-04-25 01:05
Does anyone have any experience setting up a LLC or a representative office in Japan? Any good recommendation for an agent?
mikeseo
2018-04-25 02:22
@ledrewy
Calvin Tong is an American expat and gave me a nice tax consultation, if you have tax questions.
Yuko at http://urushimatsu-zeirishi.com gave me a lame tax consultation and charged me a lot.
I think a LLC is called a GK in Japan.
They both said there's no way I can live in Japan and avoid taxes on my foreign income unless I only stay there as a tourist for less than 183 days over a 12 month period.
ledrewy
2018-04-25 02:57
Thanks, @mikeseo
alex.bosyj
2018-04-26 16:48
Hi guys! If you have a minute to advise the best country for me to incorporate.
I'm a Ukrainian tax resident and a sole entrepreneur paying 5% tax from the revenue if it's under $192k/year. (I haven't exceeded it yet). Clients are all in the US (facebook ads agency). It's not a bad tax rate but I'm considering a corporate structure because we don't have PayPal in Ukraine and I'd like to have some liability protection, and to avoid the downside that my money is converted to the local currency automatically by the law and there's quite a lot paperwork.
FYI, Ukraine has 19.5% personal income tax, a similar corporate tax, no CFC rules and there is a vast network of DTA agreements, especially in EU. No CRS yet, but coming in a year or two.
What is the best structure in your opinion?
I'm thinking Estonia (I could withdraw money to Ukraine at 5% as business expenses because Estonia only taxes dividends) .
What do you think? are there better ideas?
vinodgn0088
2018-04-27 04:17
Alex, If you are the sole operator (i.e, no staff, no office etc) then the foreign company is deemded to be tax resident in Ukraine because you are managing and infact providing services to clients from Ukraine. But if you rent a office is Estonia, hire a local staff and conduct regular board meetings in Estonia then there is a chance that you can keep corporate tax residency in Estonia. Still if you draw a salary and you live in Ukraine, you will have to pay 19.5% personal income tax to Ukraine tax department. And on stop of all these things, Estonian banks are closing accounts of non-residents and majority of such accounts are owned by CIS nationals
nikolay
2018-04-27 06:22
I do not believe Ukraine has CFC rules/tax.
jase
2018-04-28 17:19
Anyone here in ad arbitrage?
vinodgn0088
2018-05-02 11:09
CFC is not required is the director reside in Ukraine and manage the business from there. Work around is setting up office in Estonia and hire a local employee + make frequent visit to Estonia. Else some sort of local director service or trust company service is required
n321
2018-05-05 06:01
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johncitizen
2018-05-06 21:31
My Estonian eresidency card is coming up for expiry. I need to travel to an embassy in my free time to pickup the new one.
johncitizen
2018-05-06 21:32
And it?s not easy, need to book 2 weeks in advance to visit the embassy to collect in my country (Australia). Make sure you renew months in advance to be sure. I confirmed they are trying to improve this renewal process.
ibbyazam
2018-05-10 07:51
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jase
2018-05-15 17:32
Serious question: any affiliate marketers here? I am sure there must be. Any of you doing healthy 6-7 figures in this game?
ggiampieri
2018-05-15 18:28
@jase I need a platform for europe to give links, any suggestions?
jase
2018-05-15 18:30
Give links as in for SEO?
jase
2018-05-15 18:31
Or for affiliate products?
maxsuur
2018-05-15 22:06
@ggiampieri I have been only hearing good things about ThriveCart-> checkout & affiliate platform, today they released a lot of new highy-demanded features for European-based businesses
maxsuur
2018-05-15 22:06
I am not sure if that's what you're looking for
ggiampieri
2018-05-15 23:18
@jase for affiliate products @maxsuur thanks, I will check them out
matt
2018-05-16 03:57
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jase
2018-05-16 07:28
@ggiampieri the first place I'd be looking is the European Amazon sites
ggiampieri
2018-05-16 08:06
@jase of course we are on it
jase
2018-05-16 09:01
Anyone sold a shell company before? I have a HK company, bank account, Stripe account, Paypal account that I don't have much use for anymore. Has offshore exemption status - don't know if it's worth trying to sell it to someone.
vinodgn0088
2018-05-17 02:15
@jase, I think bank might ask new owner to visit bank in person. If that's the case most people would go for a new company incorporation as they are not getting any benefit from buying yours.
jase
2018-05-17 06:35
I've been told otherwise by friends - an in experience the banking history in the company name helps to show it's legitimate.
jase
2018-05-17 06:35
But a physical visit may be required, unsure
vinodgn0088
2018-05-17 10:51
@jase, you can give a try though. HK banking sector has changed a lot compared to few yrs back. I too have an inactive company and bank account in HK.
jase
2018-05-17 11:03
Some people are telling me proving a lack of liabilities is most important
asarun72
2018-05-18 00:24
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asarun72
2018-05-18 01:35
asarun72
2018-05-18 01:35
Hello I?m new here !
asarun72
2018-05-18 01:36
Anyone here opened leupay business account and able to get a UK IBAN? I wanted to see if it can be used to link with stripe since stripe demands bank account should be in account country
vinodgn0088
2018-05-18 01:56
@asarun72, Contact Stripe and ask if they are willing to payout/load from a Virtual account.
brutus
2018-05-18 08:29
@asarun72 Leupay only has Bulgaria IBAN I believe. If you need UK bank info (GBP only), open a Transferwise account
asarun72
2018-05-18 14:30
Thanks @vinodgn0088
asarun72
2018-05-18 14:31
@brutus
vs301991
2018-05-20 07:29
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ibbyazam
2018-05-21 06:22
A bit of a long shot. Does any one have experience with dealing with Saudi Arabian businesses? More specifically, we need a registered company with export license to stamp and create a COO to export our goods.
Short story - We recently had a bad experience running a event for Lego in Riyadh. Our production 'partners' negated on many parts of the contract but thankfully we managed to get out of there in one piece. Our problem is that 5 containers of our exhibition material (including A LOT of Lego bricks) is now stuck in port as our logistic partners don't have a license to export. We need to get them out to our warehouse in Dubai ASAP as the holding fees are killing us.
michael
2018-05-22 00:08
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michael
2018-05-22 09:24
Contact one of the freight forwarders.. they should be able to assist you with this.. especially in Dubai, there should be a plethora of them. Good luck.
michael
2018-05-22 09:26
I was offered, for a Singaporean company we had. The deal came through my accountant, as she knew we were winding down the company. In the end, we opted not to sell it, as we rather close the company and be done and dusted. Did you setup your company through an agent? If so, ask them if they have any suggestions of potential buyers.
jase
2018-05-22 13:53
Good idea, thanks @michael
ibbyazam
2018-05-24 05:09
Thanks Takumi. A Saudi/Saudi company is needed for this unfortunately.
michael
2018-05-24 10:54
Ohhh... =/ ok! well good luck :slightly_smiling_face: unfortunately i don't know any saudi companies.
nikolay404
2018-05-25 18:33
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musso.bros
2018-05-25 21:29
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freedomsurfer.com
2018-05-27 17:06
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nchuprin
2018-05-30 11:28
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sanderkocken
2018-06-04 10:33
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michael
2018-06-04 11:40
Anyone in the commodities trading business?
don.white
2018-06-04 14:02
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coler.liviuovidiu
2018-06-07 09:40
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jd
2018-06-10 04:28
Hey guys,
Can a US LLC build a credit history and obtain credit over time?
roman
2018-06-11 01:54
If credit history in US anything like in Canada, and I?m pretty sure it?s similar then the answer is no.
stephen
2018-06-12 11:51
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igoremls
2018-06-12 16:39
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chriskeane100
2018-06-13 04:36
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jpatmon
2018-06-15 06:03
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jase
2018-06-24 07:58
Looking to set up a new company for a portfolio of affiliate sites. Prerequisites are:
1. compatible with Transferwise Borderless
2. low cost to set up/easy to maintain/low maintenance costs
3. ideally 0% tax
4. ideally the country operates legally in English
Shortlist right now is a UK LLP, US LLC or HK LTD but I bet you smart people have a better suggestion.
UK LLP isn't ideal as 2 owners are needed, then it complicates my personal tax as income is paid out.
HK LTD isn't ideal as they seem to be becoming increasingly bureaucratic and will always have audits and or offshore exemption "taxes" (more a time tax than money, but it's all added hassle)
Is it worth considering something like a BVI corp? Or not so much?
mikeseo
2018-06-24 08:30
US LLC - the income goes directly to you, for US tax purposes...That's why there's no US tax because you're a non-US person. If you just left the money in the US LLC's bank account would Andorra say you personally received it?
mikeseo
2018-06-24 08:30
BVI etc corp with a Singapore bank account could work but more expensive. Dunno if they support TW Borderless
jase
2018-06-24 08:34
Ah good point, I forgot that about US LLC - it's the same deal as a UK LLP really
jase
2018-06-24 08:35
Yeah I don't really want to deal with the hassle of getting on a flight to open the bank account. I'm very happy with the TW Borderless service due to it's convenience so I think that needs to be a core part of it
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:27
does TW have a list of countries that have Borderless? And Borderless with debit cards?
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:31
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:44
looks like EU is the only place you can get a debit card
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:51
https://tax-free.today/blog/setting-company-cyprus/
On paper, companies in Cyprus pay 12.5% of company taxes, which doesn´t make it particularly attractive. However, Cypriot companies can massively reduce their profits on paper
It is customary for Cypriot companies to deduct (or divert), with the approval of the Cypriot authorities, of up to 70% of their pre-tax profits through invoices from offshore companies located, for example, in Dubai. The offshore company receives the money before taxes and distributes it in the form of dividends (on which Cyprus does not pay taxes) between its partner (s).
Effectively, corporate tax for Cypriot companies amounts to 0.3 × 12.5, that is, 3.75%. This 3.75% is paid on profits that still qualify for deductions. So, for example, we have a ?19,500 salary completely tax free.
Another fact to keep in mind is that throughout the whole of Cyprus there are only 2 tax inspectors.
Cypriot companies don´t have problems obtaining business bank accounts in other countries, nor to use payment services such as Paypal and Stripe or register on platforms like Ebay and Amazon.
For the company in Cyprus to do business in the EU, it needs a premises. However, the office can be located in any private apartment and, of course, you can deduct the rental costs of this, even if it were a luxury villa.
Ultimately, if you choose your tax advisor well, your company in Cyprus won´t pay hardly any taxes.
vinodgn0088
2018-06-24 13:55
@mikeseo, Audit is mandatory with Cyprus corp. If you have nominee director easy to get tax residency certificate. But I guess nominee director won't be willing to become a bank signatory. Not sure if CRS will become an issue on long term running.
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:57
ok how about Estonia corp and TW Borderless? 0% on undistributed income right?
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:57
maybe easy and cheap to make the corp using the e-residency thing?
mikeseo
2018-06-24 13:57
seems the only complaint people have is with opening a real bank account in Estonia
johncitizen
2018-06-24 13:58
Touch wood, mine is still open.
jase
2018-06-24 14:13
Good feedback, thanks. I didn't realise they had to be EU entities for the debit card.
vs301991
2018-06-24 14:51
^^ One thing I'd like to say in favor of Transferwise, the video shared above is an old video which states bank account you get isn't in your name and money has to be transferred to Transferwise account with a reference code. That's not true anymore & you get your own bank account in your own name.
vinodgn0088
2018-06-24 14:53
@mikeseo, I would say setup a UK LLP with 1% share holding by natural person and 99% share held by Andorra company. Use internal invoicing to transfer profit to Andorra parent or book as UK LLP profit. Unlike a Ltd or corporation there is no retained earnings in LLP. Anything left after business expenses/liabilities are considered as profits. 1% of profit goes to natural person and he can declare it as other source income on tax return. 99% profit goes to Andorra company which can be classified as subsidiary income and pay Andorra corporate tax on it. Those HK LTD, Cyprus Limited setups are not going to work unless there is a independent executive director is resident in those countries with full control over bank accounts.
vinodgn0088
2018-06-24 14:54
@vs301991, is this applicable to USD also? Or the personal IBAN is for EUR only.
vs301991
2018-06-24 14:59
@vinodgn0088 it's for all 4 major currencies British Pound comes with UK sort code and London address, USD comes with wire routing and ACH routing number with New York address, AUD with BSB code and Melbourne address lastly EURO comes with IBAN, Swift Code and Germany address.
jase
2018-06-24 20:18
Interesting to do a little bit of research today and see which countries aren't able to use TW Borderless.
jase
2018-06-24 20:18
Also rediscovered Brunei as a place to incorporate - could be interesting one day
mikeseo
2018-06-25 04:27
I have a TW Borderless US account, I cannot receive USD international wires, only domestic. I can't get a debit card.
mikeseo
2018-06-25 04:29
my wife has a TW Borderless Philippines account, she can receive USD domestic and international wires from: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, British Virgin Islands, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, and United Arab Emirates. She can't get a debit card either.
mikeseo
2018-06-25 04:30
To receive wires in TW, she gets her own account name and account number and TW address.
mikeseo
2018-06-25 04:30
same for EURO wires, her name, her own IBAN, TW address in germany
mikeseo
2018-06-25 04:31
Your IBAN is legally owned by TransferWise and personally assigned to you so you can receive money directly into your borderless account.
You can't yet receive International SWIFT payments in currencies other than EUR
mikeseo
2018-06-25 04:32
Payment types accepted SEPA bank transfers, SWIFT in EUR currency only
vs301991
2018-06-25 07:46
Debit cards are available currently to EEA residents and only on their personal borderless account. No debit cards are available for business accounts.
mikeseo
2018-06-25 13:01
so if you can't get a TW debit card for a business than you're not restricted to Europe...
How about a Georgia corp and bank account and debit card? hmm Georgia TW can't send money, only receive it.
https://transferwise.com/help/article/1570071/basic-information/supported-countries#/Georgia
jase
2018-06-25 13:22
Whoever makes the first airmiles debit card as part of their ebanking solution is going to do some volume!
vs301991
2018-06-25 13:52
@jase @mikeseo I haven't gone through with this path but I've been thinking about such setup best solution I think could be a HK LTD, which is exempt from HK taxes for offshore and for banking you can use http://Neat.hk only issue it being not a multi currency account and you can only store money as HKD. They do give you a mastercard as debit so you Incur master cards currency conversion fee for making payments in other currencies. Further they said they would soon add USD accounts. Transferwise isn't available in HK
jase
2018-06-25 13:52
Yeah I signed up to Neat but gave up after being "approved" for a minute amount each month
vs301991
2018-06-25 13:54
You signed up for neat as a business or personally? What problem did you experience?
jase
2018-06-25 13:57
business
jase
2018-06-25 13:57
no real problems, i just don't enjoy wasting time :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2018-06-25 13:57
and i didn't need it - was just trying it
jase
2018-06-25 13:58
they proved to me the service is in it's infancy
jase
2018-06-25 13:58
bank>neat.hk right now
vs301991
2018-06-25 13:59
so basically cant be trusted with any decent sized translation volume.
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:00
on that note I think Bank > Transferwise as well at very least you got your money secured upto 100k at most banks.
jase
2018-06-25 14:01
True - however TW are getting quite large
jase
2018-06-25 14:01
I'd trust them more than many domestic banks for example, despite not being backed
jase
2018-06-25 14:02
but against the Citibanks of the world, TW is tiny
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:05
Yes, It''d be interesting to see them grow as for now I think its only truly giving all feature access to europeans. Scene should improve they said they'll start distributing cards to US and AUS people within this year.
jase
2018-06-25 14:06
I don't really want a "giant" to take over, otherwise they'll end up fucking us all over with fees like the banks do, but it is good to see the service maturing.
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:11
let's see I see service maturing as more compliance issues as well, I'm still surprised how Revolut asked me for a zillion documents which is why I dropped it in between and TW just wanted 2 docs Passport for personal and Registration number for business and no monthly charges.
jase
2018-06-25 14:12
Yeah, same deal with Leupay -great to deal with even if they are a bit "less technical" with their due diligence
jase
2018-06-25 14:12
I presume being in Andorra makes things complicated for me though so it's probably easier for most people
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:13
What current setup are you using for your affiliate business?
jase
2018-06-25 14:15
Nothing organised right now
jase
2018-06-25 14:16
Beginning to think it may be best to just use Andorra SL + TW Borderless. For Debit/Credit card I have spoken with DC Bank Austria. Haven't pursued it but they have a Miles & More Card I may be able to get: http://www.dcbank.at/miles-more-mastercard/einzelunternehmer/
jase
2018-06-25 14:16
If not, LeuPay works quite well
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:18
Wait Austrian bank giving cards for Andorra SL? or these are personal cards?
jase
2018-06-25 14:20
Well... the way I understand it
jase
2018-06-25 14:21
Is they'll give a card so long as it's linked to an IBAN
jase
2018-06-25 14:21
Don't quote me, I don't know much about the European system.. but it seems they secure the card against another bank account
jase
2018-06-25 14:21
Doesn't really matter if you bank with them or not
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:24
Never heard such arrangement before do post back if you go ahead and get it issued.
jase
2018-06-25 14:31
Fallback is a secured card, but I have no experience with them tbh
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:46
I do have experience with secured card not in Europe they are usually lower on reward value, also my IBAN does come with debit but no rewards so if you can get a reward card against your IBAN could be a good 1-2% value back on your transactions.
jase
2018-06-25 14:47
Oh I more mean airline miles
jase
2018-06-25 14:47
I know guys doing ad arbitrage and they've been flying business for years now without a care
vs301991
2018-06-25 14:56
I meant same, irrespective of it being in-terms redeemable points, cash back or miles reward rate is between 1-2% only afaik.
vs301991
2018-06-25 15:01
I have few friends doing the same, I think all of them are American though, My only experience is with Indian credit market which sucks compared to US and air mile cards don't even make sense or give you best bang for your buck here. US people just keep swapping cards for huge signup bonuses. I'm yet to explore European options in that regards.
jase
2018-06-25 15:02
Australia is actually quite good, only problem is it's best for me to not bank there (ex-resident)
vs301991
2018-06-25 15:11
Yes, my case is different I have 2 local business incorporated in India, and I'll pay taxes on them regardless of where I personally am. India is a tough country to do business in as an offshore entity. I do have top of line cards and limits with every bank here including Amex and Citi. I've read I can pursue them in countries they are available card on card basis haven't tried yet that should be interesting to explore,
ledrewy
2018-06-25 15:41
If you have a Marco Polo Club Member Gold membership or Sapphire status (One World), you could apply for an American Express Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card. 6HKD = 1 Asia Mile for local spend (in HK) or 6HKD = 1.5 Asia Miles for foreign spend. They might ask for a HK mobile during application but you could get away for not having one.
stoplight
2018-06-25 21:31
@jase interesting thoughts about Brunei?hope you can keep us in the loop?I recently made some government contacts there?itching to know how to use them.. :smile:
mikeseo
2018-06-26 02:30
do any of the Singapore banks OCBC DBS UOB give USD business debit cards? Last I tried OCBC would only do a SGD business debit card. BVI corp with a Singapore bank account is pretty low maintenance compared to HK corp & bank.
jase
2018-06-26 10:13
99% sure none of them do @mikeseo
ledrewy
2018-06-26 10:18
@mikeseo Not sure about corp but for personal, HSBC Singapore offers Premier credit cards in USD and SGD. However the spending limit for USD card is only $5000.
jase
2018-06-26 10:19
no kidding!
vs301991
2018-06-26 12:34
Hey there, awesome people I was just reading this link https://www.freedomsurfer.com/uk-llp/
*UK LLP for tax-free Amazon FBA*
*Properly structured, a UK LLP allows for tax-free selling via Amazon?s FBA platform. Combined with a low compliance cost and the UK?s high VAT registration threshold, this offer sellers a major competitive advantage.*
Anyone who's doing it can you please elaborate further how's this technically made possible?
Does it work same as it does for US LLC? where Amazon is regarded as independent contractor? If so is there any credible source to confirm this?
robert.gryphes
2018-06-26 15:02
Hello - I'm not sure if this is the right place to post or not - but I am looking for some advice/direction. I am a US citizen and reside in US. Privately (at present) I trade on the Forex market but the overwhelming lack of choices caused by regulation has me at my breaking point. So - I have been looking into setting up an offshore company to allow me to trade where (and with whom) I chose. I have looked into IBC, RAK, etc etc...and the amount of options (and shady companies) are endless. Bottom line - what I am looking for is someone to create whatever I need in terms of the business and related banking.
robert.gryphes
2018-06-26 15:02
Does anyone have experience with a particular company, location, etc that they trust and fits my situation?
augustas
2018-06-26 22:19
I recommend not to do offshore structure for the Amazon business. Amazon became very strict recently, they ask a lot of documents to verify offshore companies, which is getting difficult. Plus, if I understood correctly, UK LLP cannot really get a VAT ID, and as far as I know Amazon UK now requires to have VAT ID for all new accounts.
In addition to that, I personally know a person who was selling on Amazon using HK and UK LLP offshore companies, and he is pro in offshore setups. At the end he was forced to switch his Amazon business to a legal structure, running Amazon business as a company registered in one of the EU countries.
So, I would say that article about UK LLP+Amazon is simply outdated.
mikeseo
2018-06-27 01:17
@robert.gryphes what broker are you using and do they allow a US citizen with a foreign company to open an account without trading restrictions? I was able to open a Belize IBC and get a Singapore iOCBC account for stock trading but they don't let me trade the US markets...
vintilamarius89
2018-06-27 12:04
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vs301991
2018-06-27 21:11
@augustas Can you please link to the source that states UK LLP can not get a VAT ID?
augustas
2018-06-27 22:23
I have no source to link. It was that Amazon seller who had LLP. He called to HMRC directly, and from what he told me, at that time VAT registrations were not possible somehow for the LLP structure.
Maybe today things are different.
I suggest to call HMRC or ask them via online chat (I think they have one). It will be 99% correct information.
henrik_fjerdingen
2018-06-28 17:01
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henrik_fjerdingen
2018-06-28 17:05
Very interested in this! I have a us LLC Taxed in the US right now, (I'm a EU citizen)
Looking to start another FBA company, will most likely to UK, so hopefully LLP + estonia holding if it works
info
2018-06-28 18:35
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smuft84
2018-06-30 07:57
@mikeseo there are some options to trade US markets with bitcoin as the underlying currency
smuft84
2018-06-30 07:58
simplefx, onebroker are the main options at the moment
mikeseo
2018-07-01 02:34
what do they charge for a trade? I opened a Interactive Brokers account, 1 USD per trade. I'm going to close my iOCBC account cuz the features are lame, it's restricted, and expensive.
vs301991
2018-07-01 06:31
@simon can you please comment? Also does High VAT threshold mean anything for FBA since to store goods in amazon warehouse you'll have to voluntarily apply for a VAT number and hence start collecting it from day 1 your goods land/start selling in UK.
augustas
2018-07-01 10:12
You need to be VAT registered from day 1 of storing goods in UK only if you are non-UK entity storing goods in UK.
If you are UK business, then your threshold is £85,000 before you need VAT registration: https://www.gov.uk/vat-registration-thresholds
vs301991
2018-07-01 12:12
@augustas Thanks, that clears my confusion.
smuft84
2018-07-01 12:36
IB is better, more options and cheaper, only time i'd use simpleFX is in the case you are comfortable using crypto and cannot access US markets any other way
ivo
2018-07-01 13:40
@smuft84 You should mention that Simple FX is neither regulated nor do you buy real equities but just a derivative that profits on price differences.
smuft84
2018-07-01 13:44
yes thats true, they arent regulated and I think it's actually a CFD that gives you exposure
they have been around a while without issue so i dont think you are at big risk of exit scam or anything but a real broker is still much better - do your own DD before using (make sure the spreads arent too big for buy/sell)
igoremls
2018-07-01 18:20
Is anyone can consult in terms of company incorporation, banking and tax in other countries IT related business? Thanks in advance
vinodgn0088
2018-07-02 01:49
@igoremls, First search and find out which country is best for your needs. The search for local Incorporation firms and contact few through email. Based on their responses you can determine which one is better and offers affordable prices. I won't recommend with those who states we Incorporate in many countries ( Those people are mostly middle mans).
jase
2018-07-02 16:48
Is there any issue with owning a UK LTD with an IBC, then invoicing the UK LTD from the IBC for "consulting" so the UK LTD doesn't make profits/pay tax? @simon I'm thinking you may have experience with this?
bountybairn
2018-07-03 00:03
+1 to this, I reckon banking is the major issue here for what I do know.
vinodgn0088
2018-07-03 02:44
Getting bank account for IBC will be difficult now days. If you are ok keeping money in some e-wallets, then ok. Don't show the UK/IBC account records to any taxman :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2018-07-03 07:04
I suppose IBC could be replaced by US LLC, Andorra SL, Estonia OU, HK LTD, etc
hello
2018-07-03 19:32
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michal.opoka
2018-07-03 21:59
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max
2018-07-04 08:12
I have done UK LTD => Estonia => Panama IBC transfers as well as UK LTD => Panama IBC cash payments and then put the money into the bank myself, had not problems
max
2018-07-04 08:12
I also was lucky to open an account for my IBC in Poland
max
2018-07-04 08:13
It would be interesting to hear how other people handle this
vinodgn0088
2018-07-04 09:45
@max, and you keep money in bank without reporting to your country or paying taxes?
max
2018-07-04 09:46
I obtained residence in Panama
vinodgn0088
2018-07-04 09:47
Paying Panamian tax ?
max
2018-07-04 09:47
no tax on foreign income in Panama
vinodgn0088
2018-07-04 09:48
Does your income falls under foreign income? What type of business.
jase
2018-07-04 10:10
99% sure it's not something they police, even though CFC law likely applies
vinodgn0088
2018-07-04 12:03
@jase, seems right, looks like panama won't care at all.
max
2018-07-04 18:36
@vinodgn0088 the way I understand it is that by maintaining my Panama residency I do not need to fear CFC laws. By that I mean my companies in UK / Estonia remain UK and Estonian residents. My IBC performs services for these companies and I get paid from my IBC
vinodgn0088
2018-07-05 01:28
@max, I don't know your setup. If you are the sole owner/director of all these businesses and these company's don't have enough substance in their country of Incorporation, you don't have to pay corporate income tax in country of Incorporation but you are liable to pay taxes in Panama. But If Panama want to claim taxes or not, I am not sure. One thing I understand is that people who run online business just don't think about "OECD Place of effective management rule"
max
2018-07-05 01:30
@vinodgn0088 thanks, I checked with several lawyers in Panama and there is no foreign income tax
jase
2018-07-06 16:26
@simon, you say "A foreign-owned Wyoming LLC should avoid generating any ECI. This is crucial when it comes to keeping the company tax-free in the US." https://www.freedomsurfer.com/anonymous/
Would affiliate, commission or referrals (cost per action) income from other US domiciled companies be considered ECI if the shareholders/operations of the company were located abroad?
curtayalex
2018-07-07 11:23
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matt077
2018-07-07 12:46
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will
2018-07-11 03:33
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thy
2018-07-13 02:09
I have the similar preferences / use case for incorporating like @jase has (so the question is similar) + other than affiliate business I will do some IT consulting via the company.
Few viable options from my point of view are:
1. USA - Delaware C-Corp or New Mexico LLC
2. Republic of Georgia LLC with ?Virtual IT Free Zone? exemption for IT businesses: http://newzone.mof.ge/en
3. Singaporean Private Limited Corporation
jase
2018-07-13 09:17
Subscribed :smile:
julienduteurtre
2018-07-15 19:27
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thy
2018-07-16 03:06
Does anyone here have the following setup for online business: Offshore Trust + US LLC?
I am very interested in how well it works in practice for non-US entrepreneurs.
mikeseo
2018-07-16 04:08
what's the reasoning for a offshore trust?
thy
2018-07-16 16:01
@mikeseo To not be personally liable to corporate taxes (as a resident of high-tax country, for example).
johncitizen
2018-07-17 05:35
What about similar for an FBA business?
kuka
2018-07-19 19:57
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colbybridges
2018-07-20 17:13
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thy
2018-07-20 23:02
We can probably also add some offshore options to this list:
1. Nevis LLC
2. Marshall Islands LLC (Series LLCs are possible, similar to Delaware legislation)
3. Saint Lucia LLC
4. Marshall Islands IBC
5. Saint Lucia IBC
For tax planning, it?s probably possible to appoint an Offshore Trust as a single-member to LLC or as a 100% shareholder to IBC:
1. Belize Trust
2. Seychelles Trust or Private Foundation
2. Nevis Exempt Trust
3. Cook Islands Trust (but this one may be expensive, because it is probably the best in the world)
This kind of offshore structures probably have more easy-going compliance requirements than US LLC and they may be suitable enough for receiving affiliate commissions to receiving accounts (TW Borderless, for example).
johncitizen
2018-07-20 23:43
Hey, Can anyone point me in the right direction for filing a trademark in the USA? I?m pretty sure I can do this on my own right? This is for amazon FBA, so I?ll do multiple I Guess.
thy
2018-07-20 23:50
I think it?s good to get this done by US IP Lawyer, so the trademark is ?enforceable? in practice. Don?t take my word for it, I have just read some IP related articles in the past and am not a lawyer of any kind. :slightly_smiling_face:
johncitizen
2018-07-21 23:47
I?m actually tending to agree with you
johncitizen
2018-07-21 23:47
You have no recourse if you do it yourself and someone sues for similar design or whatever.
james
2018-07-24 09:26
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james
2018-07-24 10:26
Hi everyone, does anyone have experience creating a UK LLP with a Thai LLC as a one of the partners? If so, any complications arising from this on the Thai side or UK side?
vinodgn0088
2018-07-24 11:50
@james, There won't be any issues at UK side. But its better you talk to a Thai accountant and make sure how Thailand treat a UK LLP. Not every country treat UK LLP as a LLP. (Eg: India treat UK LLP as a Corporation. In India only LLP Incorporated in India as per Indian laws are treated as LLP)
james
2018-07-24 15:33
@vinodgn0088 Thanks for your insight on this, I'll check with our accountant in Thailand, and see what we can find out.
julienduteurtre
2018-07-25 20:52
Can anyone recommend a high risk payment processor that can plug easily on a woo commerce ?
vinodgn0088
2018-07-26 01:36
@julienduteurtre, Its better you look for a payment processor first and ask someone from upwork or freelancer to develop a woo commerce plugin.
petrus.luijpers
2018-07-26 17:26
I opened a ltd in malta a year ago, which is earning some money now. I want to have some costs now. I live in france and am registered as soletrader there. I dont use the soletrader company anymore. I need a car in France now since my clients are there. Does somebody now if i can put it on my maltese balancesheet. Is it maybe possible to lease it myself as soletrader to the maltese ltd and activate it this way? Any help appreciated since i have no clue howto do it. ( beginner with a ltd). It would be nice if i could keep the french license plates ).
augustas
2018-07-26 17:50
What does the Matlese accountant say?
petrus.luijpers
2018-07-26 18:42
@augustas He says it is only possible with a new car, also have to import the car and cannot use it in france for more than 3 months. He did not elaborate on leasing, which i thougth would be a solution. It should be possible to lease a car in another country and get ownership in my opinion. But i have to be 100% sure before i get involved.
petrus.luijpers
2018-07-26 18:43
I dont want to drive my car to france every 3 months.
arthur.capard
2018-08-01 12:40
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rj22
2018-08-06 07:26
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monargent
2018-08-07 19:34
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jase
2018-08-13 15:19
Does anyone have feedback on what the business culture is like in Montenegro? As in - would you partner up/JV with a person/business over there?
jase
2018-08-13 15:20
For example, in Andorra, I can generate a lot of leads, but the sales follow up is pretty bad. It's a real "take it or leave it" culture. They're mostly interested in easy sales.
roman
2018-08-14 12:33
@jase a stereotype, but Montenegrins are often seen as lazy.
roman
2018-08-14 12:33
On the other hand I know someone who runs a travel agency there. If you?d like an intro - let me know.
roman
2018-08-14 12:34
By the way, I?m in Andorra soon yaay :)
jase
2018-08-14 12:48
Interesting, thanks @roman. Of course there are outliers too. I'm thinking to make a content business about Montenegro but don't know how difficult it will be to work with them as an outsider, and if they're not used to how Americans/Brits/Aussies/etc need to be sold to - it may not work. :thinking_face:
jase
2018-08-14 12:48
Keep me posted on the Andorra visit!
roman
2018-08-14 12:48
What do you mean a content business? Like what you did for Andorra?
ivo
2018-08-14 14:34
@jase One of my business partner is from MNE and I also have some investment there. While it's true that the typical yugo stereotype is that they're lazy, I don't find them more lazy than any other people blessed with such abundance of beach.
But what I can tell you is that English is still not very widely spread, though it's much better than 10 years ago.
What kind of content biz you want to do? I still have a few good contacts down there.
jase
2018-08-14 14:35
Sorry @roman yeah, similar business.
wimva
2018-08-14 20:59
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itaiohayon
2018-08-16 20:14
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michael
2018-08-27 14:13
Normally when I start companies, I have friends/associates who become fellow co-founders and we complement (ops, sales, marketing, technical etc) each other in what is required to make the company successful.
I am now in a situation where I am looking to start a new business (several), however within my network I do not know of anyone who can help with the operations / technical ability. I do not really want to outsource. How do fellow FS entrepreneurs deal with this? Do you hire staff to fulfil that role straight away? Or do you try and find other co-founders? Or? ? Thank you!
vinodgn0088
2018-08-27 15:38
@michael, its better if you find co-founders. However if you are unable to find out one , its better to outsource as getting an experienced staff will require you to spend much more money than outsourcing. May be you can split the project into different modules and outsource it to freelancers from different countries and thereby avoid risks of your idea being copied by someone else.
skat
2018-08-28 07:00
@michael I prefer not to have cofounders, they are pain in the ass to deal with. With employee I can just fire him if something goes wrong
skat
2018-08-28 07:01
I'd invite for a cofounder position only if it absolutely necessary and I'm sure person will contribute significantly
maxsuur
2018-08-28 14:23
It simply makes sense
szekessy
2018-08-28 18:20
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ggiampieri
2018-08-28 20:38
@michael Hard question, it depends. We are in the same situation, hiring takes time and effort for training. Paying invoices and blaming someone else boss is better. A good mix of freelancers from coworkings, students internship and proper service companies is the best compromise probably. I think beyond 5 million you need proper office, before that life is better on the go.
michael
2018-08-30 10:53
@vinodgn0088 @skat @ggiampieri Thank you for the inputs... seems like there is no, 'one fits' all approach. I will try outsourcing for now.
michael
2018-09-03 09:52
This is a question from a friend - wondering what would the FS community do?
The question posed to me - Would you start with a limited theme on WP or build a whole site for scratch? A friend of mine is looking to start a review site for an industry - a bit like http://www.rottentomatoes.com and she found various review site themes online.
My view was to run with a WordPress site until there was proof of concept from the market place, despite the restricted features of the WP theme. Once POC, then there would be more confidence to put in more money to build it from scratch.
roman
2018-09-03 13:02
The answer is always start with simplest for you. If it?s simplest for her to do Wordpress be it. For me as a dev it?s simpler to do a static site. I do that.
roman
2018-09-03 13:03
Once proof of concept pans out she can switch to a more advanced solution.
kuka
2018-09-03 21:51
I 100% agree with @roman. As a full-stack developer who could develop a system similar to RottenTomatoes by myself I can assure you that the chance of decent ROI on a project like that is slim. Getting traction/sales is the most important piece of the equation, so the basic Wordpress-based solution would suffice initially. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!
michael
2018-09-04 14:01
@roman @kuka thank you both for your replies. good to hear that we have similar thoughts on her issue.. especially on confirmation of a POC / traction on sales before going all guns blazing with development.
osiris
2018-09-05 19:02
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tcdemomento
2018-09-08 10:13
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hullmat1
2018-09-10 07:03
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dsolutions
2018-09-16 15:42
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smuft84
2018-09-17 04:35
I would like to enter into a consulting agreement with a UK limited company for ongoing IT needs, I'm a thai resident and do not have a company setup to engage the UK company. Is it okay to engage the UK company as an individual or should i setup a company as well just for this purpose?
- costs are in the ~10k a month range
- being able to deduct this from taxes is not a major consideration
kuka
2018-09-18 03:25
Similar question to the one above. Should there be any VAT concern while doing business as a UK LLP with a company in Denmark?
simon
2018-09-18 03:51
@kuka This depends mainly on the nature of the transactions. I recommend reading this guide: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/eu-vat-rules-topic/where-tax_en
kuka
2018-09-18 05:17
Thanks! It?s not as clear in the guide about the remote B2B consulting services, do you have any advice on that maybe? The provision of services would be done outside of both UK and EU.
kuka
2018-09-18 05:18
From what I gather I gotta charge Denmark?s VAT
kuka
2018-09-18 05:23
The other source states that VAT from B2B transactions falls on the receiving side.
simon
2018-09-18 05:24
You do not have to charge anything or even register for VAT if you sell consulting services to EU businesses from outside the EU. See the "buying for businesses" section at: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/taxation/vat/cross-border-vat/index_en.htm
simon
2018-09-18 05:25
In other words, your second source is correct (the burden falls on the receiving side).
kuka
2018-09-18 10:56
Thank you, it?s super helpful!
grante.francois
2018-09-20 04:39
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henrique
2018-09-21 02:43
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2018-09-21 06:11
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2018-09-22 03:15
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2018-09-23 00:00
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arthur.capard
2018-09-30 10:49
Hello,
After reading all freedom surfer website I am trying to find a good optimisation for my business and citizenship, regarding my situation. So today I require your help :slightly_smiling_face:
I am french, I left france 3 years ago and only go back around 2 months a year. I don't pass more than 6 months in any other country a year, living the digital nomad lifestyle. But I still pay my income tax in france currently. I own a UK LTD.
I do consulting/service (digital lead marketing consultant) and have a weight loss program. My clients are almost all french.
I make a good amount of money and was thinking of opening a Labuan Business to pay the fix flat rate. Is that a good idea? Im my situation, is it better to only work with the labuan company, my UK LTD and the labuan company as holding, or maybe open a UK LLP with the labuan company as holding? (so I can use stripe and paypal with lower fee as payment processor for example too). A labuan company will allow me to open a bank account in singapore I suppose too.
Regarding citizenship, as french citizen already, vanuatu looked a good option to take so I can still live wherever I want and not pay any income tax. Even if my clients are french, as long as I live out of France and don't have any others ties can someone confirm me that I will not be consider french resident for tax purpose? (french government accept double nationality with vanuatu)
I know it's a little complicated but I thank you all for reading me and helping me if you can.
If you have any questions for yourself I hope I can help,
Have an amazing day !
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 11:09
(My bad... looks like there is not double tax treaties between france and vanuatu... but as simon stated "Tax-wise, France is a residential taxation country and as such, you will not have to pay French taxes unless you actually live in France." Sooo ... what can I expect ?)
maxsuur
2018-09-30 12:19
Have you ever been to Vanuatu? @arthur.capard
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 12:35
As a traveller yes ! I absolutely loved it ! If i go 2-3 months a year there I woule be the happiest man on earth :slightly_smiling_face:
koshis
2018-09-30 12:37
To not be considered a French tax resident do you have to renounce citizenship ? I thought this was only the US.
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 12:42
Only the US is citizen based taxation right. France is residential taxation but it is special in the way as to qualify resident somewhere else you need to not verify any of these 4 statements. And for me number 3 can be a big problem as my clients are french ... :
Under the Code General des Impôts, an individual is deemed to be a tax resident of France if at least one of the following four tests is fulfilled.
1) France is your main residence or home ? your foyer. This rule embraces the idea of permanence and stability. Your foyer is the place where your close family (spouse/cohabiting partner and minor children, but not parents or siblings) habitually live, or, if you are single with no children, where most of your personal life is centred. Your foyer can be in France even if you spend much of your time out of the country. This is the rule the French authorities rely on most.
2) France is your principal place of abode ? your lieu séjour principal. This usually means you spend more than 183 days in France in a calendar year, but beware, residency may also apply if you spend more days here than in any other single country. Days of arrival and departure count towards the cumulative total of days.
3) Your principal activity is in France; for example your occupation is in France or your main income arises here.
4) France is the country of your most substantial assets, your centre of economic interests ? so if France is the place of your principal investments, or where your assets are administrated, or your business affairs are, or where a larger part of your income is drawn.
koshis
2018-09-30 12:45
Sounds somewhat similar to Australia... except for #3....
But would you have to renounce your French citizenship then if criteria 3 is your concern ?
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 12:51
Double nationality and double treaties exists for tax purpose so I will not renounce my citizenship
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 12:51
Just need someone to help me on this number 3 but for this I'll ask a french tax adviser/lawyer for sure
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 12:53
Cause I suppose with a double tax treaty even if I dont respect number 3 I only need to pay tax in one country. And so if I do it even if its a tax heaven france cannot ask me to pay twice, cause of the treaty ..
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 12:53
Would be amazing to have @simon advice. I don't know if you're french but I guess you're francophone origin country :slightly_smiling_face:
koshis
2018-09-30 12:55
Wouldn't you need to qualify as a Vanuatu tax resident as defined in their tax system, and also in the double tax treaty, for that to be any benefit for you? I don't know the Vanuatu tax residency rules but I'd guess it requires a 180+ day stay, no?
koshis
2018-09-30 13:01
Tax treaties also usually only deal with income arising in one state or the other, some treaties have a 'Other Income' provision in them which allows may determine where you are taxed on income not from either of the treaty countries.
Also there is usually a clause in them that allow either country to tax you on income sourced in that state. What the treaty will do is stop you from being taxed twice if for example you have paid tax in country a, but are determined to be taxed on worldwide income in country b, which would otherwise ordinarily include profits from country a..
This is my understanding of how double tax treaties with australia work at least.
koshis
2018-09-30 13:02
So a treaty may not be the magic bullet solution.
koshis
2018-09-30 13:02
Happy to be proved wrong on this though
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 13:30
Thanks for enlighting me on this ! I seriously don't know. I am really bad at understanding all of this or law in general unfortunately ...
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 13:30
I might just go to Malta ahah ??
koshis
2018-09-30 13:33
Yes some of the programs in Malta seem very good, and some don't require a minimum stay there to be classed as a tax resident, as long as you maintain a permanent house, which I think you generally need to do to qualify for the Visa also
maxsuur
2018-09-30 14:27
@arthur.capard @koshis it seems that the Malta Programme is not that alluring anymore. There's been changes recently.
mikeseo
2018-09-30 17:10
@arthur.capard for #3, ask a french international tax lawyer if that means where you are physically located while working or where your clients are. (for the US, it means where you are physically located, so no US tax if you work while in Vanuatu and have clients inside the US)
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 18:31
Thanks a lot guys !
From what I read this afternoon, if for example I have real estate in france that makes me more money than the money I'm making in my residential country, then I can be judge as french liable for tax.
But if Im getting paid by my uk company (let say I live in malta) then the money comes from uk not from france I suppose... It's so frustrated ahah.
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 18:31
I didn't know about the malta program ... Arfff. Do you know what is changing exactly ?
arthur.capard
2018-09-30 18:32
Then Malaysia or Panama sounds others good places for temporary (about 3years) moving. what do you think ?
mikeseo
2018-09-30 20:49
@arthur.capard ask the french intl tax lawyer if you need a new tax residency to not be considered a french tax resident.
mikeseo
2018-09-30 20:51
@arthur.capard I would guess that you will always have to pay french income tax on rental income from property in france, regardless of your tax residency.
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 06:46
I think yes and yes mikeseo :slightly_smiling_face: But I don't have any properties :slightly_smiling_face:
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 06:46
RAK seems like a good place to incorporate too !
danz
2018-10-01 08:40
@arthur.capard You can get temporary residency in Mexico quite easily for 1-4 years.
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 14:37
thanks danz. I have another questions. I saw a post where Simon said :
A UK LLP selling to UK customers will pay UK VAT. A UK LLP selling to French customers will pay French VAT. A UK LLP selling to US customers will not pay any VAT.
What about a US LLC ?
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 14:38
selling to french customers
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 14:40
I suppose if you're selling services you would have to pay VAT but french government has no power to enforce the VAT payment ?
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 14:41
So just on a VAT question it's easier for me to not have any business incorporated in europe as my clients are french ? Someone can confirm me this pleaaaase ? :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2018-10-01 16:34
@arthur.capard Your VAT liability will depend mainly on what you are selling. The example above applies mainly to electronic services. I recommend reading the following guide for more information: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/eu-vat-rules-topic/where-tax_en
simon
2018-10-01 16:36
As for the EU?s ability to enforce its laws on overseas companies, it is indeed very limited. That said, I?d recommend caution especially as you are an EU citizen.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 16:40
@arthur.capard for goods (either imported or made) b2b: same country of the company you add vat, different country no vat. b2c you sell with company's country vat in every country of Eu uo to a certain threshold (mostly less than 100k). After that you must charge every country out of threshold vat and pay it to that country. For services it depends which company sells
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 16:45
Cannot edit msg, anyway for services, (not goods I did a typo in last msg) it depends how you sell them. For example if you have a vat number as consultant you invoice with no vat. If you sell with a ltd/ou/srl whatever you call it to same country you charge vat, other country no vat, same as goods.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 16:47
Now if you sell services from overseas you dont charge vat, as the eu company is paying a foreign supplier. Now the point is who owns the company and where he resides and which passport.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 16:50
Basically if you invoice your customer from your country with a foreign company (out of eu, intrastat system and so on) you have the point 3 issue. If they find out they can screw you. It is called 'esterovestizione' in italian law, i bet french is the same.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 16:55
Mostly the issue is you cannot make money into your country and forget to pay!
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 19:39
Thanks @simon and @ggiampieri, I am selling my service for doing online facebook advertising and I am selling a weight loss course too. So both in B2B and B2C. It says on the website that "The supply of services between businesses (B2B services) is in principle taxed at the customer's place of establishment, while services supplied to private individuals (B2C services) are taxed at the supplier's place of establishment." So looks like on both case I need to pay VAT.
What if I have a US LLC for that ? Do I need to charge VAT too for french customers ?
I am french and still french resident (even if Im almost never there) but plan on finding a good residency place or program this next year. Trying to find the best solutions for me as I pass 95% of my time at my desk I dont really care where I am as long as I can legally save money.
arthur.capard
2018-10-01 19:41
I dont have a VAT number yet but have a UK LTD. Im thinking of opening a UK LLP or US LLC if it is interesting tax wise as I still need to use stripe and paypal as payment processor.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 20:58
First of all, you dont 'pay' vat, you earn it first on top of your invoice and after writing off the vat you paid on top of your suppliers invoices, you wire the difference every quarter to the government. The point here is you add vat on top of invoice for b2b customers if they are in the same country of where the company is. So for example if you own an Estonian ou you invoice every company in eu with no vat. Since Estonia is a small country you have full eu market to invoice with no vat. But it does not make any difference regarding accounting, I mean from your customers point of view if they pay you vat, they write it off.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 20:59
So the point is if you invoice a b2b customer from and eu company or a foreign company, the amount is the same, according to your rate.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 21:00
If you sell a service b2c from a company outside of eu you can raise your price matching an eu price inclusive of vat.
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 21:01
But then you should be careful of not doing so with customers from your passport country. I hope it is more clear now :)
ggiampieri
2018-10-01 21:11
(anyway I guess that most people with decent turnivers invoice customers in eu with eu company, easy to write off and good face with customer, then from eu company you pay some exotic 'service' company to supply you some sort of service.... (aka transfer pricing.. Like big boys do) or as Simon says use a uk llp with an holding company and remit profits tax free to the holding. But of course the holding company has a bank account and you need to comply with crs....
arthur.capard
2018-10-02 13:11
Thanks a lot giac you really help me to understand !
But I still lost you after ... you pay some exotic 'service' ??
arthur.capard
2018-10-02 13:14
So if I use a UK LLP and lets say a labuan or RAK offshore holding, I need to transfer all the profits on the holding.
Then transfer it to a bank account for example in Singapore.
While being a tax resident of one territorial country. - lets say Malaysia or Thailand (even if technically thailand is residential) But working most of the time outside of it.
arthur.capard
2018-10-02 13:16
I am really bad at planning all of this. Im sorry to ask you so much questions, Im just trying to connect the dots the more convenient way possible. I really thanks you all for you advice and I need to plan something with country names on it now ahah :slightly_smiling_face:
cliqueapp
2018-10-07 12:11
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nemo
2018-10-07 23:22
What is the best place to set up a crypto trading company? Will invest my own funds & for other investors. Reputation and stability (regulatory) is important. Singapore best option?
me1892
2018-10-08 00:53
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mirceabujanca
2018-10-09 03:24
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ivan.lakatos
2018-10-09 04:15
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bryanlum888
2018-10-10 00:04
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cliqueapp
2018-10-10 08:05
@nemo binance is now operating out of malta. they seem to want to encourage blockchain / crypto related businesses to come to the island. their PM has mentioned it a number of times. i think Bitmex is incorporated in Seychelles, but it doesnt take fiat. I suppose that is a defining factor.
sergiy.shlykov
2018-10-11 08:55
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bitesak
2018-10-12 06:19
I heard their Malta move got delayed. Are you sure of your statement?
redareda9
2018-10-20 10:38
Hello guys,
I just started as a digital nomad (2 months ago) and am going to open a new company for my e-commerce business.
I am a french citizen.
What would you recommend ?
A lot of people recommended me Singapore/HongKong/Dubai or a LLC in Delaware.
I don't know which choice is the best.
Any opinion please?
johncitizen
2018-10-20 12:19
I feel a Wyoming LLC is fine, usually best to base the company in a jurisdiction where you do no physical business or reside
umgelurgel
2018-10-21 08:16
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fish
2018-10-26 02:30
Question: whats a good payment processor(s) optimal mostly for US but also UK, AU and the rest of the world (importance in this order) that lets you charge cards manually?
roman
2018-10-26 11:18
Sergey G: Square?
roman
2018-10-26 11:19
They even just launched a swanky terminal the other day.
fish
2018-10-26 13:18
I didn't mention but it has to have the ability for a subscription payment
fish
2018-10-26 13:32
I was looking at Square, its all good except the fact they require a written confirmation from the client that to have a card on file.
skat
2018-10-29 15:41
I'm not sure if anyone is dong Amazon Selling, but it's really hard to be on track with latest developments in a space. We're doing news monitoring for our internal needs, but decided to share our findings through a newsletter.
It's very low friction monthly newsletter with curated content - https://fbamonthly.com
It's a shameless self-promotion, so if anyone has any feedback -- I'll be happy to hear it.
fish
2018-10-31 22:38
I like countdowns
fish
2018-10-31 22:48
I'm looking for an advice from someone who has real life experience in call/contact centers. I'm trying to bundle up the tech required to set up a call center and I'm simply overwhelmed with the amount of good (and bad) options there are. Id like to discuss techy stuff like VoIP, CRMs, Payment methods and less techy stuff like daily/weekly/monthly routines and management.
michael
2018-11-01 01:18
Managed WordPress Services - has anyone in the community tried services like this (https://wpwebsitehelp.com , https://wptangerine.com/#/contact , https://www.redevolution.com/site-management) or can recommend a company? Where by you pay a monthly fee for wordpress website management? It's wordpress outsourcing with a retainer fee. We are starting to look at outsourcing more of some ventures, initially, we thought to hire a team but we are not sure if we have the time.
redareda9
2018-11-03 09:37
Hello guys, anyone here dropshipping and knows if a dropshipping company should collect VAT in customer's country?
wiksch
2018-11-03 20:10
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kiwiz
2018-11-05 03:01
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ren
2018-11-05 12:51
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jase
2018-11-06 20:35
Is anyone here using a US LLC with TransferWise Borderless as a non resident/non citizen and were able to get the debit card?
johncitizen
2018-11-06 23:41
I use TransferWise borderless linked to my LLC, it was painful to verify in my instance. I?m not eligible for the card.
jase
2018-11-07 13:04
Thanks @johncitizen, Is there anything you can tell me about your situation that made it painful to verify/ineligible for the card?
julienduteurtre
2018-11-11 08:01
Does anyone heard about New Mexico LLC ? They seems to be as anonymous as Wyoming and Delaware but the interesting part is $0, No annual fee + no annual report due
johncitizen
2018-11-12 15:36
@jase I?m Australia based and the cpy is a US LLC for holding investments. TransferWise are real touchy about you proving ownership, being a single member and single beneficiary before they agreed. Great though, I played along and they verified it within a week
jase
2018-11-12 15:37
@johncitizen thanks. Did they tell you you'll never get the card? Or is it more of a "we don't offer that yet" situation?
johncitizen
2018-11-12 15:39
The latter, they just didn?t offer it to me for the UK or Australia
jase
2018-11-12 15:40
Yeah, I'm in the same situation in Andorra
jase
2018-11-12 15:40
Hoping things change shortly
skat
2018-11-14 09:37
I'm not sure how to handle this -- I have a company in HK that I opened couple of years ago. I was planning to use it for my SaaS business, but since I don't generate as much revenue right now -- never got any banks for that company. Basically company was inactive all this time.
But now it's "that time" comming up - and they bug me about audit. And I can't get much information what they plan to audit if there is no activity at all. Why it takes so much money to give a Nil tax form?
Anyone had same issue? Is it possible to shelve the company to avoid audits? Maybe it's a good idea to get independent auditor (not connect to agency that manages my company in HK) to at least get a cheaper rate?
michael
2018-11-14 10:43
@skat the audit requirement is from the banks or the HK authorities?
michael
2018-11-14 10:43
@skat regarding audits, it's worth shopping around for a good auditor.
michael
2018-11-14 10:46
I used to have a company in Labuan that was dormant, that was planning to use for business recently. The banks required so much paper work and reviewed accounts, that I decided to close the company and just open a new SG entity with a bank account. So much easier and less headache.
skat
2018-11-14 11:24
@michael HK authorities require this audit. I'm playing with idea about closing up that company in HK to avoid this hurdle, so far experience was not as pleasant and I'm not sure I want to continue with them.
Do you need singaporian citizen to open company in SG?
jase
2018-11-14 12:25
Closing a HK company now. The annual audits are nothing compared to the offshore tax exemption.
jase
2018-11-14 12:25
But that said - I'm getting the feeling now that generally HK, SG, Estonia, etc all end up costing around the same amount to operate
skat
2018-11-14 13:19
It's not like I want to avoid taxes, I just need really good options for payment processing. I come from Estonia, and payment processing options are quite limited (no PayPal or stripe)
michael
2018-11-14 13:46
@michael you will need minimum of one director who has to be a resident in Singapore. i.e. Singaporean / Singapore PR / Singapore employment pass holder. The shareholders and other directors can be from anywhere else. I am not Singaporean. If you need a provider let me know.
michael
2018-11-14 13:47
@jase over the years, i have tilted towards SG, due to the ease of banking vs HK. And yes, nowadays the operating costs for these entities are pretty much or less on par.
jase
2018-11-14 21:14
Transferwise + Xero is now linking up
jase
2018-11-14 21:14
This is incredible
danz
2018-11-14 23:15
And the debit card option, coming out in december I believe?
jase
2018-11-15 06:08
Yep there's a pre-order option now
aphelan1
2018-11-16 00:08
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22525
2018-11-20 14:51
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kommodis
2018-11-25 09:31
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redareda9
2018-11-26 00:29
Hello guys, I'm currently in KL and my Airbnb is not good for working (no desk). Do you know some good places to work from?
ledrewy
2018-11-26 01:23
daniel
2018-11-28 16:21
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blackbear18
2018-11-30 02:39
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ggiampieri
2018-11-30 13:10
Guys please help with your opinion about marketing automation tools for e-commerce. Mailchimp is good but we need to integrate more automations. Beeketing vs salesmanago or hubspot? Any combination of them, like mailchimp + beeketing free + hubspot free crm? What are you using? Pricing is a big point we need to handle 100k+ emails. Thanks. Oh we use woocommerce..!
maxsuur
2018-11-30 21:18
I use Active Campaign. But it's a way smaller list than yours. Still a very powerful tool
ggiampieri
2018-11-30 22:17
Thanks for your feedback. I just installed mautic, it is a personal mailing server open source. Will use it with prospects. This way helps reduce montly costs using mailchimp campaigns for paying customers only. Beeketing seems very powerful to keep website dynamic. Free hubspot version is good for chatbot and ticketing. I hope this setup will scale smoothly from 10k to 100k emails.
maxsuur
2018-12-02 02:10
:DDDD
maxsuur
2018-12-02 02:45
Just remember that mautic is a bit clumsy
ggiampieri
2018-12-02 11:44
Yes mautic looks like that, we will test delivery rate and see. If it works ok and can copy and paste mailchimp html it is a good workaround. Our margin is small and with consumer goods scaling is the only way to go. Mailerlite is not so cheaper, I think it is pointless to use a cheap mailchimp version. Either free or the best! Can you suggest other options?
nnmatveev
2018-12-03 06:45
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maxsuur
2018-12-03 09:11
Try Sendy. It's a self-hosted solution that paired with Amazon SES is both robust and affordable. That I use for some of my projects
julienduteurtre
2018-12-03 14:13
I use Mailerlite as an alternative to mail chimp and i'm super happy with it :slightly_smiling_face:
ggiampieri
2018-12-03 21:27
@maxsuur Sendy looks like a great compromise, thanks!! @julienduteurtre thanks I tried it already
maxsuur
2018-12-03 22:42
:wink: @ggiampieri Glad to have been of service.
skat
2018-12-04 08:54
I'm gathering some intelligence on Amazon seller software, since couple of people already asked me about copy of excel file I gathered I decided to publish it publically at - http://dir.fbamonthly.com
If there are any Amazon sellers out here. Did I miss any tool your using?
assefphilippe
2018-12-05 08:45
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contact
2018-12-06 01:12
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info837
2018-12-17 11:05
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2018-12-18 01:44
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2018-12-19 11:38
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2018-12-19 12:45
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2018-12-19 23:22
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2018-12-22 03:00
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2018-12-22 19:40
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2018-12-23 19:46
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mylogun94
2018-12-29 12:27
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justin
2019-01-02 20:29
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redareda9
2019-01-03 05:23
Guys, I just received a mail from Stripe asking me if I had employees located in the United States for my Wyoming LLC in order to continue processing payments.
Did you already have this problem?
simon
2019-01-03 16:06
@redareda9 Not that I?m aware of. Have you replied to them?
justin
2019-01-03 21:26
Hello, guys have you hired anyone (freelancer or employee) based on the Contract Agreement? I am now going into that phase of hiring people and I do need either examples or contact to whom to talk regarding these things?
Thanks in advance
redareda9
2019-01-04 00:49
@simon Yes I did. I am waiting for their answer, I will keep you in touch.
blake.pope
2019-01-05 16:08
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julienduteurtre
2019-01-06 19:58
@redareda9 I received the same weird request from Stripe on a freshly incorporated LLC, I'm using stripe since few year with different companies and they never asked me such a thing in the past.
What did you answer them ?
redareda9
2019-01-07 03:11
@julienduteurtre I answered them it was a fresh new company and it doesn't make sense for a new company to have employees. I'm still waiting for their answer. What is making even less sense is that they offer Stripe Atlas, a solution to incorporate companies in Delaware. So they should know, new companies dont have employees..
redareda9
2019-01-07 04:27
@julienduteurtre
redareda9
2019-01-07 04:29
Not good I suppose.
bountybairn
2019-01-07 11:37
Hey guys, I have a TW account in place for a UK Ltd which I want to transfer ownership of to an offshore entity, 2 questions....
1) Will this affect the business account already set up with TW, i imagine it would
bountybairn
2019-01-07 11:38
2) The primary reason for this is to mask beneficial ownership at the companies house level, in terms of distributions are there any jurisdictions which are not regarded as havens which would allow profits to be maintained offshore with a liability arising?
bountybairn
2019-01-07 11:39
Company will be participating in FBA business and selling online training courses
carrabeanga
2019-01-08 01:33
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redareda9
2019-01-08 08:41
@simon Is it true that a EIN number is a proof that a LLC have employees. Then it would be the solution to this new problem?
julienduteurtre
2019-01-08 13:17
@redareda9 I answered yes I confirm I have employee in the US 3 days ago, I havn't heard from then since..
redareda9
2019-01-08 13:42
I called them and chatted with them. She told me, I?m forwarding to the specialized team. @julienduteurtre
simon
2019-01-08 13:43
@redareda9 Hopefully this issue can be resolved. It seems to only affect a small number of accounts but with no clear indication why.
redareda9
2019-01-08 13:48
Yes I?m curious @julienduteurtre what?s your business? Maybe it?s linked to that.
julienduteurtre
2019-01-08 14:19
@redareda9 With this account I'm selling courses
julienduteurtre
2019-01-08 14:19
So they forwarded you to the specialized team and then what ?
redareda9
2019-01-08 14:21
For me it?s ecommerce with physical products so not really linked
redareda9
2019-01-08 14:21
They just forwarded the message
redareda9
2019-01-08 14:21
So nothing. She just told me they were going to answer by mail @julienduteurtre
julienduteurtre
2019-01-08 14:30
@redareda9 ok thank you for the info, let's keep each other in touch
redareda9
2019-01-09 03:45
@julienduteurtre Just got an email today from them . Apparently they are reviewing what I sent them and they will answer in a few days.
redareda9
2019-01-09 03:46
Will keep you updated.
redareda9
2019-01-09 12:28
@julienduteurtre @simon it was declined. Julien, where were you when applying for the stripe account. Which country or which ip
redareda9
2019-01-09 14:24
They declined cuz apparently they don't accept doing business with Thailand so far.
redareda9
2019-01-09 14:24
But nothing is linked to Thailand in the Stripe account except the IP adress.
mikeseo
2019-01-10 03:33
EIN is not proof of having employees, you can apply for an EIN as a sole member of a LLC.
vinodgn0088
2019-01-10 10:45
Looks like they don't want US LLCs operated from outside of US
m.moser
2019-01-10 10:46
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simon
2019-01-10 11:03
@vinodgn0088 Or rather, from unsupported countries (Thailand in this case).
vinodgn0088
2019-01-10 12:28
@simon, May be
blake.pope
2019-01-10 12:39
yes I wouldn't set up in US if it is for remote online business Estonia e residence and company using something like Leapin is the way to do it
simon
2019-01-10 12:47
@blake.pope Estonia doesn?t have Stripe nor any virtual banks (TransferWise and the likes do not provide Estonian IBANs). Getting a real bank account requires a personal visit and taxation may be a problem if you live in a high tax country.
blake.pope
2019-01-10 13:02
oh yes if you live in high tax country not v useful, but if in Thailand with only local tax then I think it could be a good option?
blake.pope
2019-01-10 13:02
and there are EMI's that give EU IBAN's to Estonian companies, which is all you need really
blake.pope
2019-01-10 13:04
I am talking about a 100% online business set up only :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2019-01-10 13:14
@blake.pope Thailand is a high tax country. Also, as per the Estonia-Thailand tax treaty any profits arising from the Thai permanent establishment of an Estonian company will be liable for taxation in Thailand.
ggiampieri
2019-01-10 13:19
Then always use a local vps to login. Thanks for the news it is very important. Think of it in the middle of high season they lock transactions and considering paypal 70% stripe 30%, it could compromise your customer satisfaction and turnover..
bountybairn
2019-01-10 14:14
@simon thought there were some issues with estonia e-residents getting business accounts shut down recently?
simon
2019-01-10 14:19
@bountybairn It?s still an issue, I?m getting emails every week from people who can?t open local accounts even in person and with the recommendation of a local service provider. Not sure what the Estonian government will do to address this, so far they have only pushed folks to use Holvi.
bountybairn
2019-01-10 14:37
thanks @simon, I will steer clear of that set up for now and focus on another model. I may register soon through the site for US LLC, but again seeing some issues for folk getting stripe
simon
2019-01-10 14:41
@bountybairn If you rely on Stripe the UK is a great choice. There?s been no issue there so far and you can get your settlements paid to accounts in multiple currencies (USD, EUR, GBP etc).
bountybairn
2019-01-10 14:44
@simon I am UK based, so ideally wanted to have a flag elsewhere, does that make any sense or am I misunderstanding? I can't travel just now but do have passive income sources which I'd like to have established in a reasonably efficient manner. In terms of Stripe, I am just more familiar with it so would prefer to use it but open to other options which can handle recurring subscriptions
cornelis
2019-01-10 20:08
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redareda9
2019-01-11 02:52
I provided:
- an EIN
- a Transferwise bank account
- my photo ID (french one)
- the business address registered in Wyoming
redareda9
2019-01-11 02:53
The physical address is in bold in his answer so the problem is probably this last address.
mikeseo
2019-01-11 02:56
he probably considers transferwise a virtual bank account and the address in wyoming a virtual location.
mikeseo
2019-01-11 02:59
so maybe visit the US and open a real bank account like wells fargo or bofa, rent your own office/apartment or use a friend's address, and change the LLC and EIN registration address to that..
redareda9
2019-01-11 03:08
Yes that's exactly what I'm thinking.
Will probably do that.
redareda9
2019-01-11 03:12
There is also a probability they are considering I'm a fraud because the EIN is giving Simon Vaillancourt or Freedom Surfer LLC. Will clarify that with them.
jase
2019-01-11 03:15
@redareda9 have you considered using Stripe atlas? They are now opening US LLCs for non-residents
jase
2019-01-11 03:16
A cynic may say, they are using the "no virtual bank account" line to encourage people to use Stripe Atlas :slightly_smiling_face:
redareda9
2019-01-11 03:19
That's litteraly what they said to a friend.
redareda9
2019-01-11 03:19
"Go open a company with Stripe Atlas, we will accept you"
justin
2019-01-11 17:44
hello guys do you have experience hiring independent contractors in different places to do some work for you? I am looking how to structurize the contract and want to understand if there can be one type of document applicable for different countries.
anosory0007
2019-01-12 05:08
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sebastian.leu
2019-01-12 13:57
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d.mikocionis
2019-01-16 02:15
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bhugbhug
2019-01-16 13:33
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jase
2019-01-21 00:46
What is simpler/cheaper for reporting/paperwork requirements? Non-resident UK LLP or US LLC?
jase
2019-01-21 00:59
I need a Stripe account, but live in Andorra and have a company in Andorra.
jase
2019-01-21 00:59
My guess is, UK or US will be the easiest countries to set up to use a Stripe account through
mikeseo
2019-01-21 01:16
not sure what's required for the UK, but I think for US LLC you have to file a form 5472 every year now?
Also maybe keep it all in stripe? https://stripe.com/blog/atlas-llc
I have no firsthand experience.
jase
2019-01-21 01:20
Thanks Mike - it seems I'll need an ITIN and EIN to do so. Does that mean I then need to do a personal return in USA each year?
simon
2019-01-21 02:06
@jase There?s no need for an ITIN, just an EIN (as long as you receive no ECI).
The UK makes more sense if you want to use Stripe, however, as you can do everything in EUR and the fees are lower (in the US your payouts will be converted into USD).
jase
2019-01-21 02:07
Thanks @simon. Is there much paperwork involved in maintaining a UK LLP?
jase
2019-01-21 02:07
Do you know some estimated yearly costs managing that type of entity?
simon
2019-01-21 02:13
You need to file an empty partnership return (if you have no UK-source income), annual accounts and a confirmation statement. You can do everything online and obviously it?s all in English.
As for costs, it depends mainly on the type of mailing address package you get (you need a UK address) and whether you send the returns yourself or hire someone to do it for you. In most cases, you are looking at 200-500 GBP annually.
jase
2019-01-21 02:41
Thanks @simon
mikeseo
2019-01-21 04:16
a US EIN is easy to get for your LLC, I think I applied online and it was instant a few years ago. I'm not sure if you would have to file a personal tax return when filing the form 5472 every year.
jase
2019-01-21 04:17
Thanks @mikeseo
simon
2019-01-21 05:28
@mikeseo Non-residents have to apply via fax but it?s also fairly easy (although impossible at the moment due to the shutdown). There?s no need to file a US tax return (if you have no US ECI).
jase
2019-01-21 05:44
Hmm ok, so US is not too arduous then
vinodgn0088
2019-01-21 07:11
@jase, someone resident in Thailand mentioned that Stripe is not interested in LLC without significant US connection ( local employee). Another guy mentioned that stripe staff recommended his friend to setup company though stripe atlas to get stripe account.
jase
2019-01-21 07:12
@vinodgn0088 yeah I've heard that as well. Stripe Atlas is the way to go.
jase
2019-01-21 07:12
Anyway, some good news. The bind I was in has been unbound!
jase
2019-01-21 07:12
The software I'm using has just introduced Braintree support (Beta), so I can continue to bide my time!
vinodgn0088
2019-01-21 07:13
Whats the software name?
vinodgn0088
2019-01-21 07:16
Does the software include accounting module or intergration to xero/quickbooks?
jase
2019-01-21 07:36
I haven't looked yet
jase
2019-01-21 07:36
They seem to have a fair few integrations
bogdan.pahomi
2019-01-22 14:38
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tiendamodel
2019-01-27 15:07
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angelowysz
2019-01-29 07:24
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sscobe
2019-01-29 08:38
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ggiampieri
2019-01-31 22:40
Arbitrage question: it looks like buying FB ads for a certain country i.e. USA from a USD ads account is more expensive than buying from a EUR account. Same applies for other currencies. Any experience or suggesgions? Looks like they profit from more expensive countries. Thanks
benny
2019-02-01 02:41
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johncitizen
2019-02-02 00:08
Would be good to A/B test the same criteria between US and non-US as I think you?ll find the rankings will be very different
johncitizen
2019-02-02 00:08
Like US paid advertising to US may get a ranking boost so the price may be worth it. Don?t know without testing.
ggiampieri
2019-02-02 10:38
Great hint, I will try and keep you posted. Thanks
creativespot
2019-02-04 06:57
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bigworld
2019-02-04 20:45
Does anyone has expirience with Panama Private Foundations? It looks like the ideal vehicle for Forex trading.
The foundation can't engage in active business, hence no need of having substance.
Also it can hold companies.
vinodgn0088
2019-02-05 00:59
@bigworld, if you are trading on a regular basis, isn't Forex also considered as active business? (Professional Forex Trader)
bigworld
2019-02-05 06:05
@vinodgn0088 that figure doesn't exist in every country.
In others problem is the opposite, a company doing Forex is not considered an operating company.
burrup.lambert
2019-02-06 02:56
@simon may have some input of Forex structures.
michael
2019-02-06 03:42
@bigworld I was looking for a similar company / structure. The purpose would be to hold capital (personal and some from friends/family), and invest in Forex, Equities and perhaps Private Equity. Anyone setup something similar?
michael
2019-02-06 03:43
@bigworld Never setup a Panama company... was looking into it... then panama papers came out :stuck_out_tongue:
imatfaal
2019-02-06 04:05
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kuka
2019-02-10 07:48
Anyone setup a combo of UK LLP + US LLC/C-Corp? How does it work?
simon
2019-02-10 08:00
@kuka I have.
simon
2019-02-10 08:00
If the LLC is set up as a disregarded entity, all profits attributed to it from the LLP will flow to its owner as would any other profits.
kuka
2019-02-10 08:02
Great, so the flow looks like `Natural person -> US LLC -> UK LLP` then?
kuka
2019-02-10 08:06
@simon Any caveats one should be aware of with this setup?
simon
2019-02-10 08:17
One of the great benefits of running an LLP as a non-UK resident is that none of your transactions have to be reported in the UK. With an LLC, you need to report to the IRS all transactions that happen between yourself and the LLC (via form 5472). Not a big issue if your personal taxes are in the clear but not ideal for those who "fly under the radar".
simon
2019-02-10 08:18
To be clear, filing form 5472 does not create a US tax liability. It is only an information return.
kuka
2019-02-10 08:26
@simon That helps, thank you!
p_jeuch
2019-02-10 23:25
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contact007
2019-02-15 18:06
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wearethepacktory
2019-02-17 07:18
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pedrodemendez
2019-02-20 23:39
How do people here handle accounting? I have spoken to a corpsec in Singapore and they wanted $40000 per year (ballpark figure) to maintain the company. That included the director fee. I expect around 4000 transactions per year to be entered in the bookkeeping. That should be possible to do cheaper not? What are best practices, recommendations?
pedrodemendez
2019-02-20 23:40
Am now considering BVI as operating company and SGP as holding on top of it, to prevent the transactions to take place in Singapore LTD and lower accounting fees.
sebastian.leu
2019-02-21 07:49
@pedrodemendez depending on your accounting requirements, you may be able to setup a basic book keeping for much less or free using services like zapier and airtable.
michael
2019-02-21 10:13
@pedrodemendez
nikolay
2019-02-21 14:46
Sounds like not a bad idea but you'd need to see where you'll open bank accounts for the BVI as that might be harder compared to accounts for the SGP.
pierre.berthalon
2019-02-21 19:07
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simonbcr
2019-02-22 15:23
I?m hiring a bookkeeper for 3$/hour (just simple data entry). He adds all transactions in zoho books. So my accountant only has to do minimal work and auditing. It was about 200$ for accounting for 1000 transactions. Though that?s Hong Kong.
lucasb2611
2019-02-25 13:31
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clem.boulanger2611
2019-02-25 14:21
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riccardo.longobardi
2019-02-26 02:41
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kevin.ogier
2019-03-01 09:23
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kevin.ogier
2019-03-01 11:48
I'm doing with one partner an online business where we manage an event website with regular news. We have some freelances (over the world) who are doing some web design, web developement, writers. One shareholder is in Taiwan, other is in Indonesia. Of course there is no office. Business model : some companies pay us for advertisement on the website and sometimes we go to different places in Asia to take pictures of events and get paid for that.
1. In those conditions, is a UK LLP a good setup with the 2 shareholders non UK resident (but european citizens)?
2. How it's work for accounting? We need to give to accountant the invoices and proof of incomes? Or we just need declare ourself once a year the total incomes/cost/profit?
3. How is it now for get a bank account with UK LLP in the context of Brexit? Easy? Which bank? And is the Brexit affect the setup?
4. If I understand well, there is no coporate tax in UK, the only thing we need to pay is taxes on profit each shareholder get to his own residence country. So if gross income is 200K and total cost is 80K, then 120K profit is distributed, 60K each. And each of us pay taxes in our residence country on this 60K, is that correct?
5. What is roughly the yearly maintenance fees for LLP?
vinodgn0088
2019-03-01 13:11
@kevin.ogier, First Check the UK-Indo, UK-Taiwan DTAA and make sure that a LLP is recognized. Some countries recognize LLP as a corporate and the standard corporate tax residency thing will come up. For bank account its better you talk to some banks or an agent, having EU passport is a good thing for you people. If bank account is not mandatory, you can use transferwise. Accounting side - You can use Xero or Quickbooks and hire a bookkeeper from freelancer or some other sites. Then use an accountant just to double check the records and do VAT/Annual return submissions.
simon
2019-03-01 13:29
1. Partnerships are recognized by both countries under current treaties. As such, an LLP does make sense as its easier / cheaper to run than other alternatives.
2. Nothing has to be declared in the UK (see HMRC HS380). I recommend talking to tax specialists in Taiwan and Indonesia to learn of your obligations there.
3. It's very easy to set up an account with the likes of TransferWise Borderless and Revolut. They can be linked to Stripe, PayPal etc and are very useful when multiple currencies are involved.
4. Correct.
5. I charge 247 EUR per year (for all UK filings and government fees).
shaharhillel4
2019-03-01 14:57
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ggiampieri
2019-03-01 16:59
Is is possible to use this setup for physical products? I mean how to ship to Eu countries avoiding VAT selling from UK LLP? Is fulfillment from UK a viable option? How to handle customs?
danz
2019-03-02 00:20
I don?t think it?s possible, you will have to register for VAT if you want to sell from the UK.
danz
2019-03-02 00:20
to other EU countries?
simon
2019-03-02 00:25
EU VAT rules are fairly complex and whether you need to charge or not depends on a number of factors. I recommend reading:
https://www.freedomsurfer.com/eu-vat/
ggiampieri
2019-03-02 01:33
Thanks guys, that's what I thought. So actual setup which helps with branding using Italian company is ok. Painful but reasonable! Then we stick to Hk for Asian sales.
vinodgn0088
2019-03-02 01:34
@ggiampieri, if your customer base is in EU, better setup a company EU company ( except UK - Brexit issue)
ggiampieri
2019-03-02 01:36
Exactly, brexit is a worrying issue. Fulfillment is a mess as we should stock in every country to access local delivery tariffs.
ggiampieri
2019-03-02 01:38
We use all the couriers on earth but for 5? delivery+pick and pack it works only if you stock locally
simon
2019-03-02 01:40
It doesn?t usually matter where you register (EU or not), what matters is where your customers are, where your goods come from and where they are warehoused.
ggiampieri
2019-03-02 01:48
Actual setup is: goods from Asia, warehouse north of Italy, Italian company, Italian customers + some othe EU customers. The point is scaling is France or Spain for example means 9.5 to 11 ? for shipping compared to 5/7 for same country delivery. Customers are not always willing to pay more. Forget Amazon fulfillment. The only way is to warehouse in every Eu country with enough customers. We use Bartolini which is Dpd for the rest of Eu, good speed and reliable.
ggiampieri
2019-03-02 01:49
Oh and you need to add 22% vat to those couriers prices
ggiampieri
2019-03-02 02:28
If anyone needs I can provide prices for dropshipping from China with china post worldwide and SF for Asian countries
jase
2019-03-03 09:07
If I want to build websites on .http://com.au domains and sell advertising to Australian companies, is there a way I can do this without an Australian company/a company abroad being seen as an Australian tax resident?
cnilson46
2019-03-04 13:04
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tjelinek
2019-03-04 15:34
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suren.pinto
2019-03-04 16:02
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scarduzio
2019-03-04 16:50
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kevin.ogier
2019-03-06 04:15
@simon Thank you for this answer. For some reasons we need a real corporate bank account to get some wire transfer. Is it complicated now as non resident + brexit?
simon
2019-03-06 04:22
With TransferWise Borderless you can receive wires / SWIFT in EUR and USD. https://transferwise.com/help/article/2811598/borderless-account/what-type-of-payments-can-i-receive-into-my-borderless-account
If you prefer opening a ?traditional? bank account, HSBC is usually the easiest to deal with as a non-resident. A personal visit is required and they will want to see some proofs of business activities.
kevin.ogier
2019-03-06 04:38
Actually it's not I prefer but for some reasons it could be mandatory :slightly_smiling_face: Btw for EMI like N26, revolut, etc, how to open a corporate account if we don't have a traditional corporate bank account first?
simon
2019-03-06 04:52
N26 doesn?t offer corporate accounts (only sole traders accounts). Revolut offers corporate accounts but they are not real bank accounts, they are virtual accounts (similar to TransferWise). It?s unclear at this point if they will offer real accounts in the future via their banking license.
To go back to your original question, you can open an account as a non-resident with HSBC and Barclays but a personal visit will be required as well as proofs of business activities. In some cases, Barclays has been known to ask for a 25k minimum deposit.
kevin.ogier
2019-03-06 05:06
My point was actually how to open account with EMI such as N26 to run a business with shareholders if we don't have a traditional corporate bank account? If the answer is to open N26 and other EMI accounts with a personal bank account, then I wonder if it's clean to run the business in this way? Because in this configuration one shareholder will receive wire transfer from customers for the company but at his personal name and not in company name. And in this case he will receive payment instead of LLP. So I just wonder if it's clean in this way.
simon
2019-03-06 05:13
You can open a stand-alone TransferWise, Revolut etc account for the LLP. There?s no need to link it to a corporate or personal traditional bank account.
If you need to receive wires in currencies other than EUR or USD, you need to open a corporate account with a traditional bank. It doesn?t have to be in the UK, however, if you prefer to use a bank elsewhere.
kevin.ogier
2019-03-06 05:37
Oh ok that's good to know! And I guess in this case we don't need a traditional corporate account to transfer dividends to shareholders. That can be done directly from transferWise => to shareholders personal account in their own countries. Is that correct?
simon
2019-03-06 05:45
Yes (although in the context of an LLP such payments are referred to as distributions and not dividends).
An added benefits here is that you will likely get better exchange rates with TW than you would with a traditional bank (especially when ?exotic? currencies such as the TWD and IDR are involved.
kevin.ogier
2019-03-06 06:28
Thank you very much for those answers. You are right, I always thought it was dividends and not distributions. I'm not familiar with distributions. Is distribution better than dividends for taxes? Do you have an url in your website about that maybe?
simon
2019-03-06 06:57
In most countries, distributions are taxed as regular income. This makes them very easy to account for, from a compliance perspective.
myspace70000
2019-03-06 07:00
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kevin.ogier
2019-03-06 07:01
Oh I see, but in this case it's high tax compare to dividends usually, isn't it? For example if you live in tax free place like Panama or Hong Kong, dividends are 0% but I guess distributions are not.
simon
2019-03-06 07:25
You will likely pay a higher rate when receiving a distribution than you would when receiving a dividend.
You will not have to worry about corporation tax, however, and residency issues.
If you live in Hong Kong / Panama and own a corporation (or any legal entity capable of paying dividends), it is likely that it will be deemed a tax resident of Hong Kong / Panama and subject to corporation tax there (place of management rules).
ravi
2019-03-11 01:48
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immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 05:06
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immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 07:52
Hi guys, is anyone familiar with the Malaysia tech entrepreneurship program? https://www.mtep.my/ looks like an interesting way to get a visa for up to 5 years at a time but I can't find much info online
vinodgn0088
2019-03-13 08:42
@immanuel.debeer, You will be subject to Malaysian taxes and they expect you to bring some new ideas which will create local jobs and evolve.
joelmattison
2019-03-13 12:10
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immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 13:42
I couldn't find anything about the company location. Assume Labuan would be fine which would come with its own benefits.
ledrewy
2019-03-13 14:15
@immanuel.debeer It?s an initiative under MDEC so usually they would want the entrepreneurs to base themselves in Cyberjaya or one of the Cybercentres
https://www.mdec.my/directory/cybercities-cybercentres/wilayah-persekutuan
vinodgn0088
2019-03-13 14:47
Labuan is tightening rules. If you want residence visa - 60K+ USD paid up capital, 10K MYR monthly remuneration ( work around available to reduce taxable amount to 2500MYR per month. but this will most likely end next year). And they removed flat 20000 MYR option. Now all labuan companies must do audit and pay 3% tax. Also, operational office (renting a room) and labuan residential address is mandatory. If you want to avoid labuan residential address, then you need a KL or Iskandar (JB) marketing office and there is a 7000 MYR license free per year for this marketing office.
immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 14:49
@ledrewy yes I saw there were a few co-working spaces listed. Wondering how easy it is to get in as an established entrepreneur for the 5-year visa. I know you need a local sponsor but other than that it's pretty vague on what they are looking for (skill wise)
immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 14:51
yes so I'm wondering if you can avoid these requirements if you come in on a tech entrepreneur visa. Or even continue using whatever current offshore company one might have (Hong Kong, Dubai etc)
vinodgn0088
2019-03-13 14:52
@immanuel.debeer, Contact them and ask for details. Also, most likely the visa will be either 1 year or 2 year and then you need to renew it. If all goes good you can stay upto 5 year and then convert your business into a full fledged Sdn Bhd
ledrewy
2019-03-13 14:52
@immanuel.debeer These are their focus areas although creative contents and games are considered too. But best to contact them directly.
https://www.mdec.my/digital-innovation-ecosystem
immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 14:52
it's either 1 year or 5 years and each one is renewable
immanuel.debeer
2019-03-13 14:53
@ledrewy thanks will do. Was hoping someone here had gone through the process
vinodgn0088
2019-03-13 14:53
The issue is the place of effective management rule. If you live full time in any country and manage Hong Kong offshore company, then the company is tax resident in your country of residence. ( unless you have an office in HK, local staffs and have local clients)
phelipeslinhares
2019-03-13 17:17
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mrmarcroca
2019-03-13 22:25
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michael
2019-03-15 02:52
@immanuel.debeer No I haven't looks ok. Depending on what you want to do there is the Malaysia My 2nd Home program, and there is the option to setup a MSC status company which entitles you to hire foreigners easily (a BIT like a BOI company in Thailand). Someone mentioned Labuan companies too, personally I wouldn't go there, as they are now getting flagged. I have pretty much or less closed most of the companies I have in Labuan.
vinodgn0088
2019-03-15 05:22
MSC status company which entitles you to hire foreigners easily << True if you are ready to pay a minimum salary for RM 10000 for your foreign staffs. They have started cracking down on EP3 and EP2 categories already. What they are saying is true, they want to give more jobs to Malaysians.
stolzlos
2019-03-16 17:40
Does anybody have some good info on marketing apps? I am a total newbie to marketing.
maxsuur
2019-03-16 20:01
Email Marketing-> Active Campaign.
maxsuur
2019-03-16 20:01
If you want to study a guy, or more so "the guy", study this one: http://bensettle.com
stolzlos
2019-03-16 22:11
thanks a lot. Will check it out.
immanuel.debeer
2019-03-17 02:49
marketing apps is a very broad term. What are you looking to achieve?
For email i use Drip, for advertising Facebook, instagram, Adwords, taboola, Outbrain. For tracking Google analytics, Tag manager etc.
maxsuur
2019-03-17 08:09
Marketing in a nutshell: you need a starving crowd (traffic) and something to satiate their hunger (conversion).
maxsuur
2019-03-17 08:11
Before diving in marketing apps, my 1st recommendation is hone the fundamentals: where they hang out, what they want. From there, choose your marketing tools accordingly. You can start pretty barebones, and from there, get more sophisticated.
stolzlos
2019-03-18 17:14
sorry, I should have been a bit more explicit.
stolzlos
2019-03-18 17:17
I am developing an app on Android and have now a usable version. I wonder what the best or most effective way is how to create awareness for the app.
stolzlos
2019-03-18 17:19
The reason why I postponed the marketing efforts until now was because I was not sure that my idea is technically possible to realize (limits of hardware and Android) and second, that I am actually able finish it to a usable degree.
immanuel.debeer
2019-03-19 03:48
Facebook & google ads. Target anyone that have interests similar to what your app has to offer
riccardo.longobardi
2019-03-19 07:25
Hey Giac! yes i am interested in that - I will source product from China to Italy, need to understand which is the best way for the logistic in terms of cost/trasportation day, do you have any experience about it?
riccardo.longobardi
2019-03-19 07:29
Hello All! I will import sexual wellness product from China to Italy - do you have any recommendation in terms which might be the best courier, tips and how to maximize timing and cost? at the beginning volume wont be too high also
maxsuur
2019-03-19 09:39
Cold emails is also a very interesting option to get allies to promote your product. For that matter, Jon Buchan is the guy.
llc
2019-03-19 14:15
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jorgosgravalas
2019-03-19 16:47
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stolzlos
2019-03-19 17:51
I will look into it. thank you both.
leursivan
2019-03-20 08:26
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juarnaud
2019-03-22 12:57
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contact008
2019-03-27 14:29
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philcoub
2019-03-28 08:04
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skat
2019-03-30 04:17
Is there any other bank I can open for my HK business without going anywhere? I've tried Neat Business, but they declined me without explaining much
simon
2019-03-30 04:44
@skat Currenxie may be an option as they offer local HK bank details.
https://currenxie.com/global-account.html
skat
2019-03-30 14:17
@simon stripe will not work with this as it seems
simon
2019-03-30 15:26
That?s good to know, I guess it?s the usual ?the account doesn?t support direct debit? issue.
So the only remote option without a HKID is Neat?
martin
2019-04-02 07:22
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wowkroskar
2019-04-03 13:47
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nemo
2019-04-04 08:11
Opinions on entity suited for my private crypto trading? I had a look at Seychelles and Belize IBC, but I noticed that Simon seems to disfavor them these days. This is 100% crypto, so no banking needed. Would love to hear your opinions on this.
bigworld
2019-04-04 08:30
What about RAK offshore? Beyond taxation, no need for accounting makes it promising
nemo
2019-04-04 08:46
Yes, I thought about that for my online business actually. For crypto I find it somewhat compliance heavy (secretary, business plans etc). Do you have any experience with RAK?
bigworld
2019-04-04 09:52
I don't you need a secretary. You may need the business plan for opening the bank account, but you discarded banking. I trade Crypto and Forex, but my volume doesn't justify yet having a company. Also, based in Spain I am not sure if CFC rules in Spain would apply even having a tax-treaty among the countries if it's considered a company without substance and the special clause for passive income. Apart of that, it still looks good to me.
nemo
2019-04-04 10:44
Thanks. Any opinion on which agent/provider I should use for company registration?
ivan
2019-04-04 12:31
nmo I have an IBC which I use for invoicing clients in the states and europe, no one ever complains. I also have Transferwise and Payoneer "bank accounts" with it.
ivan
2019-04-04 12:32
That said, if you're looking for privacy you're probably better off just sticking to cryptos if you can avoid using brokers somehow or use anonymous ones. The hard part will be opening accounts in brokers with an offshore company.
ivan
2019-04-04 12:34
You need to consider that if you ever get audited and they find out about your offshore you'll have to prove you haven't been managing it from your high tax country.
nemo
2019-04-04 12:51
Thanks vndc. What?s your yearly compliance cost for the IBC? I?m not planning on managing it from a high tax country, but I take your point - it might be better to keep it in crypto without a company connection.
ivan
2019-04-04 14:52
My yearly cost is $790. But you can find cheaper. Around $500.
ivan
2019-04-04 14:54
If you don't have tax residency in a high tax jurisdiction an LLC can work better than a corp and you won't have issues opening accounts. It's just that the corp adds an extra layer of protection.
ivan
2019-04-04 14:54
Because it separates its taxes from you
ivan
2019-04-04 14:55
Once you open broker accounts and bank accounts you lose your privacy
ivan
2019-04-04 14:55
If that's what you're after.
ivan
2019-04-04 14:55
I believe cryptos are the new tax haven of the world. If only they weren't so volatile.
danz
2019-04-04 15:02
@nemo You could contact http://Flagtheory.com, consulted them a way ago and they offer company set-ups for this + connections with banks for private/premier banking as that?s probably the only option to to cash out big amounts through OTC.
nemo
2019-04-04 15:05
Brilliant. Thanks.
asarun72
2019-04-04 18:16
@simon IRS now requires all non citizens who want to apply for a. EIN for their llc/inc to have a ITIN number first - https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-revises-ein-application-process-seeks-to-enhance-security
simon
2019-04-04 19:22
@asarun72 Yes I saw the news. It?s unfortunate as it will significantly slow down the EIN issuance process. On the other hand, having an ITIN will be useful for LLC owners.
asarun72
2019-04-04 19:25
Yes . They want responsible party on ss4 to have a tax number.
asarun72
2019-04-04 19:26
One way to override this is to have a foreign Corp apply for EIN and use that EIN number on llc ss4 form for privacy
simon
2019-04-04 19:35
They will not accept an EIN anymore, only an SSN or ITIN.
simon
2019-04-04 19:35
They only want natural persons as responsible party.
mescos
2019-04-05 16:07
@danz - what do you see being the value-add with Flagtheory? They seem to be selling massively inflated corporate structures and then referring you to banks that you can approach directly yourself. Were you able to qualify the extent of their ?connections? or what specifically they do to increase your chances of account opening?
danz
2019-04-05 16:08
@mescos I didn?t toke any of the services, I did a consultancy to ask some questions which got answered nicely.
danz
2019-04-05 16:09
And for opening something, I mean it would be much easier to do with a party that has the connections. I mean, you can do everything yourself for everything. But I rather not setup a company, find the right banks, go somewhere when I am not sure if they will open/help me out etc. Much easier to use a party that can refer you so it?s done smoothly.
mescos
2019-04-05 16:10
@danz - gotcha. Did you do a paid consult or just an initial inquiry?
danz
2019-04-05 16:35
Paid consult
doujak
2019-04-06 07:38
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stuart
2019-04-07 06:30
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xavier
2019-04-09 07:29
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soti_androulakis
2019-04-09 09:12
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danz
2019-04-09 13:28
Are you going to sell in the rest of the EU? If so, then you will probably need a VAT number.
kaimana
2019-04-10 03:52
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jase
2019-04-11 17:44
Is a US LLC + Transferwise + Stripe an option for non-residents nowadays? I heard good news with Stripe Atlas but hear of recent challenges with Stripe closing down non-resident accounts, TW rejecting non-resident company accounts, and US LLCs needing increased reporting. What's the latest?
ivan
2019-04-11 20:12
I had an LLC with both Stripe and Transferwise (closed them at the end of last year). I'd imagine they're closing suspicious accounts in general. When I opened the the Stripe account all seemed too fragile since they required a SSN but then accepted you to not have it when you spoke to support. The issue I had with Transferwise, though, was that they didn't allow me to have an USD account number to receive bank transfers directly.
ivan
2019-04-11 20:12
So I had to use Payoneer and Bitwage instead to withdraw my Stripe payments.
ivan
2019-04-11 20:13
Payoneer works pretty well in that scenario since they offer you an ACH account, the limit of that account is it only receives transfers from business accounts, not personal accounts.
ivan
2019-04-11 20:14
But there was another issue with my LLC's Payoneer account, and that was that they didn't give me the possibility to have a debit card since I didn't have a US address to receive it.
ivan
2019-04-11 20:14
In the end I stuck to my IBC which has access to an unlimited Payoneer account and Transferwise as well.
ivan
2019-04-11 20:15
I only miss a proper credit card processor like Stripe but I can do it manually with Payoneer.
ivan
2019-04-11 20:15
@jase
jase
2019-04-12 08:01
Thanks @ivan I'm surprised that TW are OK with an IBC but not a LLC
simon
2019-04-12 10:19
I?m also surprised as TransferWise has consistently been one of the easiest services to open accounts with (for LLCs and pretty much every other types of company in supported countries).
Stripe, on the other hand, has recently been more difficult to work with. Some accounts have been closed for no apparent reason while others are fine. The new ITIN rule should help although it will certainly slow things down (for Atlas too as they aren?t exempt from it).
ivan
2019-04-12 13:13
Actually TW offered the exact same service to both the IBC and the LLC. The US account was blocked in both. I guess LLC owned by non-residents and other entities like IBCs are blocked. I've heard of people with LLCs who had access to the US accounts. Maybe they considered my account suspicious during the registration.
ivan
2019-04-12 13:15
For USD I use Payoneer, either the ACH for companies or their payment request in order to process credit cards.
simon
2019-04-12 13:27
I have a USD account with TransferWise for an LLC so it?s definitely not a blanket ban. Maybe you signed up before they offered support for your companies? They now support multiple countries that offer IBCs.
https://transferwise.com/help/article/2811629/borderless-account/why-cant-i-get-usd-account-details
ivan
2019-04-12 15:56
I signed up on November 2017 I think.
ivan
2019-04-12 15:59
At the time The US weren't on the list. Or so I was told by their support. They actually showed me a similar page. It's strange Seychelles is supported while Belize isn't.
ivan
2019-04-12 15:59
And so many other tax havens.
julianmb
2019-04-13 01:31
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jase
2019-04-13 13:23
Is it possible to keep a UK LLP's ownership semi-opaque by keeping it's own statutory registers? And is this difficult/expensive to do?
vinodgn0088
2019-04-13 17:09
@jase, is there any option like that? You are required to enter UBO details on PSC register.
jase
2019-04-13 17:12
I believe the PSC register for an LLP is kept on their premises @vinodgn0088
jase
2019-04-13 17:13
**not an expert so I'm probably wrong here
jase
2019-04-13 17:13
but it appears it's only on public register at Companies House if you elect to do that
jase
2019-04-13 17:14
I'm sure the governments and banks know the UBOs, I'm fine with that
vinodgn0088
2019-04-13 17:14
@jase, Its not. Have a look at https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC421317/persons-with-significant-control
jase
2019-04-13 17:14
Hmm
vinodgn0088
2019-04-13 17:15
@jase, companies house allows hiding PSC details only if you have some solid reasons to do so and they approve your request
jase
2019-04-13 17:15
Damn, ok @vinodgn0088
jase
2019-04-13 17:16
Is a US LLC the better alternative in the situation of wanting to keep a business' ownership private?
jase
2019-04-13 17:16
(not from governments/banks, but the general public)
odailton.macedo
2019-04-16 00:37
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michael
2019-04-17 03:39
Does anyone know if the US WY LLC registration setup provided by @simon includes bank account opening?
simon
2019-04-17 06:33
@michael No it does not.
Your options are to either open a TransferWise type account online or travel to the US to open one with a ?traditional? bank.
stbrownlow
2019-04-18 22:11
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redareda9
2019-04-19 03:06
What do you mean by "can do it manually with Payoneer"? I'm interested
robert.geurtsen213
2019-04-19 09:22
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andycostesfr
2019-04-19 14:21
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stbrownlow
2019-04-19 22:37
@simon Quick question on Thailand and FEIE... In the freelancing article -- https://www.freedomsurfer.com/freelancing-legal -- Thailand is listed as an example of "a country where personal income is not subject to taxation."
stbrownlow
2019-04-19 22:43
I understand that Thai is a high-tax country, except for foreign, non-Thai-sourced income that is not remitted, but was under the impression that "source" would also include online freelancing work performed within Thailand; freelancing therefore being exempt from the unremitted "trick." Can you clarify how it is applicable to freelancers?
simon
2019-04-19 22:52
It?s applicable in the context of a freelancer that does not qualify as a Thai tax resident and whose income is attributable elsewhere.
For example, an Australian tax resident working for Australian clients on Australian contracts who spends a few months every year in Thailand.
In most cases, living in Thailand tax-free will not be possible (or practical).
stbrownlow
2019-04-19 23:30
Okay, thanks; that makes sense. On another note, I just want to say that FS is really helpful and informative; I am a penny-pincher and rarely purchase/subscribe to digital products, but the value in FS was very obvious to me and a well spent ~$60! I am in the planning stages for transitioning to remotely employed software engineer (not freelancing), and the website has already given good food for thought wrt longer-term plans at 5 flagging self-employment via something like toptal. One more question: will I receive an email notification when you publish new articles to FS?
ludovicguerin122
2019-04-20 07:30
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simon
2019-04-20 12:03
Thanks for the kind words @stbrownlow. I usually send a push notification when I publish a new article or update an existing one.
coachsergioborges
2019-04-21 15:31
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ivan
2019-04-21 21:54
You send a payment request to clients.
jase
2019-04-24 14:08
Does anyone know of a good recurring payment processor that works with Braintree?
jase
2019-04-24 14:09
I use Xero to invoice monthly on a recurring basis, but I want to actually bill them monthly
jase
2019-04-24 14:09
Stripe is not available in my region
simon
2019-04-24 20:48
I've heard good things about Chargebee, https://www.chargebee.com/recurring-billing-invoicing/
simon749
2019-04-25 01:25
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saartje.vandenhende
2019-04-29 18:24
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heydevesh13
2019-04-30 01:04
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tatelev
2019-04-30 10:39
hi, I have a situation where I want to pay for a service for my business(and expense it). But I don?t want this service provider to have any trace of my company having paid them
tatelev
2019-04-30 10:40
it?s not something ilegal, but there is a chance that sometime in the future it could be an issue
tatelev
2019-04-30 10:40
is there any way that I can pay for this service without disclosing my identity when paying to this service provider?
vinodgn0088
2019-04-30 11:51
@tatelev, use crypto currencies ( bitcoin, etherium etc)
tatelev
2019-04-30 12:32
@vinodgn0088 the service provider I need to pay only accepts paypal and debit card
me1892
2019-04-30 14:00
@tatelev use an over-the-counter visa/mastercard gift card?
me1892
2019-04-30 14:01
Not sure what is available in your country but over here we have things like: https://www.prezzycard.co.nz/
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:04
@me1892 so this would be some sort of prepaid gift card which I could refill with my company?s funds and the use such card to pay, and the service provider would not have any identifying information from me or my company?
me1892
2019-04-30 14:06
@tatelev yeah, that's right. Over here you can just walk into a post shop and buy them for cash - you don't need to give any details (as they're designed to be gifted anyway)
me1892
2019-04-30 14:06
Though, these ones aren't refillable
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:07
ok, thanks, I more or less get the concept. But the challenge would be how to expense it in my company?s books
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:07
since my service provider would not be able to give me an invoice to the name of my company
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:08
I want to expense these payments. They are legit marketing expenses
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:09
so I need to have some way to have proof of them
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:09
(without the service provider that I?ll be paying knowing my real name or my company?s name)
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:09
tricky, I know :slightly_smiling_face:
me1892
2019-04-30 14:09
Sounds like a bit of a catch-22
me1892
2019-04-30 14:15
I guess you could keep the receipt of the gift card and the invoice from the service provider. If they both reference the same "virtual" CC number than I guess an auditor would understand you recording the cost of the gift card as the marketing expense? Though you may have to split out the portion of the money paid to the gift card service
me1892
2019-04-30 14:16
#notanaccountant :joy:
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:16
ah?this sounds interesting :slightly_smiling_face:
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:16
creative
me1892
2019-04-30 14:18
Auditors love creativity I'm sure :stuck_out_tongue: alternatively if you have a relationship with a marketing company/agency you could ask them to pay for the thing and bill you for consulting services
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:18
I might even be able to add the gift card as a new account in the company?s book of accounts
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:18
I?ll look into this
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:19
I am sure that others here can suggest different ?anonymous? refillable debit cards they recommend
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:20
I think I?ve seen this concept mentioned before, not sure if it was being used for the purpose I want it for
me1892
2019-04-30 14:20
Undoubtably - might even make a good article @simon
tatelev
2019-04-30 14:21
thanks @me1892
ivan
2019-04-30 15:31
@tatelev, many service providers used to be scammed with prepaid cards learned to recognize them and reject them. That's the case for Digital Ocean for example.
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:38
@ivan what kind of scam? isn?t it debited instantly?
ivan
2019-04-30 15:39
Not sure, but I get lots of trouble with Payoneer cards for instance. Which many service providers recognize as prepaid cards. Those have my name on them and are totally legit.
ivan
2019-04-30 15:39
The ones which reject them are those who need to make sure you can't run out of funds to pay them.
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:40
ah I see
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:41
got it. I see how service providers that provide the service before you pay, or charge you at end of month based on your usage, would want to stay away from accepting prepaid cards
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:42
in my case, I pay first, then I obtain the exact service for what I paid, over the course of a few weeks and that?s it
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:42
if I want more service, I need to pay again(before getting the service)
ivan
2019-04-30 15:42
They probably won't reject them then. That said, I'd ask them before purchasing a prepaid card, just in case.
ivan
2019-04-30 15:43
Google Adwords for instance works with prepaid cards.
ivan
2019-04-30 15:43
It's one of the few ads providers who does.
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:45
I did some search in Google and I saw some ?anonymous? prepaid cards from OneVanilla, Viabuy, Revolut?
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:45
this is all new for me, so I definetely need to research deeper
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:46
happy to get any advice on which cards people have used
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:54
one thought, in this context?
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:55
one of the Paypal accounts I have(working personal account) is an account created with fake personal details
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:55
Maybe I send money from my company to this Paypal account and pay from that paypal account
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:56
but this might not be kosher bookkeeping wise
tatelev
2019-04-30 15:57
anybody has any thoughts on this?
ivan
2019-04-30 16:05
Have you been able to pass all Paypal verification processes with that account?
ivan
2019-04-30 16:06
I think it could work better than using gift cards. You could register the transaction as hiring a freelancer.
ivan
2019-04-30 16:06
And the "freelancer" can invoice your company, you can even create a contract
ivan
2019-04-30 16:07
I'm not sure how audition-proof that is, though. Is that service costing lots of money? I guess auditors will take a closer look depending on the amount of money that's leaving the company through that account.
tatelev
2019-04-30 17:45
I would pay between $300-$700 each month
tatelev
2019-04-30 17:46
and yes, that ?fake identity? paypal account seems to be working, no issues. I don?t have any CC linked to it, obviously
tatelev
2019-04-30 17:48
I?ve only used that fake identity paypal account for transfering money there from my fully verified real identity paypal account(paypal send money) and then paying small online purchases from it, never more than $100
tatelev
2019-04-30 17:49
maybe if I start moving higher amounts through it, it will be flagged and additional ID verification will be required, I have no idea
ivan
2019-04-30 18:00
Yes, Paypal will ask you to send an ID and proof of address at some point.
ivan
2019-04-30 18:00
That's granted.
ivan
2019-04-30 18:01
Probably to have an CC linked to it as well. And many services won't accept Paypal acccount unless they have an CC linked. Same thing we were discussing with they making sure you'll have funds.
tatelev
2019-04-30 19:41
yeah, even if I could get away with a fake identity Paypal account, I am not comfortable with my company paying somebody that does not exist, since that seems to be already in the domain of illegality/tax evasion
ivan
2019-04-30 23:29
For tax purposes it's usually the same. It's an expense. So you wouldn't be avoiding taxes. I can't think of another way to get an invoice for those expenses. Looks like the prepaid cards are your best bet. In your books you can state you purchase that to pay that vendor. On the vendor side it's "anonymous"
ivan
2019-04-30 23:31
You'll be lacking the invoices, though.
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2019-05-02 06:57
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2019-05-02 14:17
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2019-05-07 13:37
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2019-05-07 20:30
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2019-05-09 01:21
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2019-05-09 10:23
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2019-05-09 15:45
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vallancepm
2019-05-10 00:36
Hi good morning...setup an LLC with Simon in the UK and during the process of setting up a Post Box they have asked for Proof of ID at the Trading Address and Proof of ID at the Reg Address. My partner (my wife) does not have a Utility bill in her name as I came and set up the house etc ahead of her so everything is in her name. She does have a local driving licence with our address on it, but this has been refused...any thoughts?? Thanks
sebastian.leu
2019-05-15 07:39
Can someone please recommend a service to get a mailing address (postbox) in France?
giorgio.zamparelli
2019-05-15 10:09
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redareda9
2019-05-15 15:05
@sebastian.leu I use http://courrier-du-voyageur.com , the interface is awful but the service is good. Never had any problem so farr
sebastian.leu
2019-05-16 01:35
@redareda9 thanks a lot, will check it out
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2019-05-17 14:06
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2019-05-18 12:36
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2019-05-18 21:16
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2019-05-20 13:41
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2019-05-20 13:52
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2019-05-20 17:18
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2019-05-21 00:40
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2019-05-21 19:42
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2019-05-24 12:50
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ivan
2019-05-27 22:45
Where will most of your clients be Ozymandias? Will you be aiming for a specific market?
ivan
2019-05-27 22:47
Possibly an entity taxed as a corp will be better for you guys than a pass-through entity like an LLC or LLP. Since its directors will be all over the place most countries won't have a strong case for declaring it local which allows for a lot of tax optimization.
ivan
2019-05-27 22:48
Maybe Estonia + paying salaries instead of dividends is a good option for you. But probably complex to register because maybe all partners need the e-residency (don't really know).
ivan
2019-05-27 22:50
An IBC in Seychelles might be a good option as well. You can a virtual account in USD and EUR with them using Transferwise. Not sure about GBP. You'll have a hard time getting a credit card processor but you might get lucky with 2checkout or something similar.
ivan
2019-05-27 22:51
Simon might be able to advice you on a Limited company in UK as well.
giovannilaperna
2019-05-28 13:15
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simon
2019-05-28 18:20
@imatfaal @ivan In cases like that, it often makes the most sense to set up an LLP-type structure in a neutral country and let each partner sort out their own taxes. For some it will make more sense to hold their share of the partnership directly while for others a local / foreign holding company will be more beneficial. Partner one is in the US and owns his share of the partnership via a US-registered C-corp, partner two is in Cayman and owns his share of the partnership directly etc.
ivan
2019-05-28 18:24
Oh, right! So some partners can join as corporations (if more convenient) and other as individuals. Makes total sense. Thanks Simon.
williamc_
2019-05-28 21:22
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imatfaal
2019-05-29 05:48
@ivan Our clients will be all over the place, but mainly in: UK, USA, EU, Mauritius, South Africa and various Caribbean islands. I think IBC in the Seychelles might be a little dodgy in terms of passing clients' due diligence checks! We do not need credit card processing facilities. We are B2B and all payments from clients are based on invoice then wire transfer.
imatfaal
2019-05-29 05:49
@simon An LLP-type structure in a neutral country sounds good. Where would you recommend? Also, how does one setup an LLP where each partner owns different percentages of the company? I am a little confused as to how we distribute profits in such a scenario...
k8269031
2019-05-29 12:50
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ivan
2019-05-29 17:45
Yes, maybe it's a little dodgy. I think it's up to the client to take the invoice or not. I've been working with a Belize IBC for the past 2 years and nobody rejected me an invoice. But it definitely depends on the type of clients you have. The good thing about an IBC in your scenario is that you might be able to retain earnings tax-free if you don't distribute them. Same can be said about an Estonian corp I guess. Since the management is really distributed all over the world your defense becomes stronger. The issue is that you'll be dealing with lots of different tax systems for each partner. Some countries might not have an issue with the structure and some might.
That's why Simon idea is more convenient. The classic LLP option is UK, I've recently registered one with Simon and was able to open Stripe and Transferwise accounts without problems. Every partner defines his participation, they're quite flexible.
ivan
2019-05-29 17:48
I think the first step would be to figure out what's more convenient for each partner from a taxing point of view. Some of them might find out that it's better to register a corp in Estonia (maybe with more than one shareholder to have substance) while some will benefit of being taxed directly for the earnings.
simon
2019-05-29 20:55
@imatfaal England, Scotland, Ontario and British Columbia are all good options with similar tax & compliance characteristics. England & Scotland have an edge here, however, as many of the local payment processors support the GBP and EUR (in addition to the USD) while in Canada they usually only support the CAD and USD. The ownership structure is detailed in a partnership agreement (when multiple non-related parties are involved) and partners can take profits out of the company at any time according to their ownership percentage.
imatfaal
2019-05-30 11:12
Thanks! I will talk with my partners and see what they think. I imagine we will go down the LLP route. @simon, any suggestions on a good company incorporation agent or lawyer that will be able to draw up the partnership agreement? This one's a little more complex than my previous one!
simon
2019-05-30 12:26
@imatfaal For the partnership agreement, I've heard good things about Stephensons. They charge around 700-800 GBP if I remember correctly.
ivan
2019-05-30 18:01
@imatfaal I used this https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/partnership-agreement/#.XPAaTY-vGiM
imatfaal
2019-05-31 07:23
@simon Thanks, I see their reviews online are very positive. I have emailed them!
root
2019-06-01 10:52
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2019-06-02 14:30
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leo.kipfelsberger
2019-06-04 17:28
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mescos
2019-06-04 22:09
What is the most affordable way to close an Estonian company? Do you need to hire someone who is a physical Estonian resident to do it for you? Or can you do it yourself if you?re a foreigner with e-residency?
chrisredhead
2019-06-05 07:09
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simon
2019-06-05 11:27
@mescos I'm not sure if e-Residency can bypass that requirement bus as far as I know you need to appoint a resident liquidator. Do you use a service like LeapIN?
rmsouza.sp
2019-06-05 12:38
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mescos
2019-06-05 13:48
@simon - many of the service providers are saying that physical residency is required and it is not possible for those with e-residency to liquidate/close Estonian companies. Granted, they have a vested interest to say this. Any idea on where/how to confirm which is true?
simon
2019-06-05 13:50
@mescos Sending an email to the government would probably be the easiest way to confirm this:
mescos
2019-06-05 13:51
Thanks @simon. Are you aware of any closing hacks for Estonia, similar to HK?
mescos
2019-06-06 16:46
@simon - For example, for Estonia, if an Estonian company fails to submit the annual report, the government will issue a warning, and then after 6 months the government will automatically liquidate the company. Is this accurate?
jgumes
2019-06-07 14:55
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jase
2019-06-07 15:57
Anyone have contacts in Malta or Montenegro? Trustworthy lawyers/agents who can help with residence, citizenships, formations, property, investments, etc. if so please @ me
dmg.ecom
2019-06-07 16:48
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simon
2019-06-07 20:07
That is probably accurate as most registers will liquidate non-compliant companies after a few months. With that said, I would only do that if I did not expect to register a new Estonian company in the near future and if the company owed no taxes.
roman
2019-06-08 01:52
Are you moving away from Andorra already? :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing:
luciedavioud_registro
2019-06-08 02:52
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jase
2019-06-08 07:22
Nope! Just looking for business contacts.
troy
2019-06-08 10:26
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skat
2019-06-11 10:26
Has anyone here had experience of going through startup chile? How strict of a requirement to stay there for 6 month is? How safe it is to travel there with a kid/wife?
I?m a dad of a 1.5 year old kid and consider that first 3 years it?s really important to dedicate us much time as possible to help him build up a right character.
I can certainly use some money that Startup Chile offers, yeat i?m on a fence about staying there non-stop for 6 or more months.
gharios.charbel
2019-06-11 18:58
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ivan
2019-06-11 20:21
Hi Skat, I don't know much about Start Up Chile besides what's on internet.
ivan
2019-06-11 20:22
But Chile is quite safe and stable.
ivan
2019-06-11 20:23
Most safe indexes give it quite a good score and it's probably the safest country in Latin America right now. Their law enforcement is quite strict.
ivan
2019-06-11 20:24
The only negative thing I can think of is that it Startup Chile is focused on Santiago as far as I know and Santiago has a bad smog issue.
ivan
2019-06-11 20:24
Viña del Mar is way better.
skat
2019-06-12 08:03
Thanks for info @ivan!
gabriel.courtemanche
2019-06-12 11:49
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kuka
2019-06-12 13:50
It looks great, anyone in your network who went through it?
kuka
2019-06-12 13:50
I like Chilean wine so super interesting! :smile:
skat
2019-06-12 14:28
@kuka yeah, I know couple of people. They told me it was one of most easiest grants they ever got. Nowadays requirements are slightly different, but yeat ? still seems easier than any other grant.
skat
2019-06-12 14:32
And well, I don?t have to give away any shares, profit or anything :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2019-06-12 17:21
Reach out to Mat Newton. Nice guy (Aussie) who has a lot of experience with it. AFAIK, it's a pretty intense commitment required and accounting sounds like a massive hassle.
skat
2019-06-12 17:28
@jase any chance you can do an intro? I?m not that good at cold-emailing random people :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2019-06-12 17:32
Yep, these may be a good intro to that however:
https://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-australian-the-deal/20160318/281492160426560
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nathan-powell/under-the-radar/e/37026424
jase
2019-06-14 15:48
Add Bahamas to this list. Anyone?
kgouvea2
2019-06-14 16:14
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a.adriano.bueno
2019-06-14 16:57
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vinodgn0088
2019-06-15 01:28
I think tkrunning is based in Malta now. (not 100% sure)
jase
2019-06-15 08:30
Yeah he definitely has residence there - I don't think it's business for him though. I'll check in
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2019-06-15 10:46
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2019-06-15 19:20
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2019-06-18 13:08
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ivan
2019-06-20 21:57
@simon that last article about disappearing from the internet was very interesting. You don't include government tracking there, right? It's mostly focused on Google and Facebook.
simon
2019-06-21 10:05
@ivan To be honest, I?m not sure if it will be possible to avoid government tracking in the future.
Cameras everywhere with facial recognition, advanced data aggregation, the slow but certain phasing out of physical currencies, the massive improvements in international data sharing, social credit scores being used to determine eligibility for international travel (already in use in China for the issuance of some Schengen visas) etc.
I think that until we know more about where this will all go, it?s better to play along and avoid doing anything that might raise red flags (while at the same time minimising the amount of identifiable data we generate and share).
ivan
2019-06-21 12:12
Yes, agreed. I wonder who we should be more worried about.
vilhena33
2019-06-22 18:35
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skat
2019-06-23 17:58
@simon there was an article about Chinese ?surveillance? experiments ? I found it interesting that facial recognition is not accurate enough (65% success rate, still requires people on ground to check identification documents). I?m not sure if it?s even something that could be fixed ? a lot of people just look-a-like.
My best guess would be to have a secondary third world passport, would help you go under some government radars. But that?s just a thought experiment, it?s not that I?m sharing my personal experience here :slightly_smiling_face:
ledrewy
2019-06-24 03:29
Third world? Do people still use this term?
jase
2019-06-25 10:32
A Kiwi friend of mine refers to New Zealand as "second world"
stolzlos
2019-06-25 10:58
interesting. I was totally unaware of the meaning of the expression.
stolzlos
2019-06-25 11:01
sooner or later a lot of "developed world" countries will end up in the "third world" category. Makes you wonder who will lead after the US ... China? Hard to imagine ...
simon
2019-06-25 11:28
@stolzlos I don't see the US going anywhere, at least not within our lifetime (assuming no elastic effect). At current growth rates, it will take decades before China overtakes them as the largest economy and even then, they will remain the second largest for decades longer. I also doubt we'll see much in the way of development regression. Things are going pretty nicely in the world at the moment and it wouldn't surprise me if we reached K1 by the end of the century.
alencar.azevedo05
2019-06-25 11:31
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michelbrondani
2019-06-25 11:31
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jase
2019-06-25 11:47
Anyone have experience in building marketing automation funnels to qualify sales prospects?
jerrycjchang
2019-06-26 00:24
Visiting the US from Australia, I must say that I don't get the impression that things are going nicely when I go. Some parts are exceedingly grim, infrastructure looks antiquated and societal tension seems to be much more on the surface. I have nothing against the US by the way, and it's just a passer by's impression. Maybe it's always been like that, but I still often find the state of things a bit shocking.
stolzlos
2019-06-26 01:19
@simon I agree on the US. Even though it is certainly digging its own grave like so many other historic superpowers it is yet strong compared to other countries and I actually hope that you are right that nothing will dramatically change for a long time.
simon
2019-06-26 08:40
@jerrycjchang There are huge regional variations in the US. I grew up in southern Quebec and spent a lot of time in neighbouring states (NH, VT, ME). There?s very little visible poverty there, the cities look picturesque and crime is rare.
@stolzlos The reason why I think the US will be fine is private wealth. There was this UBS report recently that showed that the US has more private wealth than all of Europe combined (including Russia) / all of Asia combined. The government just has to get its act together and figure out how to get people to invest in infrastructure, pay more taxes etc (and stop being such dicks when it comes to foreign policy).
stolzlos
2019-06-26 12:23
@simon certainly. The number of rich people (and their combined wealth) in a country is without a doubt one of the best indicators for the (economic) health of that country.
stolzlos
2019-06-26 12:23
stolzlos
2019-06-26 12:27
or billionaires per capita
stolzlos
2019-06-26 12:27
stolzlos
2019-06-26 12:27
bit outdated but the difference between the US and China for example is pretty obvious
stolzlos
2019-06-26 12:31
The flipside to all that good news is the savings (and savings rate) per capita but that is not only a problem the US faces but a lot of other (first world) nations as well. With the baby boomers retiring that won't get much better. In fact it gets much worse.
simon
2019-06-26 12:38
St Kitts is surprising! I doubt any of those billionaires actually live there..
simon
2019-06-26 12:41
The table above shows the total wealth minus all debt.
simon
2019-06-26 12:42
It's sad that Africa doesn't even show up (they have a combined 0.80% of the world's wealth)
stolzlos
2019-06-26 13:25
Impressive.
stolzlos
2019-06-26 13:26
some fun animation in regard to the US
simon
2019-06-26 15:06
It?s quite striking how fast Japan was growing during the 80-90s!
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2019-06-26 19:11
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2019-06-26 19:11
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stolzlos
2019-06-26 23:43
yes, japan was pretty special at the time but unfortunately it was not organic growth. It was a massive policy blunder by the Japanese government and their central bank which lead to that "growth".
stolzlos
2019-06-26 23:52
In a nutshell, they tried to smooth over the policy blunders of the US of the 70s starting with Nixon defaulting on the dollar by aggressively weakening the yen because the dollar went into freefall for the rest of the decade. That totally failed. They additionally flooded their domestic industry with cheap credit to keep their competitiveness that way. Which got out of control. They lowered interest rates first to stem inflation but that made the yen even stronger against the dollar so they gave up and lowered rates instead. In the 80s the dollar recovered but the yen kept rising because everybody wanted to invest in Japan. Further drops in rates and easing. Then everything went unfortunately into hyperdrive.
stolzlos
2019-06-26 23:52
In the end ('89) they finally managed to kill the monster they created by aggressively raising rates and the bubble popped hard. The whole country is suffering from that incident to this very day.
ivan
2019-06-27 19:40
Hey Jase, I have experienced using Chat Bots and forms with conditionals and different redirections.
truefacecare.office
2019-06-27 20:29
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ramiro21
2019-06-29 19:14
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jase
2019-06-30 12:47
Did this help to qualify the leads in the end?
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2019-07-01 12:05
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2019-07-01 14:28
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2019-07-01 19:14
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mescos
2019-07-02 16:01
Hey guys, question about foreign-owned single member LLCs that need to submit form 5472 and 1120, no ECI/US income. If you form an LLC in Nov 2018 what is the first date that you are legally obligated to file forms 5472 and 1120? More specifically, do you need to file them on a) April 15, 2019 (when LLC is 5 months old) or b) April 15, 2020 (when the LLC is 17 months old)?
simon
2019-07-02 16:07
@mescos 2019
mescos
2019-07-02 16:08
@simon - Thanks. What do you suggest if you missed that deadline and didn?t file an extension?
simon
2019-07-02 16:20
@mescos The penalty is very severe (25k and 50k after 90 days) so if it was me I?d start by calling the IRS anonymously and asking for a waiver. If they refuse, apply to dissolve the LLC with the state (penalties are not a fiduciary type tax so the liability will die with the company).
mescos
2019-07-02 16:21
@simon - what if the company was dormant, no operations, no activities? Would you modify your strategy at all?
simon
2019-07-02 18:11
@mescos In most states that will not be possible (to claim that there is no activity) as there will at least be state fees to report (registration, annual report etc).
mescos
2019-07-02 19:00
@simon - So, just to confirm, you are saying that a dormant WY LLC registered in Nov 2018 and that was 5 months old on April 15, 2019 is still obligated to file the 5472/1120 despite not having any activity or reportable transactions?
simon
2019-07-02 19:03
Yes because it had a reportable transaction, the registration itself.
mescos
2019-07-02 19:03
Any suggestions or strategies for obtaining a waiver?
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2019-07-02 20:41
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simon
2019-07-02 20:51
@mescos It?s best to be truthful and tell them that you were unfamiliar with the requirement but will never be late again.
mescos
2019-07-02 20:53
@simon - Are you able to call them and do it yourself? Every reference I?m seeing it online says that a registered practitioner has to call. Do you know of a number that normal people can call?
simon
2019-07-02 21:14
You can call them yourself, the number is (7am to 7pm EST, weekdays). Make sure to have your CP575 letter on hand when you call.
jerrycjchang
2019-07-03 01:01
oh you're right unquestionably which is why I qualified what I was saying with the fact that I obviously only observed a small part of a huge country.
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2019-07-03 09:26
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imatfaal
2019-07-04 12:10
OK so I am setting up a UK LLC in which shares are split between two entities: some friends of mine (in their own UK LLC company) and my company 9 - which @simon helped to setup us a UK LLP. Companies House in the UK is asking for "the name of the person acting on behalf of the corporate shareholder" as this is required. What should I put exactly? Not keen to put my own name, as that kind of defeats the purpose of setting up the original UK LLP using 2 x corporate shareholders. Any ideas @simon? Thanks!
imatfaal
2019-07-04 12:10
Sorry - meant "my company - which is a UK LLP made up of 2 x US holding companies"
imatfaal
2019-07-04 12:10
Also, will the name of the person acting on behalf of the corporate shareholder be accessible to the public via the Companies House website? Or does it remain private?
imatfaal
2019-07-04 12:10
Thanks!
ivan
2019-07-04 22:12
@imatfaal, the owners are in a public registry.
ivan
2019-07-04 22:13
Were you able to open accounts for that LLP?
eov
2019-07-05 11:17
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eov
2019-07-05 17:51
Hello all. Perhaps you can send me to the right thread. I am investigating an offshore IBC and foriegn bank account but am becoming increasingly disturbed that it is not possible to keep any $ offshore. Even though my income comes from abroad. It seems all countries are now participating in this OECD co-operation - even countries like switzerland and Belize...ie. secrecy does not exist and you will incur the wrath of the taxman from whatever country you reside in. Am I correct that the ONLY way to avoid income tax on your foreign income is to truly live in a tax free resident country?
mikeseo
2019-07-05 20:03
yes
ivan
2019-07-05 21:58
Yes @eov. If you want to make use of banks in any way that's the only way. That or becoming a nomad.
ivan
2019-07-05 22:01
Of course, the point about using the bank system is about how easy to track you are. If you make an income which is hard to track by the government you're still supposed to declare it.
ivan
2019-07-05 22:02
I guess the battle for lower taxes will need to be fought politically. Technology will make it too easy to track tax evasion.
imatfaal
2019-07-06 18:55
@ivan I was able to open accounts for that LLP, yes. When you say public registry, will the name of the LLP will be visible when people look up the LLC on companies house, or my name (the owner of the LLP) will be visible?
simon
2019-07-06 20:49
@imatfaal That is indeed your name they want. Depending on how the new Limited company is set up, it may appear on the PSC register.
rrlucenarj
2019-07-07 21:36
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salim
2019-07-08 20:08
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ptuvang
2019-07-08 20:08
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maktubebasta
2019-07-09 17:47
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vallancepm
2019-07-09 23:26
@simon I was wondering if you can answer this question. A supplier as asked for my UK VAT registration Number. I have answered that the LLP is not registered because we do not derive any income from the UK and do not collect or charge Vat on our services...? can you confirm my statement is correct?
simon
2019-07-10 00:23
@vallancepm The correct wording is that your place of supply is outside of the UK and as such, you do not need to register nor charge UK VAT.
On a side note, you could choose to register voluntarily if you plan to regularly purchase VAT-liable supplies.
vallancepm
2019-07-10 00:25
@simon Thanks Simon. No need to claim back any Vat of significance. Thanks for the correct wording.:+1:
redareda9
2019-07-11 14:40
@simon I'm in the situation of regularly purchasing VAT-liable supplies, if I register voluntarily, will I need to charge VAT before the exemption-threshold, that's what I understood from the govt website..
simon
2019-07-11 14:42
@redareda9 Yes, you will need to charge VAT if you sell VAT-liable goods and services (not all goods and services are, and VAT only applies to EU sales).
redareda9
2019-07-11 14:45
Need to be sure. Even if I'm still under the £85,000 threshold? So It's better to not register if it's not significant.
simon
2019-07-11 14:47
@redareda9 If you register, the threshold doesn?t apply anymore. You need to start charging VAT for all VAT-liable sales.
redareda9
2019-07-11 14:47
Ok, thank you.
ivan
2019-07-11 15:21
@simon selling services outside EU counts for the threshold?
simon
2019-07-11 15:24
@ivan No, only VAT-liable sales count towards the threshold.
ivan
2019-07-11 15:24
Perfect, thanks Simon.
danz
2019-07-12 03:29
I also believe that the 85,000 threshold doesn't count for non-residents who own a UK LLP.
ivan
2019-07-12 15:50
Even if they sell services within Europe?
simon
2019-07-12 15:59
For most types of services, it?s the place of supply that matters. If your place of supply (where you work) is not the UK, the sales are not UK VAT-liable and do not count towards the threshold.
contato
2019-07-15 08:06
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2019-07-15 08:39
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imatfaal
2019-07-16 13:43
OK, so is there any way to avoid this? Seems a bit pointless setting up an anonymous UK LLP with you, only to have my name plastered all over Companies House due this LLP owning a part share (50%) of a new UK LLC I am setting up with my business partners...
elsamadrolle
2019-07-17 06:22
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simon
2019-07-18 10:04
You only need to list one person on the PSC register, can your business partner list his name?
fortunespeculator
2019-07-19 07:15
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bierlingm
2019-07-21 10:41
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theo.abresol
2019-07-24 14:09
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maktubebasta
2019-07-25 04:26
[NEAT] I would like to know your experience with NEAT. This is a post I copied from a Facebook group:"For those of you who use the euro UK Neat account, how do you manage to get your money back after you receive it on this account ?
It cannot send outside EU, sending to my Revolut is not working, sending to a business partner in France did not work either, and Neat does not answer their support anymore
Any tips to actually get this money somewhere ?"
andreruete
2019-07-25 06:46
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internationalbits
2019-07-25 06:52
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justin187
2019-07-26 05:20
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reach
2019-07-27 01:31
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intern
2019-07-27 01:35
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maktubebasta
2019-07-27 03:39
[Company Formation in Hong Kong] Do you know Korchina TNC?Thanks
simon
2019-07-27 04:28
@maktubebasta In HK I recommend Jumpstart, have been using their services for years and am very satisfied.
maktubebasta
2019-07-27 04:50
@simon Do you know if it's also possible to open a bank account remotely with them? I reside in the EU. Thanks
simon
2019-07-27 04:59
It?s not possible to open an account remotely in HK, even as a HK resident it?s nearly impossible.
maktubebasta
2019-07-27 05:28
@simon I'm thinking to open a limited company in HK and sell on Amazon FBA (EU and US). The product are made in China. I don't know where to open a bank account. I'm also going through the various reasons and thought process to decide if buying a shelf company instead of registering a new company is right for my situation. Many thanks for your help.
simon
2019-07-27 05:47
@maktubebasta If you live / work in Europe, do keep in mind that your HK company will likely be taxed there.
As for the bank account, it makes sense to open one in HK but a personal visit is required (except for the non-banks like Neat).
maktubebasta
2019-07-27 06:00
@simon I know it, I reside in Czech Republic. Is there a way to skip this?
I can't go to HK for now. Do you think open an account with Neat could be the right solution in the meantime?
I read there are a lot of issues with Neat right now.
Isn't it possible to open a business account remotely with CIM Bank in Switzerland? Thank you.
simon
2019-07-27 06:24
@maktubebasta There?s no easy way around the taxation issue (at least none that do not involve significant expenses setting up an office in HK, hiring local staff etc).
Neat can be a temporary solution but yeah, there has been lots of issues recently.
You can open an account in another country but you won?t be able to link it to HK PayPal, Stripe etc. You will only be able to send / receive bank transfers.
skat
2019-07-27 07:06
@maktubebasta Neat Business is the only way to open bank account remotely in HK.
skat
2019-07-27 07:08
@simon what are the best alternatives for HK incorporation nowadays? With all the riots there, one can wonder how safe my business is there.
simon
2019-07-27 07:16
@skat That depends on where you live, your intended business activities and your business needs.
I wouldn?t worry about HK, however, as there has been riots on a regular basis for decades. The city is also backed by China and is investing heavily into its infrastructure and housing.
skat
2019-07-27 07:18
@simon I?m currently resident of Thailand, I?m running a software as a service business and couple of other web projects. So stripe would be crucial for me.
simon
2019-07-27 07:36
@skat Thailand taxes the worldwide income (the portion attributable to the Thai permanent establishment) of nearly all companies that maintain a local taxable presence. This limits the benefits of registering in a low / no tax country.
You would be better off with an easy setup, instead, such as a UK LTD. You can claim treaty status in the UK (so that you are exempted from UK corporate taxation) and register it in Thailand with the tax authority and file there instead.
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-manual/intm120070#IDABC25
You get all the benefits of having a UK company (including multi-currency Stripe), high reputation etc and only pay taxes / file in Thailand. The maintenance fees are much lower than in HK, Singapore etc.
imatfaal
2019-07-27 15:51
@simon Are you sure about this? Our new company is basically owned by two companies - my partner's LLC and my LLP. It sounds as though they are asking for a PSC for the LLC and a separate one for the LLP. Given that I fully control the LLP, and my partner has no share in that, not sure I can put his name...
simon
2019-07-27 17:44
I?ve never been asked to list more than one PSC on the register but perhaps you?ve triggered some sort of red flag? Is the LTD already set up or are you at the registration phase?
paschoalimnetto
2019-07-28 01:23
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imatfaal
2019-07-28 14:29
We are at the registration phase. My partners are trying to register it directly on Companies House, and say it's asking both for a PSC for their Limited Company and for my LLP...
imatfaal
2019-07-28 14:30
We have held off on the registration for now, while we deal with this issue!
terraformingmedia
2019-07-30 01:45
I?m in HK and it?s super difficult to open a business bank account even if you are here. At the end I opened a LLC in Wyoming because Im not necessary will have customers in HK.
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 08:03
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skat
2019-07-30 09:08
@terraformingmedia what kind of questions did they ask you?
skat
2019-07-30 09:09
how much money will you deposit into your business bank account?
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 11:20
Has anyone opened a UK LLP with 2 US LLC as members? I am wondering if Revolut, Tide, HSBC etc may have a problem with this structure compared to UK LLP with myself as a member and 1 US LLC as second member.
simon
2019-07-30 11:22
@alexjohnfarris Revolut and Tide will be an issue as they usually require that the partners be EU residents. TransferWise will be your best option with such a setup.
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 11:24
ah well my plan was to tell Revolut that I am a UK resident.
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 11:25
or are you saying even if it has 1 US LLC as member, Revolut won't take it? even if US LLC is owned by UK resident?
simon
2019-07-30 11:34
A safer plan if you need access to Revolut would be to use an Estonian OU as the second partner instead of a US LLC. Either that or wait until Revolut launches in the US (they are planning to do so in the coming months) and then you should have no problem using US LLCs.
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 11:39
So Estonian OU would be taxed on distributed profits though?
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 11:47
I see I would need e-residency in Estonia and it takes a month. https://www.freedomsurfer.com/estonia-vs-uk/
simon
2019-07-30 12:41
@alexjohnfarris There is no need to attribute any profits to the OU if it isn?t convenient tax-wise. All profits can flow directly to yourself from the LLP.
simon
2019-07-30 12:42
Yes it takes around a month to get the e-Resident card
simon
2019-07-30 12:48
To be honest, I have no idea what they can see and what would be ground for refusal. My guess is that they check the Interpol and EU databases.
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 13:03
yeah thanks
vinodgn0088
2019-07-30 13:28
@simon, I have a UK LLP where 1st partner is myself and second partner is another UK LTD which is also 100% owned by me. I want to withdraw all profits to my personal account. Do I need to create a partnership agreement specifically stating that the second partner (UK LTD) receives zero profit. This is because, I don't want the taxman to claim that without a partnership agreement UK LTD is eligible for 50% of the profit and thereby Corporate tax needs to be paid where the company is resident ( That is corporate tax in my country of residence because I manage UK LTD from here). On top of that UK LTD's profit must suffer dividend tax if it is treated as a local company. What is your view in this?
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 14:08
@vinodgn0088 off topic, but do you have to file annual returns on the UK LTD even if it never receives a profit distribution?
vinodgn0088
2019-07-30 14:22
@alexjohnfarris, I believe there is a need to file dormant company annual statement.
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 14:26
@simon in my case above where you recommended an estonia OU entity as one of the members of UK LLP. Could I also use a UK dormant LTD company and not distribute profits to it?
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-30 17:33
@simon I?m wondering what?s the difference between UK LTD dormant company as member and Estonian company? if no profits are distributed to the UK Ltd company. Is there a difference in filings required?
me1892
2019-07-31 00:09
Also interested in the answer to this
terraformingmedia
2019-07-31 00:39
Depends of the bank. Usually a minimum of 5,000. HKD, but that?s not the problem. The requirements are a lot. However is not impossible. I have a friend who was able to open a business bank account one month ago in HK
terraformingmedia
2019-07-31 00:42
Business plan, papers about you (education, past jobs). The point is that you have all documentation and they trust you you will be able to have a business bank account. Keep in mind that the process is long and usually take weeks or months to get the business bank account in HK
simon
2019-07-31 07:43
@vinodgn0088 @alexjohnfarris When you file your partnership return with HMRC, simply attribute 100% of the profits to yourself and 0% to the LTD. A partnership agreement isn?t needed if you are the only owner.
A corporation tax return must be filed for the LTD along with dormant accounts and a confirmation statement.
The main drawback of using an LTD as the second partner is that you cannot attribute profits to it, you must attribute all profits to yourself (if you want to avoid UK taxation and possible complications in your country of residence).
imatfaal
2019-07-31 07:47
@vinodgn0088 @alexjohnfarris @simon What about the setup where the UK LLP is made up of 2 x US LLCs as the partners. What is the most sensible process for distributing the profits from this entity to yourself? Is a partnership agreement needed here? Or do you just transfer money out to your personal account whenever you like, dealing with the personal income tax implications as they arise?
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-31 09:27
Thanks
```The main drawback of using an LTD as the second partner is that you cannot attribute profits to it, you must attribute all profits to yourself```
1. Is this a drawback if I am non-resident of UK and resident of Bahamas which has 0% tax. (I?ll actually be living in Taiwan during this time as a resident but even my father in law doesn?t pay tax in Taiwan and he owns a physical shop. I don?t do any banking in Taiwan either).
2. I am also confused because your answer implies I can attribute profits to an Estonian OU? but I thought they tax distributed profits?
vinodgn0088
2019-07-31 10:35
@imatfaal, Transferring funds to US LLC's bank account and from there to your personal bank account is recommended for easy book keeping records and will be easy to explain if you are selected for an audit by taxman.
imatfaal
2019-07-31 11:12
The US LLCs do not currently have bank accounts. Only the UK LLP. Is there any issue with me transferring the money out from the UK LLP's account to my personal account? I am not resident in the UK or EU...
vinodgn0088
2019-07-31 11:16
@imatfaal, Then you may do. LLP's bank account to Your Personal account. On books LLP paid to US LLC, on US LLC's books record the payment received in partner's bank account; Then create another journal entry to offset the received payment as profit further distributed to you
imatfaal
2019-07-31 11:19
Thanks. Sounds pretty straightforward! Any recommendations for an accountant who is used to dealing with these types of structures?
vinodgn0088
2019-07-31 14:48
@alexjohnfarris, I think Simon believes that If UK LLP distribute profits to UK LTD it will be treated as a UK income for UK LTD and therefore UK LTD needs to pay UK corporate tax on this profit. But if we use a Estonian OU, the profit received from UK LLP is not taxed until it is further distributed by Estonian OU as a dividend (20% tax)
alexjohnfarris
2019-07-31 14:52
ahh that clears things up. Thanks @vinodgn0088
simon
2019-08-01 02:04
@alexjohnfarris If you reside in a tax haven, you?ll be better off attributing all profits to yourself (so using an LTD will be fine).
@vinodgn0088 All income attributed to the LTD will indeed be taxed in the UK or in your country of residence if you have claimed treaty status.
simon
2019-08-01 02:06
You could also pay yourself a salary from the LLP. Salaries paid to non-residents for work performed outside of the UK are not subject to any deductions/PAYE.
mrchristiaanpieterse
2019-08-02 03:12
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omatic.hk
2019-08-05 03:35
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imatfaal
2019-08-05 15:46
@simon Is there any issue with this salary being irregular amounts and dates and currencies?
alexjohnfarris
2019-08-05 20:09
@simon regarding WY LLC - I see there is an option for "Close LLC" apparently with asset protection benefits.
ouafouaf
2019-08-06 02:42
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simon
2019-08-06 03:33
@alexjohnfarris A Close LLC only makes sense when there are multiple owners. It restricts what each member can do, who has the most control. It offers no benefits if the LLC has a single member.
simon
2019-08-06 03:36
@imatfaal The salary payments should be in line with what was agreed upon in the employment contract. If you want flexibility, you could set a low fixed salary (500$ per month, for example) + sales or performance commissions that can vary month to month.
ouafouaf
2019-08-06 14:42
As a non EU/UK/US resident Where can I get a simple idea and detailled cost of setting up an LLP in UK for Web Design ?
and is that even possible for me since I reside in South America and have a EU passport ?
(I m not a big fan of accounting so I need things to be damn simple) :face_with_rolling_eyes:.
simon473
2019-08-07 04:20
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simon
2019-08-07 04:26
@ouafouaf The cost is the same, no matter where you reside. If I understand correctly, you have an EU passport? That can help when opening bank accounts.
ouafouaf
2019-08-07 11:10
Yes, have a valid FR ID but I ve never had a permanent address in Europe, thats a problem in France itself. No bank account possible (Who would think so, hey ?!, kind of non-sense ) :see_no_evil:
ouafouaf
2019-08-07 11:16
small FR "old territories/colonies" members do not benefit from the same treatment when it comes to benefit from rules applied in EU. For instance we received 0 financiial help if unemployed, sort of 2nd zone citizens with less priviledges..
prideaux
2019-08-07 12:51
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kuka
2019-08-07 14:54
Have found https://sleek.sg & https://www.pikohana.com, any experience with either?
michael
2019-08-07 15:47
@kuka no i haven't. what are you looking to do?
kuka
2019-08-08 09:12
Looking for a better way to incorporate and maintain Singaporean Ltd.
kuka
2019-08-08 18:09
Thanks for the plug, looking into it
ivan
2019-08-09 11:43
@ouafouaf I used both an LLC (closed now) and currently an LLP for my web design business. I'm in Latin America as well.
michael
2019-08-12 14:25
@kuka sure thing, sai fun is good. any questions let me know. all the best
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2019-08-12 22:31
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rdpires
2019-08-14 03:01
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paulorobertomj5
2019-08-14 03:01
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tiagomdreganha
2019-08-16 03:07
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luisdaniel.mateos
2019-08-16 03:07
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mescos
2019-08-16 14:54
What is the best, most cost-effective structure for holding shares in a UK Limited company? The individual who will be the UBO of the company holding the shares is already a resident of a territorial tax country, but does not want to hold the shares of the UK Limited company as an individual because they want to minimize liability. Additionally, a non-tax haven would be preferred so to avoid any kind of scrutiny from banks or clients. What are the best corporate options for holding a UK Limited company?s shares? (US LLC, Estonian OU, something else?)
rmbergamo
2019-08-18 09:53
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martin
2019-08-18 21:01
All well and good, but how about bank account opening. can this be done remotely ?
rafmolho
2019-08-19 02:30
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era.gelencser
2019-08-19 09:50
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michael
2019-08-20 09:12
@martin Not that I am aware of. Every bank account I have opened in SG has been in person.
mark
2019-08-21 10:12
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marziovit
2019-08-21 10:12
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fish
2019-08-22 11:26
about to meet with a Georgian accountant to discuss business structure. Shoot out questions of you have them.
bierlingm
2019-08-22 11:36
@fish Netherlands resident, looking for structures to minimise tax on fx trading
benjamin
2019-08-22 11:49
@fish Cost to set up FIZ company with non resident owner. Also, are dividends paid to a non resident in this structure tax free.
fish
2019-08-22 12:10
@benjamin, can you tell me what a FIZ is
benjamin
2019-08-22 12:13
@fish it's the free trading zone in Georgia
internationalbits
2019-08-22 12:23
@fish most optimized way to hold property in georgia
marziovit
2019-08-22 12:41
@fish a high net worth individual who demonstrates that revenue in the previous year was 200.000 GEL how many days needs to spend in Georgia to be considered tax resident there.
fish
2019-08-22 12:42
@marziovit Unfortunately he doesn't do immigration and residency
marziovit
2019-08-22 12:47
@fish oh i see
fish
2019-08-22 12:52
I was hoping for a combined consultation of both issues but no luck
fish
2019-08-22 12:53
I'll find someone to talk about residency next
marziovit
2019-08-22 12:55
@fish great! Let me know if you find someone
skat
2019-08-22 13:00
@fish any details on freelancer visa? Our friend Kirill has an alien passport and can?t stay in Georgia for more than 3 months. Seems like freelancer visa is most easiest with minimum investments for him.
fish
2019-08-22 13:01
Kiril is a special fish
fish
2019-08-22 13:01
I'll ask for him when I get talk about immigration and residency
marziovit
2019-08-22 13:31
@fish could you please ask the accountant if the Georgian LLC is 100% owned by a US LLC how much dividends from Georgian LLC to US LLC will be taxed?
marziovit
2019-08-22 13:32
also, in case the Georgian LLC is owned by a foreign company will dividends be still paid out in GEL?
marziovit
2019-08-22 13:33
thank you
tiagomdreganha
2019-08-22 13:35
@fish Since the US LLC will be run by a Georgian Resident, doesn't "place of management" trigger and they will consider the US LLC as a Georgian company for taxation purposes? (and demand accounting to be done by Georgian standards)
marziovit
2019-08-22 13:39
@tiagomdreganha The US LLC will not be managed in Georgia. I asked that question for a different scenario :slightly_smiling_face:
fish
2019-08-22 14:34
Now this is an interesting scenario. Will definitely ask!
tiagomdreganha
2019-08-22 15:19
I'd still like to know (for my scenario) :slightly_smiling_face:
Need to find a proper residence location that won't want to tax the US LLC as a local company
marziovit
2019-08-22 15:23
@tiagomdreganha Tax resident in Georgia is the way to go for you.
marziovit
2019-08-22 15:24
@fish Awesome!
fish
2019-08-22 16:36
Here is my summary of the Georgian accountant meeting, my goal was to better understand the Georgian system and see what can and cannot be done, reducing tax and maximizing flexibility. it was an interesting consultancy, we went over every possible scenario I could think of and bulletproofing the system. I hope the summary below answers all the questions you raised and also I'm open for an AMA or feel free to DM me.
**Georgian Business options when income is generated outside of Georgia:**
*Small Business:*
Tax: 1% turnover. 3% after it exceeds 500k annually.
VAT: 18% when income exceeds 100k GEL annually, for local (Georgian) income.
Fees:
Registration Price ~50 GEL
Fake Address: 50 GEL
Translation: 50 GEL (need to sign that everything was understood)
Cannot be:
- Gabbling
- Forex
- Consulting (Rephrase to something else and you're okay)
*LLC company*
LLC has a special status called Virtual Zone (VZ for short).
VZ can be applied only for software development, and perhaps a small yet more extended list of categories in the field.
VZ applied only for foreign source of income
VZ application is done online separately, in Georgian language.
Tax non-VZ: 20% (15% corporate and 5% dividends).
Tax VZ: 5% (only dividends).
Fees:
Registration: 100 GEL
Fake Address: 50 GEL
Translation: 50 GEL (need to sign that everything was understood)
*Notes and thoughts:*
- LLC and Small Business management done online, similar to how it is in Estonia.
- Registration is done in person or remotely a perhaps nutrion (not sure how to spell it) document can be used but he say's its a win/lose situation, no experience in this.
- Registration can be done in one day.
- Opening bank account should be done in person.
- A major part of the verification process and tax reviews outcome depends on the the person who's inspecting your docs, positive outcome increases if the person in question got laid the night before and is good mood.
- LLC owning an LLC is possible but we see no benefits in doing so, DM me you think I'm missing favorable scenario.
- Own biz to biz transaction should be done as a biz transaction with an invoice. If you're transferring all your income as a "payment for a service" you might need to justify to a person, like said before, the person who hopefully got laid the night before.
*Tax Residency*
Need to stay in Georgia for 6 months within a 12 months window. There could be other option but as an accountant he can't say more.
fish
2019-08-22 16:37
My course of action will likely be to open 5 LLCs, mark them as VZ and keep them on a shelf to be pulled out as needed, as there is no maintenance for inactive LLCs
ouafouaf
2019-08-22 16:43
:nerd_face:
bierlingm
2019-08-22 16:45
Thanks for the details @fish !
bierlingm
2019-08-22 16:46
I see, no forex. Thats only for small businesses? Or in general
fish
2019-08-22 16:48
@mark A small business cannot be FX, nor VZ can be applied to an LLC.
fish
2019-08-22 16:49
Your only options is a regular LLC with 20% taxation
fish
2019-08-22 16:49
No need to be a resident to open either business
internationalbits
2019-08-22 16:50
when you say Small Business is taxed at 3% after it exceeds 500k, is that GEL?
fish
2019-08-22 16:50
It is GEL. 1USD = ~3GEL
internationalbits
2019-08-22 16:51
how much is accounting usually for any of these entities?
fish
2019-08-22 16:52
Also notice its a turnover tax, meaning, paid before expenses.
fish
2019-08-22 16:53
@internationalbits I believe it could be around 100 GEL/m (~33.3 USD) for an active business
fish
2019-08-22 16:54
Its like Estonia, should take you ~20 minute/m in a normal straight forward scenario
fish
2019-08-22 16:54
If you want to do that yourself that is
internationalbits
2019-08-22 16:54
are corporate shareholders possible?
fish
2019-08-22 16:55
Didn't ask.
giovannilaperna
2019-08-22 17:22
I have a personal bank account there that I open in person. During the meeting they confirmed the (personal or business) account can also be open by a local attorney with a POA. There are attorneys advertising that service online for about 500 USD. Something that might not be clear to everyone is that even if Georgia is part of the IBAN system, incoming and outgoing transfers are not SEPA but SWIFT (more expensive). Accounts and card in GEL and USD are a standard, some banks also offer EUR.
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:02
@fish thanks for reporting back. As for LLC VZ how much is the virtual zone license cost?
fish
2019-08-22 18:03
It's a free add-on
fish
2019-08-22 18:03
I'll definitely be interested in having this upgrade
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:04
Man, are you sure? I've read that costs are in the range of $4K/year
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:04
USD not GEL
fish
2019-08-22 18:04
Nothing of such was mentioned, it would have been a major deal breaker for me otherwise
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:05
wait i'll try to remember where i've read that
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:07
Uhm ok the guy was talking about the "normal" Georgian free zone and the costs were $4K/year
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:08
Maybe the VZ is really a free addon?
marziovit
2019-08-22 18:09
Can a company selling digital products, online courses and so apply for for VZ?
fish
2019-08-22 18:10
The requirement is along the lines that software has to be created
ionutadrian.m
2019-08-23 00:14
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nardimed
2019-08-23 04:18
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imatfaal
2019-08-23 07:49
Has anyone here used Turner Little Ltd. for company incorporation / drawing up partnership agreements? Keen to hear feedback before we take the leap! They've been very responsive to emails and phone calls so far, which is a good start...
https://www.turnerlittle.com
marziovit
2019-08-23 10:33
I?ve seen somebody from Turner Little active on offshore forum
imatfaal
2019-08-23 14:54
Yes, I've spoken to them quite a lot. They are one of the partners. Am keen to hear from third parties who have had experience with them.
soti_androulakis
2019-08-24 09:12
@maktubebasta Korchina is good I used them in the past
mescos
2019-08-24 20:20
Hey guys, which Estonian service providers do you recommend for Estonian OUs for address/contact person in Estonia? What are the prices like for an annual address/contact person?
marziovit
2019-08-25 06:15
Nordic Consult is the best
marziovit
2019-08-25 06:15
not sure if they have the best prices for accounting but for company formation and contact person / legal address are the best option
mescos
2019-08-25 14:16
So you guys have any recommendations for Estonian address/contact person besides Nordic Consult? Been hearing that he is not very prompt.
romaindepotter
2019-08-26 07:25
@fish Thank you very much for your report about Georgia ! If you do the same for having information for Residency, I'll have questions.
contact339
2019-08-26 10:59
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stihlman
2019-08-27 11:52
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maxsuur
2019-08-27 13:48
The guy responds emails very fast
ivo
2019-08-28 05:58
@marziovit 10%
ivo
2019-08-28 06:15
@fish there is quite a bit of wrong or incomplete information in there.
- Microbusiness is taxed 1% for first 500k in revenue. Once exceeded it has 1 year to fall below 500k or it will be converted into an LLC. There is no such thing as 3% revenue taxation.
- You can?t provide mentioned services but additionally you can?t provide anything else that would require licensing (ie a pilot can?t work as a IE).
- Re VZ everything is correct. Note that only receiving VZ status does not mean your services are really classified as software services. status is giving by Ministry of Justice, while tax situation is decided by revenue services
- Having a Georgian subsidiary can be beneficial in several ways: you may save on the 5% dividend or transfer profits to mother company and reduce your corporate tax bill (need to watch out for transfer pricing laws)
- Taxes are filed online, but other than that most things have to be done in person in the public service hall or revenue services (also note that online front end is only aailable in Georgian)
Also, accounting services don?t require any professional education. Thus, loads of folks provide really bad advice on it. So be careful what soem experts tell you.
Source: I have 5 active Georgian companies and run a business consulting
- Re tax residency: it?s a complicated matter, but generally speaking the 183 are required (few loopholes available though).
marziovit
2019-08-28 06:15
@ivo 10% on local income, 0% on foreign income
ivo
2019-08-28 06:18
The Georgian LLC is taxed on world income, the 10% witholding applies when you transfer to your US holding because there is no DTA with the US
ivo
2019-08-28 06:19
FX trading is not taxed on a personal level. it will be taxed 15% + dividend tax on a corporate level.
ivo
2019-08-28 06:20
minimum 1 day per year. It?s 200k GEL in the last three years though
ivo
2019-08-28 06:21
You can pay dividends in any currency
ivo
2019-08-28 06:23
I would be very wary of an accountant charging so little. In my experience decent accountant charge minimum 100 USD per month for a small business (service company, max 15k USD revenue and 10 transaction per month)
ivo
2019-08-28 06:24
yes, just keep in mind that there is a 10% witholding tax on dividends if there is no DTA between the two countries
bierlingm
2019-08-28 08:00
If the revenue is high, tax dept. Want to tax you as a business which is high
fish
2019-08-28 09:55
@giovannilaperna what would be a good way to send and receive money, for USD and/or EUR?
marziovit
2019-08-28 11:40
And after the HNWI residency is approved you will need to prove that you earn 200K/year?
ivo
2019-08-28 12:26
yes
giovannilaperna
2019-08-29 12:45
@fish for USD the only option is SWIFT transfer, but that would be the same with an account in EU. If your business in in Europe and you need fast and cheap incoming and outgoing EUR transfer you can use TW/Paysera/Epayments or any other ewallet with a virtual IBAN for daily activity and the georgian bank account to keep the business profits. I only have a personal account there, I transfer from personal transferwise to use the cards and keep part of my saving in a proper bank account.
higiacomo
2019-08-31 11:52
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paul.giannotti
2019-09-01 02:23
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me1
2019-09-03 09:34
Hey guys, I'm pretty new to this thing. I have a BVI company set up and I'd like to pay myself dividends. Who do I need to ask for help with this? An accountant? A lawyer? Where can I find one?
tdibaja
2019-09-03 10:16
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julienduteurtre
2019-09-05 02:13
Has anyone created a UK LLP with 2 US LLC ? Does it makes the LLP anonymous ? and is there problem with Payment processor or Fintech to open account? @simon
simon
2019-09-05 02:41
@julienduteurtre It will make things difficult if you want to open accounts with services that only accept EU residents. As for anonymity, it will keep your name off the public register but it will still be known to the government and any financial services company you open an account with.
julienduteurtre
2019-09-05 02:58
@simon Thank you for your answer.
- If I'm EU passport holder with EU adress will this help ?
- And my needs will be super basic Stripe + Transferwise would it work with 2 LLC as members ?
- By "off the public register" you mean no one can google my personal name and find my LLP ?
simon
2019-09-05 03:40
@julienduteurtre For Stripe and TransferWise you should be fine. As for google, correct, no public association between your personal name and the LLP.
mescos
2019-09-05 15:31
Hey, does anyone know how a UK limited company can register a non-UK corporate shareholder (e.g. an Estonian OU)? A UK corporate service provider saying they need the following docs to do it: 1) certificate of incorporation, 2) certificate of good standing, 3) memorandum, and 4) a document in the company register needs to be ?signed by an accountant?.
1) Are all these documents really needed to register a non-UK company as a shareholder or is the UK service provider incorrect?
2) How can the Estonian OU acquire these documents from Estonia? It seems like the Estonian service providers only provide generic registration documents and the UK wants something more official.
Suggestions?
vinodgn0088
2019-09-05 15:44
certificate of good standing << All you can get is an extract from company register certified by a notary public in Estonia.
adrian7
2019-09-05 15:53
Hi guys, do you know if I can have the bank account (Payoneer) linked to PayPal account. I added the USD account from Payoneer but I didn?t receive the transaction on Payoneer statement. I have an US LLC, but I am not resident in the US. Do you know another mothod to confirm the PayPal account? @simon
mescos
2019-09-05 17:12
How do you get the official incorporation and memorandum docs from Estonia?
mescos
2019-09-05 17:15
Also, does anyone know what documents are actually required from Estonian company to register it as a corporate shareholder in the UK? Can?t tell if this UK service provider is just going completely over the top and requesting unnecessary documents?
vinodgn0088
2019-09-06 02:17
Simon did it before. Ask him how he added his OU to LLP as partner. Also, for memorandum ask the service provider who incorporated the company.
mescos
2019-09-06 19:20
Thanks @vinodgn0088. @simon do you have any feedback on the above? The UK company is a Limited, not an LLP.
simon
2019-09-08 10:54
@mescos There's no need for any paperwork, Companies House just needs the registration number of the Estonian company, registration date and jurisdiction (Estonia).
ivan
2019-09-09 12:37
Guys, I want to close my IBC in Belize since I stopped using it. The company I opened it with is asking for $1500 for closing it which I consider a bit too high. Is there any alternative solutions to closing IBCs?
ivan
2019-09-09 13:02
I've read some people recommending just stop paying the renewal
mescos
2019-09-09 13:26
Thanks @simon. Have you gone through the PSC registration? For instance if one individual owns 100% of the Estonian and the Estonian company owns more than 25% of the UK limited, my understanding is that the UBO has to be registered as a PSC in the UK.
mikeseo
2019-09-09 16:25
@ivan the US tax lawyer who opened mine and lives in Belize told me to just let mine expire by not paying the annual fee instead of closing it
ivan
2019-09-09 16:29
@mikeseo, did you do that? As far as I could find they enter into an status of "strike off" which mean they're still liable for each passing year renewal. In theory they would keep accumulating the debt for up to 7 yeas until someone might get interested in purchasing the debt and causing you some trouble. What I wonder is what usually happens in practice.
vinodgn0088
2019-09-09 17:13
@ivan, Nothing will happen unless one of your old clients decide to sue you. Even in the case of a manual de-registration you are actually signing a resolution stating that company don't have any assets or liabilities and you wish to close the company. But if you have some hidden liabilities your client can still take up case to court and the IBC registrar will support that. So there is no point in paying for a de-registration. Just let the company die due to non-payment of fees.
ivan
2019-09-09 20:04
Sounds good, thanks @vinodgn0088, @mikeseo. I think I'm gonna do that. No liabilities nor assets, so it sounds good.
consciouscapital
2019-09-10 02:42
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mikeseo
2019-09-10 04:17
ya that's what I did. this is what he said "just don't pay the renewal invoice I typically send about a week from now, and the company won't be renewed. It will be struck off the register and cease to exist."
simon
2019-09-10 06:43
Registering someone as a PSC takes only a few minutes and no documentation is required. It?s done via Companies House management portal: https://www.gov.uk/file-changes-to-a-company-with-companies-house
igor
2019-09-10 10:22
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ivan
2019-09-10 13:05
@mikeseo, I wonder how a registrar who actually wants to get paid the fee would react, though. But these guys have increased the price since I created the company and it's way more expensive to close than to open it, makes no sense.
mikeseo
2019-09-10 17:03
ya seems weird they wouldn't lower the fee, encourages guys to just not renew it
mikeseo
2019-09-10 17:04
but you don't live in Belize nor have a bank acct there so what could they actually do? Plus if they threaten their old clients they will get bad reviews and lose new clients
benjamin
2019-09-11 06:51
Just throwing it out there.
I have an eCommerce business that I'm selling.
(beauty brand, not dropshipping, 3PL, mostly Australian customers, 2 years age with consistent sales/profit)
It can be run from anywhere in the world, the only tax liability if you're not based in Australia will be sales tax on Australian sales (10% GST)
If anyone is experienced in online/google/facebook marketing and wants a digital property to add to their portfolio send me a PM.
Asking price is $400,000AUD (275K USD), no seller financing.
Ps. I won't be sharing the domain until I know the buyer is serious, so no time wasters please :slightly_smiling_face:
Just thought I'd mention it on here before I go with a broker in which they'll most likely make me sign an exclusivity agreement.
Thanks guys.
squalldawa
2019-09-11 08:13
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danz
2019-09-12 01:09
@benjamin Not interested as it's e-commerce and I buy more in the affiliate space. But are you going to list it on EF, FE international or some other brokerage site?
benjamin
2019-09-12 02:23
@danz fair enough, I like the affiliate space too recently. I've used EF before and didn't like the overall experience. Their customer service is extremely poor. I actually booked a call with them last week only for them to cancel, reschedule and then not call. So they haven't improved since I last used them.
I'm speaking to a few different brokers at the moment, undecided who I'll go with. I'm open to suggestions if you have experience with any
skat
2019-09-12 02:39
If anyone is doing amazon affiliate (with a help of product advertising api) you really need to read this
https://fbacatalog.com/blog/new-product-adveritising-api.html
julienduteurtre
2019-09-12 02:44
@simon 2 questions about UK LLP :
1/ US LLC can be considered as Non-Etbus and do business in USA tax free, is the same possible with a UK LLP ?
2/ US LLC don't need to do proper accounting nor audits, they just need to keep a record of transactions and be able to justify them in case of control. What about UK LLP, does it works the same ?
danz
2019-09-12 02:45
@benjamin No experience with one myself. I can vouch for http://Alphainvestors.com as I have spoken to him a couple of times and know http://Domainmagnate.com (but he doesn't buy e-commerce I believe, but maybe knows buyers).
benjamin
2019-09-12 02:46
@danz Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into them.
simon
2019-09-12 03:32
Yes it?s essentially the same.
merle.alexis
2019-09-12 05:57
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jer2005
2019-09-12 09:05
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mescos
2019-09-12 11:29
Thanks @simon. Do you know how to get a certificate of incorporation, good standing, and memorandum for an Estonian company? The U.K. provider says they need all these KYC / AML in order to do a share transfer to an Estonian company.
simon
2019-09-12 20:09
@mescos Have you tried logging into the business register with your e-Residency card? If you are linked to the company, you should be able to access its documents. https://ariregister.rik.ee/index?lang=eng
services
2019-09-12 22:49
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julinhio
2019-09-13 00:51
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tilaukset
2019-09-16 03:22
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nnmatveev
2019-09-17 19:41
Does Stripe require verification of the home address? If so, is there any tips how to get verified if I am from unsupported country?
nnmatveev
2019-09-17 19:54
@ivo ?- Re VZ everything is correct. Note that only receiving VZ status does not mean your services are really classified as software services. status is giving by Ministry of Justice, while tax situation is decided by revenue services?. Do you think that the situation is the same with FIZ companies? Will RS audit income to check whether it is relevant to the FIZ license type?
ivan
2019-09-17 20:39
Nik, they didn't ask me for address proof as far as I remember, but if they do the classic service bill or bank statement should work. They work with residents of unsupported countries as long as you're operating from a business in a supported country.
pvpamstelveen
2019-09-17 22:42
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ivo
2019-09-18 16:10
@nnmatveev So far RS has turned a blind eye on any activities of the FIZ. Since they operate completely outside the scope of Georgia. Nevertheless, it can (and probably will) change. Banks are already making your life a nightmare when you are a FiZ company.
nnmatveev
2019-09-19 08:32
@ivo Do you have any ideas on the dates here? How soon things regarding RS & FIZ relations will be changed?
imatfaal
2019-09-19 13:10
OK we are back onto this. I have just emailed you about it @scarduzio.
sebastian.leu
2019-09-21 16:33
Can anybody tell me about his experience with her/his application for a UTR number using that `SA401` form? I'm curious about
1. How long did it take to get the letter with the UTR numbers back from HMRC from the day your application arrived?
2. Did the HMRC send you the letter with the UTR number back via registered mail?
3. Did they send you the letter to a country outside the EU/US?
simon
2019-09-21 17:59
1. 2-3 weeks on average
2. No, regular mail
3. Yes, they will mail it to any country
bountybairn
2019-09-22 15:17
Anyone offer thoughts on obfuscating my involvement in a UK Ltd company which will invest in real estate in the UK. I am UK based but wondering if best method would be for my shareholding to be held by an offshore entity, with high privacy. So my first thought was a Wyoming LLC?.
What would be the accounting practices to be followed if dividends were paid the LLC -
1. could it be treated as pass through income?
2. Would the disbursement of the funds in terms of where the LLC sent the funds be reported
gcam991
2019-09-22 17:53
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bigworld
2019-09-22 19:21
Have you thought of a foundation? Interesting thing is that unlike companies, foundations have no owner - foundations have personality by themselves.
If you take the privacy way, what are you doing to say to the bank when you want to open an account and they ask who is the controlling person?
bountybairn
2019-09-22 19:27
Not thought of a foundation no. I?ll have a look into this, do you have any useful links @bigworld
bountybairn
2019-09-22 19:28
I dont mind the bank knowing as its not possible for any old person to look at that data. I?m making an investment, not running the UK Ltd
bigworld
2019-09-22 19:33
Panamá looks good. Also you now have foundations in Channel Island I think. Also, if your involvement as shareholder is less than 25% maybe you don't have to disclose your identity
bountybairn
2019-09-23 10:05
Thanks @bigworld I?ll look into channel islands. Unfortunately is 40% so would be considered a PSC under UK ltd rules
p.rawson100
2019-09-25 03:44
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rom1.mistretta
2019-09-25 03:44
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contact847
2019-09-25 03:44
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oli_rod
2019-09-25 03:44
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2019-09-25 17:26
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2019-09-26 03:29
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hans.hoppe
2019-09-28 18:00
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sebastian.leu
2019-09-29 04:55
What's the best option for international sim cards? I'm currently considering http://www.onesimcard.com/international-sim-card/universal/ or https://fi.google.com/ . Can anyone recommend them or another provider?
roman
2019-09-29 12:14
I?ve used Know Roaming with a good success.
roman
2019-09-29 12:14
Didn?t like the sticker sim though and switched to full sim.
simon
2019-09-29 12:30
I use Fi and they are the best, no other service comes close in terms of coverage, ease of use and support.
sebastian.leu
2019-09-29 14:04
thanks for the feedback
sebastian.leu
2019-09-29 14:30
rates of FI seem quite a bit cheaper than Know Roaming (international calls & data)
roman
2019-09-29 15:06
For me the benefit of KR is that I don?t need it full time. It?s my interim sim before getting a local sim, or if I?m just there for a few days then I use KR. The other part is just general difficulty of getting Fi for non US persons.
roman
2019-09-29 15:07
@simon how did you procure the SIM card?
sebastian.leu
2019-09-30 01:29
>The other part is just general difficulty of getting Fi for non US persons.
@roman good point, i haven't ordered yet so couldn't say whether this is a problem for me (I'm not US citizen).
And yea the other point you mention is valid too i guess. It's a tradeoff between paying monthly and cheaper rates on FI against higher rates and no monthly fees with KR.
simon
2019-09-30 05:51
@roman I regularly travel to the US so getting the card wasn?t an issue. Once activated, the card can be used overseas even for extended periods of time.
ledrewy
2019-09-30 12:32
@roman I got mine by shipping to a virtual mailbox address in the US and then forward to me. A friend of mine got an esim version by purchasing a Google Pixel smartphone
roman
2019-09-30 12:38
Which mailbox provider did you use? shipito?
ledrewy
2019-09-30 22:24
I used http://MyUS.com
Provide me your email addr so I could send you an invite. You?re entitled to 20% discount on your first shipment
jaimeeis
2019-10-01 04:42
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2019-10-01 04:42
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gun
2019-10-01 04:42
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2019-10-01 04:53
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julien
2019-10-01 04:53
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2019-10-01 04:53
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fcgauthier
2019-10-02 02:46
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ouafouaf
2019-10-02 03:06
Yop, lets see how worth it is for "we" small fish ! :yum:
internationalbits
2019-10-02 23:23
this looks fantastic.
imatfaal
2019-10-03 16:11
Has anyone gone for this yet?
shaharhillel4
2019-10-04 14:29
Anyone knows a good quick invoice generator for US based LLC company?
ouafouaf
2019-10-04 15:29
Never used it myself.....but....24 millin users, cant be wrong...!...(or could they be ? :smile:)
roman
2019-10-05 14:24
Wave had free invoicing that looks quite good.
sebastian.leu
2019-10-05 15:06
especially interesting considering the dubai tax system https://www.world.tax/countries/dubai/dubai-tax-system.php
sebastian.leu
2019-10-05 15:07
may be worth to check out https://www.zervant.com/, not sure though how well it does work for US based companies
lljorganxhi
2019-10-06 06:05
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2019-10-07 11:32
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2019-10-09 04:43
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2019-10-09 04:52
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2019-10-09 04:52
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2019-10-10 01:13
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2019-10-10 01:13
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2019-10-10 09:53
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2019-10-10 10:20
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michispc
2019-10-10 15:11
Hey there, I'm new in here and would like to greet everyone :slightly_smiling_face: I have a rather specific question for GERMANY - I want to establish an LLP in the UK in the next days and leave germany early 2020. I just had a look at the requirements of verifying the ID for registering a company. What is the best way of proving ones home address when electricity and all the other stuff is not registered under your name. Germany has an official document that states where I live (Anmeldebescheinigung) but the UK Gvmt does not accept this type of evidence since they dont have this type of thing in the UK i suppose... the way I see it the easiest way would be to give a bank statement to a translator, since evidence needs to be submitted in english. But then I need another person to verify the integrity of the document? Any german people around who dealt with this situation, or anyone who can give advice? Thanks for your help
kristina.bikare
2019-10-11 10:12
Hey @michispc I'm the same boat with you, but just registered my LLP. I went to the bank and asked them to print my contract with them in English - UK accepted it :smile: Zero cost or time waste.
lucas0911
2019-10-17 15:57
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2019-10-18 15:59
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2019-10-20 11:03
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2019-10-23 08:30
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2019-10-23 16:19
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rp_vpnet
2019-10-24 09:18
@michispc, try with bank statement from revolut or transferwise (registered to your german address). They are in english.
steve
2019-10-25 07:25
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2019-10-27 11:16
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2019-10-28 09:29
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2019-11-06 14:02
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nemanja.mirkovicru87
2019-11-06 15:38
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michispc
2019-11-06 16:22
Hi guys and girls, I just recently incorporated an LLP in the UK and was wondering if I need any licences? I own a dropshipping store that sells watches from china to the US online (I know about sellers permit and VAT taxation in the different states of the US - ["Nexus"]) As far as my research goes, I think I do not need any license in the UK at all. Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks in advance
guilherme.sa
2019-11-07 14:53
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2019-11-07 15:03
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mpcbruhn_freedomsurfe
2019-11-08 04:37
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mpcbruhn_freedomsurfe
2019-11-08 10:25
Hi, I am new here, from Germany, living in Thailand and plan to form a UK LLP with myself.
I have an (legit) e-commerce store and sell on Amazon in the EU, currently as sole proprietor registered in Germany.
My tax residency is in Thailand.
Maybe someone can help me?
What are my best options as my partner for the LLP?
I will need PayPal and Amazon as accepted payment methods and I will need a multi currency bank account with access to SEPA.
All the profits will go to myself, as personal income, taxed in Thailand.
So I just need a dummy company that doesn?t raise flags for the payment processors and banks I apply to. Not too complicated accounting needs would be great.
prashantpawar
2019-11-08 14:33
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danz
2019-11-10 10:41
About the Paypal & Multicurrency, you will need to go to physically to the UK to open with one of the bigger banks (Barclays/HSBC). Where you can apply for the multicurrency account after you opened the account with the GBP currency. You can connect Paypal to the account after.
simon
2019-11-10 10:48
@danz You can also use the fintech, many now support PayPal (and they accept remote applications).
danz
2019-11-10 10:49
Didn't know they accepted Paypal, that's interesting
danz
2019-11-10 10:49
Which ones?
simon
2019-11-10 10:52
Revolut, Monese, Tide and possibly others.
simon
2019-11-10 10:53
For UK accounts, that is
simon
2019-11-10 10:56
Revolut even has a how to video:
https://blog.revolut.com/connect-revolut-for-business-with-amazon-paypal-and-stripe/
danz
2019-11-10 10:59
Nice, I'll check it out
mikael.sandvill
2019-11-11 11:13
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silvafelipe37
2019-11-12 14:40
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rogerio.cadan
2019-11-12 14:58
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mikael.sandvill
2019-11-13 10:25
hey all! just applied for estonian e-residency as it seems that might be a good place for me to register my business. i understand i should establish a presence there as well in order for non distributed profits to be tax-exempt.. i?ll also need a good accountant.. anyone got any good resources/people to connect me with?
kristinj
2019-11-14 11:47
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imatfaal
2019-11-14 16:44
Hello All, I've just discovered that my UK LLP qualifies as a "micro-entity" under HMRC rules, which means you can file highly simplified, unaudited accounts using FRS105 standards with companies house. So.....
Am I allowed to prepare these myself or do I need to pay an accountant? If going DIY, can anyone suggest some software that might automate this process? Thanks!
imatfaal
2019-11-14 16:51
Also @simon, do you file this with HMRC, as part of the service? Presumably as our taxable UK income is zero, it's an even simpler form?
simon
2019-11-14 17:10
Yes I file the accounts with Companies House as part of my service.
mescos
2019-11-15 02:18
Hi guys, I have a question about closing down a dormant BVI company that is no longer needed. What is the best way to go about closing it down? For example, is BVI similar to HK/Estonia where you can simply stop filing and stop paying the renewal fees and the government will eventually remove it from the registrar? I know this is common practice elsewhere, but not sure about BVI. Are there any penalty fees or consequences for the UBO/directors if the entity just stops filing and doesn?t bother renewing? Also, if the UBO has other companies registered in the BVI (with the same agent) could this cause problems for the other companies?
simon
2019-11-15 03:18
@mescos An abandoned BVI company will be struck off the register a few months after it fails to pay its renewal fee. No action will be taken against the owners, unless it is found that the company is still trading.
mescos
2019-11-15 03:23
Thanks @simon, do you have a link you could share? I just read a report from Harney?s that says it will be struck off the register but then only dissolved after 7 years. And it will technically continue to incur fees from the gov over those 7 years.
simon
2019-11-15 03:27
Yes it will continue to incur those fees but that is only an issue if you plan to eventually re-activate the company (otherwise you do not need to pay anything).
prykhodko.av
2019-11-19 09:23
I am about to register Estonian company, which service provider you would recommend: Nordic Consult or Dalanta? Thank you
mikael.sandvill
2019-11-19 09:30
let me know how you go i will be doing it once i get my e res
imatfaal
2019-11-19 09:45
Please could you send me an exemplar of what gets filed?
Do I need to file full accounts for the LLP with anyone then?
simon
2019-11-19 09:49
@imatfaal Dormant accounts are filed for non-resident LLPs. They confirm that no business activity took place in the UK and that all information about the partners is accurate.
imatfaal
2019-11-19 10:04
All limited LLPs, whether they trade or not, must deliver accounts to Companies House. However, a LLP is dormant if it has had no ?significant accounting transactions? during the accounting period. A significant accounting transaction is one which the LLP should enter in its accounting records. Dormant LLPs may claim exemption from audit in accordance with section 480 of the Companies Act 2006.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/limited-liability-partnership-accounts-guidance/llp-accounts
I am struggling to find anywhere where HMRC defines what they mean by "significant accounting transactions"...
simon
2019-11-19 10:17
Any transaction that isn?t related to the maintenance of the LLP (in other words, anything other than registered agent fees and government fees) is a reportable transaction as far as Companies House is concerned. LLPs that have no UK resident partner / UK permanent establishment, however, do not have to report any transactions in the UK.
imatfaal
2019-11-19 10:19
Do you have a link to any official HMRC / Companies House guidance on this position?
simon
2019-11-19 10:23
See the ?Partnership consists solely of non-resident partners? section. It?s guidance from HMRC but the same also applies to Companies House.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/partnerships-foreign-aspects-hs380-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs380-partnership-foreign-aspects-2019
imatfaal
2019-11-19 10:27
OK. This looks clearer. Thanks!
"Partnership consists solely of non-resident partners
Where all the partners are non-resident, the Partnership Tax Return should show only the profits arising from UK operations. A corporate partner should separately enter on its return any profit arising overseas which relates to the UK permanent establishment."
What does this second sentence mean exactly? "A corporate partner should separately enter on its return any profit arising overseas which relates to the UK permanent establishment". Seems relevant to us given that our UK LLP has both natural and corporate partners....
simon
2019-11-19 10:31
It means that if there were any reportable transactions, corporate partners should report them on their UK corporation tax return (as corporations do not file Self Assessment returns).
imatfaal
2019-11-19 10:36
OK!
mikael.sandvill
2019-11-19 11:16
also @prykhodko.av check out https://e-resident.gov.ee/marketplace/service-providers/
prykhodko.av
2019-11-19 13:17
I am going ahead with Nordic Consult or Dalanta, have not decided yet. I called to both and nobody replied over a phone, so I dropped an email to both, to see the reply and decide which one to chose.
prykhodko.av
2019-11-19 16:02
It seems Nordic Consult is more established service provider vs Dalanta, in order to open Estonian company with E-residence, so I?ll progress with Nordic. Both providers reply on emails quickly and seems both offering a decent service :+1:
ray5turtle
2019-11-20 22:47
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luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 06:02
Hey @simon, apart from this website (Freedom Surfer) what type of business do you have? how do you diversify your income if I may ask? Just a general overview is what I am asking, not to reveal any trade secrets!! haha
Also, it is an open question for people actually living the digital nomad lifestyle + How much do you live on each month? I know it depends, but you could have an average.
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 06:02
Thank you for your answers!
skat
2019-11-21 13:42
Are you from IRS? What?s up with such questions out of the blue?
tiagomdreganha
2019-11-21 14:26
Depends on location.
Usually 1k to 1.5k/month for housing and 1k/month for food/small trips
Travel/flights depends on how of often you do it and where from/to
I do it only 3 to 4 months out of the year, 1 month each location, so I spend around 3k/month because of flying around and weekend trips.
I travel with WifiTribe usually
burrup.lambert
2019-11-21 14:27
Old Luis, you can't fool us :wink:.
tiagomdreganha
2019-11-21 14:28
Euro
simon
2019-11-21 14:30
@luisdaniel.mateos I trade in the financial markets, own some real assets and have a stake in a startup company. As for how much I spend each month traveling, that depends on where I am but 5000-10000 USD on average (with a bit less in ultra-cheap destinations and more in places like Polynesia). I stay mostly in chain hotels, move often and always eat out.
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 17:29
Hahaha.. Sorry all! I am just starting to lay out the groundwork to embrace the nomad lifestyle myself and wanted to know of a few approaches. I swear I am not from the IRS or any other national equivalent!
Thank you @simon, that is useful!
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 17:31
Thanks Tiago!
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 17:32
I'll check WifiTribe out!
skat
2019-11-21 17:37
It all depends on where you travel to :slightly_smiling_face:
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 17:43
I know, a ballpark average was fine.. so far Simon said 5k-10k USD, Tiago 3k EUR.
Myself I know it would be more on the higher end to achieve the same level of comfort/quality-of-living I have now.
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 17:45
Currently I am a management consultant, which has led me to move around a bit so I have somewhat an idea of what it would be like... but still just thinking of your whole wardrobe in a suitcase, assets spread around the world and no basecamp seems like a lot to manage.
tiagomdreganha
2019-11-21 17:49
You can still have a basecamp.
Most digital nomads have either a place they rent yearly and sublet while they travel, or the most hardcore ones store their stuff in their parents place. A few sell everything and live out of their suitcase.
It's usually a process, you start by doing it a few months, see how you like it and start doing it more and more.
luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-21 17:50
Yes, I believe it's like working on cruise ships (I have a friend who does it). It is only being home less than a couple of months a year because you get addicted to it.
ouafouaf
2019-11-21 20:38
Was going to mention it, Yacht people, there are a bunch moving from place to place...for years non-stop. "Parking" can be really cheap compared to renting apart. Even right in town..and the luxury depends on you.
ouafouaf
2019-11-21 20:40
400u$ spent each month as a Volunteer in Bolivia, all included, food, med speed internet, etc...
moran
2019-11-22 01:03
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luisdaniel.mateos
2019-11-22 02:00
Thanks @ouafouaf that is useful. Haven't really considered full time philanthropy but you might be onto something there!
norman.pend
2019-11-22 08:42
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julienduteurtre
2019-11-22 15:35
I'm debating between UK LTD or UK LLP
I'm tax resident in a territorial taxation country and I own a LLC, the purpose of the UK would be to be able to get the multi-currency Stripe account in UK.
Do you think I could create a dormant UK LTD just for registering on Stripe and then link it to the IBAN of my US LLC so the UK LTD will only be facilitating the access to the payment processor, won't have any sort of transactions and won't be tax liable in UK ?
Or would it be safer to do it with a LLP as it is a pass-trough ?
@simon your thoughts?
omocha_10
2019-11-22 16:29
You could be making millions or you could do it very cheap. It all depends on your spending habits and in which places you are. In South East Asia you could rent a hut, cook your food and move in a bicycle. You could live under 400 usd. In countries like Norway, Iceland you would need more for rent, heating, food is more expensive.
There are many kinds of nomads. Some are free lancers, other have online ventures(FBA, blogs, e commerce etc), others trade the markets, other invest in real state, others are consultants on their field of expertise, others have ?traveling professions? like dive professors, ski/snowboard teachers, english teachers.
Another way is volunteering moving around, you would have roof and food and usually the longer minimum stay is 2 weeks.
Some work in boats of very rich people doing basic staff, they get roof, food and great tips, and with that money then travel half a year with no working.
As for storage, one can leave some boxes at a family or friend house.
Or pay for a storage facility, or sell/give away everything.
skat
2019-11-24 18:24
@burrup.lambert feels like second options is easier to remember. :slightly_smiling_face: But I?d avoid sharing domains your planning to buy or someone can snatch it in front of your nose
mikael.sandvill
2019-11-24 19:35
just bought all 9
mikael.sandvill
2019-11-24 19:35
jk
omocha_10
2019-11-24 20:07
Nro 2
mikeseo
2019-11-25 02:11
1, 4, 5 sound professional
ledrewy
2019-11-25 04:24
For no. 2 you can try:
bluecap.trading
bluecap.trade
burrup.lambert
2019-11-25 10:50
Thanks, I'm trying to stick to a more conventional TLD though. I'm not entirely sold on 'alternative' ones yet.
simonyepu
2019-11-26 09:14
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burrup.lambert
2019-11-27 18:21
Anyone run a business that that provides some type of financial service and is regulated by CySec (Cyprus), FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia) etc? Or incorporated somewhere else, BVI, Vanuatu, Malta? Love to connect with you! Please send me a DM/PM!
kuka
2019-11-28 06:20
You can
julianmb
2019-11-28 07:59
That simple?
odock
2019-11-30 19:20
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gabriel.courtemanche
2019-12-02 14:21
Hey @tiagomdreganha I will do my first WifiTribe chapters in Colombia this winter!
d.lasallesutherland
2019-12-04 16:04
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perin.pascal
2019-12-05 07:05
ube
pedrofelipesales
2019-12-06 02:19
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pk
2019-12-07 00:42
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2019-12-09 02:19
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julianmb
2019-12-09 14:45
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2019-12-11 13:42
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antoine.rousseaux02
2019-12-11 13:53
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stolzlos
2019-12-11 19:35
does anybody here have experience with incubators?
s.lemos1
2019-12-12 13:56
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p2fsolutions
2019-12-12 20:09
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lartur.eng
2019-12-13 13:40
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imatfaal
2019-12-13 17:21
I have a friend who works in one in London Victoria. Seems to have found it beneficial for his consultancy!
alexandrum72
2019-12-15 07:43
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bigeyegordon
2019-12-16 13:48
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michal.opoka
2019-12-20 02:08
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/116-2019/h577 majority of republicans voted against it which means most likely it will get stuck in senate so I wouldn't worry yet
donatobianchi
2019-12-20 06:44
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2019-12-20 19:42
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2019-12-21 21:08
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2019-12-23 10:50
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nemanja.mirkovicru87
2019-12-23 12:53
Hey guys, anybody incorporated a company in HK or SG? I'm considering one of those two jurisdictions but after speaking with 6 tax advisors and accountants, the information I got is quite conflicting. Just looking for your thoughts, pros and cons you noticed while running the company etc.
Cheers!
julianmb
2019-12-23 12:53
HK have less taxes, but harder to open a bank account
julianmb
2019-12-23 12:55
If you are HK resident, you pay 8.25% for the first 2m HKD, after that 16.5%. If not then you pay 0% but you need to declare the dividends at your home country
nemanja.mirkovicru87
2019-12-23 12:56
Thanks @julianmb, that's good to know!
simon
2019-12-23 12:58
Do note that if you run the business from another country, it will likely be liable to tax there (for example, if you run a HK company from the UK, all income generated from the UK PE will be taxed according to UK corporation tax rules).
simon
2019-12-23 12:59
For that reason, it only makes sense to register in HK / SG if you plan to have local operations (or perhaps travel perpetually).
julianmb
2019-12-23 13:00
HK is also useful if you need to import or export from Mainland China and need to do bank operations with RMB
julianmb
2019-12-23 13:00
Some Chinese providers prefer to be paid in HK
simon
2019-12-23 13:02
@julianmb You can open a HK account for an overseas company, including offshore RMB. Transferring funds to that account to pay suppliers is easy now that TransferWise supports FPS (instant transfers).
julianmb
2019-12-23 13:03
Yes, it's instant to pay from EU to HK using Transferwise
nemanja.mirkovicru87
2019-12-23 14:52
Is that based on CFC rules or you mean if you distribute dividends from HK / SG?
simon
2019-12-23 15:10
Place of management rules. In short, if you actively run a foreign company from your country of residence, it will be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that country and any income generated via that permanent establishment will be liable to tax.
You can find country specific rules at: (Corporate taxation, residence)
https://dits.deloitte.com/#TaxGuides
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2019-12-23 15:55
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digimkt
2019-12-24 20:20
@simon where are this place of management rules described? for instance Brazil says: "A corporation is resident
in Brazil if it is incorporated in Brazil." So unless I get paid from the US LLC to a Brazil account I don't have to pay any taxes in BR?
simon
2019-12-25 03:20
@digimkt According to PwC, a foreign company conducting active business via a fixed place of business or an agent in Brazil may be deemed to have a Brazilian permanent establishment.
http://taxsummaries.pwc.com/ID/Brazil-Corporate-Corporate-residence
Do note that place of management rules usually only apply to active companies (passive companies such as holding entities and investment companies usually fall under CFC rules).
digimkt
2019-12-26 01:03
@simon so let's say I use my Wyoming LLC with a cross border payment gateway to sell SaaS subscriptions or digital marketing services to Brazil clients which will need an invoice from my Wyoming LLC and this invoice will be in BRL because we can charge in BRL... no physical office in BR, only freelancers working... if I don't declare ownership of the LLC and don't get any money from it to my BR accounts then there is no PE and no tax to be paid right?
simon
2019-12-26 03:31
@digimkt If you do not operate from Brazil, have no physical premises there and only employ freelancers, you are unlikely to have to pay any tax in Brazil even if most (or all) of your customers are based there.
digimkt
2019-12-26 11:59
@simon even if I'm resident in Brazil?
simon
2019-12-26 12:25
@digimkt If you are a resident for tax purposes, you will be liable to tax on your worldwide income (that will include your share of the LLC profits, regardless of whether it is deemed to have a Brazilian PE). You may also have other liabilities (VAT, for example) but I?m not familiar with how they work in Brazil.
digimkt
2019-12-26 12:49
@simon ok but as long as the profits stay in the company for reinvestment purposes and are not transfered to my personal accounts there is no taxation right?
victorfragaceotto
2019-12-26 23:51
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martin
2019-12-27 07:22
Are Corporate partners still allowed in the UK?
simon
2019-12-27 07:27
@martin Yes
martin
2019-12-27 08:07
Sorry, Simon, I was confusing it with Corporate Directors which I believe is no longer allowed?
simon
2019-12-27 08:14
There is no director in an LLP but if you are referring to a LTD, that is correct corporate directors aren?t allowed.
martin
2019-12-27 08:29
Thanks, Simon
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2019-12-28 15:22
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michelle
2019-12-30 08:29
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2019-12-30 10:18
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stolzlos
2019-12-30 11:01
Question in regard to incorporation in SG. If I incorporate in SG and have all my clients in SG but live in another country, lets say somewhere in the EU, where would I have to pay taxes? Would that change if I do the work in SG (for the length of the contract for example) but still live in the EU?
julianmb
2019-12-30 11:59
I don't know in SG, but in HK you wouldn't need to pay taxes if you operate it from overseas
stolzlos
2019-12-30 12:28
thanks a lot. I assume that this means that working in HK temporarily would not affect that, right?
bigworld
2019-12-30 13:00
I think that in Singapore you need a locally resident director. Because of that, I think it is unlikely that your company may deemed not be tax resident in Singapore
stolzlos
2019-12-30 13:06
thanks. So lets say I got one, does that change anything?
julianmb
2019-12-30 13:10
Depends. HK taxes you if the value or the decisions are made in HK. There's some people here that spend a weekend in Macau, close a deal and come back to HK and claim that the operation was made overseas to deduct the company tax. If you operate a HK company from overseas, the tax is 0, if you operate it from HK the tax is 8.25% under 2m HKD
ndg1ndg
2019-12-30 21:36
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simon
2019-12-31 12:01
If you run a SG company from Europe, you?ll likely have to pay corporation tax in Europe (as the company will be deemed to have a permanent establishment there).
simon
2019-12-31 12:03
You?ll also need to bank outside Singapore as remitting income there usually triggers local taxation.
stolzlos
2019-12-31 19:36
@simon @julianmb thank you both
lauren
2020-01-01 13:47
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2020-01-02 20:37
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immanuel.debeer
2020-01-04 07:58
you would still have to declare it legally since you physically work and live in that country. You could chose not to declare it since the Brazilian gov wouldn?t know you have an LLC but that would probably be illegal tax avoidance :wink:
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2020-01-06 06:39
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digimkt
2020-01-17 14:00
so if the US LLC is owned by an offshore like panama foundation or something then there is no liability?
jase
2020-01-18 12:58
*US LLC and ECI*
Would my company have Effectively Connected Income if:
? If I set up a US LLC in Wyoming or Delaware
? I am a non-resident owner (100%)
? I am involved in some of the service/work
? Ant other staff are contractors and are not US citizens or residents
? This company provides services to US companies
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:23
Is any work being made by anyone while being physically in US? if not then there shouldn't be any ECI, you can check here for details https://ustax.bz/non-us-entrepreneurs/
jase
2020-01-18 13:23
Nothing will happen on US soil other than banking, making payments and receiving payments. Even my suppliers are located outside of the USA
jase
2020-01-18 13:24
The exception to this rule is that I'd planned on using a US based Amazon Workspace to manage banking and Stripe
jase
2020-01-18 13:24
But will be physically out of USA while doing this
jase
2020-01-18 13:26
That link is excellent btw, thanks
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:28
and payments are managed by someone outside US? If so there should be no ECI
jase
2020-01-18 13:28
Payments through Stripe
jase
2020-01-18 13:29
But similar to Stewart's FBA example, http://Bench.co would be an Independent Agent
jase
2020-01-18 13:29
Same as Stripe
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:29
yeah, it has to be either independent agent or someone not on US soil
jase
2020-01-18 13:29
Yeah, I'm doing my best to create a staffless business :slightly_smiling_face:
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:33
for accounts you should check laws of country you are tax resident in, for example in Poland to do business through LLC you have to register LLC's branch and branch has to do accounting
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:43
@jase Do you really need Bench? You could do all bookkeeping yourself via Xero and just have someone help you out with Form 5472 at end of the year.
jase
2020-01-18 13:47
@michal.opoka I've checked in Andorra and the only requirements is that income paid from the LLC to my person is taxable
jase
2020-01-18 13:49
@nikolay My goal here is to set up a near hands-off company. For $200 or whatever a month it's a no brainer for me. I am a fairly organised person but having to do accounting is something I'm not efficient at, it will easily cost me more than an hour per month and my time is worth at least $200/hr
jase
2020-01-18 13:50
I also looked into Bean Ninjas but they were more and don't do tax filing
jase
2020-01-18 13:51
Though I don't think I actually need to do tax filing
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:51
Yeah makes sense for sure. I just see it as an overkill a bit when one of the key things for a Foreign Owned US LLC with no ECI is lack of taxes and not that strict accounting requirments
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:51
You don't
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:51
Just 5472
jase
2020-01-18 13:51
Also I'm going to use http://spp.co for invoicing/billing, so Xero is unnecessary
jase
2020-01-18 13:52
Given Bench have their own accounting system... whereas Bean Ninjas need Xero which is an added cost
jase
2020-01-18 13:52
Ohhhhh right, good point. I'm a slow learner. :)
jase
2020-01-18 13:52
I see the point Nick is making now
jase
2020-01-18 13:52
(Do I need any accounting?)
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:53
Xero is connected to Transferwise and most other modern online banks
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:53
So that's the real benefit of it
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:53
I am not a fan of its interface for example
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:53
Check laws about who can do business in Andorra and in what form - in Poland it says that foreign companies can do business if they register branch or subsidiary
jase
2020-01-18 13:54
Andorra's kind of built for this - there are probably 20,000 expats here running UK companies/partnerships, US companies/partnerships and plenty of other random locations.
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:55
also unless Andorra considers LLC as a corporation (some countries do) you should pay tax on all LLC income, it doesn't matter if you pay out cash to yourself or not
jase
2020-01-18 13:55
Andorra does consider them a corporation
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:55
ok
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:55
@jase workaround - have the US LLC owned by another company.
jase
2020-01-18 13:55
Tax is only payable when salary/dividends are paid to myself
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:57
and you have to do accounting - it's required for IRS forms 5472 and 1120
jase
2020-01-18 13:57
noted, Bench it is :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2020-01-18 13:57
Thanks for all this help @michal.opoka @nikolay
jase
2020-01-18 13:58
Would be nice if I could get Stripe here, but it's all part of the game
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:58
also if LLC has any non-US account (including transferwise) you should file FBARs
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:58
You do but you could do it yourself via Xero correct?
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 13:58
yeah
jase
2020-01-18 13:58
I'm planning to use http://Mercury.co to get set up then fly over and open a US account + credit card
jase
2020-01-18 13:59
I figure a year of books through Mercury will help to open the account
nikolay
2020-01-18 13:59
When should that report be filled out?
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 14:00
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar check here, foreign owned LLC is considered US person for purpose of FBARs
jase
2020-01-18 14:02
The question is if I'll be able to get a Stripe account :wink:
nikolay
2020-01-18 14:02
So annually up to 15th of April and would be good if with 5472 and 1120.
nikolay
2020-01-18 14:03
Stripe would accept a Mercury account.
jase
2020-01-18 14:03
Yeah but Stripe is becoming very difficult to open as a non-US resident or without a US business representative
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 14:05
you actually file them to FinCen, not IRS but they are much simpler than 5472 from what it looks.
vinodgn0088
2020-01-18 16:44
@jase, Not sure if Andorra likes to enforce it or not, "if effective management of the US LLC is in Andorra, the it is creating a PE and therefore liable to corporate tax". You can see this on https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Tax/dttl-tax-andorrahighlights-2019.pdf . Based on my previous searches, these tax transparent entities like USA LLC, UK LLP as treated as corporations in majority of countries and are liable to corporate taxes if place of management is happening in their soil.
jase
2020-01-18 16:47
@vinodgn0088 I've confirmed this a few times with my lawyer (his family helped implement the legal system here) and he's adamant that tax is only payable when it's distributed/a salary is taken
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:01
this simply sounds too good to be true :smile: but if he's qualified local tax lawyer then he's probably right
vinodgn0088
2020-01-18 17:08
@jase, If there is option to get a advanced tax ruling from tax department for your case, do that. One of the common mistakes by most of the lawyers/accountants are they don't actually give importance to "place of management / place of effective management". They just keep saying, USA/UK company, no clients in our country, no office in our country then its not operating here and no need to pay corporate tax. We as the clients just believe this as proceed and stay happy until we get audit and tax demand from tax office.
vinodgn0088
2020-01-18 17:11
@michal.opoka, Being right or wrong can change any time. If a tax officer (not lawyer or accountant) sends a demand request, its our duty to prove our side is correct. If we fail, we need to pay tax along with penalties.
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:23
yeah I agree that getting a ruling is the only way to be sure, my bet would be that law is there but it's not really enforced since they lack the means to properly verify and Andorra is a low tax country anyway
jase
2020-01-18 17:49
I am not actually sure that a private ruling is a thing here.
jase
2020-01-18 17:49
Last I was told the tax department here now has 3 employees.
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:50
lol what xD?
jase
2020-01-18 17:50
Well that's a 50% increase from 2 a few years ago
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:51
I find it hard to believe
jase
2020-01-18 17:52
Damn I cant copy/paste from that site
jase
2020-01-18 17:53
> There are no anti-avoidance taxation provisions in *Andorra* and no *CFC* rules are regulated in the internal tax system; although the *Andorran* Government committed to implement *CFC* rules when *Andorra* joined the BEPS project.
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:55
check this
jase
2020-01-18 17:56
From the same site?
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:56
yeah
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:56
and this
jase
2020-01-18 17:57
I do feel this is a context thing but will confirm yet again with the lawyer.
jase
2020-01-18 17:58
Either way, doesn't phase me to be honest. I just want the ease of using a US company (bookkeeping is easier, no goddamn notaries involved, Stripe, etc)
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:58
as I said - it might be not actively enforced
jase
2020-01-18 17:58
Very confident it isn't
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 17:59
and if company is considered tax resident in Andorra then most likely it also have to do accounting according to Andorra's rules
jase
2020-01-18 18:00
of which they are still figuring out :slightly_smiling_face:
burrup.lambert
2020-01-18 18:12
Thanks for being the guinea pig @jase!
jase
2020-01-18 18:13
I'm certainly not the first
nikolay
2020-01-18 20:31
I've been thinking - what if you have a local company that provides management services to your offshore company. Doesn't that go around the place of management rules?
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 20:52
local company in Andorra? No - it would still be managed from Andorra, just by different person
michal.opoka
2020-01-18 20:54
what maybe could work - LLC being managed by US person who is independent agent or by offshore person - but again management is one thing and doing business is another
alessio.pieroni89
2020-01-19 07:03
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joaopom
2020-01-19 08:45
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ivo
2020-01-20 11:43
@jase You may have to consider the potential for the bright line nexus which may trigger regardless of whether the US is your primary place of business, but according to turnover and/or asset ownership in different states
nikolay
2020-01-20 12:12
@ivo what would be the consequences of that. Having it triggered does not automatically mean you need to pay income or sales tax in that state.
nikolay
2020-01-20 12:56
In general anybody has experience with this Economic Nexus/Bright Line Nexus for a Foreign Owned US LLC?
nikolay
2020-01-20 14:44
Yes that is not even mentioned there
michal.opoka
2020-01-20 14:45
what's mentioned is that if you are not physically in US and have no dependent agents in US then you are not doing business in US
michal.opoka
2020-01-20 14:46
but in the country you are physically in
fish
2020-01-20 18:34
As a Georgian LLC company, that does software development for a US based client and using a Transferwise USD business account. I'm being asked to fill a W8 form, should I be doing that?
nikolay
2020-01-20 20:50
Yes and it is not due to the Transferwise account but simply for their accounting purposes.
fish
2020-01-20 23:34
Yeah at first I thought its to do with where the payment is going to but after some reading it seems its a pretty normal request. Its basically declaring that the client doesn't need to pay a withholding tax in your behalf
pbk64
2020-01-21 06:20
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jase
2020-01-21 07:45
Thanks Ivo, I just read into this and I won't trigger any of this. This one's a small company so revenue is low.
yakirstarosta
2020-01-22 10:18
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connaghanp
2020-01-23 08:00
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kevintimmerhk
2020-01-24 08:36
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yakirstarosta
2020-01-24 10:13
HI Everyone, glad to be part of this group.
I just applied and received my UK LLP.
Both partners are non-UK residents and we are not aiming to have UK-sourced income.
I can see that it says on Freedom Surfer Website that both partners must obtain a UTR from HMRC.
It says I will be contacted a few months after opening the LLP to apply for the personal UTRs.
Do you guys know if we get contact via email?
And is waiting for them to write the only way? Or can I already apply for the UTR?s now?
And will not having the UTRs until possible affect anything or limit my process with the business?
simon
2020-01-24 10:23
@yakirstarosta I will email you the form. You do not need the UTR to conduct business, it only is used when dealing with HMRC.
jase
2020-01-24 12:53
Has anyone applied for an EIN lately (form SS-4)? I've read that using a fax service means this can take 6-8 weeks - true? Is there a benefit to paying for an online service provider (faster?)?
simon
2020-01-24 13:00
@jase The IRS has been processing EIN applications very slowly as of late. There?s no way to speed things up, non-residents can only apply via fax / postal mail.
simon
2020-01-24 13:00
Normally it takes 7-10 days
jase
2020-01-24 13:01
Thanks @simon. I was under the impression using a service like this (https://ein-itin.com/ein-application/) would speed up the process. Untrue?
simon
2020-01-24 13:06
I don?t see how they could speed things up, they have to submit non-resident applications via the same channels.
jase
2020-01-24 13:06
Awesome, this is what I assumed but wanted to be sure they didn't have some electronic access that makes all the difference.
simon
2020-01-24 13:08
If you have a personal US tax ID (SSN/ITIN), you can use the online system to get your EIN instantly.
jase
2020-01-24 13:08
I don't, and I'm told to get an ITIN I need an EIN first
rtiagm
2020-01-24 13:57
Is an ITIN associated with an individual or an LLC? I had an LLC a while back and remember having the ITIN. The LLC has been terminated
simon
2020-01-24 14:14
An ITIN is a personal tax ID, the tax ID associated to an LLC is an EIN. The ITIN can often be used in lieu of an SSN, making it very useful for banking / credit purposes.
rtiagm
2020-01-24 14:32
Maybe I?m confused but I will definitely check the paperwork
rtiagm
2020-01-24 14:32
I wonder if I got an ITIN
nelsonq90
2020-01-24 15:13
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yakirstarosta
2020-01-24 16:13
Okay understood, thanks!
So it won?t be needed for payment processors also or any service that requires my details, right?
yakirstarosta
2020-01-24 16:13
Appreciate your help bro!
yakirstarosta
2020-01-24 16:16
Also, I didnt receive the form via email yet
simon
2020-01-24 16:21
I meant, I will email it to you a few months before it needs to be filed. No service / bank will ever ask for it (a few might ask for the LLP UTR but even that is rare).
ovch.george
2020-01-24 19:54
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yakirstarosta
2020-01-25 09:04
Understood. Thanks a lot man!
julienduteurtre
2020-01-25 23:54
LLC incomes destributed or not are taxable as it is a pass through entity, even if you leave the money on the bank account you will have to pay income tax in your residency country
fenix5
2020-01-27 14:37
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jonrodd
2020-01-27 16:15
has joined #business-general
office
2020-01-28 08:28
has joined #business-general
jase
2020-01-28 13:23
Have you guys used http://NotaryCam.com? It's an INCREDIBLE business model. I hate to think what their margin is on each document notarisation
nikolay
2020-01-28 13:39
$80 and not having to deal with the time lost to go to a physical notary is a win for me.
Any time I have to notarize anything I have to book an appointment so that I don't waste time. Then drive there, lose time dealing with the notary secretary, lose time explaining to them why the fuck I need their notarization in English, most of the time they refuse to do so and do it in my local language and then I lose time and money to have a certified translation of their notarization.
bigworld
2020-01-28 14:44
For Notarize you need to hold an SSN. NotaryCam will work with you and your passport only doubling its price :-)
nikolay
2020-01-28 16:52
Still fcking cheaper than local notaries + translation + time waste
ignacio.rod.h
2020-01-29 03:00
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danz
2020-01-29 21:04
Used it several times, great service/product imo.
danz
2020-01-29 21:04
@nikolay I feel the same every time
burrup.lambert
2020-01-29 21:40
Thanks for link! Might use soon.
gerry_olson
2020-01-30 13:28
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ramiro21
2020-01-30 18:39
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toby
2020-01-31 18:11
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p.rawson100
2020-02-02 16:54
I used Notarize and was very happy with the price and service. Under the normal process you do need a SSN, but I emailed customer support and said I didn't have one, so they emailed me a link to a workaround.
nikolay
2020-02-02 17:09
@p.rawson100 - what was the price for the "workaround"?
p.rawson100
2020-02-02 17:11
None, they just emailed it to me.
nikolay
2020-02-02 17:15
So regular pricing
p.rawson100
2020-02-02 17:17
Yeah, off the top of my head I think it came to about £25.
jase
2020-02-03 12:21
Sent SS-4 to U.S. IRS on Jan 24 via fax. Haven't received a fax back yet. Is this normal? Do I need to hound them to get my EIN?
simon
2020-02-03 12:23
@jase It?s normal, current processing times are 2-3 weeks.
jase
2020-02-03 12:24
Thanks @simon, I'd read that they usually faxed back in 4-5 business days and 2-3 weeks is for reply via post. Is that incorrect?
simon
2020-02-03 12:27
It used to be correct but since last December, processing times have slipped.
jase
2020-02-03 13:27
Thank you!
adrianozuardi
2020-02-05 13:49
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albert
2020-02-05 16:55
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mescos
2020-02-08 18:15
Hey everyone, which service providers did you use to apply for an ITIN after creating your US LLC? For those who did it without a service provider, what reason did you list on the w-7 as to why you needed an ITIN? (In this case, the LLC already has an EIN and the person applying for the ITIN is a non-resident alien)
simon
2020-02-09 07:00
@mescos Usually you'll apply for exemption 1(a). You'll need to mail form W-7, a certified copy of your passport and your LLC's Operating Agreement.
mescos
2020-02-09 15:11
Thanks @simon - are there any service providers that you recommend for this?
mark1111kram
2020-02-09 15:55
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buynps.org
2020-02-10 01:43
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buynps.org
2020-02-10 02:28
Hi guys! I?m looking for any experience shares with foreign owned US LLCs & working with Stripe.. I heard some news lately of account closures, can anyone confirm what industries are affected? Are they blocking signups? Or do they let the account run for some time then close them down?
simon
2020-02-10 02:44
@mescos You can mail your application directly to the IRS or google ?IRS acceptance agent + your city / country? to find the nearest authorised agent (you?ll need to show up in person with your documents). It?s not possible to apply online / via fax.
ivo
2020-02-10 07:30
@mescos @simon In many states acceptance agents can also verify your identity via Skype. No need to go to them in person.
simon
2020-02-10 08:10
@ivo Only if they already have your documents. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/new-itin-acceptance-agent-program-changes
mescos
2020-02-10 14:40
Thanks @simon and @ivo!
robaondrej
2020-02-11 07:12
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luciedavioud_registro
2020-02-12 13:39
*Beneficial owner address information for PayPal (HK company)*
Hi,
I?ve been using PayPal for my HK company for a year. They asked me to verify my account recently. I?ve got all documents except the Beneficial owner address information proof.
I think that I said I lived in HK when I signed up (they didn?t ask for a proof of residency, if I remember well).
I don?t have any personal proof of residency for HK, only for Thailand.
Should I say I live in Thailand? Technically, it seems I can add another address of another country but on the website they say we can?t change the country. I don?t know if they refer to the country of the company or the country of the Beneficial Owner. https://www.paypal.com/hk/smarthelp/article/can-i-change-my-paypal-address-to-another-country-or-region-faq1434
I don?t know if someone already add this issue.
Thank you for your help!
albert
2020-02-12 16:04
Been through this with PayPal USA very recently. They will shut you down if you don?t live in the states and tell you to use where you live to sign up. They will ask you for us passport. Green card. Or immigration papers. Not simply utility statements. Good luck. Maybe the overseas operation PayPal are less strict.
buynps.org
2020-02-12 16:20
@albert what triggered this?
albert
2020-02-12 16:21
Probably from doing large volumes?
albert
2020-02-12 16:21
Or maybe I asked for a merchant account for discounted rates and they did a review again
buynps.org
2020-02-12 16:21
I see.. interesting
buynps.org
2020-02-12 16:22
what do you think they would consider ?large volume??
albert
2020-02-12 16:24
No idea
g.sfirlogea
2020-02-13 07:27
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ricardoads7
2020-02-13 21:30
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burrup.lambert
2020-02-13 22:28
Anyone maintaining an Act 20 Puerto Rico company now for use later on?
alexjohnfarris
2020-02-16 15:37
Looking for a way to implement profit sharing with my team. Thinking something like 10% of profits are in a bonus pool and allocated among team members. Anyone doing this? In particular I'm wondering about how best to split the bonus pool, some are highly paid programmers others are much lower paid admins etc.
luciedavioud_registro
2020-02-16 16:10
In my case, I paid more that 5K from my PayPal account, so they asked me to verify all information.
buynps.org
2020-02-16 16:13
How about months when you have to blow ad money?
buynps.org
2020-02-16 16:14
Or marketing? And there?s 0 profit?
buynps.org
2020-02-16 16:14
Are you in PR?
burrup.lambert
2020-02-16 17:10
No.
alexjohnfarris
2020-02-16 22:23
this would be an annual bonus on top of already competitive salaries.
buynps.org
2020-02-17 05:06
i don?t know.. i think there might be some issues
buynps.org
2020-02-17 05:06
i never found a good model
buynps.org
2020-02-17 05:07
for example they?re getting $10k a year in bonus. then year 3 they get $0 bonus as you grow aggressively
alexjohnfarris
2020-02-17 09:41
yep what I was thinking. Investment banks give discretionary bonuses every year. I'm running a startup actually, I just don't want to give equity as is customary.
gun
2020-02-19 06:54
I might come visit Andorra in a week or two - jase are there a lot of you there?
gun
2020-02-19 06:57
apparently these guys can do it remote:
https://tryjumpstart.co/pricing
I?m talking to the founder and testing them next week, I?ve done the whole in-person thing and several remote attempts over the years for US LLC?s
gun
2020-02-19 07:06
I?m also keen on a done-for-me solution to get an ITIN on my way to an Amex. Just something I haven?t gotten around to yet - let me know how you go
gun
2020-02-19 07:08
Balls. I also have to verify my information because I put some large money through mine too. You get the money out at least?
alex720
2020-02-19 14:06
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alex720
2020-02-19 14:12
Anyone here have a HK company with offshore claim and use PayPal?
buynps.org
2020-02-20 04:55
What are they asking you @gun ?
buynps.org
2020-02-20 05:45
@albert how did they know you weren?t living in states?
vartman
2020-02-20 09:35
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yuli
2020-02-21 23:12
I have a Seychelles company and I use PayPal in Hong Kong if that helps?
lopez.shereen
2020-02-22 13:51
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openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-22 23:16
For US / WY LLC, could you please point me to a good online resource where I can learn more about allowed company spendings? I mean things like trips, buying some products and services for the company etc. My strategy is to spend money and not to pay out salary / dividends as I want to avoid taxes legal way.
michal.opoka
2020-02-22 23:40
it depends on country in which you have tax residency, in most cases LLC is tax transparent so it doesn't matter if you pay salary/dividends or not
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-22 23:53
Well, my tax advisor (Deloitte) told me it is okay to find ways to spend money other than salary and dividends. By that, taxes are in place the moment I decide to get the cash out. If my LLC didn?t pay me salary nor dividends, I don?t have to pay extra tax as soon as my LLC receive some money.
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:05
may I ask what country?
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:07
Serbia
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:09
it's not in EU so that's possible, but I'd double check that with another tax advisor to be sure, since it sounds a bit too good to be true
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:13
getting a ruling from tax office about that would be even better if that's possible
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:14
We need to file a report to tax authority each 3 months about foreign company, with the company money balance. Independently, we need to declare foreign salary and dividends up to few days after the transaction and to tax it case to case. Our tax laws are crazy old, so it?s not impossible I guess.
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:16
main issue is that most countries just like United States consider LLC to be tax transparent - so you are taxed like LLC wouldn't exist and you would be doing business yourself as sole proprietor
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:17
there are some countries that consider LLC to be separate company for taxes but usually these countries have controlled foreign company laws etc...
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:18
but it's absolutely possible that you are lucky and in Serbia you only have to pay tax for what you pay out
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:19
what's also worth checking is that if you should register a branch of LLC in your country, for example in Poland that's mandatory if I manage or do work for the LLC while being in Poland
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:19
I have LLC in Serbia as well. Here, an local LLC is totally independent legal entity. If one LLC declare bankruptcy, It?s respective owner is safe. Exceptional case is if the court say how the one established LLC to intentionally make debts, but in practice it is not usual.
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:20
US LLC is independent for bankrupcy laws, but disregarded entity for tax laws
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:20
We are not so sophisticated ;)
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:22
yeah but LLC is established under US laws, so it depends how your country treat that, under Polish law this has to be respected
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:23
but as I said, it's entirely possible that your tax advisor is right :wink: I'd just double check that to be safe
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:23
Good point, I will explicitly ask for it. Thanks!
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:24
also keep in mind that if they consider LLC to be separate company then if you manage it from serbia it might become tax resident in Serbia for them so it would have to pay CIT
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:26
Maybe it is easier to stay quiet about that company at all :)
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:27
that might be illegal and not worth the risk
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:32
Depends how you act. That is why I?ve asked about allowances to spend money from the LLC. In Serbia I have declared income 10 times over average salary and I pay full taxes on it. That?s why I believe it is not so stupid to hide part of my income this way.
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:33
maybe there are other legal ways to do this
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:34
Poland has a lot of crazy laws but for example software developers can only pay 5% legally if they have good tax advisors
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:35
maybe Estonian company could work in Serbia
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:35
it worked in Poland few years ago
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:35
it all depends on local laws
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:39
Serbia had similar until 2020. Then they made that complicated with entrepreneur independence test. If you fail a test, you need to pay approx. 50% taxes for all your income, retroactively up to five years. That?s how I meet Simon :blush:
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:39
ahhh
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:39
LLC might actually
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:39
help for that
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:39
they should not be able to say that US LLC is not independent
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:40
but you need to find really good Serbian tax advisor
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:41
in Poland most of them are very bad and are selling things which just don't work for a lot of fees
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:41
LLC is not a subject of testing at all. Only entrepreneurs. But LLC is much more expensive here to operate.
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:42
you mean Serbian LLC?
openaccessconsultingl
2020-02-23 00:42
That?s why I?ve asked Deloitte for help.
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:42
it's similar in Poland, it's cheaper to use US LLC
michal.opoka
2020-02-23 00:42
:smile:
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 02:19
@simon, I have few doubts with UK LLP.
My UK LLP got two partners. Partner 1: Myself, natural person resident outside UK; Partner 2: UK LTD, Managed and control from outside UK. No UK clients and No UK office or staff. LLP don't have UTR number but have a VAT number for dealing with EU B2B clients (VAT reverse charge)
1. Do I need to register SA401 as a natrual person? Can this be done online?
2. Does my UK LTD need to register SA402? Can this be done online?
3. How many HS380 form do I need to submit (One or Two)? My UK LTD is by default tax resident because it is Incorporated in UK and no other country claimed tax residency of the same. Can we file HS380 online?
4. I haven't informed HMRC about trading start of UK LTD. It doesn't have any bank account and doesn't receive any profit from UK LLP. What filing needs to be done here?
simon
2020-02-23 02:25
1. Yes, you have to register for a personal UTR. It can only be done via postal mail, unless you have a UK NINO.
2. Your LLP and LTD already have UTRs, they are issued automatically by HMRC following registration. You still need to file SA402 to tie them up.
3. The LTD needs to file dormant accounts + apply for dormant status with HMRC. That will exempt it from filing corporation tax returns (it will have no filing liabilities with HMRC once they approve your dormant status).
4. See point 3.
jd
2020-02-23 03:52
Hi guys - hoping someone can shed some light on the European market for OTC crypto desks.
We currently operate a principal desk that clears $50K+ orders for clients around the world. We are looking to further develop the European market with two key objectives:
1. Norwegian banking allowing us to deal directly with Norwegian nationals, and no capital flow limits out the country.
2. Targeting residents in the UK.
Under our Aussie entity, we can target Norwegian and UK residents, but lack European banking to serve them well. Furthermore, Norwegian residents are struggling to send their money out the country from local banks - so ideally we would have a banking presence there.
jd
2020-02-23 03:55
Can anyone shed some light on:
a) Whether we can open Norwegian banking (with no capital outflow limits) with a foreign entity.
b) Which UK or European entity structure and jurisdiction could suit - with the aim of securing European area banking and relatively light touch regulatory oversight for unstructured crypto products - primarily BTC.
lopez.shereen
2020-02-23 06:56
does anyone have a Canadian LLP? And if so, did you hire an agency to create it for you or were you able to do it yourself?
roman
2020-02-23 06:57
As a Canadian, I opened it myself online.
roman
2020-02-23 06:57
But please don?t at channel
roman
2020-02-23 06:57
It sends an alert to everyone.
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 07:50
@simon, Your LLP and LTD already have UTRs <<< I did received UTR for my LTD. But For LLP never received any UTR letter. Upon calling HMRC I was told to contact Companies house. When I called Companies house, they told me to contact HMRC. The accountant who setup LLP said it it not mandatory to have UTR for LLP and HMRC didn't sent any mail with UTR number. What can I do to get a UTR number for LLP?
simon
2020-02-23 07:54
@vinodgn0088 Can you find your LLP on https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/search/companies ?
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 07:54
@simon, Yes I can find it
simon
2020-02-23 07:54
If yes, it should have a UTR as Companies House automatically forwards the information of LLP listed to HMRC
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 07:55
Is there any option to recover it as HMRC and companies register is not helping me
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 07:55
I don't have a NINO
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 07:56
Also, I spoke to 1stchoiceformation ( with whom I have LTD). They said LLP don't have UTR number. Quite weird answer :disappointed:
simon
2020-02-23 07:59
You can try calling the Self Assessment helpline at during UK business hours. You can also try filing SA400, if HMRC has already issued a UTR for your LLP they will tell you so in their reply.
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 08:00
SA400 for LLP ?
simon
2020-02-23 08:00
Here's what the UTR letter looks like. It's automatically sent by HMRC, every time (at least for all companies I've registered).
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 08:01
I received similar for my LTD. But for LLP never got that. I will try applying SA400
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 08:03
Will HMRC send request to file tax return at the end of AGR date?
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 08:06
@simon, Do you know any reasonably priced accountant who can file the returns for me after registering/ recovering UTR ?
vinodgn0088
2020-02-23 08:06
"International House, Cromwell Road, London, United Kingdom, SW7 4ET" <<< What service provider's address is this?
simon
2020-02-23 08:07
Sometimes but not always (I wouldn?t recommend waiting for such a letter before filing).
simon
2020-02-23 08:09
Any UK accountant should be able to file the nil returns and dormant accounts for both your LLP and LTD. Do note that natural personal Self Assessment returns must be mailed so you cannot rely on the online filing deadline.
gbroome
2020-02-23 08:26
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elsamadrolle
2020-02-23 09:14
@vinodgn0088 I use someone in Sri Lanka who will be way more reasonably priced than anyone in the U.K. .. look for someone educated at University of Colombo chartered U.K. accountant and look for top reviews. Plenty to choose from and they want the work, day or night, weekdays or weekends. Found him on http://peopleperhour.com
philippe
2020-02-23 12:09
I'm looking for a book keeper for my UK llp as well
redareda9
2020-02-24 05:52
One question about UK LLP:point_down:
Does selling in the UK (e-commerce) and invoicing with a UK LLP create a tax liability or not?
Thanks :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2020-02-24 06:02
@redareda9 No (although selling to UK / EU customers may create a VAT liability, depending on where you ship from and a number of other factors)
redareda9
2020-02-26 17:08
Thanks Simon
candelamont
2020-02-26 19:15
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albert
2020-02-28 19:04
Asked for SSN
brendan
2020-03-01 01:18
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lu.taglialatela
2020-03-02 03:07
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p2fsolutions
2020-03-02 12:20
Hi not sure this is the right place to post this but please let me know if not.
Im looking for someone/company who could help me set up a data base where i can input my data and my web site can extract it and populate the product drop downs. Thanks
redareda9
2020-03-04 07:16
@p2fsolutions you can easily get that done by hiring a contractor on UpWork
mt
2020-03-04 10:25
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2020-03-06 08:52
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endless.skai
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2020-03-08 19:22
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2020-03-10 12:28
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alexandrum72
2020-03-10 17:23
Hello group! I run an Estonin company and from what I understood our Estonian company will be treated as a local company for taxpurpouses in the country were you are resident.
For the company to be taxed as an Estonian company instead, what can be a smart thing that I can do besides moving to Estonia?
alex720
2020-03-10 19:46
Create substance in Estonia
tkrunning
2020-03-10 22:45
@alexandrum72 This depends mostly on the country where you're resident... In general: more ties with Estonia (e.g hiring employees there) and less ties with the country where you're a resident (e.g. by traveling abroad most of the year).
You should talk to an local expert where you live. From Estonia's perspective the Estonian company is resident in Estonia?unless some other country has a valid claim that it should be resident there instead.
You should also check what it would take for a PE (permanent establishment) to be created where you live, as even if the company doesn't become fully tax resident there, it might still have a PE (meaning it should pay tax on the part of the profits that are connected with that country in that country).
alexandrum72
2020-03-10 22:54
Thank you very much for your advices :pray:
icefreebiz
2020-03-11 12:30
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2020-03-11 22:49
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2020-03-13 13:53
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2020-03-17 21:12
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2020-03-20 21:35
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2020-03-22 03:16
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2020-03-26 13:05
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burrup.lambert
2020-03-27 18:25
Anyone have experience with registering a Macau entity, can refer me to a service provider etc? Thanks.
alex720
2020-03-27 18:26
Why do you want to register in Macau?
alex720
2020-03-27 18:26
Just curious
burrup.lambert
2020-03-27 22:49
Co-founder resides there, better access to Chinese clients.
bruce_edwards
2020-03-28 08:28
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nnmatveev
2020-03-31 17:58
Hi! I want to withdraw divends via TransferWise but I don?t see a proper way to set transaction description (I would like to include the dividends period as well). Does anybody have problems with auditing such transactions by RS?
c.yanar
2020-04-01 02:00
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2020-04-01 14:36
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2020-04-02 22:08
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2020-04-07 02:37
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2020-04-07 18:40
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antonio.fonduca
2020-04-12 17:49
Hi guys, I have an Estonian OÜ company and have understood that no monthly VAT declaration (nor VAT registration at all) is needed unless annual sales exceed 40 000 Euro, and have been told that this implies VAT taxable sales. In other words, if you are offering intra-community supply of B2B services (i.e. services sold to another EU member VAT registered Business and using the Reverse Charge clause), that this would not be accounted into the 40k limit and thus avoiding the hassle of registering for VAT at all. Does anyone have any experience with this and confirm whether it is the case? Cheers.
paul_inkpen
2020-04-12 18:26
Don?t your clients need a valid VAT not number from you?
antonio.fonduca
2020-04-12 18:42
Some asked for it (by default) but it is actually not necessary to provide one when using the Reverse Charge clause.
antonio.fonduca
2020-04-12 18:42
@paul_inkpen Some asked for it (by default) but it is actually not necessary to provide one when using the Reverse Charge clause.
paul_inkpen
2020-04-12 18:58
Does anyone have experience with US LLCs providing services to EU companies? How is the VAT issue handled..? Is VAT charged?
brent
2020-04-12 22:07
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francoiskocik
2020-04-13 02:05
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simon
2020-04-13 04:50
@antonio.fonduca That is correct, you do not have to register in Estonia if you do not exceed the threshold (for VAT liable sales). Do keep in mind that depending on where you perform your work, you may have to register elsewhere (for VAT / sales tax).
saba.bosuener
2020-04-13 15:40
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b.maite
2020-04-14 16:44
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eddieringleb
2020-04-15 06:18
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fenix5
2020-04-15 14:12
Hi guys, what registered address do you use for UK Ltd or LLP companies that are VAT registered? Most virtual offices in London require separate trading address for VAT purposes. How do you solve this?
paul_inkpen
2020-04-15 14:27
@fenix5 what do you mean Kris? I know of a UK LTD that is VAT registered but the only address is the registered business address with Companies House.
fenix5
2020-04-15 14:30
I spoke to http://1stformations.co.uk and several others and they said I can't use their address for VAT purposes.
fenix5
2020-04-15 14:32
When you register for VAT you need to include trading address right? So what did you write there. Virtual registered office address?
simon
2020-04-15 15:44
@fenix5 You can use your home address as your trading address for VAT purposes if you run your business from your home.
fenix5
2020-04-15 18:01
I know I can. But is there any other option for that? I found already company on Regent Street that allows VAT and you can rent a meeting room if needed.
bigworld
2020-04-15 18:07
I think they want you to book their Business Address Service for 96 GBP + VAT
simon
2020-04-15 19:51
Your operating address for VAT purposes should be your real operating address, hence why virtual address providers do not want their addresses used. Do keep in mind that if you have no physical presence in the UK / do not perform work there, you probably do not have to register for UK VAT anyway (you may have to if you distance sell and have reached the threshold).
fenix5
2020-04-15 21:16
Company will be selling on UKs eBay so I need to be vat reg. but I don?t need full time office. That?s why I?m looking for some solution to this.
simon
2020-04-15 21:18
Will you ship from the UK?
fenix5
2020-04-15 21:18
Yes
simon
2020-04-15 21:19
Then yes you?ll have to register there. Can you use the address of the fulfilment center / warehouse where your products ship from?
fenix5
2020-04-15 21:23
Yes, we?re checking this option as well but I think we?ll go for offer from this company http://www.completeformations.co.uk
simon
2020-04-15 21:28
They do seem to allow the use of their address if you purchase their ?mail forwarding package?.
fenix5
2020-04-16 05:02
I spoke to them already, they have no problem with that. Total cost should not exceed £200 yearly.
fenix5
2020-04-16 05:03
I couldn?t find cheaper option.
danz
2020-04-16 14:20
@fenix5 The address of the bookkeeping agency.
redareda9
2020-04-17 06:33
You guys already had this problem and did you manage to fix it?
redareda9
2020-04-17 06:34
My theory is they didn?t like my combination of Vietnamese IP Address + French citizenship + UK company + Revolut Bank account.
ggiampieri
2020-04-17 08:37
@redareda9 probably it's about transactions. Are you invoicing products or services? Is it linked to a shop?
redareda9
2020-04-17 08:57
I invoice products but it?s not the first time. I?m using PayPal for years and processed 6 figures with them, I had the basic holds but it?s the first time they terminate an account like that.
timorshait
2020-04-17 19:06
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buynps.org
2020-04-17 19:37
@redareda9 any warnings or just straight liek thaT?
simon
2020-04-18 02:50
Have you reached out to support? If it's product related, they might be willing to reinstate the account if you stop selling whatever it is they don't like.
redareda9
2020-04-18 04:23
I don?t think it?s product related. I just reached the 2k5 point on this new account so they asked me for informations about the company and the beneficial owner. I filled the informations properly and the next day they were closing the account
redareda9
2020-04-18 04:24
Problem is their phone support is out of service because of COVID and their email support is basically an automatic answer.
I tried to reach them through Twitter. They answered and forward my case to a « specialist »
buynps.org
2020-04-18 05:19
@redareda9 how did you fill out the information there?
redareda9
2020-04-18 05:27
Basic infos about the company, its address, its a Uk LLP. Letter of authorization from myself to manage the PayPal account. My ID card.
One detail that could have triggered this is at some point they asked my for my address. I put my address in France but there was a bug where any zip code was considered invalid, so I temporarily put my uk company address as my residence address.
mgonlinephone
2020-04-19 18:16
Hi @simon, where could I find a privacy policy model and terms and conditions for online based business with UK LLP? thank you
simon
2020-04-20 00:46
@mgonlinephone I recommend signing up for a free trial with https://www.rocketlawyer.com/gb/en/all-documents
simon
2020-04-20 00:47
You can create all the documents you need within the trial period (7 days) then cancel
frederic.scheffer
2020-04-20 02:40
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omocha_10
2020-04-20 07:57
Hi, I?ve been thinking about some projects for this year.
Buying a van, turn it to #vanlife(for the project but using a lot of Airbnb), surfboard, kitesurf and skis and doing the Atlantic coast mainly of Portugal and Spain(with the possibility to extend to Morocco/France/Ireland/Norway/Iceland).
Targeting the surf, the kitesurf, the ski, vanlife, road trip, surf in Europe niches.
But I din?t want to have a public profile, and want to have an exit point.
The other thing is that I want to structure everything, but don?t want to be doing too much video editing, writing content, working in the website etc. I guess there must be agencies who offer this kind of service of content creation(specially in countries like Argentina, will be very cheap this year)
Any thought or ideas on this would be much appreciated.
Thanks
simon
2020-04-20 17:15
@omocha_10 If I understand correctly, you'd be traveling / surfing and taking lots of photos, making videos etc but not with the aim of building social media profiles / a blog? I guess selling stock photos / videos?
omocha_10
2020-04-20 17:23
My first thought is to build blogs and social media profile for some of thefollowing niches: Vanlife, surf vanlife, kitesuerf vanlife /ski, vanlife, digital nomad extreme sports, surfing in Portugal, surfing Spain, road trips van.
Build blogs targeting keywords for my niche, create social media profiles(not under my name/headshot face), have affiliate links to my equipment, if possible to do sponsored posts why not?, eventually sell some product.
My service would be to create informative content related to the niches I mentioned above.
mikeseo
2020-04-21 00:22
sounds like a lifestyle not a biz
omocha_10
2020-04-21 08:27
@mikeseo Yes, it?s a lifestyle, the idea is to leverage it as an extra income.
For example, all the research I need to make, turn it into written keyword rich content and photos.
tiagomdreganha
2020-04-21 10:49
there are a bazilion model looking girls & couples doing vanlife / boatlife right now, it pays the (small) bills for some of them, the best ones makes good money. I wouldn't expect to use it as an income generating activity without major effort on your part.
Not to discourage, just giving my prespective of the youtube/facebook algo and what I catch on my feeds
omocha_10
2020-04-21 12:10
Thanks @tiagomdreganha , yes, I know, not planing to compete with them, I am not aiming to become an influencer/youtuber/model. My first idea is to provide helpful information on the different niches.
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2020-04-22 06:41
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paul_inkpen
2020-04-28 08:19
This may be a silly question and for that I apologize but does an EU based company need a business license to offer services to Hong Kong Companies?
I am in the recruitment industry and have a request for more information on my work from a HK based Media Agency.
It seems that a HK based company needs a business to trade/offer services from within HK but from within the EU for such HK based companies?
simon
2020-04-28 22:31
@paul_inkpen There is no need for your company to register in HK in order to do business with HK-based clients.
paul_inkpen
2020-04-29 05:29
Thanks @simon , the reason I asked is that I was asked if I have a business license for doing business in HK and wasn?t sure whether this was needed. :grinning::+1:
daoway
2020-04-30 03:52
Did they give you a way to get your money that you held in your account back?
ktos.zajal.moj.login
2020-05-02 21:10
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hello888
2020-05-03 02:40
I had the same proble, I had around 8K USD, I had to wait 6 months and call support level 3 after the time passed cause it's not automatic that they give it back. Such scumbags don't deserve my business, that was in 2018 btw.
klaus
2020-05-03 14:01
Hi guys, I have started a print on demand business, which seems to be taking off - and I want to expand it from just Denmark to other countries, mostly Scandinavia + Germany and UK. Right now, it is completely cluttering up the accounting in my software consulting business and I really do not want to run them in the same legal entity much longer. My current printing provider is in Denmark and I have another lined up in the UK. They print, pack and ship for me.
I am physically located part time Malta (legal resident, I pay income tax here), part time Ukraine. My existing company is in Malta, but I want to avoid setting up there, as it is a banking-shithole and not cheap from accounting and admin-cost perspective.
I want to set up a new company for it - and I am thinking Estonia, because I don't really need to pull the money out as it is, and I can always channel money back to my Maltese entity for software, if I want to.
I want to keep admin/bureaucracy/accounting/auditing cost as low as possible - and not be taxed to hell of course. A lower VAT than EU avg would also be great, but I know you need to deal with EU VAT pretty quickly anyway, regardless of which country you choose to set up shop in.
klaus
2020-05-03 14:01
Which country in the EU would you pick for an ecommerce print on demand business given these circumstances - and why?
simon
2020-05-04 20:17
@klaus In most cases, you will have to report income earned in Malta, in Malta, no matter where the company is registered. This means that if you setup your company in Estonia, you will only benefit from Estonia's taxation system for the income you earn outside of Malta (when you are in Ukraine, for example, as the PE rules there are more friendly to remote work). As you are a tax resident there, and are based there, it would be risky not to comply with Malta's PE rules.
simon
2020-05-04 20:17
With that said, you will likely still come out ahead with an Estonian company versus if you registered in Malta.
klaus
2020-05-04 20:23
@simon Thanks for your answer. Actually Malta is sort of a special case when it comes to income tax - as income earned outside Malta is not taxable as long as you do not bring the money to Malta. So that is not an issue. :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2020-05-04 20:28
@klaus That's right, but if you work from Malta the income will be deemed Maltese-sourced and liable to tax. Where work is performed is what usually matters from a tax perspective, not where your customers / your company is located.
klaus
2020-05-04 20:32
Hmm, interesting. That is not how my financial adviser explained it to me in Malta. In reality, the Maltese tax authorities are very lax, so I would not worry about that. And the real work is being done by subcontractors outside of Malta anyway, not myself, so maybe that helps as well.
vinodgn0088
2020-05-05 01:53
@klaus, Please note that tax residency of a company is based on "place of management". So, even if you have employees/sub contractors it won't help as you the manager/director is controlling/managing the business from Malta.
toby
2020-05-05 16:05
I'm not sure if this is the right thread but maybe someone will know. This is about Amazon FBA and German VAT registration.
I'd like to use my US LLC to sell on Amazon Germany. I understand that I have to register my company for German VAT, VAT ID and the infamous 22f "Umsatzsteuer Bescheinigung". I'm a German citizen so I was hoping I could work it out myself but as I learned from Simon, because my LLC is treated as disregarded tax entity, I won't be able to provide the Form 6166 which is required (https://www.finanzverwaltung.nrw.de/de/umsatzsteuer-fuer-us-amerikanische-unternehmer).
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this before and know what I should do to sort this out.
I'm also considering using my e-residency in Estonia to sign up for another business there.
Anyone has an idea what to do?
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2020-05-06 06:38
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michal.opoka
2020-05-06 12:58
@toby LLC is disregarded entity for income tax, but not for VAT. You might be able to solve this problem by opening LLC's branch in Germany
toby
2020-05-06 14:55
Thanks Mike! I'll look into that
madalina.gheorghica
2020-05-07 05:59
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jase
2020-05-07 09:33
Put this together over the last few weeks, thought some of you might be interested: https://jaserodley.com/best-country-to-incorporate-an-online-business/
jase
2020-05-07 09:34
Took a lot of insight from Simon's suggestions over the years, I especially like the British Columbia LLP as a "quiet option" that not many people talk about.
jase
2020-05-07 09:36
Keen for any feedback, or corrections!
arkdeeplove
2020-05-08 00:50
Thanks @jase, great article! I found this 17% corporate tax rate on UK LLP. Is that correct or that was a typo?
ryan
2020-05-08 03:46
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jase
2020-05-08 06:18
Typo! Apologies, will fix. I am trying to provide "headline" tax rates but also show that all of these are no or low tax entities.
jase
2020-05-08 06:18
Thank you for noting that
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2020-05-09 02:45
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2020-05-09 07:50
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2020-05-10 08:50
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julienduteurtre
2020-05-10 20:52
@jase excellent article! My only question is why you choose to put BVI in your shortlist ? It's seems really unappealing but I guess you found it useful for at least one reason ?
jase
2020-05-11 06:01
@julienduteurtre it's unappealing depending on what you need it for. As time ticks on I'd guess that around 10% of my friends use a BVI company. Once over the initial hurdles they really are quite easy to use.
jase
2020-05-11 06:02
There's a use case for each entity, and I wanted the article to be a thought exercise only. It would have been 50,000 words long to list all options.
jase
2020-05-11 06:04
I want to write more on these topics but need to find out what is most useful there, a lot of people are just wanting to be told what to do but it's not possible to do that even if I was a tax lawyer, as every use case is different.
demmbox
2020-05-11 06:23
Hi @jase great article
> Do note however, that if your online business is effectively a one-man team, it?s likely your company will not be tax resident in Estonia.
interesting, never heard about that scenario. Is it determined by management / operating address? and if there are more than 1 people in a team. what?s the difference then?
jase
2020-05-11 07:02
Hi @demmbox speaking in generalities I'm afraid. This comes down to your personal tax residence and CFC law. Simon has a great article on this here: https://www.freedomsurfer.com/cfc/
mikeseo
2020-05-11 09:37
I think an article with where to get personal tax residency, where to incorporate a company, and which banks to open accounts with would be nice.. Maybe also where to spend your time. the full residency/inc/bank/live setup for 3 example people
ivan.lakatos
2020-05-11 10:03
I think Simon was actually working on a "tax residency guide" at some point ? @simon
jase
2020-05-11 11:12
I don't want to double up on whatever Simon is doing as I usually point people to his site.
jase
2020-05-11 11:12
I'll take those ideas into account @mikeseo. I like the long form thought exercise type of articles, and it seems Simon prefers to go country specific, so the 2 can hopefully compliment each other.
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2020-05-11 14:41
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ryan.messmer14
2020-05-11 19:26
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mikeseo
2020-05-11 23:33
@jase I would enjoy reading fictional case studies/setups, something like
John is from Australia, he moved to thailand and started working with igloo to lose his australian tax residency, he formed a corp in singapore and opened a bank account with dbs, he rents a condo in bangkok but only spends 6 months a year in thailand, 3 months traveling around, and is able to spend 3 months a year in australia. his overall tax rate is x%.
Bob is from Canada, he got permanent residency in Panama and spends x months there to lose his canadian tax residency, he formed a corp in bvi and opened a bank account with transferwise, he only spends 1 month a year in panama to maintain his permanent residency so he just rents a mailbox and gets an airbnb when he's there. he spends 4 months a year in the US to make sure he doesn't pass the substantial presence test, another 3 months in canada, and the rest traveling through latam. his tax rate is 0%
simon
2020-05-11 23:40
@jase You already have solid content about Andorra but I?d definitely enjoy reading more about it. It?s a very underrated jurisdiction that few have first hand experience with.
I think you were looking into Montenegro a few months ago? That?s another country that few have written about. I?d love to read an in-depth guide about it.
jase
2020-05-12 06:19
Good calls here. Mike I regularly point people to Simons US LLC "use cases" as they help to make things clearer. Still, it's difficult to give a correct/legal answer in all cases so I'm weary of being too specific.
jase
2020-05-12 06:20
@simon I actually built out https://montenegroguides.co/ as I was exploring Montenegro as a country to live.
brent
2020-05-12 08:32
Hey @jase -- I remember you from the DC, talking up Andorra :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2020-05-12 09:26
Hey @brent that's me. I know a few Brents from the DC so not sure which one you are! haha
jase
2020-05-12 09:26
Where are you based?
brent
2020-05-12 09:43
Normally Hong Kong (yeah, I met Brent Deverman of Shenzhen Party fame randomly in HK one night -- that's probably the Brent you were thinking of). I wasn't that active in the DC to be honest...
Right now currently sitting in my native New Zealand, although not lived here in about 15 years!
jase
2020-05-12 09:47
There's another Brent over in France not far from me as well
brent
2020-05-12 09:48
Hah
jase
2020-05-12 09:48
NZ = good place to be right now
brent
2020-05-12 09:48
Yeah. Domestic travel opens up again on Thursday, which is good.
jase
2020-05-12 09:48
Similar to here, but domestic travel is like 45 minutes maximum haha
brent
2020-05-12 09:48
hahahaha
tamg1982
2020-05-12 12:17
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michael
2020-05-14 12:03
To the fellow FS entrepreneurs; I was wondering those who are running businesses. If you?d be interested to create a more business centric talk on, what you are doing / your company is doing and to see if we can help each other out / share & exchange ideas? We have several companies in SE Asia, operating in various industries such as logistics, media, events and IT.
frederic.scheffer
2020-05-14 12:33
Definitly. I own a e-commerce business selling adventure motorcycle accessories, designing the products, working with manufacturers in China and selling worldwide, from a Shopify (no distributors).
frederic.scheffer
2020-05-14 12:33
Would be nice to talk with people with similar setups
jase
2020-05-14 12:34
Yeah I'd like to be able to discuss more with you guys
jase
2020-05-14 12:35
I run 2 SEO companies, my own website portfolio and a small investment fund (also invests in websites but the long term goal is to invest in a wider range of digital assets).
demmbox
2020-05-14 13:33
Great. I am running a service marketplace in Spain and now in the middle of launching another global marketplace in e-sports industry? but going through some troubles with PSD2 regulation
danz
2020-05-14 14:20
Up for it, running a portfolio of tens of content/digital product websites. Investing in websites, offering SEO services and doing affiliate marketing/lead generation mostly.
jase
2020-05-14 14:21
Hopefully closing on a site in the next day or so @danz! :crossed_fingers:
danz
2020-05-14 14:29
Nice!
ggiampieri
2020-05-14 15:15
Same here, fashion accessories. Would be happy to help/receive support especially for free(Seo, affiliate) traffic
fenix5
2020-05-14 15:35
Hi guys, two core businesses: legal and accounting help in Poland and in the UK. And second: real estate company (servicing own and investors properties, flipping, sourcing). So no IT onboard :wink:
jase
2020-05-14 16:02
I like legal/accounting as a business. I do some lead gen for these types of businesses... it's a fun niche. That or I'm a nerd.:joy:
fenix5
2020-05-14 18:41
@jase maybe I?m a nerd too but I totally agree with you :smiley: and I?ll be happy to find out more about this lead gen of yours. :)
skat
2020-05-14 22:47
Would love to join you guys as well.
I do big portion of my money with IT consulting and web development (mostly with ruby and rails) and by night building a SaaS store builder for amazon sellers.
buynps.org
2020-05-14 23:36
I?m interested as well
buynps.org
2020-05-14 23:36
@jase what kind of SEO stuff do you do with those companies?
me1892
2020-05-15 04:14
Also keen to join a chat! I?m based in Malaysia and am a freelance developer/cloud engineer but mostly niched down into CRM & marketing platform integration for online businesses (used to be agency-side for 10 years)
Also in the process of launching a SaaS which fixes a bunch of common attribution and reporting visibility problems inside analytics tools like Google Analytics and ad platforms like Google, Facebook, etc
albert
2020-05-15 05:09
I?m in dropshipping (previously in content, influencer and affiliate marketing).
We are based in the Cayman Islands, obviously for the infamous Seven Mile Beach. I have experience with Barbados and Bermuda, but felt KY suited our lifestyle the best, despite paying US$7K/month in rent (2-bed condo NOT at the Ritz Carlton) + US$2K/month in work permit fees. Currently vacationing in SEA, waiting to go back to the islands.
As a non-US dropshipper, we?ve had many, many obstacles, especially with payment gateways. Fortunately, Stripe (US) has been very good to us considering we have no SSN, no US proof of address, and we dropship with 4-6 week delivery times. :man-raising-hand: 2.3% processing fee with next-day payouts.
PayPal on the other hand?. managed to hold over $300K for 180 days (despite clearing the available funds daily) but after some back-and-fourth, they kindly released it after 4 months and told us we cannot use a US PayPal account for our US LLC.
I am partly here to figure out how to get PayPal (at scale) for the business and to connect with other digital nomads.
Currently toying with maybe a US E2 investor visa so I can get legal immigration status (as required by our last PayPal Risk Rep), maybe a UK T5 youth visa to get a UK DL (a little bit nervous on what PayPal UK will require? will proof of address simply be enough or will they need immigration papers too). Thanks to Simon, I?m aware 2Checkout can accept PayPal on behalf of clients so I?m in the works with that but 2Checkout is not ideal as it is not integrated with our Shopify Checkout.
frederic.scheffer
2020-05-15 05:55
Why do you need PayPal that much if you have Stripe?
jase
2020-05-15 06:56
I build websites to perform well in Google on a certain topic, for someone else (a business) to handle the leads.
jase
2020-05-15 06:56
Legal and accounting? Or all companies? Drop me a DM if you want.
fenix5
2020-05-15 10:51
Sounds interesting. I'll come back to you with this after I finish my actual developments.
jase
2020-05-15 10:58
Sounds good :slightly_smiling_face:
albert
2020-05-15 15:08
Because there are no alternatives to ?PayPal? so we lose conversions from consumers that want to Buy with PayPal? I estimate we are giving up $1M+ in lost profit.
frederic.scheffer
2020-05-15 15:17
Hmm I removed Paypal because of the higher fees but yeah many people asking for PayPal. Its hard to know how many customers we are really losing and how much we are saving in fees
omocha_10
2020-05-15 15:26
I would be interested too.
redareda9
2020-05-16 07:27
Yeah Paypal is important. I had a Hotjor Exit Intent Survey asking what was the reason of leaving. And many mentionned Paypal.
redareda9
2020-05-16 07:28
I do Dropshipping too and Paypal just closed the account for no reason provided. It?s a UK Paypal account
redareda9
2020-05-16 07:30
@albert With 4-5 delivery, I suppose you?re not working with Facebook Ads anymore?
ryan059
2020-05-18 20:18
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rp_vpnet
2020-05-20 18:25
@toby, I did exactly this. Open a branch (Gewerbeanmeldung als Unselbstaendige Zweigstelle) and got VAT ID and Umsatzsteuernummer
eduard543
2020-05-20 22:23
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albert
2020-05-21 03:19
@redareda9 Why do you assume that? We?ve spent over $2M last month in FB ads. No cloaking, etc. FB doesn?t really care, Stripe doesn?t care, PayPal doesn?t really care (only issue was the wrong opening up with the wrong country).
albert
2020-05-21 03:23
@frederic.scheffer You can monitor your Initiate Checkout>Purchase ratio to determine if PayPal will make a difference. For example, if your IC>PUR is 60% with PayPal but drops to 40% with CC only, you know your leaving money on the table.
frederic.scheffer
2020-05-21 07:34
Thanks
redareda9
2020-05-21 13:58
@albert well, Customer Feedback survey haha
If you?re shipping in 4-5 weeks, customers are probably giving a bad score which gets the Facebook page (and eventually the ad account and business manager banned)
redareda9
2020-05-21 13:59
@albert but 2M in adspend last month, seems like you don?t have this problem
asarun72
2020-05-21 22:51
@albert do you have ITIN number? What?s your country of citizenship ?
7070140
2020-05-26 10:06
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kris
2020-05-27 19:26
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letstalk
2020-05-27 20:55
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markus
2020-05-29 07:23
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isaac.cu
2020-05-31 06:21
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marziovit
2020-06-02 09:03
If a UK LTD requests a residency transfer with a treaty-tie-breaker are there any annual returns or other documents that needs to be filed or i pretty much can forget about accounting in the UK?
simon
2020-06-02 16:59
@marziovit In such a case, you only have to file dormant accounts with Companies House and a confirmation statement. It takes 10 minutes and can be done online.
marziovit
2020-06-02 18:23
@simon in that case, selling to UK customers through Amazon UK would be identified as UK sourced income?
simon
2020-06-02 18:31
No, as Amazon is an independent agent and using their services will not create a UK permanent establishment.
You?ll have to register for VAT, if you hit the threshold, but won?t have to pay UK corporation tax.
marziovit
2020-06-02 18:51
@simon one last thing: the company would still be considered dormant if i transfer profits from my cyprus branch for example?
simon
2020-06-02 19:02
You mean transfer the profits to yourself? (via dividends for example)
marziovit
2020-06-02 19:05
No i mean if i form a UK LTD then transfer residency to Cyprus, open a branch in Cyprus, pay taxes in Cyprus and then transfer profits back to UK LTD. The UK LTD basically acts only as holding.
simon
2020-06-03 02:45
@marziovit There is no two companies. Only one (UK LTD) which is registered with the Cyprus tax authorities. All business is run through the LTD, with UK bank accounts, payment processing accounts etc.
marziovit
2020-06-03 08:37
Now i'm really confused. I thoguht that "registering with tax authorities" meant setting up a permanent establishment like a branch. How this would work in reality? I register my LTD, i'll take all my papers, fly to Cyprus then what? How do i register with tax authorities?
matt134
2020-06-03 08:43
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arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 16:35
https://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/TAX/taxdep.nsf/All/2AE7E04EFF1AC145C2258454002DD257?OpenDocument
@marziovit, the main issue is that all forms are in Greek. I couldn't find the english versions.
arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 16:49
@marziovit I found this form. I'm not sure if this is the correct one.
alexjohnfarris
2020-06-03 16:54
I have a Wyoming LLC, I registered in August 2019 and haven't done much with it since (filings wise). An annual report is due by end of July.
As a non-resident owner is there anything else I need to do to take care of it, file form 5472?
alexjohnfarris
2020-06-03 17:52
Yikes, seems the form 5472 deadline was April with a $25,000 fine :astonished:
this page says extension til July 15 due to covid: https://onlinetaxman.com/us-tax-deadlines/
marziovit
2020-06-03 18:31
@arkdeeplove thanks! Do you have any experience on that matter?
arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 18:32
Unfortunately no, I'm in the same situation as you.
marziovit
2020-06-03 18:34
Hopefully @simon will help us out and shed some light on the problem
arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 18:34
I'm also concerned about the test result issued at most 72 hours before arrival. Because the tests are not giving real results.
arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 18:36
Marzio, you also need the MEU1 form: http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/CRMD/crmd.nsf/All/69E690A161D174D6C2257D2C0045750B?OpenDocument
marziovit
2020-06-03 18:42
Which test?
arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 19:22
arkdeeplove
2020-06-03 19:22
Published 25.05.2020
1. Flights to Cyprus are suspended.
- This does not apply to repatriation flights or empty aircraft arriving to transport persons wishing to leave Cyprus.
2. Nationals and residents of Cyprus are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Effective from 9 June 2020 to 19 June 2020:
1. Flights to Cyprus restart.
2. Passengers are not allowed to enter Cyprus.
- This does not apply to nationals and residents of Cyprus.
- This does not apply to passengers with a special permission from the government of Cyprus.
- This does not apply to passengers arriving from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia or Switzerland.
3. Passengers arriving from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia or Switzerland must have a medical certificate stating a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) test result issued within 72 hours before arrival.
- Nationals and residents of Cyprus are subject to a Coronavirus (COVID-19) test if they do not have this medical certificate.
4. Nationals and residents of Cyprus and passengers with a special permission from the government of Cyprus not arriving from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia or Switzerland are required to self-isolate for 14 days.
Effective from 20 June 2020:
1. Passengers arriving from Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Romania or Switzerland must have a medical certificate stating a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) test result issued at most 72 hours before arrival.
- Nationals and residents of Cyprus are subject to a Coronavirus (COVID-19) test if they do not have this medical certificate.
2. Nationals and residents of Cyprus and passengers with a special permission from the government of Cyprus not arriving from Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Romania or Switzerland are required to self-isolate for 14 days.
simon
2020-06-04 00:31
@alexjohnfarris The extension applies to form 5472, as long as you file before mid-July you?ll be fine
simon
2020-06-04 00:39
@marziovit @arkdeeplove Registering with the tax authority is fairly simple. What I wonder is whether it would be necessary to also register with the Registrar of Companies or if the HMRC tax ID can be used instead.
himself
2020-06-05 20:31
Hi all, I?m trying to secure a withdrawal of affiliate income from a US based software company
himself
2020-06-05 20:32
They keep asking me to submit a W9 | W8-BEN or W8-BEN-E
himself
2020-06-05 20:32
I operate as a UK Ltd. company, am European national and am resident in the UK
simon
2020-06-05 20:33
You need to submit a W-8BEN-E
simon
2020-06-05 20:33
For non-resident legal entities
himself
2020-06-05 20:33
Thank you Simon
himself
2020-06-05 20:33
Much appreciated
himself
2020-06-05 20:37
Sorry to hassle @simon what would I fill in here?
himself
2020-06-05 20:37
My UTR from HMRC? Company registration number?
himself
2020-06-05 20:37
*the UTR of my Ltd. not my personal UTR
simon
2020-06-05 22:53
The LTD?s UTR
ahsmithers
2020-06-09 09:32
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joshuacolombi
2020-06-09 11:32
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p_patruni
2020-06-11 17:28
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nsh
2020-06-11 22:39
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emilianod76
2020-06-14 13:38
Hi All, I'm considering opening a club in Poland (Warsaw or Krakow) with a friend and I would like to know if anyone here has experience on this type of business. I would also like to know if anyone has experience in opening this type of business in Poland.
emilianod76
2020-06-14 13:46
I need to find out the following: 1) How to get the license and how long it will take. 2)Reliable estate agent to find suitable commercial properties in the city or 15-30 mins away (approx 1000 sq metres). 3) Reliable international tax expert to advice on the best set up for individuals with residence elsewhere. That's enough to start with I think.
simon
2020-06-14 19:57
@emilianod76 I?m certainly no expert in the nightclub business but given the current situation I?d imagine that it might make a lot of sense to wait a few months then buy an existing club in distress?
emilianod76
2020-06-14 20:15
@simon That's something I'm considering as well and there is no rush given the current situation. I agree Simon. End of the year or possibly next year. All depends on the pandemic. For now I'm concentrating on all the fact-finding, building contacts and look for the right opportunity. Many businesses will be in distress and one could become the opportunity I'm looking for.
994kaloyan
2020-06-15 10:32
@emilianod76 the type of club you will open is also greatly important for how well it will do. If you haven?t done this business before it will be just as important to find top people with experience in this scene and consult with them on how to make a club that feels like home to a specific community.
emilianod76
2020-06-15 11:28
@994kaloyan Thank you for your input. I have a business partner that has been in this scene successfully for more than 20 years in two different countries. That's very important as you highlighted. If anyone has contacts to gather the information above I would be really grateful if you could share them. Thank you again in advance.
fujimoto.fjc
2020-06-16 03:12
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toby
2020-06-16 13:04
Thanks @rp_vpnet! Thats what we'll go with as well
wice90
2020-06-18 08:19
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bierlingm
2020-06-18 19:24
With all respect @emilianod76 Have you wondered why someone who has been succesful for 20 years in different countries as you mentioned, would want to do business with a partner?
bierlingm
2020-06-18 19:24
Out of my own experience, im very skeptical when doing business with partners
emilianod76
2020-06-19 23:37
@bierlingm It's ok to be skeptical after your own experience with business partners. Things can go wrong. In my particular case we are friends and have known each other for 15 years. We have similar reasons for wanting to become business partners. Thank you for your input Mark.
bierlingm
2020-06-20 16:02
Good luck @emilianod76 wishing you all the best :slightly_smiling_face:
emilianod76
2020-06-20 19:13
Thank you @bierlingm :slightly_smiling_face:
enimos
2020-06-21 13:04
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alexis.alfroy
2020-06-23 09:35
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demmbox
2020-06-23 17:34
guys, how do you deal with international sales tax, vat etc? are you registered in supposed countries?
I know there is VAT threshold in some countries, some non-developed countries are better to be ignored.
I?ve been checking Octobat for accounting and calculation, can you recommend any other service?
would like to know your experience on that matter
providedsolutions.ad
2020-06-24 07:55
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sarah
2020-06-25 01:57
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elbriella
2020-06-25 12:04
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axel.gay1997
2020-06-26 01:40
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jase
2020-07-02 10:10
Anyone running a US LLC and have a great accounting/tax system?
jase
2020-07-02 10:11
I am using "Bench" as book keepers but they don't want anything to do with invoices/receipts, so their whole service seems kind of pointless to me. It's like another record keeping system that is incomplete.
jase
2020-07-02 10:11
If my company is audited by the IRS, do I need every invoice/receipt accounted for?
sterk
2020-07-06 18:04
Interesting one @jase, anyone has any suggestions?
sterk
2020-07-07 18:24
Seems nobody knows :slightly_smiling_face:
jase
2020-07-07 18:58
My business partner religiously makes me send him every single invoice
jase
2020-07-07 18:58
even like $9
jase
2020-07-07 18:59
Doing some reading it seems IRS want to see any receipts over $75 to ensure spending isn't being exaggerated
simon
2020-07-07 19:17
Correct, regarding the receipts, although there are a few exceptions. Do keep in mind that you will not be audited if you do not file a US tax return (if your LLC is a disregarded entity with no ECI).
jase
2020-07-07 19:23
@simon disregarded entities need to file Form 5472 and 1120, right? Is the latter still considered a tax return?
simon
2020-07-07 19:40
No, form 1120 is only used as a cover page for form 5472 (you just fill in the LLC name, address and EIN.
jase
2020-07-07 19:58
Ah interesting! Alright, this is good news then. I'm also interested in your automated book keeping post. :slightly_smiling_face: I'm paying https://bench.co right now. It's an "easy" experience but I'm not confident in the output yet.
redareda9
2020-07-08 02:13
I?m using Quickbooks but honestly it?s a really glitchy platform. Really had a hard time configuring it and had to develop some scripts to perform basic tasks like bulk removing transactions (you can do it only through the api)
redareda9
2020-07-08 02:13
Now I?m considering switching everything to Airtable with Zapier/Integromat. Would probably be more flexible
frederic.scheffer
2020-07-08 03:40
@redareda9 interesting. Following this. Need to make simplified and automatic accountancy as well for the LLP
buynps.org
2020-07-09 00:36
Interesting. Is it impossible to get audited in this case? I thought they may still audit you if they suspect something
himself
2020-07-10 16:10
Hi all, I'd like some advice on best practice for taking client payments from the US to the UK
himself
2020-07-10 16:10
I have a UK company and I bank with Revolut business, I'm starting to do a lot of repeat work for one particular client in the US
himself
2020-07-10 16:11
Up until now I've been using stripe to send self hosted invoices and process payments from them that way, but now that I'm charging larger sums for my work the fees are starting to get really quite large
himself
2020-07-10 16:12
If it were the UK then I'd ask for a simple bank transfer, but obviously a bit more complicated
himself
2020-07-10 16:13
I'm thinking of opening a business borderless account from transferwise and asking my client to make an ACH transfer to borderless local US bank details and then paying myself in USD into a USD account in Revolut. This would allow me to hold cash in USD rather than convert the currency at the point of sale which stripe is now doing also.
himself
2020-07-10 16:14
Obviously this still has fees, but they are much lower than using Stripe.. is the best way to go about things? Would appreciate any advice here.. thanks in advance
buynps.org
2020-07-10 16:54
@himself how about transferwise?
himself
2020-07-10 20:27
@buynps.org That's what I'm thinking is the best solution
simon
2020-07-11 22:15
You won?t be audited in the US but you may be audited in your home country / the country you report on form 5472.
lauren
2020-07-12 18:28
Transfer wise
bountybairn
2020-07-16 12:51
Hi all, so have decided i am going to move to Paphos, Cyprus in the next couple of months (hopefully sooner!), anyone on here in Cyprus already? I am planning on having my UK Ltd company engaging with existing clients, working remotely and not entering the UK for more than 183 days in the tax year to ensure I am non domicile for HMRC purposes.
Any advice etc would be warmly received.
redareda9
2020-07-19 09:54
Paypal customer support in UK is finally back
ravinalle
2020-07-19 13:57
Hi takumi, did we start this group? If yes, could you please add me too... I am a DevOps consultant from India and looking forward to start something new soon. Thank you!
wice90
2020-07-20 16:34
I still can't reach them. Which number did you call?
wice90
2020-07-21 16:50
I still can't reach them. I constantly receive a message saying `due to covid 19 we have limited stuff and can't transfer you to a live agent`
redareda9
2020-07-22 05:22
Wow weird, I managed to reach them 3 days ago. But it was really early. It was late in Asia but early hours in Uk so maybe I was lucky
julianmb
2020-07-25 12:14
Anybody interested on KN95/FFP2 Facemasks? UPS Express shipping from Hong Kong
pragmatic
2020-08-03 16:42
@simon How do you feel about http://www.bank-in-america.com/index.php/faqs/the-international-privacy-trust/ as opposed to an IBC as a private holding company of an LLC. I know Alexander used to hang around here, but wondering if this kind of trust set up makes sense to you or if you don't think it sounds shaky/legally untested?
simon
2020-08-03 21:18
@pragmatic I?m sure his setup is legal, at least in the US, but it?s also unnecessarily overkill and will likely complicate things with the banks. A WY LLC already provides excellent privacy benefits, and if you need a tax backstop a holding company in a place like Estonia will do just fine, at a fraction of the cost and with no reputation / KYC risk.
jerrycjchang
2020-08-04 05:35
Whats the best resource to read up on various pros and cons of offshore LLCs and whether they?re more suited as a holding company as opposed to a more ?brand? entity?
pragmatic
2020-08-04 15:41
Several websites selling offshore services claim that using a nominee director ensures that the company's place of management and control remains where it's incorporated. But that's not really true at all, is it?
buynps.org
2020-08-04 15:45
@pragmatic I think that would just cover the anonymity but the ultimate owner would be you.. legally it wouldn?t ensure that. You can look into CFC and PE laws that prevent that
simon
2020-08-04 15:56
Using a nominee service will make it harder for your home country to detect your company but it will not offer any tax benefits.
koshis
2020-08-05 00:25
Hey guys, wanted to know thoughts on a Labuan company. I have been thinking about setting one up mainly to apply for the Labuan work permit, from what I've been told they've made the work permit process much easier, (no more large amount of paid up capital which was required before.
As the MM2h is on hold at the moment, I was thinking this could be a good alternative, as it grants 2 year visa to stay anywhere in Malaysia, including Sabah/Sarawak.
Here are the details, that may be of interest to others.
? The salary for the work permit needs to be 10,000 RM per month.
? The company needs to have an operational office in Labuan (no minimum spend).
? It does not necessarily need to conform to the substance requirements under the recent 'Requirements for Labuan Business Activity Regulations 2018'
But for me I would say it was 'Other Trading Activity' which was added to the list as a revision in Jan 2020.
'Other Trading Activity' has an opex requirement of 50,000RM per year (The required minimum salary of 10,000 RM per month and the required office more than cover this amount)
The fees I've been quoted for the setup are
?Company setup 2100 USD Inc 1st yr gov fee
Thereafter 600 USD, plus 1400 USD company secretary registered agent / office etc
?Work permit 1300 USD
+ Government fees 2 years upfront 1200 USD
Does anyone have any input on setting up and running a company in Labuan ?
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 20:31
Hey all, I'm forming an internet company. I'm currently a US citizen, but looking to relocate and my citizenship may change in the future. I'd like to have options to avoid taxes in the future, though that's not a priority now, and I'm willing to put up with a bit more of a headache now in forming the company.
Does anybody know of any good articles on the topic or could anyone recommend anyone's services? I've come across a lot about BVI companies. Anybody have any thoughts on that route?
buynps.org
2020-08-05 20:50
@noahlibbyhaines i?m not sure if there?s much you can do, because when you renounce your citizenship you have to pay the exit taxes?
buynps.org
2020-08-05 20:50
maybe you can get setup in puerto rico
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 20:54
It's unlikely I'd "qualify" for exit taxes as a covered expatriate, but what's the advantage to PR?
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:02
what does covered expatriate mean?
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:02
> As of 2016, a Covered Expatriate is an individual with a net worth of $2 million or more, and/or an _average annual net tax liability_ for the preceding 5 years of $161,000 or more (indexed annually for inflation).
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:03
Yes, that's what I was referring to.
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:03
interesting.. not really familiar with that
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:03
i heard about act 20/22 in PR
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:03
so what?s the benefit of being a covered expatriate?
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:04
The benefit is paying the exit tax lol.
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:04
They don't worry about the exit tax for the people under 2M in net worth basically
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:05
ah okay i see
buynps.org
2020-08-05 21:05
so that means you need to get out before your networth hits 2M?
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:06
Yes
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:06
Or if I'm in a situation where I have to pay exit taxes, then, so be it
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:06
All in all that means things are going well for me
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:08
PR does look like an interesting option.
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:36
as far as I know Puerto Rico is the only place where US citizens may not pay income tax on their worldwide income
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:38
Short term tax burden is not really the concern, more long term tax flexibility.
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:39
then you would have to renounce citizenship and relocate to tax heaven
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:40
Yes
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:41
but if/when it comes time to do that I don't want to be constrained by where my entity is located. Make sense?
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:41
yeah
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:41
you can use US LLC
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:45
it's very cheap and very flexible, you can later create another holding company and move LLC into it
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:46
Thanks, that makes sense. I guess there's no reason to over-complicate things now.
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:46
things like BVI companies are expensive, give no tax benefit and IRS would audit you for sure
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:47
Wyoming LLCs are the best now I guess
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:48
Why wyoming?
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:49
very cheap and very good liability protections
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-05 21:49
Awesome, thanks a ton
michal.opoka
2020-08-05 21:53
you can also check this https://globalisationguide.org/us-llc-non-resident/#13-best-us-state-to-file-llc
vinodgn0088
2020-08-06 02:18
There is a number of activities listed under "other trading activities". If your activity is not listed, your company's CIT will be 24%. Also minimum number of required FTE(Full time employees) in Labuan is two. Also, now it is mandatory to do audits every year
koshis
2020-08-06 02:29
Thanks @vinodgn0088. Yep it will probably be tax neutral for me as I wouldn't put much income through it apart from the required salary and maybe a small profit. It would probably fall under adminstrative services for me. Will find out about the full time employee requirements and cost of audit..
Yeh it certainly not a cheap option but if you're going to have substance somewhere it might work for some.
vinodgn0088
2020-08-06 02:46
If you select some activity for the sake of getting lower CIT, make sure that you can prove your activity in the event of an audit by LHDN. Also, your salary of 120K per annum will be taxed on progressive rates if you are resident. (28% flat if you are non-resident for an year).
buynps.org
2020-08-06 03:28
Chris from globalization guide is legit
noahlibbyhaines
2020-08-06 19:25
I had never considered starting an ISP. Is that something you've done?
buynps.org
2020-08-06 19:57
that?s hardcore
buynps.org
2020-08-06 19:57
starting an ISP
buynps.org
2020-08-06 22:27
@arkdeeplove what do you think if you go to africa or something?
2020-08-06 22:35
This message was deleted.
simon
2020-08-06 22:35
I?m not sure about the EU but in the US and Canada, you can launch a mobile carrier even if you have no spectrum / hardware. You will instead use the spectrum / hardware of another carrier, under a MVNO agreement.
simon
2020-08-06 22:36
Considering there are hundreds such MVNO, I assume launching one is within the realm of the feasible.
simon
2020-08-06 22:36
Probably more so than a fixed-line ISP
buynps.org
2020-08-06 22:37
you think it?s a blue ocean or red sea?
buynps.org
2020-08-06 22:37
crowded?
buynps.org
2020-08-06 22:37
or can undercut?
simon
2020-08-06 22:53
That?s what Elon Musk plans to do with Starlink, to provide global broadband. It?s been awesome following the progress SpaceX has made with this project. I?ve read that they are planning to launch in the US / Canada in a matter of months, now that they have enough satellites in orbit support an open beta.
simon
2020-08-06 22:56
I hope so, I have plans to buy one as soon as satellite broadband becomes affordable and use it as a floating house.
simon
2020-08-06 22:57
I talked to a satellite company a little over a year ago and was quoted over 5000$ / month for 4mb UP/DOWN. Crazy..
buynps.org
2020-08-06 23:08
wait what - you mean buying a floating dedicated satelite so you can get internet anywhere in the world?
buynps.org
2020-08-06 23:08
it follows you? @simon
buynps.org
2020-08-06 23:09
like in the ocean? :joy:
simon
2020-08-06 23:09
It?s cost effective too, a berth at a marina in most cities will be a lot cheaper than a hotel / condo. And obviously you are always in a waterfront location!
simon
2020-08-06 23:10
@buynps.org that?d be great but out of my budget unfortunately :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I meant a sailboat
buynps.org
2020-08-06 23:11
perpetual traveler (sailer)? :smile:
simon
2020-08-06 23:13
Aren?t boats considered part of the jurisdiction they are registered in when in international waters? That?s often an issue with cruise ships when there?s a crime onboard (and it falls under the jurisdiction of some tiny tax haven with no ressources to investigate).
simon
2020-08-06 23:31
To be honest, I don?t think there is much precedent for this in tax law. Especially when it comes to running an online business while in international waters.
simon
2020-08-06 23:32
There might be some great opportunities, especially if few people do it (giving tax agencies little incentive to change laws and close loopholes).
burrup.lambert
2020-08-07 00:32
It's a little more complicated than that @arkdeeplove. Satellites work off spot/wide beams. The satellite doesn't follow you, instead it casts a "beam" on to the earth, kind of like shining a torch at a wall. If you are within the beam you get signal. Depending on the provider, band, satellite(s) etc it might be a narrow beam, or a wide beam and provide worldwide coverage like Inmarsat/Iridium.
burrup.lambert
2020-08-07 00:34
I meant a guy in Vanuatu who lived on a boat. He said he was also a diver and had some type of diving certification that allowed him to install his own "mooring" points on the ocean floor apparently. So when he pulled into a new location he didn't have to rent one, he just did it himself, like in Port Vila. True or not, or legal or not, I don't know.
benjamin
2020-08-07 01:43
Everytime someone talks about living on a boat I think of the guy who tried to claim the foreign income exclusion (for the US) when he was in Antarctica. He lost the case because you have to spend 330 days in a other country and Antarctica isn't a country lol
THOMPSON V. COMMISSIONER (120 AFTR2D 2017-5146)
Im not from the US so it doesn't matter to me, but I wonder if it is possible to sail around the world as a US person and claim that exemption.
buynps.org
2020-08-07 02:09
wow that sucks
ggiampieri
2020-08-07 10:42
Regarding satellite connection, I tested wifi on ferry last week coming to Greece. Was able to manage ads, remote desktop, but not enough for live calls. Had 400ms ping on google, with some peak to over 2000 from time to time. Managable but couldn't say it's comparable to anything onshore. 5? for 24h, 12? for being able to stream. Still far away from broadband, but saved me a lot of painful feelings for being offline for 24 h. Great service though!
simon
2020-08-07 11:14
@ggiampieri I spent over a week on Easter Island two years ago, where the entire island shares one sat link (from Inmarsat, if I remember correctly). Latency was insane, so much so that I?d time out on http://google.com. The island was amazing and I had a great time but I couldn?t have done any work there, even emails.
simon
2020-08-07 11:17
I regularly use in-flight sat internet and it?s pretty good nowadays. So much so that on my last flight I was able to stream in 4K with no buffering issues while simultaneously use Remote Desktop.
simon
2020-08-07 11:18
I was the only passenger awake though so that might have been that. There was fewer than 20 passengers on a 787-9...
benjamin
2020-08-08 04:23
Hi guys,
Does anyone have any recommendations for a company that can create an Estonian holding company for me by power of attorney?
I'm unable to pick up my e-residency card any time soon, so I'm looking for a way to set up remotely.
michael
2020-08-08 14:50
No haha. :stuck_out_tongue:
bountybairn
2020-08-08 15:21
I got married in Zanzibar, planning to go back in 2022 (ten year anniversary)
bountybairn
2020-08-08 15:24
Thats impressive! My flight last week was ok, but kept dropping off - think that's to do with airline though.
michael
2020-08-11 14:31
@jase @frederic.scheffer @demmbox @danz @danz @ggiampieri @fenix5 @skat @buynps.org @me1892 @albert @omocha_10 I hope you are all keeping well. Haven't set this up. Any ideas of how we should go about this?
jase
2020-08-11 14:33
Is the idea to be private? If not we can just take over the #business channel
ggiampieri
2020-08-11 22:12
Available to discuss/support
buynps.org
2020-08-11 22:29
Any benefits of the private vs public?
frederic.scheffer
2020-08-12 15:31
It would maybe spam the business channel, the idea is to share our businesses models and struggles + also what we think we are good at?
So we can help each other ?
Then maybe a dedicated #mutualhelp channel?
koshis
2020-08-15 08:02
@vinodgn0088 so they will tax you 28% on the salary even if you're not a tax resident of Malaysia / Labuan ? :scream:
koshis
2020-08-15 08:21
Hi guys, anyone have any thoughts on how to get a proof of address document for a new LLC.
I'm opening a bank / brokerage account and they only accept the below for proof of address purposes, bit of a catch-22.
* Existing bank statement / company Credit card statement
* Utility bill (water, electricity, gas, internet,)
* Insurance statement
* Tax document
* Residence certificate
It's a brand new company that doesn't have any of those. Was wondering if anyone had a hack or a workaround to obtain something. Was thinking of just buying the cheapest insurance policy I could find and use the registered address of the LLC as the address on the policy.
Any tips?
@simon
simon
2020-08-15 08:45
@koshis That might work, or you could use the CP575 letter from the IRS (EIN letter).
koshis
2020-08-15 08:48
Thanks Simon. Forget to mention it's a Stkitts LLC. Maybe they have a similar tax registration thing :thinking_face:
vinodgn0088
2020-08-15 08:57
If you take up the employment visa you are supposed to live full time in Malaysia ( at least 183 days). If you don't, most likely they won't renew the visa. Your salary from Labuan company is treated a Malaysia sourced income and if you are a non-resident for tax purpose it will be taxed at 28% flat rate.
koshis
2020-08-15 08:59
Interesting thanks for info @vinodgn0088
bigworld
2020-08-15 09:31
Haven't you registered your foreign LLC with EIN in US?
By the way, which broker is opening an account for your foreign entity?
koshis
2020-08-15 10:02
@bigworld nope no registration with the US, yet.
Didn't realise foreign LLC's could get EIN.
Only US connection is the broker is in the US.
buynps.org
2020-08-15 22:04
@koshis does insurance policy count?
trevorjames
2020-08-19 01:10
Hi Everyone, I have a new WY partnership and I was wondering if anyone has any recommended people to help with the yearly requirements? I think I will need to do a form 88xx and some other stuff? Anyone have nay recommended person or company to assist with this? Thanks!
max829
2020-08-20 11:28
Hey everyone! :wave:
Anybody have a *trusted accountant and/or tax lawyer* that can help my girlfriend and I (EU citizens) figure out 1) where we should set up our business in Europe and/or 2) deal with our taxation and accounting?
We're in the process of moving to the Czech Republic, but still need to set up a proper limited liability in Europe this year.
We've done so much research/googling at this point, and we really need to just consult a professional who can help us with all the granular details for our specific scenario.
Feel free to private message me. Big thanks in advance.
max829
2020-08-21 08:48
@simon Can you recommend anyone?
simon
2020-08-21 09:59
Hi @max829, I do not know of any tax attorney who is familiar with all EU countries. What I?d recommend is to hire a Czech attorney to review your plan and then local attorneys in each countries where you plan to register companies etc for validation.
koshis
2020-08-22 07:37
Yes apparently it does. Was going to set this up this week
buynps.org
2020-08-22 07:45
nice, how?s that going?'
felix
2020-08-23 08:44
Hello everyone! I am looking for contacts in *Panama* who have incorporated their and know about the ins- and outs. In the same way if you know someone who incorporated their I would be thankful for the introduction. Thank you!
buynps.org
2020-08-24 06:23
hi felix! may i ask why you are choosing panama?
felix
2020-08-24 14:35
It uses the USD, it doesn?t tax foreign sourced income and I am considering the residency in the future (no priority right now). From my research I believe it might be a good place for a holding.
felix
2020-08-24 14:35
I don?t require any connection to PayPal, etc.
buynps.org
2020-08-24 19:09
@felix I used this lawyer to open a Panama corp during the panama friendly nations visa: https://panamags.com/
buynps.org
2020-08-24 19:09
They are OK. on the slow side
buynps.org
2020-08-24 19:09
but that?s panama
buynps.org
2020-08-24 19:09
i think around the $1-2k range
felix
2020-08-25 11:02
Thank you for the link. I will check them out.
buynps.org
2020-08-25 19:19
i considered them but didn?t go with them
mrchristiaanpieterse
2020-08-27 13:00
@koshis we had a terrible experience with labuan - wasted our money on it. Your major issues are payment gateways and banking. Banking is totally shite - no paymant gateways will touch labuan. You are forced to convert to MYR around every corner.
NO stripe, braintree, noting worth having and the second they smell your company is from labuan its a red flag.
We totally abandoned it. As an internet business it would be one of my last choices. Steer clear my friend.
PM me if you have more questions. But go with anything else as recommended by Freedom surfer.
sidaitov
2020-08-27 21:19
I had a nice read going throught the blog and plenty of other websites, yet I still struggle with an unanswered question: what's the minimum optimal setup for an EU/UK-based remote company that runs online services? I mean the country for the company and the residency separately. What I had in mind was a Cyprus-based company with Portuguese NHR residential programme but it was unfavorably changed this year.
simon
2020-08-27 22:34
@sidaitov Have you considered basing both the company and your personal tax residency in Cyprus? With the exemption on dividend income for non-domiciled residents, it?s a decent option.
alex720
2020-08-27 22:34
What changed with the NHR Portugal program @sidaitov
bobriakov.igor
2020-08-28 04:34
for EU-setup, isn't Bulgaria better in terms of tax burden, compared to Portugal?
koshis
2020-08-28 07:06
Thanks for the input @mrchristiaanpieterse very good Intel.
sidaitov
2020-08-28 07:56
The Portuguese Government will apply a fixed tax rate of 10% for all pensioners who applied for the NHR status after April 2020.
https://www.blevinsfranks.com/news/article/Portugal-starts-taxing-non-habitual-resident-foreign-pensions
https://www.portugal-accounting.com/post/nhr-non-habitual-residents-tax-regime
simon
2020-08-28 14:27
@bobriakov.igor In some cases, yes, but I think what makes most people choose Portugal is that it is part of the Schengen zone and so it?s fairly easy to ?look? like you are in Portugal year-round when in fact you are in Barcelona, Paris etc (a lot of people I know who are registered in Portugal as NHR do not actually live there).
marziovit
2020-08-28 15:10
What if your county asks you proof that you actually live where you said you are living? Proof like ATM withdrawals in that country, Gym membership, supermarket payments and so on.
sidaitov
2020-08-28 15:13
@marziovit For a person in my family it was enough to show some house bills that were issued on person's name. I wonder what @simon meant by "fairly easy".
alex720
2020-08-28 15:16
Oh ok , ig for active earners it doesn?t mean much
sidaitov
2020-08-28 15:16
My bad, I got it all wrong. The change applies mostly to pensioners. "Some dividends" are still exempted.
simon
2020-08-28 16:19
@sidaitov I meant that it?s fairly easy to create a paper trail that makes it look like you are in Portugal when you aren?t. And obviously to hide where you really are (especially easy if you have a non-EU ID / bank accounts).
simon
2020-08-28 16:21
For the record, I?m not recommending that anyone do this.
asarun72
2020-08-28 19:41
@simon so you can also fly or train out from Portugal and there will be no trail?
simon
2020-08-28 20:01
I wouldn?t fly out, but travelling by train should be safe enough (buy your ticket without giving your name, or by using a variation, for example Jon Smith instead of John Smith).
simon
2020-08-28 20:01
Using a carsharing service would be even better.
asarun72
2020-08-29 01:16
Ok. How about driving by car ?
jase
2020-08-29 08:08
Not advocating this but plenty of people do it in Andorra. They give friends a credit card with a $500 per month limit and the friends use thst for small purchases like coffees and so on, every couple off days. I imagine this is rife in Monaco and similar places.
jase
2020-08-29 08:08
Meanwhile they live down on the coast of Spain.
marziovit
2020-08-29 12:13
@jase let me understand, people who are tax residents in Andorra give a credit cart to their friends in Andorra se they can spend money in coffees and bars to build residency proof for them? LOL
jase
2020-08-29 12:29
Correct.
marziovit
2020-08-29 13:34
The problem imho arises when tax residents in Andorra spend time outside Andorra and use their credit / debit cards abroad. How do they solve that problem?
simon
2020-08-29 14:03
I would assume they use non-EEA / Andorra cards. Or EMI-issued cards.
alexjohnfarris
2020-08-29 16:02
I live in Isle of Man (0% corp tax rate) but wish to process with Stripe. I already have a US WY LLC which would get a rate of 2.9% + 30¢ with Stripe.
Is it worth incorporating a UK LLC, which would get 1.4% + 20p (european cards) and 2.9% + 20p (non-european cards)?
Both entities would be owned by IOM corporation.
One negative I see with US LLC is I only have one US bank account (Mercury) and if they shut me down I wouldn't be able to easily get another one. Whereas UK LLP can get transferwise, revolut and high street bank account.
My business is currently targeting US/LATAM but will expand to target Europe later.
jase
2020-08-29 16:13
Exactly.
jase
2020-08-29 16:14
Or company cards from other countries.
bobriakov.igor
2020-08-29 16:15
can't you also open Transferwise for US LLC?
sidaitov
2020-08-29 18:21
@simon I decided to follow that idea and right now I'm double checking the taxation rules on Cyprus, yet I cannot find a clear statement justifing the exemption of dividend from Cyprus-based LTD to non-dom director, only from foreign companies. Could you please share a few words more about the mentioned solution's structure?
simon
2020-08-29 18:29
You can find the detailed rules here: https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/cy/pdf/2020/Cyprus_Tax_Residency_and_Non-Dom_Rules_February2020.pdf
ggiampieri
2020-08-29 22:18
Is anyone doing Instagram checkout? They opened it to the public few days ago.
felix
2020-08-30 06:45
Yes, Transferwise for US LLC in WY works. We did it.
bobriakov.igor
2020-08-30 09:01
Good to know, thanks @felix. Any ditto intel on Payoneer?
felix
2020-08-30 09:09
No experience with Payoneer
joe
2020-08-30 12:27
You can get Paypal with a Labuan company. Braintree is owned by Paypal, I would think they could onboard Labuan companies as well. For EMIs, I would recommend http://Worldfirst.com (Singapore), their service is top-notch and allow Labuan companies as well.
joe
2020-08-30 12:28
As for banking, Labuan companies are accepted by Singaporean and Malaysian (onshore and Labuan) banks.
tmclayson
2020-08-31 08:28
I need to establish a US LLC in the next few months. Business will be selling health supplements via direct response. At present I am tax resident in Germany, but am planning to move to Portugal, possibly at the end of this year.
Assuming that I am resident in Portugal under the NHR scheme, where would be a sensible place to establish the holding company for the US LLC?
My current company is in Estonia, so initially I thought also in Estonia, but from what I understand, for the NHR scheme to work I need to establish substance in Estonia to receive income from my company(s) tax free? Others have told me this is not enforced in practice however.
koshis
2020-08-31 09:53
@joe I've heard good things about Worldfirst
joe
2020-08-31 10:59
yes they are very good
joe
2020-08-31 13:11
And non-citizen director fees are 100% tax exempted
joe
2020-08-31 13:12
50% of employment income is also exempted
vinodgn0088
2020-08-31 13:31
@joe, Those personal tax exemptions are no longer available. Also, in order to have 3% CIT, the minimum OPEX per annum is 50000 MYR and 2 full time employees in Malaysia ( that too only if your business is on the listed on activities permitted for 3% tax benefit; Else 24% CIT applies)
joe
2020-08-31 15:23
oh i did not know its not available anymore. but yes i know about the opex per annum of 50k. i'm getting some proxy employees in labuan to fulfill 2 full time employees requirement. I'm on the list of permitted activities as well.
sidaitov
2020-09-01 14:45
@simon I've read this and that and the Cypriot non-dom sounds great. I wonder if estabishing a LTD company in UK wouldn't be a better solution instead of Cypriot (cheaper for sure) as long as I have clients from outside of the UK? What do you think?
simon
2020-09-01 17:02
@sidaitov For sure a UK LTD is a better option, even if your clients are all UK-based. You can change its status in the UK to treaty non-resident, and only file in Cyprus.
frederic.scheffer
2020-09-02 03:12
IP protection for an e-commerce business (trademarks, logos, design patents, utility patents) on US, Europe and China (and other manufacturing countries):
How would register all these IP assets? In your own name? In a dedicated US LLC? UK LLP?
I want to use a company separated from the active companies I am using for selling, for safety and to keep things separated. I can stop using a company I for selling or replace it but would obviousy want to keep the IP company long term.
alex720
2020-09-02 17:24
In a holding company
alex720
2020-09-02 17:24
That owns your operating business
buynps.org
2020-09-03 03:20
looking to potentially buy a business. problem is they have recurring subscriptions on an Australian paypal. what would happen if i just bought the business, took over their paypal, and withdrew to my US LLC? any issues on paypal or tax side?
mrchristiaanpieterse
2020-09-03 10:41
@buynps.org PayPal subscriptions are normally tied to the email address used on the paypal account. If you loose control of the exact email address and domain name - normally you would need to ask all subscribers to re-subscribe again (this time linking it to the new email address).
If the busines paypal has "reference transactions" enabled it might be easier to manage. Either way all subscriptions are normally linked to an email address and that is the email you need to control in order to continue subscription renewals without interruption.
Each country is different - do your research on this and leave nothing to chance.
Not sure how it works when a business is sold with regards to paypal. But if you cannot verify you are to owner, then you might run into issues down the line.
alex720
2020-09-03 11:27
@buynps.org maybe you can contact PayPal and tell them the business was sold, and ask them to change the business information on the account
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:33
@mrchristiaanpieterse hmm thanks. he said he can handover the account to me, and probably transfer the business to me too. i think it?s under a corporation in new zealand. just worried on the tax side, with what would happen
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:34
@alex720 you think they?ll move the ?country? over? is that a thing?
alex720
2020-09-04 15:34
I?m not sure I know they were able to change the corporation details for me in the past
alex720
2020-09-04 15:34
Not sure if they would move the country
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:34
maybe i can run the new zealand company as a subsidiary of my US LLC? and just transfer all the payments over?
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:34
act like a collection agency?
alex720
2020-09-04 15:35
maybe ask PayPal if they would transfer the subscriptions to your PayPal account since you bought the business
alex720
2020-09-04 15:35
if both PayPal accounts agree to transfer the subscriptions I don?t see why they wouldn?t help
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:36
> However, if Jeff has a PayPal Business Account it?s possible he could transfer this account and the underlying subscriber base to Tom, assuming certain criteria are met.
> The one major requirement is that *both parties must be located in the same country*, otherwise PayPal will not honor the request.
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:36
dang
alex720
2020-09-04 15:36
Hm
alex720
2020-09-04 15:37
Best to speak with a New Zealand accountant I think
alex720
2020-09-04 15:37
Maybe you can make an agreement between your llc and the New Zealand company
alex720
2020-09-04 15:37
That the New Zealand company processes payments
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:37
yeah,
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:37
aren?t there personal details too tied to paypal business accounts?
alex720
2020-09-04 15:37
yeah there are
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:37
your SSN (of that country) etc
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:38
yeah
alex720
2020-09-04 15:39
but I think they can be changed
alex720
2020-09-04 15:39
if the person is in the Same country
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:40
dang
buynps.org
2020-09-04 15:40
ok i?ll dig more and report back
alex720
2020-09-04 15:47
kk
simon
2020-09-04 16:49
NZ has a resident director requirement if I?m not mistaken, that?s something to consider if you plan to take over a local company and keep it in the country.
buynps.org
2020-09-05 02:42
thanks simon!
buynps.org
2020-09-05 05:02
anyone have experience maybe migrating paypal to stripe?
buynps.org
2020-09-05 05:02
i am thinking if it?s possible.. AU Paypal -> AU Stripe. Then AU stripe -> US stripe
alex720
2020-09-05 11:10
Stripe cannot, however, import any subscriptions?these need to be re-created separately.
alex720
2020-09-05 11:10
At that point better to just have customers re subscribe to your llc stripe
simon
2020-09-05 12:17
It?s a good idea to use services like Recurly for subscription businesses. I?m not sure if it?s possible to change the country, however, has anyone here any experience doing this?
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:22
@alex720 hmm this resubscribe thing will churn like crazy. maybe 50-75% of paypal users will resubscribe
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:23
@simon Recurly from what I understand sits on top of stripe/paypal, right?
alex720
2020-09-05 14:25
How about make an agreement with current owner of business that he pays you every month the subscriptions for a nominal fee
alex720
2020-09-05 14:26
And all future users go to your stripe
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:30
do you see any risk in that, tax wise? and legal-wise, if he runs away or something
alex720
2020-09-05 14:31
Best to speak with an accountant about the tax
alex720
2020-09-05 14:31
Legal wise if you have a good contract and a lawyer in New Zealand , and he?s a reputable person it should be fine
alex720
2020-09-05 14:31
And you have all his details etc if something happens
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:32
ok, thanks ? will dig more into this route and report back
alex720
2020-09-05 14:32
If he runs away and you have a good contract, it?s stealing and that?s criminal
jase
2020-09-05 14:32
Make it an earn out?
jase
2020-09-05 14:33
Buy the business and he gets paid over 12 months from the existing subscriptions
simon
2020-09-05 14:35
@buynps.org Yes, so you can change your payment processing services without affecting subscriptions.
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:38
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:39
yeah i see - they are just like chargebee? they sit on top of the payment processor (stripe, 2checkout, etc). they just manage the subscriptions and bill through the processor but don?t actually collect $
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:39
maybe they store the cards with PCI compliance on their side or something
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:40
i didn?t like services like that.. chargebee, them, etc
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:40
they charge like 5% on top of the processor
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:40
@jase how would you structure that ? ie. he gets like $5k/mo and the balance from Paypal will be used first?
jase
2020-09-05 14:49
Like he gives you 100k debt, and that is paid out by 50% of monthly paypal subscription revenue. You get 50% as you own the business, the other 50% pays down the debt. If the channel declines to 0 the seller forfeits it.
jase
2020-09-05 14:49
I'm free styling here but you want to stack this in your favour.
jase
2020-09-05 14:49
Any other buyer has the same issue unless they are in nz
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:54
yeah, i hear you -
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:54
basically he uses that paypal money until it runs out
jase
2020-09-05 14:57
Yeah. Essentially the onus is on him to make that account useful.
jase
2020-09-05 14:57
He's built a bad business.
jase
2020-09-05 14:57
You can buy it excluding all of that PayPal revenue (very low valuation) or he can take on the risk to convert customers over
buynps.org
2020-09-05 14:58
so to summarize some ideas- i think this is helpful for anyone in the future
? Ask the users to resubscribe. Push PayPal users to resubscribe by stripe (send 5 emails + UI block)
? Seller financed debt on the Paypal revenue (may be a conflict of interest, then he won?t want to push users to Stripe)
? Some kind of agency agreement, seller owns the AU paypal and there?s a contract he processes payments and sends them to me
No go?s
? Migrating paypal to stripe (this isn?t supported)
? Cannot own a AU business / change corporation to me (as @simon mentioned - have to have local director)
alex720
2020-09-05 15:00
Also could be an idea to find a trusted party in Australia who you can transfer the subscriptions to, and have them be the agent that collects payment for you
alex720
2020-09-05 15:00
Instead of trusting seller
buynps.org
2020-09-05 15:01
@jase yeah - well, he?s actually a competitor, so I my plan was to merge his business into mine
buynps.org
2020-09-05 15:01
@alex720 that?s a great idea too. like a lawyer or something? I am the UBO (ultimate beneficial owner)?
alex720
2020-09-05 15:01
You pay a lawyer a fee to process the payments for you etc
alex720
2020-09-05 15:01
And send you the money every month
buynps.org
2020-09-05 15:01
just hate this tax stuff - it opens up some exposure and stuff i think.. maybe not.. need to get into transfer pricing and all this
buynps.org
2020-09-05 15:02
file taxes on AU
alex720
2020-09-05 15:02
No transfer pricing if it?s another non related party
alex720
2020-09-05 15:02
You?re paying the lawyer or accountant for payment processing services
buynps.org
2020-09-05 15:08
@alex720 hmm, that creates the same kind of risk, doesn?t it? they can run away just like the seller
buynps.org
2020-09-05 15:08
but i guess harder
alex720
2020-09-05 15:13
yeah but ig the logic is that they are more trustworthy
jason
2020-09-05 21:19
so stripe > paypal? (I just created a stripe account, as my new business has a subscription model as well and I need to take payments from the website)
buynps.org
2020-09-05 23:09
@jason you want to get off stripe?
jason
2020-09-05 23:17
@buynps.org sorry, I could have been more clear. I just signed up with stripe but haven't started transacting yet, was just asking if stripe was a better choice than paypal. This part of my business isn't off the ground yet.
buynps.org
2020-09-06 00:05
@jason IMO stripe is better
buynps.org
2020-09-06 00:05
more control
buynps.org
2020-09-06 00:06
paypal is easier if you have like 5 or 10 customers
buynps.org
2020-09-06 00:06
stripe has more overhead but you get more control
sergiy.shlykov
2020-09-06 07:11
@sidaitov Have they actually passed the law?
frederic.scheffer
2020-09-06 07:50
International IP protection (logos, products designs, etc.) : has anyone got some IP lawfirms to recommend? For international protection (North America, Europe, Australia, China, and more)
buynps.org
2020-09-08 20:49
hey guys - sorry, i?m so dumb :smile: the payment processor was new zealand not australia
buynps.org
2020-09-08 20:49
just talked to the seller - he said it?s an australian look through company (single member)
buynps.org
2020-09-08 20:49
don?t those work the same as a US LLC?
buynps.org
2020-09-08 20:49
or UK LLP?
buynps.org
2020-09-08 21:25
> Eligibility to be a look-through company
> It must be a New Zealand tax resident and not treated as a non resident under any double tax agreement.
buynps.org
2020-09-08 21:25
does this mean the NZ look through company has to pay tax there?
jerrycjchang
2020-09-08 22:22
Is it a NZ company or an AU company? I?m confused by reading the above lol
buynps.org
2020-09-09 00:47
NZ company @jerrycjchang
buynps.org
2020-09-09 00:48
i confused myself thinking it?s AU
buynps.org
2020-09-09 04:23
I am a bit confused on NZ look through company
> https://www.offshorecompany.com/trusts/new-zealand-ltc/
It says:
> ? *Tax Free:* Non-resident shareholders pay no taxes if income earned outside its borders. Note, U.S. taxpayers and others taxed on global income must report all income to their governments.
BUT
*Requirements for a LTC*
> 2. It must register as a New Zealand tax resident and will not be treated as a non-resident foreign company under a double tax treaty;
What does that mean, to register as a New Zealand tax resident? But at the same time it can be a look through company?
jase
2020-09-09 06:40
Interesting, I have been researching Australian equivalents but am weary.
felix
2020-09-09 13:29
HK and China IP works great with Conpak in HK. Had good experiences with them and reasonable priced
jerrycjchang
2020-09-09 14:00
I?m a NZ citizen and AU resident. Unfortunately I don?t know the ins and outs of this particular set up, just be careful since the tax code is completely different in the two countries
buynps.org
2020-09-09 14:51
yeah, thanks @jerrycjchang - i noticed just now
buynps.org
2020-09-09 14:52
> 2. It must register as a New Zealand tax resident and will not be treated as a non-resident foreign company under a double tax treaty;
I am just confused by this statement here, what means a ?tax resident? - it sounds like this doesn?t mean it has to pay tax? If you don?t have income derived from NZ?
> *Taxes*
> Unlike LLC?s, which can be taxed on global income, non-New Zealand resident shareholders of a LTC pay no income taxes as long as the LTC does not derive income within New Zealand.
>
> A New Zealand LTC is considered a separate legal entity with tax transparency benefits so no corporate taxes are imposed. All profits flow through to the shareholders personally much like a partnership. Non-NZ residents are totally exempt from all taxes if the total source income derives from foreign sources.
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:38
Just reached out to a CPA in NZ about the look through companies.
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:38
this is a weird one
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:38
NZ LTC is similar like a UK LLP or US LLC
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:38
> The NZ Income is based on where the company is incorporated. As the company is incorporated in NZ all its income will be NZ sourced.
>
> If a NZLTC has more than 50% foreign ownership it cannot earn more than $10,000 or 20% of its income from overseas.
>
> This means that your plan to have the majority of your income from overseas customers will not meet the criteria for a NZLTC.
>
> The company profits will therefore be taxed in the company at 28%. and not distributed to the shareholders.
>
> Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:38
but they have some crazy caps that prevent this from being used by foreigners?!!?
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:38
wtf is this
buynps.org
2020-09-10 05:41
Also as @jerrycjchang mentioned.. i confirmed NZ has some weird rules? like people from AU can?t own a LTC? Lol
jerrycjchang
2020-09-10 05:46
The laws are different but the two economies are tightly integrated. Most likely in place so that there's no tax loophole for Australians
brent
2020-09-10 10:28
@buynps.org yes, because they've been abused in the past by Australian tax residents lol
brent
2020-09-10 10:30
Also, @buynps.org, why are you not just acquiring the assets of the business? Unless I misunderstood your earlier posts, why can't you just do that under your US LLC instead?
me1892
2020-09-10 10:56
Yeah, NZ LTCs are engineered to not be foreigner-friendly? I am setting one up this year but only because 50% of the shareholding is still living back in NZ and it simplifies their tax situation a little (over using a US LLC)
buynps.org
2020-09-10 16:15
@brent yeah, problem is the guy has a bunch of recurring subscriptions stuck on his paypal NZ LTC
buynps.org
2020-09-10 16:15
only way is to ask the customers to resubscribe again but that?s gonna cause a bunch of churn
alex720
2020-09-10 16:16
Really think best option is for him to process the existing subscriptions for you for a fee. Or transfer the subscriptions to someone in nz who can do so (if possible to transfer)
buynps.org
2020-09-10 18:16
@alex720 do you think this will get complex with some transfer pricing stuff needed? how do i protect myself if he runs away or doesn?t co-operate?
alex720
2020-09-11 02:48
I don?t think there is any transfer pricing issue here since you are not related parties
alex720
2020-09-11 02:49
You?d have all his info before entering into the agreement and can take legal action if he tries to scam you
alex720
2020-09-11 02:49
Recourse could be to Make police report etc
buynps.org
2020-09-11 03:10
ah right, transfer pricing is with related parties
buynps.org
2020-09-11 03:11
the accountant i contacted in NZ said:
buynps.org
2020-09-11 03:11
> If it?s an ordinary company then the company could pay you a management or a service fee but an LTC cannot do this.
>
> If the company was to pay you a royalty then that would be subject to Non resident withholding tax (NRWT) of 15% and a dividend is subject to NRWT of 30%.
buynps.org
2020-09-11 03:12
i guess i would just get him to make an agreement to send me the funds or something to make it simple
benjamin
2020-09-11 05:48
@buynps.org maybe you'd be surprised about the churn rate. I'm not sure how to test it though.
What if you offered a slightly cheaper rate to existing customers. That way it's a no brainer for them for a quick resubscribe if they actually use the service.
A clean break from the existing NZ business would be much better.
me1892
2020-09-11 05:55
I think NZ dividends to non-residents are exempt from NRWT if they own a direct voting interest > 10% (IE non-portfolio shareholders)
me1892
2020-09-11 06:03
I think you just want to make a clean break ASAP.. going through the LTC revocation process puts the company back on the hook for NZ company tax. I imagine that revocation will be automatic at time of sale though given the low income cap for LTCs > 50% foreign owned?
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:10
@benjamin interesting ideas.. was thinking just to lock them out and force an update
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:11
@me1892 yeah, i don?t want anything to do with the NZ company.. what if i just keep it in the previous owner?s name? while we try moving subscriptions over.. and i just withdraw from NZ paypal -> US bank?
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:11
if i withdraw from his NZ paypal -> my US bank
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:11
and NZ tax people come - who is on the hook? me or him?
me1892
2020-09-11 06:13
If his name is on the LTC then he?ll need to add the income going through the LTC to his personal tax return (probably at the marginal tax rate of 33% if he?s making any decent money)
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:15
@me1892 yeah, i see. he can?t ?expense? out the funds sent to me or something?
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:15
like he?s collecting it for me?
me1892
2020-09-11 06:17
Ah I see, I suppose you could zero out the LTC profits by paying out your company all revenues as a technology fee while you are in the process of moving the payment processing over
me1892
2020-09-11 06:20
Just ensure the sale contracts bind him into this arrangement
me1892
2020-09-11 06:21
Including stipulations on how quickly this money must be transferred to you, etc
me1892
2020-09-11 06:26
LTCs are just regular limited companies in all regards except the handling of tax so it shouldn?t be a problem to deduct this expense
buynps.org
2020-09-11 06:36
ok cool, thanks @me1892! how would you structure this wording in the arrangement?
me1892
2020-09-11 06:46
Ask a lawyer but something along the lines of:
? The buyer agrees to transfer all payment processing of existing customers from ABC LTC to XYZ LLC at the earliest moment
? Until such time as the transfer of all customers payment processing is completed, the seller agrees to pay a technology fee equating to 100% of customer revenues received to ABC LTC, less any associated payment processing fees, to XYZ LLC within 30 days of revenue receipt
me1892
2020-09-11 06:48
If I was the seller I would make you agree to a timeline for switching these as it?d be a pain in the butt to manage the admin on this
buynps.org
2020-09-11 07:12
@me1892 thank you! that makes sense! will update here to keep everyone posted
americanomad
2020-09-11 13:30
Recently got involved with a private business buying group buying 1M+ EBITDA businesses. Most small/established business owners don't have an exit strategy and nearly 75% of business put up for sale don't sell. Anyone else working in that space? Would be great to connect and find ways to leverage our skills sets and get paid with equity and the opportunity to buy an existing cash flowing business.
danz
2020-09-11 15:11
@americanomad We do a lot of buying online businesses (content sites, digital products mostly). We are growing our portfolio of sites this way and continue to grow them. Always up to chat about this
americanomad
2020-09-11 16:34
DM on its way
omatic.hk
2020-09-13 13:34
Hi, was just wondering if anyone can share some information or point me in the right direction with online businesses? The last couple of months been scratching my head, looking for ideas on where to start and how to make money online.
While not a digital nomad, I did travel quite a bit until 2020. Polish and Australian citizen, raised in Africa, lived in China, Australia and now a permanent resident in Vanuatu. Currently managing a few of my rental properties here. Before covid a great investment, in my case ROI over 20% now a bit worse but still in 10% mark, which compared to other countries still is pretty good.
I would be grateful for any suggestions or pointers in either buying, investing or starting an internet business. Would be interesting to hear what you are doing to generate income online. If anyone is interested I am more than happy to share information about Vanuatu.
jase
2020-09-13 13:42
Not sure what you have in mind but this might be helpful @omatic.hk https://jaserodley.com/lifestyle-business-definition-ideas-examples/
jase
2020-09-13 13:43
For what it's worth I also buy/sell websites.
sidaitov
2020-09-13 16:25
@sergiy.shlykov Luckily only foreign pensions started to be taxable (10%)
sidaitov
2020-09-13 18:26
@simon Sorry fot the late reply. Please correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't filing for company's tax residence in Cyprus make it a subject of an unavoidable 12,5% CIT tax? Aside from that, what makes the UK LTD the better option for a non-dom director, compared to a purely Cyprus-based company (lower costs of administration as far as I know are the the only reason)?
simon
2020-09-13 19:23
Yes, it will be liable to tax in Cyprus. It?s a better option versus a Cyprus company because how solid English law is, how cost efficient it is, the access to business services it provides and the better recognition with clients globally.
danz
2020-09-13 19:30
Some good sources to read up if you are interested in buying existing online businesses for cashflow: http://Empireflippers.com, http://Buyingonlinebusinesses.com, http://Feinternational.com, http://Investors.club, http://Quietlightbrokerage.com
felix
2020-09-16 07:20
Hi! Does anyone knows about the ins and outs of owning an LLC as an American who resides in Massachusetts (asking for a friend). I am a foreigner and we have a foreigner owned LLC, but I am curious if the same we appreciate so much about a WY LLC is true for US citizens. Would be curious to know if there are different taxes or benefits to incorporate for an US citizen in a different state than Wyoming.
mikeseo
2020-09-16 13:34
llc is pass through taxation, so the american owner would pay massachusetts state personal income tax
mikeseo
2020-09-16 13:34
probably only benefits are privacy, cheaper reg fees
mikeseo
2020-09-16 13:34
probably not worth it, just reg in mass
mikeseo
2020-09-16 13:35
and buy ky
felix
2020-09-16 14:14
Thank you for your feedback. It?s an early stage company that will go on to raise institutional investment, but simply gets and LLC for now because of the lower maintenance and cost
alex720
2020-09-16 14:44
I don?t think pass through llc is a good company vehicle if you want investors
simon
2020-09-16 15:42
Also, keep in mind that he would likely have to register his out of state LLC in MA as a foreign LLC if he works / run it from there.
felix
2020-09-17 06:22
Great suggestion, @simon. @alex720 the LLC is just a legal vehicle to enter contracts, etc. for early stage companies. Completely useless to raise funds because of the lack of e.g. different share classes, but it?s a good start to keep the initial costs low and get going. I know many startups that had first an LLC and then incorporated a c-corp in Delaware when they started to raise funds
jason
2020-09-17 12:55
Novice question - how does the US tax LLC's owned by a foreign entity?
simon
2020-09-17 14:18
@jason Assuming it elected to be treated as a disregarded entity, only ECI (US income) will be liable to tax in the US.
bobriakov.igor
2020-09-17 14:35
there is a Growth summit going on right now (https://predictablerevenue.com/growth) , in case anyone would like to check it out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W95KtzrAwk&feature=youtu.be
jason
2020-09-17 15:25
Thanks, so if there was a mobile app earning money through an iOS / Google play store, that would still count as US Income and be taxed.. that's kind of what I assumed.
asarun72
2020-09-17 17:09
contracts with US clients and delivering services is ECI?
americanomad
2020-09-17 19:28
Great connecting with you
asarun72
2020-09-18 17:13
@simon
simon
2020-09-18 17:47
No, assuming no work is performed in the US
max829
2020-09-21 12:59
Hey everyone, does anyone have any experience with https://yourcompanyinestonia.com/? My girlfriend and I are looking to start a business together. We know of http://xolo.io, but xolo only provides single member companies whereas yourcompanyinestonia provides multi member options too.
The pricing is also that yourcompanyinestonia has an initial setup cost of around 400 euros, followed by 100/month for accounting, whereas xolo is a flat 200/month with the setup+accounting services, so yourcompanyinestonia is also cheaper in the long run.
However, I haven?t been able to find any reviews on yourcompanyinestonia so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it?
simon
2020-09-21 20:23
@max829 Will you have a lot of transactions? There?s just one report to file annually and it?s very easy to do it on your own (it?s also very easy to register the company directly via the government portal).
max829
2020-09-22 07:51
yea, our business would sell small products so we expect a good amount of payments for small amounts.
That?s good to know that it?s also easy to do on your own, I will research this some more and maybe we don?t even need the account service then, thank you! :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2020-09-26 20:49
@simon has renamed the channel from "business" to "business-general"
simon
2020-09-26 20:49
set the channel topic: Everything related to business, but not UK / US / CA
oscar3000
2020-09-28 17:45
Hi everybody, so delighted to be part of this community.
My personal circumstance somehow complicated (holding 2 residencies + Estonian i-residency). after challenging 5 years financially surviving small business, 2020 was game changer worked out to my favor!
Before opening an offshore company, I'm in weird situation, considered illegal. I appreciate any help. @simon
---
On November 2019 I closed "self-employed business" in Israel, and in order to survive next chapter either to reinventing myself, on January 2020 I traveled to Argentina and thankfully to Covid I could stay there for 6 months under tourist visa (very low cost).
My lovely 2020: I never expected my economy situation to improve so quick.
From being "lost" ("closed business") I tried pushing new ideas online offering services; Suddenly it worked out and I started gaining recognition; people started being interested and due to not having set up company / business I guided people to send (peer to peer) via Paypal (or BTC)
Also initiated "Patreon" page and people started supporting me.
Monthly Patreon's funds, I distributed between four Paypal account & 2 Payoneer accounts, (each pair linked to another country).
Funds weren't declared so far and I'm worry about privacy and penalties before proceeding to form legal structure right to my current (improved) situation after years of "poverty".
Most funds in Paypal and Payoneer I spent for new equipment and my basic needs (airbnb, amazon), I withdrawal less than 900 euro per month to personal bank account in 2 countries (during last 6 months).
My question:
1. Do Paypal & Payoneer provide information to government?
2. What should I expect and how right to act before forming offshore company?
Best regards,
Danieli
simon
2020-09-28 19:06
Hi Danieli, I?m glad to have you here! 1. PayPal does, but not in every countries and even in countries where there is reporting, there are often thresholds (for example, in the US they only reports accounts with 200+ transactions and 20000 USD in payments). 2. That depends on the countries involved (where do you usually file your taxes?), and your current situation in Argentina (do you plan to register as a tax resident, if you go over the 183 days threshold, or do you plan to fly under the radar?).
redareda9
2020-10-01 04:04
PAYPAL is holding some money for 6 months. The paypal account is owned by a company that was closed.
Normally I can ask them to withdraw the money in 2 or 3 days (as it?s already 180 days since they?re holding).
I guess it will be a problem as the company (and bank account) are closed.
redareda9
2020-10-01 04:05
Anyone have an idea to withdraw the money?
simon
2020-10-01 08:32
Where was the company located?
redareda9
2020-10-02 01:51
France
simon
2020-10-02 08:50
@redareda9 Do you have a bank account you can afford to potentially lose? If so, you can try having the funds sent there, even if the names don?t match. There?s a decent chance they will accept the transfer anyway. If they don?t, the funds will bounce back to PayPal. Another alternative is to open a new company with the same name (doesn?t have to be in France), get a TransferWise account or similar and use that IBAN.
redareda9
2020-10-02 09:41
Thanks @simon I didn?t think about it but the same company name could probably work.
There is still a risk but it?s worth trying. As once my funds will get unlocked, I can?t transfer them manually, it has to be done by PayPal manually as they banned the account so I don?t have access to the interface anymore.
buynps.org
2020-10-02 15:04
@simon - how does that thing work with bank names mismatching? any hard rules? or just bank dependent?
simon
2020-10-02 15:10
It?s bank dependent (some will reject transfers with mismatched names while others do not even look at names).
simon
2020-10-02 15:11
There?s also some that will accept the transfer but then ask for clarification from the account holder.
alex720
2020-10-02 15:26
Simon does TransferWise require the names to match?
simon
2020-10-02 15:37
@alex720 The EMIs are usually stricter about this sort of things, it?s easier with traditional banks especially those that have crap IT systems.
alex720
2020-10-02 15:38
Ok, thank you
koshis
2020-10-04 08:02
How did you go about getting Pemrnant residency in Vanuatu? @omatic.hk
koshis
2020-10-04 08:06
Hi all,
Does anyone have any experience in the white label supplement space,
any tips on choosing a contract manufacturer or general advice.
Cheers :pray:
marziovit
2020-10-04 08:28
Following, specially if is EU sourced
benjamin
2020-10-04 08:51
@koshis Biggest tip I can give is to sort out your payment processor before investing too much money into it. Last time I was in the vitamin space payment processors can be hard to get.
koshis
2020-10-04 08:53
Thanks @benjamin good to know
omatic.hk
2020-10-05 08:58
Hi, I bought property here, investment visa
koshis
2020-10-05 09:02
Interesting. I'll look into it.
I guess you have to spend 183 days per year there to be tax resident?
How do you find living there ?
buynps.org
2020-10-06 06:34
Anyone hear of this ?escape velocity? term - it?s like if you cross a certain amount liquid, post tax you?re set for life
tiagomdreganha
2020-10-06 07:59
Sounds like a deviation of FIRE ?
koshis
2020-10-06 13:51
Anyone have any insight into Northern Ireland Ltd, and why it might be desirable. Just recently noticed someone using this (who isn't based there) and trying to figure out why. I saw there was some talk of NI lowering the tax rate to 12.5% but this seems to have fallen over. I also know that UK (including Northern Ireland) are sometimes excluded as CFC's for some countries ie: Australia, but not sure why you would use NI Co over standard UK Co.
Wondering if there is something useful in it :thinking_face:
jase
2020-10-06 16:16
Have never put time into doing the numbers but I've always felt this is the strategy. You need to build an asset base / exit a business or two, make your money, after which when you're earning "livable income", you can weather a larger tax %.
jase
2020-10-06 16:16
I see people moving to Andorra for 24 months while exiting a company purely just to skip out on the capital gains tax that a lot of countries charge them.
jase
2020-10-06 16:17
I assume this happens a lot elsewhere (but question the legality of 24 months only).
buynps.org
2020-10-06 17:40
@tiagomdreganha i suppose
buynps.org
2020-10-06 17:40
@jase what about the exit tax to get out of the current country?
jase
2020-10-06 17:42
A lot of countries don't have exit taxes, especially tax havens. If that's what you're referring to...
buynps.org
2020-10-06 17:53
i see..
buynps.org
2020-10-06 17:53
yeah
simon
2020-10-07 18:11
@koshis There are no benefits over an England & Wales registration (same for Scotland also). It only makes sense to register there (or in Scotland) if you are based there / operate the business from there.
koshis
2020-10-08 00:58
Thanks Simon. Good to know.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 01:32
Anyone using Shopify Payments with a UK LLP?
I just received an email asking me to submit a Utility Bill (nothing else) OR they will place payouts on hold on October 13 (in 4 days).
I guess they expect a UK Utility Bill or they will block the payments? Not sure
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 01:56
Some Shopify staff says "to be eligible for Shopify payments, you must be registered and operating from the same country". Pretty bad news.
buynps.org
2020-10-09 02:57
@frederic.scheffer dang, really? How much volume were you doing? Any chargebacks?
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 02:57
Seems its been happening over the last few days to a lot of people
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 02:58
Do you use Shopify payments?
yaron.been
2020-10-09 05:44
Yikes, this sucks.
Can you keep us updated regarding your progress @frederic.scheffer?
yaron.been
2020-10-09 05:44
Good luck
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 05:45
Will do
yaron.been
2020-10-09 05:57
In regards to this issue- has anybody been able to "organise" a UK utility bill?
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 06:00
Good idea to anticipate and have this. Now they only give me a few days to submit the document, I don't see how can I organize this legally
benjamin
2020-10-09 07:48
@frederic.scheffer Will a mobile phone bill work? Perhaps you could sign up to GiffGaff or something. Get a Sim sent to your registered address (normally takes a few days) and request an official bill from GiffGaff with your address on it.
If a mobile plan won't work, then this is going to be quite difficult. Especially fast. You'll have to active another payment processor while you work on this issue with Shopify payments.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 07:57
I think only power/phone(not mobile).
"- Proof you are operating from the country in which you would like to have Shopify Payments.
- You have a legitimate address in that country (not a forwarding address, you must be able to provide power/phone bills).
- You have a bank account located in that country (Payoneer or other money transferring services that mimic bank accounts in a location will not suffice)."
Source: https://community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-Discussion/Shopify-ID-verification-for-shopify-payments/td-p/724282
This is going to suck for many people
benjamin
2020-10-09 08:15
@frederic.scheffer ah, this is a pain. Perhaps an extremely cheap real office will be needed. Or some type of nominee who is based in the UK.
A solution needs to be found, this is/will be the norm for all payment processors.
simon
2020-10-09 08:20
@benjamin A hot desk at a WeWork or similar is likely going to be cheaper / easier to arrange from abroad. Not sure if that would be accepted but I?d imagine yes.
simon
2020-10-09 08:21
Stripe in the UK is officially fine with the company being run in any of the countries where they operate so this can be used as a backup option.
simon
2020-10-09 08:22
Although this isn?t ideal in the Shopify context due to the 2% fee
benjamin
2020-10-09 08:33
@simon A hot desk is a great option. That should satisfy them.
Also, for option 2. If you're running your business from a Stripe country, you can bypass the Shopify fee if you use a custom checkout as the fee is only charged if you use the Shopify checkout out of the box.
You can get a different checkout custom coded or use one of the many upsell Shopify apps that have their own checkout pages.
My home base isn't a stripe country unfortunately, so hopefully hotdesk offices work if I run into this same problem.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 08:57
@simon but then the LLP is not managed from abroad anymore and thus liable to UK taxation. Looks like a bad deal for anyone using a LLP and not based in the UK.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 08:58
I think it will happen to you if you have a UK LLP and use Stripe or Shopify Payments. I see many people receiving this now
simon
2020-10-09 09:28
@frederic.scheffer Claiming that the LLP is managed from the UK for the purpose of passing ID checks with Shopify will not have any impact on the tax status of the LLP and its partners. Tax residency is a matter of fact, not claims.
simon
2020-10-09 09:29
For Stripe you?ll be fine if your personal address is in a supported country (you don?t have to actually live there, Stripe just has to believe you do). Of course you should always use a VPN / VPS when accessing the account (not only with Stripe but with any financial / banking services).
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:40
@redareda9
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:41
Ok thanks.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:41
@simon I think Stripe has sent the same request to many people today
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:42
@simon do you know any option that I could activate remotely in the next 2 days? Thanks
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:43
@simon seems they really want a utility bill. I don't think a hot desk will provide that
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:44
It seems they really need a proper appartment/house for you or the business, in the UK
simon
2020-10-09 11:48
WeWork have month-to-month plans for their dedicated offices, starting around 250 GBP. Have you asked them if they?d accept such a rental agreement?
simon
2020-10-09 11:48
For example
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:51
Not asked. Will try... doesnt seem it will work though
"have a legitimate address in that country (not a forwarding address, you must be able to provide power/phone bills)."
https://community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-Discussion/Shopify-ID-verification-for-shopify-payments/td-p/724282
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 11:52
@simon can I lease a room at a friends place in the UK? Maybe thats a thing that would work. A bit risky as have a few days left
simon
2020-10-09 11:59
WeWork is a legitimate address, in office buildings with regular leases. Lots of companies use them.
Your friend could add you to one of their bills, that can be done online easily with most utilities.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 12:00
Yes I am talking with him now
jason
2020-10-09 13:34
How is the setup intended to work, UK LLP + shopify -> non-UK bank account? I can't offer any advice, just curious about the setup/intent.. I might be in a similar situation one day.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-09 13:49
For now, Transferwise UK is the bank account
buynps.org
2020-10-09 17:13
No, but stripe
buynps.org
2020-10-09 17:19
@simon interesting take.. so if you rent a desk at wework, but don?t have a contract, would that create a permanent establishment in anyway?
simon
2020-10-09 19:13
@buynps.org Not under UK law (assuming you aren?t actually working from that WeWork office).
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-manual/intm264050
buynps.org
2020-10-09 20:06
@simon i see, is that the same case for a US LLC?
simon
2020-10-09 20:36
Broadly speaking, yes. Same in Canada also (for LLP and LP).
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-10 01:56
With a UK LLP?
buynps.org
2020-10-10 02:46
thanks!! :smile:
buynps.org
2020-10-10 02:46
US LLC
redareda9
2020-10-10 03:28
@frederic.scheffer after checking, they didn?t ask for any proof. They just asked me to reconfirm the ultimate beneficial owners of the company and their informations.
But I guess the second mail asking me to provide proof of home is coming soon if they do like Shopify
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-10 03:44
@redareda9 as Shopify Payments is provided by Stripe, this is definitly linked. The format, deadlines and writing of the emails were the same.
I think they do it step by step probably.
Im afraid they then also ask for a real bank account
simon
2020-10-10 07:44
That?s unlikely, there?s no law that would require them to and EMIs have become too popular in the UK for such a move to make any business sense.
The Shopify move is likely due to Brexit and getting ready for that on their end (Revolut has also been sending similar requests recently).
yaron.been
2020-10-10 07:56
Hi All,
Does anybody know if US Paypal allows GBP withdrawal without converting it to USD first?
I'm asking because I'm still debating between the UK LLP to a US entity.
Seems like the UK LLP might become less attractive in light of the need to prove residency (for Shopify payments) - or maybe it's no a big deal?
+
US entity has a lot of great cashback cards that work with Facebook ads- Chase for examples that offer 2%.
Are there any UK cards that offer great cashback (that can be leveraged when paying google and FB ads)?
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-10 08:18
@simon here is what Shopify Payments is asking, from one of their employees:
- Proof that your business is registered in that country with the government.
- Proof you are operating from the country in which you would like to have Shopify Payments.
- You have a legitimate address in that country (not a forwarding address, you must be able to provide power/phone bills).
- You have a bank account located in that country (Payoneer or other money transferring services that mimic bank accounts in a location will not suffice).
It wouldn't matter if it's a personal or business utility bill, but it must be the same address. It can be any of the types you mentioned below or an internet bill also, anything along those lines would work as long as it is the same address and your name.
Usually, the documents requested are to prove an operational address such as a utility bill, lease agreement or insurance document to show it is not just a forwarding address. To be eligible for Shopify Payments you must be registered and operating from the same country.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-10 08:20
I am thinking of asking a friend with a house in the UK to use his address for the company and pay him for that + have the utility bills in my name @simon what do you think ?
simon
2020-10-10 09:13
That will likely work, especially as it?s likely you?ll be the only company using that address.
benjamin
2020-10-10 11:35
Good News for Shopify people. Subscription API has been created, so it's now possible to offer subscription based products with Shopify Payments Checkout rather than having to use Stripe/Braintree/PayPal etc.
It also means that the subscribers might (likely) be easier to transfer to a new owner if you sell the store. Subscription businesses are hard to transfer to a new owner without selling the whole company because you normally need your own payment processor which means you need to re-subscribe everyone, which will result in churn.
It's in early release so you can get a developer to work on it now. Otherwise, I'm sure it won't be long until some new apps appear in the app store.
oscar3000
2020-10-10 11:39
@benjamin indeed interesting news. How Shopify process payments if not via stipe and PayPal? You must to be a company or also individuals can get paid?
benjamin
2020-10-10 11:42
@oscar3000 Shopify Payments is powered by Stripe. But it's different to Stripe. It's the native processor in Shopify. So you'll get paid as you normally would if you're currently using Shopify payments.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-10 12:27
@simon he actually uses this address for his own company as well.
Lets say I manage to get a utility bill at that address, how long does it take to change the address of the LLP?
simon
2020-10-10 12:41
I meant, as opposed to thousands of companies using the same address (making obvious that it?s not the real operating address).
It takes only a few hours to change the address on the registry. You can PM the new address or can file the change yourself using the AUTH code in your documents.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-12 12:43
@simon for information, utility bills are linked to occupancy register in the UK and can't be changed so easily apparently.
I am trying to find a solution. Maybe rent a small place, but then utility bills will be almost 0. Not sure what to do
simon
2020-10-12 14:07
Worst case scenario, can you rent a ?room? in your friends house and have them prepare a tenancy agreement?
klaus
2020-10-13 08:48
Shopify => Shopify Payments in the US - is that possible for a non-resident? I have a US company set up for a new ecom/shopify project, that I am about to launch - and now I have seen some posts around the web from people who said they needed to submit US utility bills etc in order to have Shopify Payments. Not being a US resident, this is a problem for me. Does anybody have experience with this?
simon
2020-10-13 10:32
@klaus It seems that Shopify has been cracking down recently on companies operated in countries that they do not support. My guess is that it?s more profitable for them to charge the 2% fee instead of letting them use Shopify Payments (no risk for them, no due diligence, no regulatory compliance).
simon
2020-10-13 10:33
It?s certainly possible to rent an office, get utility bills etc but that?s a hassle especially at the moment with the travel restrictions.
klaus
2020-10-13 13:50
@simon Thanks... What an absolute shit-show. So now I have a stripe account which I cannot use (because you cannot use stripe in markets where Shopify Payments are offered) - and I cannot use Shopify Payments because I cannot document SSN or utility bills... I honestly don't know what to do now...
klaus
2020-10-13 13:51
Maybe I should just forget about using a US entity entirely.
simon
2020-10-13 13:54
@klaus Have you looked at other options? There?s a lot of different payment processing services listed in the ?Third-party payment providers? section on Shopify.
klaus
2020-10-13 13:59
@simon I have not yet, no. Any recommendations?
simon
2020-10-13 14:05
2Checkout is a nice one as it allows you to accept PayPal payments without having to connect your own PayPal account. Cybersource works very well too, and is owned by Visa. PayPal Pro offers near instant access to your funds.
simon
2020-10-13 14:05
There?s lots of other options but I don?t have experience with them
benjamin
2020-10-13 14:30
@klaus you can use Stripe and a custom checkout. You can get one coded or use an upsell style app that uses its own checkout. You'll then skip the Shopify 2% fee and be able to use Stripe.
Just search the app store for apps like oneclickupsell
klaus
2020-10-13 15:06
@benjamin Thanks, but that sounds like a lot of headache. I really don't want a custom checkout. :slightly_smiling_face:
benjamin
2020-10-13 15:18
@klaus Installing an app from the app store and using stripe is less of a headache than any other option in my opinion. I suppose it really depends on the sales volume you're doing though.
klaus
2020-10-13 15:19
@benjamin Fair point... I rely on everything working in Shopify for fulfilment etc, does that still work as normal with a custom checkout like you suggest?
benjamin
2020-10-13 15:22
@klaus Yeah, nothing really changes in the backend of Shopify at all. The checkout page looks the same to customers too. Check out the websites for apps such as Bold and OCU. I'm sure they'll have explained videos or something. There's a handful of apps out there
klaus
2020-10-13 15:22
Thanks, I will check it out :slightly_smiling_face:
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:40
@klaus you can use stripe
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:41
Just change your store address to a country like France where there is no Shopify payments
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:41
It will unlock stripe
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:41
Link it
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:41
Then change your address again to your original address
klaus
2020-10-13 15:42
@redareda9 That is pretty sneaky - I like it. :slightly_smiling_face: You have experience with this method - also long term?
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:42
Yes for years
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:42
No problem
klaus
2020-10-13 15:42
Awesome!
klaus
2020-10-13 15:43
I will try that
redareda9
2020-10-13 15:48
Yeah I guess Shopify allow it otherwise they?d have make it technically impossible
klaus
2020-10-13 15:52
Shopify IS technically available in US, it is just because they have Shopify Payments "blocking" it, that it is not an option, from what I have read...
yuli
2020-10-14 02:43
My Shopify payments has been banned by Shopify from June 2020 - it is a Wyoming LLC with an owner which is non-USA, same requirements which we couldn't fulfill... I am still trying to find an alternative merchant for credit cards, but no luck so far, many more companies demanded SSN and a physical US presence.
simon
2020-10-14 08:35
@yuli Have you tried 2checkout and cybersource?
simon
2020-10-14 08:36
In any cases, for payment processing in the US it?s a good idea to apply for an ITIN as like yuli said, a lot of services require a SSN / ITIN (they use it to do a credit check).
klaus
2020-10-14 08:50
If I have a US company that is selling to a US customer - but the product is produced and sent directly to the consumer from an EU country... How do I find out what the rules are regarding VAT, sales tax and import duties?
simon
2020-10-14 09:19
@klaus VAT doesn?t apply to non-EU sales. As for sales tax, you can find the state-by-state thresholds here: https://www.avalara.com/us/en/learn/guides/state-by-state-guide-economic-nexus-laws.html
simon
2020-10-14 09:20
There is usually no import duties imposed on shipments worth <800 USD (assuming you ship products individually to your customers from the EU).
klaus
2020-10-14 09:21
Thanks! :slightly_smiling_face:
klaus
2020-10-14 09:21
The last (about the duties) was my biggest concern
klaus
2020-10-14 09:21
It seems if you dont have "nexus" in a state, you do not need to collect sales tax in that state - does that match your understanding?
klaus
2020-10-14 09:23
I tried some duty calculators which agrees with your "<800USD" statement - but good to get it confirmed :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2020-10-14 09:25
That?s correct, although some states will deem you to have a nexus if you go over a certain sales threshold. California with its 500000 USD annual threshold is a good example.
klaus
2020-10-14 09:26
Brilliant, thanks Simon :slightly_smiling_face:
klaus
2020-10-14 14:00
Just tried this - it seems to work, even after switching back to us. :slightly_smiling_face:
klaus
2020-10-14 14:00
Thanks for the tip! Brilliant!
buynps.org
2020-10-14 14:14
@simon i tried 2CO with a USA LLC but they were giving me a bunch of heat
buynps.org
2020-10-14 14:14
they wanted physical presence in USA verifiable by phone bill and like some ID
yuli
2020-10-14 18:23
2Checkout didn't accept that type of business, but they also have a "2 way" checkout which makes the customer experience real bad in my opinion.
CyberSource declined me as well.
yuli
2020-10-14 18:23
Yep, same for me, ITIN so far isn't enough to get me a credit card provider, I am still talking to a few providers, but no luck so far
klaus
2020-10-15 06:53
I also just failed the 2CO eligibility test. They want SSN and a physical address in the US (no po box, virtual etc)
klaus
2020-10-15 09:47
Is it possible to get a company paypal account for a US company without being a US resident with SSN, physical address etc?
simon
2020-10-15 10:59
Yes, although PayPal is known for limiting accounts at a whim so I wouldn?t recommend it as a primary solution for payment processing.
klaus
2020-10-15 14:27
Yeah, it would be only as a secondary option. :slightly_smiling_face: Thanks
buynps.org
2020-10-15 16:00
I found for paypal - if you send out a bunch of money first, you can warm up the account
buynps.org
2020-10-15 16:00
don?t collect money
buynps.org
2020-10-15 16:03
2CheckOut KYC:
```Thank you for choosing 2Checkout as your business partner!
We just want to let you know that our Compliance Team is performing regular checks on all merchant accounts, to ensure that transaction processing for your business stays relevant to the initial onboarding conditions (e.g. in terms of product types being sold on your website, associated marketing, and business documentation on file).
Our Compliance Team might reach out to you to request updated KYC (Know Your Customer) documentation in case the documents have expired or are incomplete.
For individuals/sole traders, we need the following information from you:
Copy of passport ID (including DOB)/National identity card
Tax identification number
Proof of residential or business street address, such as a copy of a utility bill (ex: electric, water, gas, or cable) dated within the last six (6) months ? OR ? a copy of a current lease/mortgage agreement.
For companies, we need the following information:
Certified or notarized copies of articles of incorporation/organizational structure documents showing beneficial ownership
Tax identification number
Address of principal place of business/headquarters, such as a copy of a utility bill (ex: electric, water, gas, or cable) dated within the last six (6) months ? OR ? a copy of a current lease/mortgage agreement
Passport ID (including DOB)/national identity card for each beneficial owner with business ownership above 10%
Your assistance in this process is highly appreciated. Please make sure to upload the documentation securely from your cPanel https://secure.2checkout.com/cpanel/manage_documents.php by the end of 2020, so that our team can complete the review faster on your account.
Thank you for your support in ensuring 2Checkout compliance!```
klaus
2020-10-16 06:49
I just heard back from 2CO as well, they said I cannot get an account for a US company without physical presence there.
They are open to me having a personal account with them, but it means "...that you will no longer be able to operate the account under the US registered LLC or receive payouts in a US bank account." They also offer to open a business account for me for my company in Malta (ie. my country of residence).
klaus
2020-10-16 06:51
Since I already have a stripe account, I will push this decision to later, after Paypal as well - since I always want to avoid single point of failure issues. So having just one payment provider would be a no-go for me.
redareda9
2020-10-19 11:29
Random question. Did anyone ever had a Tax Audit from the US or the UK for a LLP or a LLC?
simon
2020-10-19 11:43
@redareda9 It?s nearly impossible to be audited in the US, if you have no ECI (because you won?t file a US tax return, and will thus not be part of the ?audit selection process?).
In the UK it?s possible but I?ve never heard of anyone being audited (it?s very, very unlikely as a non-resident with no UK income).
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-19 11:46
To be sure: selling to UK customers but shipping from outside the UK is not considered UK income?
simon
2020-10-19 11:57
Correct, and it?s not UK VAT-liable either.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-19 12:07
@simon I see that it's often cited online in the cons of an LLP that "Public disclosure is the main disadvantage of an LLP. Financial accounts have to be submitted to Companies House for the public record. The accounts may declare income of the members which they may not wish to be made public."
Does that mean that the revenue is public information and can be accessed by anyone online?
simon
2020-10-19 12:52
@frederic.scheffer Only if you have UK operations.
simon
2020-10-19 12:53
To be clear, if you are a UK resident the LLP is unlikely to be a good option. It only is in very specific cases, and for non-residents.
2020-10-20 02:37
This message was deleted.
me1892
2020-10-20 08:10
Not an expert but I believe the threshold is 50%
buynps.org
2020-10-20 17:06
hmm you think so?
buynps.org
2020-10-20 17:07
and at the end of the year the canadian partner would just pay tax to canada on his 30% profits?
nemanja.mirkovicru87
2020-10-22 15:24
*Asking for a friend:*
He is a UK citizen who wants to live in Portugal and get NHR status. Would there be any issues with NHR considering his company structure (US LLC + HK Holding)?
Thanks!
vinodgn0088
2020-10-22 15:45
@nemanja.mirkovicru87, If he is the sole owner and director or US LLC+HK Holding setup then there is a probability of those companies becoming tax resident in Portugal. If he is living full time in Portugal, NHR is useful only to receive passive income [ dividend from a company with substance and resident in another country and managed from outside of Portugal, interest income, rental income, Pensions (10% tax)].
vinodgn0088
2020-10-22 15:49
Income/Salary received from outside of Portugal is exempt from Portugal taxes only if the work was performed outside Portugal, he paid taxes on the other country and the country has DTAA with Portugal. Example: Your friend received a job from client, he went to Netherlands to do the job onsite, he received his payment after deduction of Dutch withholding taxes. In this case he doesn't owe taxes to Portugal (under NHR)
alex720
2020-10-22 15:49
Wouldn?t work I think
alex720
2020-10-22 15:49
Portugal has a list of countries you can have your company in if you live there
alex720
2020-10-22 15:49
Hong Kong isn?t one of them
himself
2020-10-22 16:37
Hi guys, I have a question about EU VAT and would appreciate any advice/clarity here
himself
2020-10-22 16:38
I have a client (US LLC) based in the US which is a micro SaaS company selling a B2C product (Meal & diet planning app)
himself
2020-10-22 16:39
With customers who are based in the EU, we have to charge VAT right? I read @simon?s article on EU VAT and I think we are closest to the following use case: *Point 14.* *Electronically supplied services*, provided by suppliers established in a third country to non-taxable persons (B2C) established in the EU, must be taxed at the place where the customer resides or has a permanent address [Article 58 of the VAT Directive]
_Example 44: If a private person residing in Sweden makes use of a Japanese online library, Swedish VAT will have to be paid on the amount the Japanese company charges._
himself
2020-10-22 16:41
Can anyone talk me through this? The cart system they use (thrivecart) I think can process this on our behalf automatically
lu.taglialatela
2020-10-22 16:42
If it fells into electronically supplied services (and apparently it does) then VAT is to applied in the country where the customer is
lu.taglialatela
2020-10-22 16:49
Now there are mainly two ways to get a VAT number but mostly depends on how many countries he?s been selling to
nemanja.mirkovicru87
2020-10-23 09:06
Appreciate it @vinodgn0088 and @alex720 - I agree. I'll let him know.
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-23 10:00
eCom guys:
Having a non EU company and wanting to work with 3PL in EU, how do you do?
Did you find some company to be your VAT representative? Any other solution? Cheers! Happy to jump on pm or a call if its easier
yuli
2020-10-23 16:13
What are the existing eCommerce/Shopify sellers here are using for the purpose of credit card processing if you have a USA LLC and the owner is non-USA/citizen?
Shopify payments suspended my account months ago, due to that exact reason (It happened to a few others here, as I read approx. a week ago) and I have been struggling to find a provider who can accomodate such a structure, seems to be they have new policies in the USA - they
No bank that can take my business due to you do me not having a US Social Security number or an actual physical store front.
I was able to get an offer from T1 Payments - but they want a ridiculous 5.95% fee for every incoming payment, which I am considering accepting just to get more processing history and hopefully find a better solution along the way.
I am wondering if there is anything that worked for anyone else for such a structure?
buynps.org
2020-10-23 16:29
@yuli what country are you a resident of?
yuli
2020-10-23 16:30
@buynps.org official resident of Israel
himself
2020-10-26 18:54
Hi all, I am about to begin working on a retainer providing consultancy services (B2B) to a firm based in Canada
himself
2020-10-26 18:55
I am operating as a UK Ltd. company which is VAT registered - from what I can tell, I do not have to charge VAT to this client in Canada, is this correct?
himself
2020-10-26 18:55
Any advice much appreciated
himself
2020-10-26 18:56
(Everything is entirely remote btw)
simon
2020-10-26 19:09
@himself Correct, no VAT applies in this case.
himself
2020-10-27 11:48
@simon Thank you so much
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 12:08
Is anyone using a US LLC with a Shopify store at the moment?
I am hesitating between a Wyoming LLC or a UK LLP for a new shop
benjamin
2020-10-29 12:13
Why the hesitation?
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 12:14
Would like to know if it still works to use a US LLC without being US based/US citizen/ having a US SSN
marziovit
2020-10-29 12:16
AFAIK shopify payments are cracking down on companies without a presence in the country of incorporation. Meaning a US LLC or UK LLP without a US resident o UK resident are going to not work.
marziovit
2020-10-29 12:17
Stripe "should" work with both US LLC or UK LLP
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 12:19
Thanks. Sounds like a risky solution then. Other ideas?
marziovit
2020-10-29 12:29
The first thing you should do is to email stripe and ask straight "I know these are the requirements to open a UK stripe account. I'm not resident in UK, is this a problem?" and show that page to the support: https://support.stripe.com/questions/requirements-to-open-a-stripe-account-in-another-country
marziovit
2020-10-29 12:30
At least you will know from the horse's mouth what's their take
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 12:30
Thanks
marziovit
2020-10-29 12:32
BTW i would go for the UK stripe account just for the lower stripe commision :slightly_smiling_face:
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 12:33
US WY LLC has anonymous owners/partners as an advantage
UK LLP has lower stripe fees
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 12:33
I think US LLC might be harder to get a shopify payments / stripe account, from what I have seen here recently
marziovit
2020-10-29 12:42
I think in the long run if you don't want to have problems with banks and / or payment processors is best to settle in a low tax country that has both Stripe and PayPal. A country where you actually want to live.
benjamin
2020-10-29 12:58
I'm experienced with both and the difficulty is going to be the same because of the recent crack down. If you aren't physically working from each country then it's going to be hard. You need to show an office, or utility bill.
That being said, if you're happy with just using stripe and not Shopify payments and you're located in a stripe approved country then there is no problem.
If you're outside of the stripe approved countries then you'll definitely need a real office address or utility bill from the country you plan to use
frederic.scheffer
2020-10-29 13:20
Thanks
simon
2020-10-29 16:08
I asked Stripe a few months ago and they indeed confirmed that they are fine with the business being run from another country but it must be on their list of supported countries.
simon
2020-10-29 16:09
Between the UK and US, the UK is a better choice due to having lower processing rates, no SSN / ITIN issues and support for bank accounts in GBP, USD, EUR etc.
simon
2020-10-29 16:11
Canada is also an option (Stripe there supports CAD and USD bank accounts so Stripe CA + TransferWise USD works). I?ve personally verified my account there with my HKID and haven?t had any issues (they?ve never requested a Canadian tax ID or some such).
buynps.org
2020-10-29 17:00
@klaus how do they know if you have a physical pressance or not though?
buynps.org
2020-10-29 18:30
> I asked Stripe a few months ago and they indeed confirmed that they are fine with the business being run from another country but it must be on their list of supported countries.
@simon interesting, they told me it can be from any country in the world.. they even had a dropdown of all countries in the world. you think they changed something?
simon
2020-10-29 20:27
It?s my understanding that with Stripe UK, the partners can reside anywhere in the world but the business must be run from a supported country. They rarely shut down accounts (unlike Stripe US), however, and the majority that I know of that got shut down were doing risky stuff like dropshipping, crypto etc.
buynps.org
2020-10-29 20:32
@simon I see, interesting
buynps.org
2020-10-29 20:33
So far so good with US LLC on my end with Stripe, industry = SaaS
buynps.org
2020-10-29 20:33
No issues
buynps.org
2020-10-29 20:40
UK LLP seems solid as well
trevorjames
2020-10-30 01:17
Hi everyone! Quick question I?m hoping to understand more about: I have a Wyoming Partnership that is owned by 99% my Hong Kong company and 1% myself. When distributing profits to the Hong kong company, how should I declare the income on the Hong Kong side? Is this investment income from ?shares? in a Wyoming partnership? Or is this income that we would need to create an agreement for? Like create a contract between these two companies? We want to transfer once per month but just need to figure out how to put it into the books in our Hong Kong company. Thanks so much for the insight!
redareda9
2020-11-02 07:35
Btw, in case someone meet the same problem. PayPal didn?t ask for anything. I called them and they unlocked the funds without any question (even though the company is closed). I?m able to withdraw to any of the existing bank accounts (one is on my name and still open)
sergiy.shlykov
2020-11-02 07:55
@frederic.scheffer on my side, a US LLC stripe account (which i used with Shopify) got blocked circa 3 mo after i started activity on it. Stripe did not like that i was logging into the account from various IP addresses as i was doing fast travel between SEA at the time. I have a lot of friends who got their stripe accounts blocked on shopify because they would do the same(log into the account from various places). It might trigger a more detailed look at you if they see u bump around. One solution which works for many is owning a virtual machine on AWS or Azure with US ip address and log in stripe only via remote desktop from that machine. I, on the contrary, just switched to UK LLP and never had them ask more details about my biz even tho i travel just as much and opened ~5 sub accounts. I had to verify my us legal address with each, which i did and not issues whatsoever ever since. If they were to crack down on digital nomads using it, id just hop on a virtual machine. Paypal is already very sensitive to where i log in from and blocks my login attempts randomly, even if i travel within the same country.
buynps.org
2020-11-02 14:40
@services i see, interesting. were you dropshipping or you had inventory with shopfiy? what did they say?
sergiy.shlykov
2020-11-02 18:05
@buynps.org i was doing standard aliexpress dropshipping. I think they did not like my biz model, but nobody would look into me until i started moving around a lot. it must have triggered some kind of system they have for fraud prevention. I can only speculate cuz nobody would ever confirm this in Stripe. With UK LLP stripe i never had these issues.
sergiy.shlykov
2020-11-02 18:05
I got an inquiry saying please send proof that you have operations in US ie employees. I am not ETBUS, and do not want to seem to have established ties as this could backfire with the IRS
burrup.lambert
2020-11-04 02:27
Anyone have any information about registering IP/trademark protection in a cheap/easy jurisdiction then using the Madrid system/protocol to use it internationally?
redareda9
2020-11-05 02:22
For those using PayPal UK.
Some tips that would have been useful to me (it costed me a banned account).
PayPal UK is usually locked to UK for any address. When PayPal ask you for a residential address, never put the company registered address (otherwise, instant ban) and even though it?s locked to UK and force you to put a UK Address, I had a conversation with some guy of the security team and he told me that I needed to trick the system by putting my real residential address but just put UK and a fake Zip Code. It will trigger a manual review and then they will ask you to send an email with the actual address and any country you want.
redareda9
2020-11-05 02:24
And for those using UK LLP. PayPal have some internal rules saying that a LLP must have 2 partners and minimum 1% for each partner. So you cannot use 0% and 100% for partners or it will be considered as a sole company and create some problems in your account.
So it?s better to use 1% and 99%.
yaron.been
2020-11-05 07:51
Thank you for sharing this valueble info!
redareda9
2020-11-08 05:00
Hi guys
redareda9
2020-11-08 05:01
Anyone ever managed to live Long term in Vietnam?
redareda9
2020-11-08 05:01
What was your strategy to stay without a Tourist Visa?
redareda9
2020-11-08 05:01
I heard it?s possible to setup a company and then apply for a TRC
danz
2020-11-09 16:55
A friend of mine lives there for a couple of years already, I believe he applied for some business visa there and can stay a year each time atleast before renewing it
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-13 08:49
Hey guys, I'm relatively new here. I'm a Canadian citizen and am trying to figure out the most logical way to position myself for tax purposes. Any and all advice is very much appreciated and I'm happy to compensate anyone who replies with free beers if you're willing to meet up in Thailand, lol (I would love for anyone in here to take me up on this offer).
I am an affiliate marketer and all of my income is earned remotely, however, my corporation was set up in Canada (yes, I'm an idiot). My staff is primarily US-based with some in the Philippines. I am currently a resident of Canada (in the process of becoming a non-resident) and I spend most of my time in Thailand. I am thinking of potentially becoming a tax resident of Thailand using the Elite Visa (since that is where I spend most of my time) and they also seem to be relatively lucrative regarding personal tax for my situation if I'm willing to jump through the hoops of their tax system (not remitting income in the year it was earned, and not earning my income from Thailand). I assume if I am only being paid dividends from my foreign corporation and leave the country several times per year to "perform my director duties/work" (while in Thailand I will be on vacation), I shouldn't be taxed on foreign income that I withdraw in Thailand in future years after it's been earned.
My current plan is to set up either a UK LLP, a US LLP, OR a CAD LLP which I will use as a payment processor. I will then set up a company in a tax haven such as the Cayman Islands which will be where I will receive all of my corporate profits and will be where I will hold the vast majority of my earnings for re-investment purposes. I will then pay myself dividends which I will receive in Thailand (not in the year they were earned) that I will use to fund my personal expenses.
Does anybody see any holes in this strategy or know of a smarter way for me to position myself?
My goal is to pay zero or very little tax while living in Thailand for the majority of the year and visiting Canada for a few months a year to visit family.
alex720
2020-11-13 21:56
Do you get royalties income
alex720
2020-11-13 21:56
What is your business? income considered ? @taylorwalkerllc
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-13 22:56
I don't receive any royalties.
That's a good question. I'm not 100% sure what the income would be classified as. All of my income is commissions from affiliate marketing. Basically, my company recommends a product and refers someone to purchase a product from a 3rd party website, the person purchases the product from the 3rd party company, then the 3rd party company pays me a commission for referring the sale. It's very much passive income considering all of the work was performed by my team and was performed usually far prior to receiving the commissions.
alex720
2020-11-14 02:03
Sometimes commissions are considered royalties for tax purposes
alex720
2020-11-14 02:03
Need to check this
alex720
2020-11-14 02:03
If they?re royalties for tax purposes you need to check where the royalties are coming from
alex720
2020-11-14 02:03
And make sure wherever you incorporate has a tax treaty with that country
alex720
2020-11-14 02:03
To bring the wht for the royalties down to ideally 0
frederic.scheffer
2020-11-14 05:20
Welcome Taylor. I'm in a similar case. Just pm'ed you
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-15 04:51
No kidding eh, I'll have to look into whether they would be classed as royalties. Thanks for mentioning that, I hadn't considered that at all.
I really appreciate your help Alex!
floriandarroman2
2020-11-15 10:05
Hey ! Does anyone knows if it's possible to open an online business related to Gambling with an LLC? (wyoming)
mb
2020-11-15 10:32
I don't think it is. Often times you also can't accept US customers for sites operated outside the US.
mb
2020-11-15 10:33
Gibraltar and/or Singapore allows you to get a regulated license.
mb
2020-11-15 10:34
Only know of experience with Gibraltar where they have a DLT regulatory framework.
koshis
2020-11-15 23:15
I looked into doing this a few years ago.
I came to the conclusion to register in Benelux or Switzerland, and was going to base madrid registration off that.
I actually registered in both, as some time limit expired I think, I can't remember exactly.
Fro switzerland I used Marcaria who do global registrations, they usually just work with local firms and manage the whole process for you. On the registration it says they used http://www.euromaier.ch
For Benelux I registered the mark using the firm
https://www.knijff.com/
Was called something different back then, but they would have been the most cost effective for the mark and the subsequent madrid app, which I didn't end up doing.
I can't remember exactly my reasoning behind Benellux or Switzerland, but I think it had something to do with the difficulty of it being challenged in those jurisdictions. (You want the base mark to be as secure as possible otherwise it will jeopardize the Madrid registration if something happens to it.)
It may have also been cost of registration and renewal in those jurisdictions and also cost of Madrid application from there.
floriandarroman2
2020-11-16 05:32
Cool thank you, I will have a look on it
floriandarroman2
2020-11-16 05:33
I actually don't need any license, but still related to casino/gambling
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-16 10:09
If I were you I would use a Maltese Ltd. for Gambling stuff
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-16 10:10
If you are an affiliate it should be fine but I would not risk it
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-16 10:10
https://www.xolo.io/go has anyone ever tried a service like this? Renting a company etc.
mb
2020-11-16 10:44
Yeah, seems to be a common used jurisdiction too.
burrup.lambert
2020-11-16 15:25
Great into @koshis thanks!
oscar3000
2020-11-17 00:50
I spoke with them already about Xolo Go. It?s much less attractive than it sounds. First, disowned to direct payment peer to peer, second until limited amount of income per year
floriandarroman2
2020-11-17 01:46
Ok even if my LLC is in Wyoming and my target is France?
floriandarroman2
2020-11-17 01:46
And I don't live in France
floriandarroman2
2020-11-17 01:47
Ahah it's really hard to find a real answer so I try my best here
taylorwalkerllc
2020-11-20 05:21
Cyprus or Malta is your best option as gambling is fully legal there
frederic.scheffer
2020-11-28 02:11
UK LLP: even as non-residents, do you think hitting a revenue above a certain threshold (1m usd? or 5m usd?) would make you more visible and on a list to be audited?
simon
2020-11-28 02:23
@frederic.scheffer You will face more scrutiny from the banks / payment processing services you use if millions go through the accounts but not from the UK government.
frederic.scheffer
2020-11-28 04:41
Thanks
trevorjames
2020-11-28 05:41
Anyone know of a knowledgeable accountant/company that can help with the annual filing requirements for a Wyoming LLC with 2 non-US members that will be taxed a partnership with no US ECI?
frederic.scheffer
2020-11-28 06:31
You don't think HMRC will look at larger revenue LLP as potential audit targets?
simon
2020-11-28 06:43
HMRC doesn?t audit LLP that have no UK operations / resident partners.
simon
2020-11-28 06:45
You could be audited in your country of residency, however, or wherever your LLP operates from.
frederic.scheffer
2020-11-28 06:49
Looks like it will be Dubai
simon
2020-11-28 06:52
Then you?ll be fine, unless you run an oil business (they are taxed in the UAE)
frederic.scheffer
2020-11-28 07:00
No oil business yet
redareda9
2020-12-02 12:50
Paypal question:
My account was banned 6 months ago and they just released a good amount of Euros that was held for 6 months.
The account is a UK account so I can only withdraw GBPs
redareda9
2020-12-02 12:50
Problem: they have really high exchange fees as everyone know
redareda9
2020-12-02 12:51
Usually I would have sent the euros to a Paypal account in Europe but they blocked paypal transfers, only bank withdrawals are possible for now
redareda9
2020-12-02 12:51
Any idea how to solve this without sacrificing a ridiculous amount in exchange fees?
marziovit
2020-12-02 13:19
There was a trick that used to work in the past but don't know if it's still possible. Add a debit card and then ask support to set the currency of the card to EUR.
burrup.lambert
2020-12-02 14:53
Stay tuned, I am literally dealing with Customer support to do this right now. It looks like it is still possible.
redareda9
2020-12-02 15:53
Seems like I?ll have to deal with their « support ». As the account is banned, I can?t do anything except withdrawing to bank account. I can?t even add a bank account or debit card
marziovit
2020-12-02 16:30
@burrup.lambert let us know if you succeed.
marziovit
2020-12-02 16:32
@redareda9 if the only thing you can do is withdraw money to a bank account i guess you have to accept PayPal exchange fees rip off
jase
2020-12-03 09:49
Can a US LLC pay a US resident/citizen freelancer/consultant without affecting it's passthrough nature?
simon
2020-12-03 15:16
@jase As long as the freelancer/consultant is independent (not in an employee/dependent agent type relationship), this will not create a US tax liability.
jase
2020-12-03 15:20
Thanks @simon. If they were a freelance writer who wrote on an ongoing basis, would this be "dependent"?
simon
2020-12-03 15:34
Assuming the freelancer is not working exclusively for you, and sets his / her own working conditions, this will not usually be deemed an employee relationship and will not trigger any US tax liability.
simon
2020-12-03 15:36
As for a dependent agent type relationship, this would apply if your freelancer/consultant negotiated deals/contracts on behalf of your company and/or shared in the business risk. This should not be an issue with a freelance writer.
jase
2020-12-03 16:03
Perfect, thanks Simon!
seb.malek
2020-12-08 23:47
You could set up a UK LTD (yes, limited company) and transfer the residence to Isle of Man. That way you would pay 0% corp tax while keeping the reputation of a UK ltd company.
lvasc
2020-12-10 00:00
Hello guys. I'm trying to start my company(again) and the main goal is to bring a free platform for live streaming content. I've started one before and closed due to some legal implications with people streaming copyrighted content(even respecting DMCA claims), to avoid more trouble I preferred to shutdown the service. I'm planning to redo the project, but this time in a safer jurisdiction. Do you guys have some similar scenarios? Any advice?
Thanks!
coreyarice
2020-12-10 02:36
What do you mean by live streaming? Users can live stream any content including copyrighted content?
lvasc
2020-12-10 03:00
Yes, any safe content(no porn, etc)
mb
2020-12-10 07:10
Welcome @lvasc . I wonder if going the IPFS / Bittorent protocol would be a better route as opposed to pick a jurisdiction? Mint your own token to monetize and incentivize the platform?
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:31
You?re still going to have to license copyrighted content somehow. Using a Bittorent protocol and sharing copyrighted material doesn?t absolve all parties from liability and some jurisdictions will pursue legal action
mb
2020-12-10 11:39
@coreyarice Obviously if you operate this from a legal entity, then sure that won't fly. I guess, the open question I was asking, what if there is no 'party' but only a protocol and P2P users? It then comes down to the individuals and their own jurisdictions (and/or usage of a VPN etc.).
mb
2020-12-10 11:40
Because otherwise, I imagine you'll have your hands full curating content / dealing with DMCA claims. And I think you'd need to be the size of FB/Google (YouTube) in order to automate that and have a treasury to afford some good lawyers.
mb
2020-12-10 11:41
You could operate a client, and source material from the IPFS network. They have a DMCA service: https://ipfs.io/legal/
mb
2020-12-10 11:41
Then run the 'client' in a favorable jurisdiction, but the material lives on IPFS.
mb
2020-12-10 11:42
There's also a Cloudflare gateway to IPFS: https://developers.cloudflare.com/distributed-web/ipfs-gateway
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:47
In this scenario, you are offloading the responsibility of running a network that shares copyrighted content to cloudflare
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:47
But because it is illegal to share copyrighted content an network that shares that type of content needs to have a strategy to handle it
mb
2020-12-10 11:48
Even with a DMCA protocol in place?
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:48
That would be the strategy to handle it
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:49
It isn?t really a protocol but a service to handle DMCA claims it looks like
mb
2020-12-10 11:49
By protocol, I meant more like an internal process to handle these claims.
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:50
yeah I think we are on the same page
coreyarice
2020-12-10 11:50
I hadn?t heard of IPFS before looks cool
mb
2020-12-10 11:51
Yeah. Here some 'decentralized' platforms leveraging what I mentioned:
https://blockonomi.com/youtube-alternative/
mb
2020-12-10 11:52
E.g. looking at https://d.tube/
```Additionally, the platform was designed to be censorship-resistant ? from a technical standpoint, the company has no actual means to censor videos or enforce specific content guidelines. Censorship powers are placed in users' hands, who decide which videos to censor or promote via upvotes and downvotes.```
mb
2020-12-10 11:53
```
Why is Dtube uncensorable?
Because of the decentralized nature of IPFS and the Avalon blockchain, D.Tube is not able to censor videos, nor enforce guidelines. Only the users can censor it, through the power of their upvotes and downvotes. IPFS is a protocol that enables decentralized file storage. The principle behind it is called Distributed Hash Tables (DHT). The same principle also powers the BitTorrent network. Just like how cryptocurrency uses asymmetrical cryptography, DHT networks will hash contents in order to be able to identify a file. The hash becomes the identifier of a file, and it's as easy as re-hashing a file and making sure the hashes match to ensure the file that was sent to us is the original. This technology makes your content truely immutable.
Community self-moderation
In a world of disinformation and algorithmic moderation, community ranking proved the most accurate mechanism to rate and organize any kind of information on the web (restaurants, real estate, movies, etc.) With Avalon, content is ranked exclusively by user's upvotes, downvotes and tags. A popular piece of content (i.e. with lots of upvotes) goes up in its category to gain more exposure and a submission with a negative score is automatically hidden. Adult content is tagged "NSFW" and hidden by default (an account is required to view this content); All platform moderation guidelines come from a community consensus.```
mb
2020-12-10 11:54
https://d.tube/#!/wiki/faq/can-i-publish-nsfw-content
```Can I Publish NSFW content on Dtube?
Yes you can however, we recognize that some people may not want to be exposed to sensitive content, for this reason, we don't tolarate excessively violent, hateful content. While you are posting a content which you think might be nsfw content, you need to make adjustments and tag your content #NSFW before you post it. This will give option to not see the video for users who don't want to be exposed to NSFW content. If you don't tag your content properly it will be flagged by the community, reducing your rewards and affect the content visibility```
mb
2020-12-10 11:54
So it sounds like, copyrighted material would fly, unless it's flagged by the community etc.
mb
2020-12-10 11:55
But that's just stretching the NSFW faq text on it.
mb
2020-12-10 11:55
Their blacklisted users and videos:
https://github.com/dtube/dmca/blob/master/dmca.json
mb
2020-12-10 11:56
https://steemit.com/dtube/@holovision/are-copyrights-enforceable-on-dtube
```Are Copyrights Enforceable on DTube?
While DTube might currently be running from K-Pax Prime, our users are located on planet Earth and should follow the rules from there.
TBH, I didn't even know about the 'official agent' thingy. We started receiving DMCA since we enabled server-side rendering for google to see our content.
We have a global mail redirect so if you send to dmca@d.tube for example I will get it.
Here is the file that controls what is 'black listed': https://github.com/dtube/dmca/blob/master/dmca.json
But this is our last resort. You probably noticed how we put comments and downvotes with our stake on bad behavior users who will steal someone else's popular content (like despacito or rihanna) and repost it on DTube. We believe it's better to prevent bad behavior rather than having to black list a lot of videos on a daily basis.```
mb
2020-12-10 11:57
mb
2020-12-10 11:57
```Decentralized content distribution methodologies such as Steemit and others are launching, with many building on the bittorrent and IPFS protocols to take advantage of the ability to store encrypted content in a decentralized way across a network of nodes. Perhaps one of the most sophisticated applications is d.tube, which boasts that because of its decentralized nature, it is "resistant to censorship" and cannot enforce guidelines. It seems inevitable that a d.tube-related intellectual property dispute will be litigated in the near future.```
mb
2020-12-10 11:57
Alright, so far the rabbit hole :D
lvasc
2020-12-10 12:38
Thanks for the discussion guys, and I had a tool for DMCA reporting, including published the tool in NetResult.
But even supporting handling of DMCAs, some s*** copyright owners made some legal actions without any communication, even some guys with a C&D at my door(ofc I denied to sign it, it was only pressure, they did nothing), and others made DMCA claims directly to the hosting company, bla-bla-bla...
My main goal is a jurisdiction to safely "ignore" this problems in the legal side.
@mb and I already have some solutions for the tech-side, this question is purely in the legal process
coreyarice
2020-12-10 13:53
I don?t know if this is legal sound though
Just because you claim you are unable to do something doesn?t resolve you of responsibility
coreyarice
2020-12-10 13:55
Yeah, it seems like laws would just need to catch up
coreyarice
2020-12-10 13:56
I don?t think you can ignore the responsibility of distributing unlicensed copyrighted content indefinitely
lvasc
2020-12-10 14:21
@coreyarice some copyright owners don?t play with the law as well, here in Brazil some of them partnered up with a lawyer office and started send small letters to random people who download some shitty movies, the letter started to viralize and now they?re f* as well because they got all the infos in an illegal way.
The purpose is not to avoid the responsibility, is to avoid this situations of bigger companies destroying small ones just because they want.
A lot of copyright owners sent DMCA claims to us in the right way and we respected all of them, but some of them just want your company burning.
coreyarice
2020-12-10 14:23
yeah I totally get that. Metallica got a lot of flack for that in the early days of file sharing and thankfully the attitudes have changed in a lot of ways and the technology to support services that want to use copyrighted or user generated content has grown
eddieringleb
2020-12-10 18:47
Visa and Mastercard would have to hand over the information of where the card has been used in case of an investigation into a specific person. Cash and Crypto would be king I guess
eran.seobest
2020-12-11 01:49
Hi guys,
I'm in the process of setting up for selling on Amazon in Europe and USA, and I'm trying to see if it requires to open a company in each, i have already setup a UK LLP and applied in the UK but it seems the registration forms in the US request for business details in the US.
would be happy to ask your advice if you know if it might be possible to avoid registration of a US LLC for selling on Amazon US considering i already own a UK LLP and registering in Amazon UK.
fmarguerite.contact
2020-12-12 13:24
@eran.seobest I never did it myself, but I?m pretty sure you can register Amazon US with your UK LLP without any problem.
eran.seobest
2020-12-12 14:49
in the registration form they are asking for the business details and address options are only in US ( choose a State for example.. )
redareda9
2020-12-17 07:47
Hi guys!
We are launching a new app in Vietnam and we will need to form a company so we can start processing payments with payment gateways. Anyone having an experience here?
simon
2020-12-17 15:09
@redareda9 Is your goal to accept Visa / MasterCard / AmEx etc or local forms of payments for Vietnam?
redareda9
2020-12-17 15:12
@simon mostly local payments like MoMo and some bank account transfers
frederic.scheffer
2020-12-17 17:17
Anyone using a BC LLP with Shopify? Using shopify payments? Stripe? Paypal?
Is all good and working well even as a non resident? Thanks
seb.malek
2020-12-17 17:18
good question :slightly_smiling_face:
simon
2020-12-17 17:36
@redareda9 I imagine it may be easier to setup a local company then. I?m not very familiar with VN but I imagine it may be difficult to open local bank accounts for overseas companies (not sure about MoMo).
simon
2020-12-17 17:39
@frederic.scheffer Stripe and PayPal are easy, even for non-residents. Shopify is more challenging as they want proof that the company is run from the UK (the owners being non-residents doesn?t matter). Renting office space in the UK seems to work.
frederic.scheffer
2020-12-18 04:29
Sorry I was asking about the Canadian LLP
simon
2020-12-18 04:51
@frederic.scheffer Sorry, I must have read too quickly. Stripe / PayPal are easy in Canada, as for Shopify Payments they also ask for a proof of operating address (although in my case they accepted a letter from the government, sent to a virtual address, so your mileage may vary).
rp_vpnet
2020-12-25 06:01
@redareda9, am in the process setting up RO/Branch in VN. Can share my experience
redareda9
2020-12-25 09:36
Thanks @rp_vpnet .
Why a RO instead of Joint Venture? I heard you cannot operate commercial activities with a RO. How much it will cost you everything included? And how long the process will take?
roman
2020-12-25 10:41
I'm a Canadian citizen, and I have a Canadian (ON) corporation. I want to start a new venture that is an off-shoot of that (will fund it from the savings of the Canadian corp aka shareholder loan), with the goal of selling (exit) in 2-3 years. Thus I want it to be a separate entity. What is the best and cheapest course of action? I am thinking a US corporation, but I don't know what the admin fees are. In Canada, accountants want anywhere from $1 to $4k for annual filing and admin work, which seems quite a high overhead. Another reason for choosing a non-Canadian corporation, is because I am thinking of leaving Canada and would have to sever ties with the country in order to qualify for being a "non-resident for tax purposes".
simon
2020-12-25 21:24
@roman What will the new business do? Also, have you already made use of your ~900000 CAD lifetime capital gains tax exemption for the sale of small business shares?
roman
2020-12-26 00:35
@simon the business is a software product with a service. A mix of product and agency.
No I haven?t made cap gains exemption. Never heard of it.
roman
2020-12-26 00:35
To be clear, the loan is from the other corporation. Not personal.
roman
2020-12-26 00:36
And merry Xmas :)
rp_vpnet
2020-12-26 03:12
@redareda9 mainly as a low cost entry for next 2-5 years (license renewal). I should be able to hire local staff (eventually expats/myself with work permits etc.), handle payments to local companies (going one-time through TW to the RO and then local transfers), open bank account (although there are some new regulations). In general once an opportunity arises I reckon things will be easier having already the RO in place with minimal overhead in the meantime. I have knowledgable local contacts too. Once I know the details of cost/time I?ll post
redareda9
2020-12-26 03:23
Thank you @rp_vpnet
simon
2020-12-27 19:28
For those who like to work from coworking spaces, WeWork has recently launched a new global membership for 299 USD per month (with the first month free). It works in a similar way to the AmEx membership (you can book a hot desk via the app at most WeWork locations globally, every day of the week). https://www.wework.com/workspace/on-demand/all-access
jason
2020-12-27 19:48
@simon nice!
ambroise.debret
2020-12-27 20:04
Nice ! I used to have the same kind of membership with Spaces (bought in Montreal) but for 120$CAD (93 USD) per month.
Since Spaces is part of the Regus family, they have a surprisingly big number of locations !
simon
2020-12-27 20:16
I also had a Regus membership (back when I became a nomad in 2012 it was possible to get it for free thanks to 2-3 years ?trials?). I then switched to a paid membership using geo-arbitrage (got the membership in a small town location, developing country) for about 45 USD per month.
I have fond memories of working from Regus locations, their Nanjing Rd location in Shanghai especially with its amazing skyline views. I prefer WeWork though, their locations are usually top notch with some having coffee bars, draft beer etc and lots of events.
simon
2020-12-27 20:26
Speaking of geo-arbitrage, if you guys use services like Youtube Premium, Spotify etc I recommend switching your accounts to India. I personally pay 1-2$ / month for most services as Indian prices are usually the lowest. You can easily do that if you have a ProtonVPN account as they have Indian servers.
jason
2020-12-28 01:21
@simon brilliant
ledrewy
2020-12-28 02:03
Any geo-arbitrage for Apple iCloud or Apple One?
simon
2020-12-28 02:17
@ledrewy With Apple it?s not worth the trouble as they regularly adjust their prices to reflect changes in exchange rates. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201238
simon
2020-12-28 02:17
At best you?d save 2-3$ per month
ledrewy
2020-12-28 03:26
Thanks
ivan.lakatos
2020-12-28 08:53
Quality ! @simon
danz
2020-12-28 13:24
Don't need an Indian creditcard or Indian address? I am doing the same, but then in Mexico, but I guess India is even cheaper.
maxsuur
2020-12-28 13:44
I did this with Vimeo back in the day using a Mexican Debit Card
buynps.org
2020-12-28 14:22
damm
buynps.org
2020-12-28 14:22
just switch your IP and country, sign up then switch back?
simon
2020-12-28 14:48
@danz It works with my HK cards, and with Curve too. I haven?t tried with other cards.
simon
2020-12-28 14:48
@buynps.org Yes, just connect to an Indian VPN and services like Youtube should automatically show you the Indian prices
roman
2020-12-29 04:54
I tried that but then they ask for an Indian address, and my credit card was not accepted.
roman
2020-12-29 04:54
I think it also forced me to update my on-file address to India.
simon
2020-12-29 05:00
@roman Even if you choose the prepaid option? For me it didn?t ask for any address, it was straight to my credit card details (and is renewed every three months).
simon
2020-12-29 05:01
It looks like this in the app
roman
2020-12-29 05:01
Not sure what the prepaid option is? I just clicked to subscribe
roman
2020-12-29 05:01
But I was using the website I think
roman
2020-12-29 05:04
Interestingly I am using NordVPN Mumbai server. WhatIsMyIP detects it as Mumbai correctly. I go to YT sub page, and it shows prices in AED.
roman
2020-12-29 05:06
Same on mobile, and the price is higher hahahaha :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing:
roman
2020-12-29 05:06
Makes no sense.
roman
2020-12-29 05:07
Switched to Chennai city and I see in rupees now
roman
2020-12-29 05:08
Billing page looks like this though. Once you enter the CC number, it changes to this address screen. India is hard coded and cannot be changed.
simon
2020-12-29 05:10
You can enter a random Indian address (like a pizza place from Google Maps). I doubt they validate it
roman
2020-12-29 05:11
And on mobile Chennai still shows prices in AED, and higher than on desktop. Also when I try to proceed I get the following:
roman
2020-12-29 05:15
yay pizza address went thur
buynps.org
2020-12-29 06:25
@roman nice, can you just cancel your canadian subscription and instantly resubscribe?
roman
2020-12-29 06:42
@buynps.org not sure, I didn't have a previous sub, so I didn't have to cancel
felix
2020-12-29 20:07
Also works for Udemy, btw., recently paid $1.20 for a course with my ?Indian? account.
felix
2020-12-29 20:08
Yes really sweet. Would be interesting to see where it has worked for members to use this VPN geo-arbitrage trick. For me it worked on Udemy.
simon
2020-12-29 20:10
@felix The course creator is probably going to wonder why they are suddenly getting a bunch of Indian students haha
felix
2020-12-29 20:11
hahahah, might be true.
felix
2020-12-29 20:12
I lived back then in India and by accident created the account while being there. After I moved out of India I still saw the price in INR and a quick check on http://xe.com made clear that the prices are much lower in India.
simon
2020-12-29 20:16
Yeah I?ve noticed this with a lot of services. I now double check using a VPN before buying stuff online just to see what the prices are in other countries. I do the same with flights too, using the ITA matrix (you can search using specific sales city).
sergiy.shlykov
2020-12-29 20:24
Spotify works as well. They have a ~$12 usd per year deal on there! Cents on a dollar :)
felix
2020-12-29 20:24
Yes, great idea. I remember from living in Colombia that when you book on the Spanish speaking website of Viva Colombia the prices for a flight were $15 and on the English speaking website $65+
felix
2020-12-29 20:25
*no VPN needed :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing:
simon
2020-12-29 20:30
Sometimes it?s also the currency that makes a difference. I?ve booked flights with the likes of Singapore Airlines that were the same amount in SGD as in EUR / GBP (1000 SGD or 1000 GBP for example).
felix
2020-12-29 20:58
Crazy! With the ITA Matrix?
simon
2020-12-29 21:01
Yes, you can search using any currency and sales city you want
simon
2020-12-29 21:02
It?s faster than searching multiple times on airline websites using different countries settings
felix
2020-12-29 21:46
Sweet! Thank you for sharingb
brent
2020-12-30 05:26
I did this in Malaysia. I got a Regus membership that gives me a dedicated office, at any of their locations around the world, during business hours. I pay around $200 a month. The same plan via Regus in HK or SG is at least 5-6 times more expensive. Geo-arbitrage FTW!
benjamin
2020-12-30 07:17
Btw, you can just get the "YouTube Vanced" app for free if you want majority of the YouTube premium features on mobile. It's not too hard to install and it works flawlessly with your normal YouTube account.
redareda9
2020-12-30 08:49
Shit. I?m paying 9 eur 99 per month for Spotify.
I bought ProtonVPN and by switching to India, I see Spotify is offering One year for 999 Rupees which is .... 12 eur for a whole year.
I paid for ProtonVPN just with 1 subscription. Thanks @simon
felix
2020-12-30 08:50
While speaking a lot about VPNs, which one is your favorit? Seems like everyone is using ProtonVPN
redareda9
2020-12-30 08:56
Yeah just started using it, seems really good
redareda9
2020-12-30 08:56
WTF Audible is 199 Ruppes
redareda9
2020-12-30 08:57
Which is 2 eur
redareda9
2020-12-30 08:57
I?m going to save at last 100 per month in useless subscriptions
felix
2020-12-30 09:06
Wow! Audible is really useful!
felix
2020-12-30 09:07
Simon, can we have a list on your website where we collect all this knowledge. I feel we just touched the surface of where the VPN will safe a ton of money
maxsuur
2020-12-30 21:07
This topic deserves at least an article! It could also be great as a Lead Magnet to attract new Freedom Surfer Members or something.
simon
2020-12-30 21:59
@maxsuur I?ve added a section on the Insiders Club homepage (on the new site) dedicated to this. I?m sure we can grow the database into something that will be valuable to most members. I bet a lot of members use multiple of those services and could easily save 50-100 $?£ / month which isn?t big money but still adds up over the long term.
maxsuur
2020-12-30 22:35
Fatnastic. Thanks @simon!
simon
2020-12-30 23:39
By the way, it hasn?t been mentioned in the conversation yet but Amazon Prime India is 999 / year (11 EUR / 13.7 USD) and Apple Music is 99 / month (1.10 EUR / 1.37 USD)
buynps.org
2020-12-31 03:07
can you transfer amazon prime india to USA/CA?
simon
2020-12-31 03:46
@buynps.org I don?t know, but you can use Prime video, music etc globally
felix
2020-12-31 08:07
Also just checkd G Suite! It?s $1.71/month for the Business Starter and $9.19 for the Business Standard (2TB, etc.)
felix
2020-12-31 08:08
Amazon and Apple Music would be huge. I assume that for Apple Music your Apple ID needs to be constantly in the Indian app store and connected to an indian credit card
felix
2020-12-31 08:11
btw. ProtonVPN is not changing the prices between USD/EUR/CHF. so you can get the VPN for 2 years for $159 ~ ?129 ~CHF140
felix
2020-12-31 08:28
Hi Simon! Can we access already the new FS website?
felix
2020-12-31 08:40
Apple One Family (Music, TV+, Arcade, 200GB iCloud) for up to 5 people is $4.99 or $2.66 for one person
simon
2020-12-31 19:24
@felix You can connect multiple Apple accounts simultaneously, I personally use a US Apple account as my ?main? account (this way I get access to new features faster) but also have Canadian, UK, HK, NZ and SG accounts (so that I get app updates for all the apps that are only available in those countries).
That?s a good catch regarding Apple One, I wasn?t aware it was cheaper in India. @ledrewy: Turns out you can get Apple One on the cheap in India (iCloud is 8.50 EUR for 2TB so it?s only worth it if you get the Apple One bundle)
The new site isn?t available yet but maybe I?ll make it available a couple of days before launch if you guys want to have a look
ledrewy
2021-01-01 08:02
I?ve been using US Apple account for new features and Malaysia Apple account for iCloud storage. Will check out India Apple account
ledrewy
2021-01-01 09:49
Correct me if I?m wrong - for Apple subscription, only the US account such as Apple TV+ includes Apple Music TV at the moment. News+ is also available to US account only.
simon
2021-01-01 14:21
Yes some features are country specific
leehodg
2021-01-01 15:06
This is a great trick. Does anyone know if it works with UK credit cards? I am in brasil and I tried this with Spotify a while back and my credit card reject it... In the end I bought the prepaid Spotify cards from a shop here and did it that way.
simon
2021-01-01 15:21
@leehodg It works with Curve as they do not require address verification (I often use Curve for those geo-arbitrage deals).
leehodg
2021-01-01 15:23
Do you think Revolut would work? I don't have Curve
simon
2021-01-01 15:37
I haven?t tried it but perhaps, especially if you use a virtual card.
arthur.vandelaak
2021-01-01 15:59
For Netflix I VPN to Turkish netflix to open up account. Less than 6 euros for premium account per month. Then I buy the Netflix gift cards from turgame. Other hacks are buying student Amazon Prime accounts on eBay. Student unlimited google drive accounts on Ebay.
ambroise.debret
2021-01-01 16:22
Very interesting ! Any insights on how the Drive unlimit work exactly ?
bobriakov.igor
2021-01-01 21:08
Used Regus for a while too, got similar nice views from their Bangkok and Jakarta locations.
simon
2021-01-01 21:20
The Sathorn Square location in Bangkok is pretty nice, the WeWork across the street too!
gun
2021-01-01 22:45
Interested. Following :eyes: @jonathan.galovan
ledrewy
2021-01-02 04:14
I tried to sign up Netflix India but unable to subscribe using a US Amex or TransferWise debit card. Any workaround?
simon
2021-01-02 04:44
Do you have a Curve card? Mine usually accepts any billing address, even non-UK ones
ledrewy
2021-01-02 05:17
Unfortunately my Curve card was cancelled as I?m unable to provide any doc proof they requested
mb
2021-01-02 16:30
US passes anti-corruption law that effectively bans anonymous shell companies - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25611883
simon
2021-01-02 17:07
@mb That is a bummer but it was expected. They?ve been talking about increasing transparency in the state registries for years. This change makes the BC LLP one of the last anonymous structures that can be registered in a Western country.
mb
2021-01-02 17:10
Was thinking the same @simon in regard to the BC LLP.
mb
2021-01-02 17:11
Although, I wonder, assuming you're a PT, if there's any issue about the transparency? In this case only the US gov knows the UBO and can share on request only?
simon
2021-01-02 17:14
It?s not really an issue (yet) but it opens the door to eventually have European-style public registries.
mb
2021-01-02 17:18
Yeah indeed.
michal.opoka
2021-01-02 18:28
To be honest it doesn't look like big deal, you already have to give pretty much all of this to IRS
michal.opoka
2021-01-02 18:28
but it's certainly a step in a bad direction
felix
2021-01-02 19:10
Some unis hand out unlimited GDrive to their students. I assume you buy the students email address and password. Please correct me if I am wrong..
ambroise.debret
2021-01-02 19:12
:thumbsup: will try soon !
felix
2021-01-02 19:15
Cool! Please keep me updated :slightly_smiling_face:
wice90
2021-01-06 00:21
Hi guys, question.. I have a LLP in UK and I am doing dropshipping in the USA.
My supplier is from China, but he has a warehouse in the USA. So far, I was paying to his chinese company, so I was collecting no sales tax.
Recently, he has registered a company in the USA and he asked me to pay him to the US company instead. Should I start collecting sales tax?
Please note that all invoices are made via alibaba.. I don't know if that's related.
simon
2021-01-06 00:36
@wice90 Each state has its own rules. In most cases, you need to start collecting once you reach a specific threshold. For example, in California you must collect once you reach 500000 USD in annual sales of physical goods to California customers (it doesn?t matter where you business is registered / based).
wice90
2021-01-06 00:41
Okay, but that's economic nexus, right? Just because my supplier is a US company, I don't have physical nexus, correct?
simon
2021-01-06 00:44
Many states now consider companies selling to local clients to be liable for sales tax, if they go over the annual threshold. This applies to US and foreign companies.
simon
2021-01-06 00:45
So if you sold 800000 USD worth of physical goods to California residents, you have to register for California sales tax and charge it from 500000 USD.
simon
2021-01-06 00:46
Countries are quickly closing loopholes in sales tax / VAT rules that allowed non-local sellers to avoid registering. That?s also the case in the UK and EU, with new rules coming into force this year.
kuka
2021-01-06 01:20
Interesting information. Thanks.
kuka
2021-01-06 01:22
I got a question about the UK LLP as well. What taxes/fees would be required for digital goods (think tutorials, courses, books, photoshop extensions, snippets of code, brushes, etc.) sold worldwide?
simon
2021-01-06 01:23
@kuka None (except for sales to UK / EU customers if your services qualify as automatic electronic services)
kuka
2021-01-06 01:24
That?s good but what would quality under that category?
kuka
2021-01-06 01:24
It?s the first time I hear about that term.
simon
2021-01-06 01:24
Almost anything that is delivered automatically and that does not require manual input
simon
2021-01-06 01:26
kuka
2021-01-06 01:26
Ok, let?s say amazon sales of ebooks, do they fall under that category? It?s automated, right.
kuka
2021-01-06 01:26
Awesome, thank you!
simon
2021-01-06 01:28
Ebooks will in most cases fall under the automated electronic services category.
kuka
2021-01-06 01:28
Got it, thanks
ledrewy
2021-01-06 06:34
Has anyone been successful in subscribing to Netflix India. I tried many credit cards (all outside India) including Revolut (US) Virtual but not successful.
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-09 08:01
Hi! Anyone using a French fulfillment center/3pl for an eCom biz? Any recommendations? Thanks!
tiagomdreganha
2021-01-11 21:34
simon
2021-01-11 21:39
@tiagomdreganha They are unfortunately rolling out this new fee globally. It?s PayPal striking back against TransferWise and co.
tiagomdreganha
2021-01-11 21:43
Yep. Total effective % for PayPal for international currencies (other than EUR) is now ~6.70%, that's insane.
One of my clients processes close to 10M/year in non-EUR and is getting hit hard. They had a regular "retail" US bank account to avoid the fee insanity.
Best bet is probably a US LLC as a middle-man entity?
simon
2021-01-11 21:48
Yeah, with an ITIN to be on the safe side
ngaihaoshaun
2021-01-12 16:56
Hi all,
Just joined the family here and has gone through all materials. But I need some recommendations here.
I am a trader and I manage clients fund via private mandate, both FX and equities.
Currently resides in Singapore as a Singapore PR but originally from Malaysia. I am considering 2 options below:
Option 1: Set up an US LLC as a non resident. And resides in South East Asia as a nomad in future, maybe obtain PR and move to AU/NZ as well.
Option 2: Move to Ireland with my family. Current positions of my stocks are currently in HK. I would like to set up a company here in Singapore, and move my stocks under the name of my Singapore company but the buying and selling will be controlled by me on behalf of the SG company. In this case, even when I finally reside in Ireland I have no stocks under my name but my SG company's. No/minimal capital gain tax will be charged by the Irish government.
For option 1 & 2, is this viable and how would be the best to go about it?
Appreciate any advice here. Thanks... Shaun
ngaihaoshaun
2021-01-12 16:59
Is it ok to ask here or should I send @simon an email on this? Sorry wasnt sure if its ok to put this under business-general
stolzlos
2021-01-12 17:52
@ngaihaoshaun question is good here. Not sure that I am of much help but interested in your situation. What exactly is your objective? Just reducing tax burden?
ngaihaoshaun
2021-01-13 08:33
yeah, operational wise is to reduce tax burden.
taylorwalkerllc
2021-01-14 06:33
Hey guys, what is your favourite tool for invoice capturing? I got a lot of invoices that needs to be paid and I want to optimize cashflow management as well as book keeping. Maybe a software that can connect to Business Revolut and transferwise Business account.
benjamin
2021-01-14 11:52
I just use Xero. Any invoices I get, I have them Automatically forwarded into Xero. Can also connect most banks
taylorwalkerllc
2021-01-14 13:37
I actully got Xero, is there a tutorial to set that up?
benjamin
2021-01-14 14:54
In Xero you have an email address in your Bills section. If you email that address then the PDF/CSV or whatever invoice that is attached to the email will be uploaded into Xero.
So depending on your email provider you can manually forward the invoices to the Xero email. Or have it automatically do it using some type of flow or zapier.
vinodgn0088
2021-01-14 18:09
@ngaihaoshaun, If you move to any country permanently like Ireland, NZ or AU; You will be required to honor the local tax laws. Just having a Singapore company itself is not enough to Escape from the capital gains tax net. Pay attention to PE and CFC rules of the country (where you plan to become a resident). Things have changed a lot and just being a nomad won't get you out of the tax system as well. If you are planning long-term, become a resident of a country where there is no tax or it is easy to get a tax residency and pay zero tax on income generated outside of their territory.
ngaihaoshaun
2021-01-14 18:50
@vinodgn0088 Thanks I'll check them out.
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-15 09:23
Transferwise asking me about country of residence. I could put Thailand or France. What do you recommend?
Did anyone get problems adding Thailand? I'm afraid they don't allow me to create the account if I choose Thailand (for a UK LLP)
Please reply back with the following information:
What is your country of residence? We noticed that it is added differently in the director and shareholder fields.
Where are you physically located when you conduct your business activities?
In which country/-ies the majority of the business decisions are made?
Full name, date of birth and country of residence for each general partner
ivo
2021-01-15 09:29
I received the same question having a UK LLP and living in Georgia. Answered Georgia & got cleared shortly after.
mb
2021-01-15 10:01
Does anyone know a pragmatic way to provide a country of residence, on paper, while being a perpetual traveller? E.g. in case there are follow up questions (to show proof like utility bills etc.). Specifically to setup Transferwise and/or an account on a crypto exchange.
benjamin
2021-01-15 10:06
@frederic.scheffer I set Thailand as my country of residence for a UK LLP. No problems
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-15 10:12
@benjamin thanks. What did you answer for "where are you physically located when you conduct your business activities? In which country/ies are the majority of the business decisions made?
benjamin
2021-01-15 10:16
@frederic.scheffer Thailand. As far as I'm aware, answering this question to TW can't be used against you in a tax audit or to prove residency of a company to a tax authority.
Plus unless you have a true business address somewhere then the safest bet for banks is your true residence as you'll have paperwork for it
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-15 10:22
Thanks
guillaume.hucheloup
2021-01-15 16:10
I've put Thailand as well and was cleared next day. UK LLP too.
felix
2021-01-15 16:25
Have a bank account in one place, change your address to whatever you want to have it and wait for the next bank statement. Voila :wink:
felix
2021-01-15 16:26
Never had anyone asking for utility bills after I showed a bank statement. Worst case let the bank certify what your registered address is.
bobriakov.igor
2021-01-15 17:42
We are using Freshbooks
mb
2021-01-15 20:32
@felix Given the CRS what would be best to give as an address causing the least trouble? E.g. by taking a street address from a service like http://Clevver.io
Just want to be sure that I won't get issues with the country of the address I gave. I guess just by giving an address (from country A) to your bank in country B, will not trigger any type of tax residency?
I was therefore thinking to give a street address of a country with territorial taxation like Hong kong. If they ever receive a CRS message from my bank I assume they don't care?
danz
2021-01-15 23:34
Using Quickbooks for that, can connect with Transferwise to. Revolut I don't know.
felix
2021-01-16 08:14
I treat it exactly the same way. Give an address of a country that doesn?t care. For me it?s the UAE, or better an address in Dubai. I would avoid giving an address in the EU/US, etc. like the plague. From my interaction with the UAE govt. I am pretty certain that nobody could care less there if they receive a CRS request about a person that is not in their system. In places like Dubai, foreigners come and go all the time. Their whole data base must be completely inaccurate since people just bounce, etc.
felix
2021-01-16 08:14
I believe especially right now it?s a good chance to get an address and some bank relationships in the UAE with the $300 nomad residence the UAE has right now.
felix
2021-01-16 08:16
For me to get a bank account in the UAE I needed to have a valid UAE visa. After that was done, banks had no issue whatsoever to give you bank accounts and they are happy to issue confirmation letters for whatsoever reason you need them.
burrup.lambert
2021-01-16 17:11
You can open accounts in Dubai on a tourist visa. At least you could in 2017. IIRC:
Emirates NDB was AED3000 account minimum.
Standard Chartered was AED100,000 account minimum, I think that was for a private account and was the only one they would accept.
I did not have any luck with Citibank or HSBC.
Mashreq wanted me to buy a life insurance product.
Probably easier just to get the nomad visa though. Not a bad idea really, apply for all the digital nomad visa available and go on a world trip opening bank accounts?
felix
2021-01-16 20:01
I like that idea of going around the globe and get bank accounts :joy:
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-18 13:58
eCom guys: our company is growing fast. Problem: we need more cash to pay for larger productions.
How do you guys finance growth?
Any recommendations?
Shopify Capital offering an expensive factor 1.1 to 1.13 rate (ex: borrow 300k? and pay back 330k? or 339k? in 12 months, taken as a % of monthly sales).
Hard for me to take loans as I am very nomad... UK LLP and HK LTD (Offshore).
Any ideas?
twinorita
2021-01-18 15:39
@frederic.scheffer
Did you think about leasing machines for production?
twinorita
2021-01-18 15:40
thats a difficult topic
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-19 04:37
I don't need machines, these are the suppliers machines.
I need to pay for stock. As the company is growing, the working capital need increases (need to pay for stock first before selling it to customers).
So now we are frequently out of stock because we don't have enough capital to "finance the growth" (i.e. buy larger amounts of products that we then sell, without getting out of stock)
ggiampieri
2021-01-19 13:52
@frankking789 ask supplier a line of credit at an increased % of products price. Chinese factories can get 'easy' loans. Or do backorders (risky). Use credit cards (even personal) to pay for ads and pay for stock with income from sales.
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-20 04:48
Good points. Thanks
nikolay
2021-01-20 06:13
Can anybody recommend an accountant/company that can do Audited financial statements, Audited Profit & Loss Statements, Audited Cash Flow Statements etc. for a Foreign-owned Single-Member US LLC that has done all it?s bookkeeping using Xero (so all is nice, tidy and organised and would be quite for an accountant to get what they need).
Shouldn?t cost an arm and a leg though.
Reason for this is to apply for big credit lines with company that we work with - their finance departments ask for these types of audited documents in order to justify the credit line.
frederic.scheffer
2021-01-22 13:33
@ggiampieri have you been able to do that with Chinese suppliers?
rp_vpnet
2021-01-23 04:07
Guys, was wondering if anybody has used their US LLC to hire H1B workers. So far I used my US LLC for consulting projects work outside US. Would it be wise to setup another LLC/s-corp for the H1B sub-contractors in the US with my LLC has the holding? I want to setup a solid structure that won?t have problems with the LCA regulations.
alex720
2021-01-24 15:03
Hey guys, I have a Cyprus company and Cyprus address displayed on my website. I'd rather not show a Cyprus address to our customers on invoices and on the website, since some are now asking questions because Cyprus has a bad reputation. Any ideas?
alex720
2021-01-24 15:04
Is there a disadvantage of putting a rented USA po-box address on the website and on invoices to solve this reputation issue? Any tax risk?
simon
2021-01-24 16:18
@alex720 Payment processors usually want to see your real company details listed on the site. With that said, you could add a US address (or other countries address) on your site in addition to your Cyprus address.
alex720
2021-01-24 16:18
Any risk of putting a usa address on the site and mass emails ?
alex720
2021-01-24 16:19
In addition to the Cyprus address
simon
2021-01-24 16:23
@alex720 That won?t create a US tax liability, assuming no work is performed in the US
buynps.org
2021-01-24 18:13
@alex720 maybe look into CAN-SPAM for emails?
> Your message must include your valid physical postal *address*. This *can* be your current street *address*, a post office box you?ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you?ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.Sep 2, 2009
alex720
2021-01-24 18:14
Thank you
himself
2021-01-26 12:11
Perhaps a warning here..
himself
2021-01-26 12:11
I have been using a borderless account with Transferwise to receive USD payouts from Stripe
himself
2021-01-26 12:27
The other day I put a refund for a client through stripe and for a short while the USD balance went negative. Looks like stripe tried to authorise a direct debit from the transferwise account (which transferwise don't currently support). As a result Stripe has kicked my transferwise account and won't let me recieve payouts from it anymore
himself
2021-01-26 12:28
Anyone else had this happen before?
simon
2021-01-26 12:36
@himself It?s a known issue, you can?t do a direct debit from Stripe using TransferWise (not with the old banking details anyway).
brent
2021-01-26 12:36
@himself this is why I use something like Mercury with Stripe.
simon
2021-01-26 12:36
You have to first add funds to your Stripe account
himself
2021-01-26 12:49
Thank you guys. It's frustrating as I've been using it for about 6 months to receive payments without issue. I'm a UK Ltd. so I can't connect a UK based USD account and receive USD. Looks like I will have to take payments in GBP
simon
2021-01-26 13:01
@himself Have you tried linking your new USD banking details to Stripe? TransferWise released updated details a few weeks ago (and the new details now support direct debit)
himself
2021-01-26 13:02
Ah! No - thank you Simon
simon
2021-01-26 13:02
In the app they are under the ?your current USD bank details? section
himself
2021-01-26 13:03
Thank you so much
felix
2021-01-26 13:07
You can. We do that with our UK LLP and receive USD via Stripe in our TW account
je
2021-01-26 13:16
Suggestions for services assisting with Cyprus company formations, that you can personally recommend / have experience with, and the associated fees (first year & annual maintenance)? I don't need any nominee director services or anything like that. Running a legit consulting based business, nothing to hide etc.
je
2021-01-26 13:18
I do need VAT registration etc.
twinorita
2021-01-26 15:54
I know a company from Larnaca which I met personally, cool guy but he couldn't help me.(crypto + banking issues, no solution at that time) If your business is not too complicated though I think you could check them out. As far as I can remember the setup costs were around 1000EUR but not 100% sure about it anymore.
jase
2021-01-26 16:54
Looking for a suitable location for a holding company while keeping everything simple and efficient. Current trading entities will probably all be US LLCs without ECI, otherwise pass-through entities in other jurisdictions.
It seems that _at a personal level_ (being a UK resident individual), LLCs aren't good...
> Although an LLC is considered transparent under Federal law, HMRC?s guidance indicates that a US LLC is considered as an opaque entity in the UK, treated as a company and therefore the individual is taxed on the distributions from the LLC as they are received.
Source: https://uk.andersen.com/uk-treatment-of-us-llcs-anson-revisited/
However there's an important part of that paragraph....
> a US LLC is...treated as a company and therefore the individual is taxed on the distributions from the LLC as they are received.
It appears that HMRC considered a US LLC a separate entity. *Is this correct?*
Next part...
> Small companies receive a full exemption from the taxation of foreign income dividends if these are received from a territory that has a double taxation agreement with the UK which contains a non-discrimination article.
Source: https://www.dixcart.com/the-uk-a-truly-excellent-holding-company-location/
*Does this mean a WY/DE LLC disregarded entity (0% tax in USA) can pay out "dividends" to a UK LTD that owns it, and those dividends are not taxable? Therefore effective tax rate for this structure is 0%?*
je
2021-01-26 21:26
When the LLC is treated as a disregarded entity for tax purposes, the profit from the LLC should be treated as profits of the LTD, and taxed accordingly in the UK. Note that this is how it _should_ be, I'm not sure how well that is actually enforced.
je
2021-01-26 21:27
And if you instead set the LLC up to be taxed as a corp in the US, even though Wyoming does not have a state level corporate tax, it would still have to pay 21% federal corporate tax on worldwide income.
je
2021-01-26 21:30
And there would also be withholding tax when repatriating the dividends to the UK.
je
2021-01-26 21:32
Setting up LLC:s etc as disregarded entities for tax purposes is great when you (or the holding company, in case the LLC is not owned directly by you) are tax resident in a 0% tax jurisdiction. But they're not really useful for (legally) avoiding taxes in general, if you aren't that lucky.
bigworld
2021-01-26 21:40
Beware with the first link in the post, it's the classic example of misinformation. Half thruths and mixed up topics to mislead the reader instead of inform. @je above explained clearly in just a few lines.
brent
2021-01-26 22:55
Yeah, my interpretation was exactly as per @je?s first point. Because it's a pass-through, who ever the member is and where ever they are in the world, it's treated as income and reported as such.
marziovit
2021-01-27 08:11
According to HMRC LLC are opaque https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-manual/intm180030 so whoever owns the LLC will be taxed taxed on the distributions. The problem with your setup is that the LLC is a CFC because you own it and manage it from UK.
felix
2021-01-27 09:05
A question for all SaaS entrepreneurs here. What jurisdiction would you choose if you would sell to EU customers a SaaS subscription to optimize your tax burden, compliance, etc. For now the company will only sell to German businesses but potentially to more businesses in other EU countries.
My considerations for now are:
? Incorporation in Estonia due to 0% VAT and only corporate tax if dividends are paid. Would pay myself a salary and tax that on a personal level
? Only sell to EU businesses that provide a Tax Id to issue only reverse charge invoices with 0% VAT
? Thought of using Quaderno to handle special cases if someone is outside of the EU or doesn?t have a Tax ID
mohd
2021-01-27 09:23
Have you looked at using someone else to handle your sales tax? Not calculate, but actually collect and pay? You can try Paddle, FastSpring or 2checkout?s 2Monitize
mohd
2021-01-27 09:23
Very handy and saves too much time for a few % points
jase
2021-01-27 09:36
Ok this is good info, thanks everyone. It's also what my basic understanding of a pass through entity leads me to - whoever/whatever entity owns it needs to pay tax in that location.
jase
2021-01-27 09:38
So I guess the search continues for an ideal holding jurisdiction/entity for an Andorran resident.
felix
2021-01-27 10:11
Yes, Quaderno is doing that. The whole sales tax handling is just one part of the equation. Curious to understand which jurisdiction is the best, because since the UK exited the EU, I would need to apply for a tax number and can?t sell easily anymore to EU customers
mohd
2021-01-27 12:05
Is Quaderno a merchant of record? I couldn?t see it mentioned on their site.
mohd
2021-01-27 13:00
@felix, Quaderno is not a merchant of record like Paddle/FastSpring etc..
felix
2021-01-27 13:01
They manage the subscriptions and automate the worldwide tax compliance
mohd
2021-01-27 13:01
Paddle and the rest are merchants of record, which means they will act as the sellers, they will collect the right sales taxes from users worldwide, and pay the tax to the authorities, you don?t have to handle any of that.
felix
2021-01-27 13:01
In these terms they seem to be similar to paddle
mohd
2021-01-27 13:01
Yes they calculate but you have to handle registrations/paying taxes etc.., with Paddle and the rest, you don?t have to touch any of that
felix
2021-01-27 13:02
If I am going for only reverse charge invoices, I don?t need to worry about handling the taxes since they are paid by the customer
mohd
2021-01-27 13:03
I believe with FastSpring, users can enter their business tax ID, sales tax will be reduced to zero before the checkout
felix
2021-01-27 13:09
@mohd do you have experience with FastSpring? Is this correct? FastSpring charges ?per transaction? that you process through their platform. You have two *pricing* options: Option 1 ? An 8.9% flat *fee* on the total value of the transaction. Option 2 ? A *fee* of 5.9% of the value of the transaction, plus 95 cents for each transaction processed.
mohd
2021-01-27 13:10
That?s correct. In your case it won?t make much sense because your target market is in a small number of countries.
mohd
2021-01-27 13:11
For others that want to sell worldwide, it is much cheaper than having to handle taxes across many countries
je
2021-01-29 23:57
If I'm a non-dom resident of Cyprus, and have incorporated a company in another EU country, but register it as a tax-resident of Cyprus, I would obviously pay 12,5% corporate tax on profits etc just as if I would have set up a company in Cyprus, but would I also need to use a Cypriotic accountant + auditor or would the accounting rules etc of the other country be used?
simon
2021-01-30 07:33
@je You?ll be filing as a CY company so you?ll need a local accountant, follow the local rules etc.
je
2021-01-30 12:39
Ok, that's a shame. But yeah, I suspected that was the case. Thanks!
d.mikocionis
2021-01-30 12:53
@simon what do you do when someone asks you for W9 in the US? Just tell them that I don't need to fill it out since I'm not a resident?
simon
2021-01-30 13:14
@d.mikocionis You can send them a W8, the non-resident version of the W9
d.mikocionis
2021-01-31 15:42
where do I get that?
simon
2021-01-31 18:11
That?s the form for individuals:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf
And the form for legal entities:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8bene.pdf
bobriakov.igor
2021-02-05 10:28
hey guys, what are usual consulting rates for a large (think Fortune 100) enterprise clients for very specific tech expertise or strategy consulting services. Any ideas on what kind of hourly (or daily?) rates are usually charged from top experts/vendors in their fields for such niche expertise consulting?
benjamin
2021-02-05 12:48
@bobriakov.igor I have a very friend who is charging a client $40,000USD/month for his consulting. The consulting is general business direction and strategy for raising more capital.
marziovit
2021-02-05 13:39
Does the better protection for single members WY LLC matter for non US residents?
bobriakov.igor
2021-02-05 16:10
@benjamin interesting if you know, how many hours your friend dedicate to such engagement, and whether he is doing it via business entity or as a freelance consultant
yaron.been
2021-02-05 20:04
Does anybody know of a payment gateway that allows selling CBD / Supplements?
twinorita
2021-02-05 21:21
"bankera" accepts this kind of business!
benjamin
2021-02-06 03:16
@bobriakov.igor It's about 8 hours per month. (2hr phone call per week). He's doing it through one of his companies not as a freelancer. Although this is for his own reason. The client wouldn't care if he billed as an individual freelancer.
jason
2021-02-06 13:12
@bobriakov.igor I did a call through deepbench the other day for $250/hr.. not something I do often though
bobriakov.igor
2021-02-07 11:31
@benjamin this sounds like a super cool setup for him. Suppose it takes a time to get there.
@jason interesting platform, haven't heard about it. Yes, from my limited research going rates for expert consulting may fit in a $200-400/hr range. Anything less than 150, and client may suspect that something is wrong with given vendor being so cheap lol
maxsuur
2021-02-07 14:55
Has anyone been able to subscribe to Spotify Premium via an Indian VPN server using Curve? I have tried both Curve and Transferwise with no luck: "Oops. Something went wrong" type-of-message.
maxsuur
2021-02-07 14:58
I now even tried using a Revolut Virtual Card and nothing still.
redareda9
2021-02-07 15:05
@maxsuur it doesn?t work with Spotify, they have card-country detection so really hard to bypass it. I had to use Spotify Vietnam and my girlfriend account to pay for it.
maxsuur
2021-02-07 15:41
Yes, that makes sense. I might have to end up going with Youtube premium altogether..
frederic.scheffer
2021-02-09 03:03
Where would you advertise your services ? I would like to give some e-com advice for brands, to make some extra $ and keep sharp + build a network.
buynps.org
2021-02-09 07:46
regarding US ECI ? how careful should one be with this? what if there were some part time contractors that acted like designers or project managers for a software company?
simon
2021-02-09 07:47
@buynps.org If they are independent contractors that will not usually trigger ECI (as opposed to if they are in a de facto employment situation).
benjamin
2021-02-09 08:30
@simon What about if the contractor is technically in a de facto employment situation as you're their only client.
But, you hire them through Upwork which means I think your invoices are from Upwork. Could this minimise risk?
simon
2021-02-09 16:10
This will minimise risk as there will be no reporting linking your company to them directly.
greenard23
2021-02-10 15:25
Hi is the website down I was trying to read about LLP?s? I have a Thai company, and we are going to use a UK fulfilment centre. They require a registered UK address or a VAT number, so I?m thinking LLP linked to the Thai biz and or apply for the UK VAT number. Anyone done this before?
gun
2021-02-15 20:20
Would anyone here be interested in me setting up a group call with a business broker friend I've been speaking to?
He specialises in selling online businesses, and works for the brokerage that has the highest deal-flow in the world, and he thinks they get better multiples than empireflippers. Might be useful for everyone to get an intro on the idea of selling, buying, or just general thinking about the business of building & buying/selling businesses.
I've found the exercise of speaking to a broker and getting a valuation on your business both:
? now
? what it might be worth if you hired X person, or systemised X part of it, or paid a consultant firm to grow revenue to X
....and thinking in terms of exit multiple gained by making those decisions makes them a no-brainer once you have that data.
I've been looking into it myself, so super interested in chatting to ppl out there also looking into this, and just creating deal-flow etc
internationalbits
2021-02-15 23:52
i'd be totally in, currently more interested in buying
danz
2021-02-16 03:00
I'm in the business of buying content sites, not really selling for now as I am trying to grow our portfolio with bigger sites. Always happy to talk about the subject if you are interested.
yaron.been
2021-02-16 05:25
Sounds Interesting, I'd be in.
mich_cello
2021-02-16 09:20
Good to hear about that
ggiampieri
2021-02-16 11:13
Interested
buynps.org
2021-02-16 14:21
interested
alex720
2021-02-16 15:39
yes
alexbadaoui1
2021-02-16 17:16
I would take a look!
omocha_10
2021-02-16 17:34
Yes
felix
2021-02-16 21:58
Would love to join. Currently considering to sell one of my businesses.
td
2021-02-18 11:06
me too, i regularly sell and buy sites, kind of fix n flip model
td
2021-02-18 11:57
hi, maybe a little bit strange question, but why do i even need a company setup? basicly i have the problem that i cant decide right now for the right company structure for a while, due to some corona limitations. my income is passive, so i get royalty payments from amazon kdp, acx, udemy, amazon partnernet and others, most payments are round 2-10k USD/Month, none of this companies ever asked me for my company details and i am running this setup already for a few years, so what are the advantages of having a company like an LLP/LLC?
simon
2021-02-18 12:45
@td In such a situation, the advantages may be few (if any). You do not need a company to access specific services, you do not need to separate your finances, you do not need liability protection, you would not benefit from increased legitimacy with a company etc. There may be estate tax benefits (depending on your country of tax residency and that of your heir(s)) but setting up a company may not be the best way to address that specific issue.
bountybairn
2021-02-22 12:14
Hi folks, having dealt with two agencies in Cyprus for formation, account opening, tax planning etc would be happy to hand off to the one in prefer, ping me if you are considering Cyprus formation (as a move or as offshore), the agency i recommend has extensive experience in offshore, blockchain, FX as well as standard company formation and tax.
taylorwalkerllc
2021-02-24 03:45
How much do you charge?
bountybairn
2021-02-24 08:29
Depends on what you need @taylorwalkerllc, here is an example price list.
If you are going to actually be in Cyprus then thing like bank account opening (non crypto related) are a little bit of effort, but totally doable yourself with some tips. Doing this remotely is better done with the agents assistance, and possibly nominee services
marziovit
2021-02-26 08:09
@simon is it possible to setup a WY LLC and use a NY business address?
simon
2021-02-26 08:41
@marziovit It?s possible but not advisable. It?s fine if you use a NY mailing address though
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:00
Who has experience with an Indonesian company PT? I just came over it and this option seems to be quite interesting. I try to list some facts, please correct me if i am wrong.
1. For profits below 4,8 billion IDR = 320k USD the corporate tax is only 0,5%
Dividends can be received tax free if the individual is the owner of the company holding 25%
of the shares and if the individual has a tax domicile in Indonesia
2. If Dividends received from outside, there is no income tax if dividends are invested within Indonesia. So it seems for individuals, it's possible to receive dividends tax free even without a PT if you are willing to invest.
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:01
Do I miss something?
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:07
In my opinion it doesn't really make sense that there are no personal income taxes if the corporate tax is only 0,5%. It makes sense for corporate taxes 12,5%+ to wipe the personal income obligations when distributing dividends. However and according to my research, its also valid for the discounted corporate tax of 0,5%. Not 100% sure though if this income needs to be invested in Indonesia. If not, this nice little tax law would make Indonesia one of the best tax havens, if not the best.
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:18
_"In a new statement, released September 4, 2019, the Government has said that individual entrepreneurs and enterprises will be able "avoid income tax" if they invest their resources in Indonesia. Tax liability will arise if money is kept in the form of income, bank savings, or other forms, it stated._
_It further clarified its plans to waive tax on dividends in its September 10, 2019, statement. It said where a domestic corporate taxpayer owns 25 percent of more of a domestic company paying a dividend, the income will be exempt from income tax. Further, those Indonesian businesses receiving dividends who own less than 25 percent of the company paying the dividend will be exempt only if the funds are invested in Indonesia within a certain period of time, it said._
_Further, for dividends paid from abroad, income tax will be waived if the amount is invested in Indonesia within prescribed time limits, it disclosed."_
vinodgn0088
2021-02-28 11:19
@twinorita, As per Deloitte "Taxpayers who fulfil certain criteria with gross revenue not exceeding Rp 4.8 billion in one tax year are subject to final income tax of 0.5% of the gross revenues. These taxpayers may opt to be subject to the standard Income Tax rate by submitting a notification to the ITA."
vinodgn0088
2021-02-28 11:20
So, CIT is calculated on Gross revenue ( like Micro business in Romania). And if the dividends are not further invested it will attract personal income tax.
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:21
Are you 100% sure?
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:22
I also found this, source "taxsummaries"
_"Dividend income_
_In principle, dividend income received by a resident taxpayer from a domestic limited liability company (generally referred to as a Perseroan Terbatas or PT) is taxable as ordinary income for the taxpayer receiving the dividend. However, it becomes non-taxable if the recipient is domestic corporate taxpayers or domestic individual taxpayers whose dividends are reinvested in Indonesia within a certain period. Where the recipient is not resident in Indonesia, a WHT rate of 20% applies, subject to variation by tax treaties (see the https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/indonesia/corporate/withholding-taxes section for more information)._
_Dividends paid by companies abroad received by domestic taxpayers may be exempted if the dividend is reinvested or used for business activities in Indonesia within a certain period._
_The same rules apply to stock dividends (bonus shares), including dividends paid out of share premium (agio)."_
twinorita
2021-02-28 11:22
it says if you are domestic corporate taxpayer or ...
vinodgn0088
2021-02-28 11:23
vinodgn0088
2021-02-28 11:23
"_However, it becomes non-taxable if the recipient is domestic corporate taxpayers or domestic individual taxpayers whose dividends are reinvested in Indonesia within a certain period." <<< Reinvestment requirement is there_
twinorita
2021-02-28 13:09
looks like I should sleep :smile:
asarun72
2021-03-03 01:04
@jase Andorra taxes only 2% for foreign income ? Why are looking at UK?
asarun72
2021-03-03 01:06
Get payment terms with your supplier may be ?
asarun72
2021-03-03 01:07
2. you can easily build business credit score on your US LLC and get credit line
jase
2021-03-03 08:13
@asarun72 not really the case. Holding exemptions are slowly being eroded. And More importantly operate a company here is a complete PITA. It takes months and thousands to do things that in many countries can be done in an hour for $50.
benjamin
2021-03-03 10:02
Is this business idea legal?
Buy a 3 bedroom ghetto house in the US for as cheaply as possible.
Rent the rooms to non residents for xxx/month. The non residents don't live in it. It's purely for them being able to have proof of address and get utility bills for payment processors.
Its hard for them to become tax resident from renting a room and never going to the country.
I feel like there is a huge demand for a service like this.
I'm having Amazon, bank and payment processing issues in multiple countries. I'd love a service like this to exist.
The alternative is buying and renting houses in multiple countries which is expensive.
Anyone have any thoughts on how to solve these banking issues with a long term method?
marziovit
2021-03-03 10:08
I already have a domain name for that: TaxBnb
marziovit
2021-03-03 10:09
I don't know if it's legit but it sounds cool
bountybairn
2021-03-03 10:17
Its a useful idea IMO but there are maybe some hurdles .... how would i say for example get the bank card which is delivered there?
bountybairn
2021-03-03 10:18
Can you realistically get multiple utility bills for one address?
simon
2021-03-03 10:35
You could buy a bunch of cheap abandoned Detroit houses although you?d have to pray no one Google street view them haha. Tax-wise, there should be no issues assuming the ?renters? spend no time in the US. Obviously using those proof of addresses would not be compliant with banks / payment processors? T&C and might even be fraud.
benjamin
2021-03-03 12:02
@simon Why wouldn't they be compliant? Isn't it believable to have multiple homes around the world where you choose to split your time?
Or does the term 'resident' to a payment processor mean tax resident where you spend most of your time?
benjamin
2021-03-03 12:03
@bountybairn yeah those things would be tricky. Possibly, you'd have to change the name on the utility bill when each person needed a bill. 3 names at once wouldn't be possible I wouldn't think
simon
2021-03-03 12:21
@benjamin Wouldn?t the service be purely virtual? (no possibility for the renters to actually stay there)
benjamin
2021-03-03 12:23
@simon In theory. But they'd have the rights to live there if they want. Not that they'd want to
simon
2021-03-03 12:23
If you are comfortable with the risk, an easier solution would be to rent an Airbnb for 1+ month and sign up for a utility while there (home internet via 4G/5G for example, something that doesn?t require physical equipment being installed). Setup USPS mail forwarding before leaving and you are good to go (your bills will be forwarded every month, the Airbnb owner will likely never know).
simon
2021-03-03 12:25
ATT, Verizon etc all offer home internet over 4G/5G for both personal and business customers (in case you need a business proof of address)
benjamin
2021-03-03 12:36
@simon That's actually a great idea. I might look into that. Do you think that could be done in HK and the UK too?
simon
2021-03-03 12:42
In the UK this would work, BT offers 4G/5G home internet and the Royal Mail offers a mail forwarding service similar to that offered by USPS. In HK I?ve always been able to use a credit card statement as my proof of address so I?m not sure if there would be any benefits.
As a bonus, if you do that in the US with an ITIN (or SSN) you?ll build credit history as ATT, Verizon etc all report monthly payments.
mikeseo
2021-03-03 17:30
what about just putting an ad on craigslist to rent a virtual room? be a "virtual room mate" tell them you need a address in the US and a utility bill. no need to buy a house...
simon
2021-03-03 18:10
@mikeseo You could even offer to pay one of their utilities (this way you get a new proof of address every month). Just make sure not to offer to pay the electricity bill if they live in Texas or it might be cheaper to buy one of those Detroit houses!
bountybairn
2021-03-03 18:20
on the UK one, I have an empty flat there if anyone wanted to try the suggestion above from @simon and see if it worked. The only issue is I am sure Royal Mail requires your card registered to either the address that you are forwarding from, or the one you are forwarding to....issue if you want to move around quite frequently, but not if you simply want payment processing and you have a permanent address *somewhere* that you could put on the forward
simon
2021-03-03 18:34
@bountybairn There are a few neobanks in the UK that will open an account without a proof of address. Once you have the account, setting up Royal Mail forwarding using the debit card should be possible.
bountybairn
2021-03-03 18:41
Does that still work if you aren't on the electoral role @simon? I've never tried without it as at the time I was actually staying there but thinking back Revolut, Monese, Tide and Cashplus all didnt ask for proof of address only ID (after running cash through the accounts in some cases), but not proof of address - I just assumed they were checking electoral role in the back end but perhaps they dont check at all.
On that point its pretty easy to register on the electoral role, but it does bring you in for council tax......you can declare the property empty and unfurnished to get this suspended though.
simon
2021-03-03 18:49
I don?t think you have to be registered as I?m not and still managed to open accounts with many of the neobanks (Bunq is my latest, back in 2020).
bountybairn
2021-03-03 19:40
Cool - thats good to know! After trying many of them, I found myself back with 'real' banks for various reasons, theres always something 'broke'. about the offering, but maybe I am needy :smile:
umesh.desai
2021-03-03 22:34
a lot of banks will accept rental contracts, cos not everyone has utility bills to pay when bills are inclusive in your rent. They might want to send a postcard to the address which you return to the bank to prove you live there, but that seems the easiest way to do it. With that model, you could just issue an apartment number to anyone interested in the service to ensure mail for each person is separated
umesh.desai
2021-03-03 22:36
also, if you are in the uk, many places will accept a letter from the tax office as proof of address
mich_cello
2021-03-04 09:00
this stuff of the utility bills is very stupid indeed, I always got my bills included in my rent
hanifk
2021-03-04 12:06
I managed to open a UK bank account online with Nationwide, without being on the Electoral register. The other online Neobanks should be easy to get an account with. Also used Royal Mail to forward my mail using a debit card. I could not see that they required the card I used to be registered at any of the addresses from or to where the mail was forwarded. This was done 7 months ago. I dont feel much has changed since.. @bountybairn The suggestions from @umesh.desai for using apartment numbers would be good way to manage this if you have many takers for using that address. A rental agreement, and possibly a 4G internet contract would do the trick for most peoples needs as proof of address. Utilities would be limited to the 3 services connected due to meter numbers needed. But 4G internet.. You can use all the various companies on the market.
omocha_10
2021-03-04 17:57
@benjamin I thought about something similar for nomads wanting an address in Latvia. You can buy a flat in Riga for less than 10k in a Soviet building(shared toilette and kitchen).
I believe Latvia has good tax system.
omocha_10
2021-03-04 17:57
If you are interested I could contact you with a friend who invested in this kind of properties.
td
2021-03-04 20:07
bulgaria also very interesting 10% flat tax, and at least there you get ocean view for 20k :smile:
frederic.scheffer
2021-03-06 07:38
@hanifk for a UK LLP? Or Personal account? Thanks
hanifk
2021-03-06 08:29
@frederic.scheffer this was a personal account which was being discussed opening online, with the limitations being discussed such as the Electrol register. Hope it clarifies things for you.
guillaume.hucheloup
2021-03-07 18:18
Hi community,
One of my friends is trying to find the optimal solution for drop shipping. He's a French national and French tax resident for now but plans to get Thailand tax residency by next year. I have a consulting UK LLP and that works well for me so I advised him to do the same, but I thought I'd ask the help of the community first to know if Freedom Surfers are currently under a certain type of business to best operate a drop shipping business. Any advice is welcome. Thanks to all in advance
guillaume.hucheloup
2021-03-07 18:19
PS: He already has a drop shipping business in France but will reach the VAT threshold anytime soon
bountybairn
2021-03-07 19:10
@hanifk this is from Royal Mail website, good to know they dont check it per your experience! (Didn't apply to me as my card was at one of the addresses)
felix
2021-03-08 14:05
Just saw this by accident and thought it would be valuable for the community: Under Biden the utility bill counts towards the positive development of the credit score:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVXhKxnBIe0
hanifk
2021-03-08 16:24
Hi Paul.
Thanks for the update.
:+1:
frederic.scheffer
2021-03-13 09:21
Hi guys,
Any ideas of how I could get a loan of 300 to 600k USD to finance inventory ? Offshore HK LTD company, successful 10 y old e-commerce shop growing quickly, in need of more inventory to account for the quickly growing sales
benjamin
2021-03-13 11:12
@frederic.scheffer what type of interest rate are you searching for? I have some extreme high net work friends who regularly do private business loans for 1-2m if they have some type of security or even an equity deal.
guillaume.hucheloup
2021-03-13 12:04
Hi Benjamin, could I send you a private message to know more about this ?
alexbadaoui1
2021-03-13 15:49
Me too :raised_hand:
buynps.org
2021-03-13 16:08
me too!
stolzlos
2021-03-13 18:08
Somebody tried the application process for the startup visa in Japan already? Experiences?
kareem.elharony
2021-03-17 09:27
Can I get tax residence certificate for uk LLP ?
simon
2021-03-17 12:33
@kareem.elharony Only if the LLP is run from the UK (and pays taxes there)
kareem.elharony
2021-03-17 12:35
If it's not running from uk , then tax residence certificate of the partners individually, right in their country of residence.
simon
2021-03-17 12:55
@kareem.elharony That?s right
frederic.scheffer
2021-03-18 05:56
For manufacturing and exporting from China to the US, what are you guys doing about that 25% Trump tariff? Looking for suppliers outside of China? Or just paying it and hoping it disappears?
2021-03-19 14:02
This message was deleted.
vinodgn0088
2021-03-19 15:26
@mail140, that's a normal procedure in many jurisdiction. If there is no outstanding liabilities then nothing to worry. Even if there is no clause like that, a creditor can still lodge a case against you and your company and ask for repayment. But in that case your personal assets can be touched only if you acted a director/manager who made the decision which resulted in the credit/liabilities.
danz
2021-03-19 15:43
Anyone using a BVI company or Bahamas company and prefers one of the other? Looking into those options now for a new company and can't really see that much differences between the two.
td
2021-03-19 18:23
May i ask, why you want to close it? Just for business reasons, or is UAE not a good setup?
alexbadaoui1
2021-03-19 19:05
I have had a BVI company. I would never use again.
Don't do anything in the Caribbean if you can avoid it.
You only want the Caribbean as a place of residence. Do as little here as you possibly can.
danz
2021-03-19 19:14
Thanks for your reply. What's the reason you wouldn't do it again?
alexbadaoui1
2021-03-19 19:29
over priced, no customer support, the worst banking access on the planet. I live in the Caribbean. They are all the same.
Open a US LLC or a UK LLP.
mail140
2021-03-19 20:14
Thanks for the clarification but what is the point of having a limited company in this case? If I have to accept unlimited liability for closing my company, then having a limited company is useless. Am I wrong?
danz
2021-03-19 20:33
I got that already
danz
2021-03-19 20:33
This is for a other company, related to crypto
danz
2021-03-19 20:33
Only have several options for that
danz
2021-03-19 20:33
Will be working with Silvergate bank in the US
alexbadaoui1
2021-03-19 20:48
You think silvergate bank will open an account for a BVI company?
danz
2021-03-19 20:57
They do according to a source, but I'll double check with them
omocha_10
2021-03-20 11:09
My experience with a caribbean company was very bad, Made no sense to make it and only brought complications to me, not in Bahamas, BVI.
But I guess depends on each particular situation.
For example in a territorial tax country, if money is made in a BVI, Bahamas etc, the territorially doesn?t apply and you get taxes as those states are in the blacklist...
russ7
2021-03-20 11:54
Hi @omocha_10 . I assume you mean if you live in that country?
danz
2021-03-20 13:31
Thank you for your reply. And I agree, I had a bank before in the Caribbean and it was terrible, but now looking for just the company and a US bank so I thought it could work better. Not doing any work in the US/Carribbean.
vinodgn0088
2021-03-20 15:28
@mail140, Limited liability protection only applies when the company fails due to genuine reasons. If you as a director/manager did some fraud and made the company fail then the limited liability protection can't be availed.
omocha_10
2021-03-20 21:43
I don?t know about living in the Caribbean
julijadornik
2021-03-23 18:23
Hello everyone, first time poster here.
I wasn't sure which thread to post this question in, hope here is okay. I read on Stripe website that you can open a Stripe account in a country »different than your primary business country« https://support.stripe.com/questions/requirements-to-open-a-stripe-account-in-another-country ? by »primary business country« does Stripe mean the country of company incorporation or my country of residence where I am physically doing business from (it is an online eBook selling site and I am doing all the work myself from my office in the EU) and where my personal address would be as the company owner and for the Stripe account setup)? I assume what Stripe means here by primary business country is the country of the company incorporation, not where the owner is from, correct?
simon
2021-03-24 02:07
You can open a Stripe account in a country different from where you physically operate, as long as you have a local address there + tax ID + bank account. For example, many of us here use UK LLPs with Stripe UK accounts to process payments despite being based outside of the UK.
julijadornik
2021-03-24 06:22
Hi, thank you. So "primary business country" would then be where I am located, not where my company would be registered, right? Based on that page, if I opened a Stripe UK for a UK LLP while I am a Slovenian tax resident myself I then wouldn't be allowed to have a virtual bank account (so Transferwise wouldn't be an option). This is what is confusing me about it since many people seem to have the Wise setup with Stripe while not being tax residents in the UK personally - that's why I thought maybe Stripe considered primary business country to be the country of company registration. I just don't want to be declined for applying incorrectly as if I did open UK Stripe, the account I'd want would be Transferwise to avoid any conversions into GBP. I'd prefer a US based virtual bank account or my country based account to a UK one anyway but was looking into UK LLPs (with the combination of either UK or Slovenian Stripe) as I was reading that getting a US Stripe and Mercury account for a foreign owned US LLC is very difficult nowadays (but maybe the ones that mention that have high risk businesses which I do not).
simon
2021-03-24 07:13
You can use TransferWise (Wise) with Stripe, in fact it works better than with a traditional bank account as you can do everything in EUR, USD etc (no need to use the GBP). There used to be compatibility issues but those have all been resolved in the past year (with the introduction of direct debit on EUR, USD and GBP balances in Wise).
simon
2021-03-24 07:13
You can also use PayPal UK with Wise as a non-UK resident.
klaus
2021-03-24 12:53
After Brexit... If I have a UK LLP and I sell (online), physical products to private people in EU countries (b2c) - do I have to charge VAT or something similar?
marziovit
2021-03-24 12:56
yes
klaus
2021-03-24 12:56
UK VAT?
simon
2021-03-24 12:57
UK VAT only applies to UK sales, fulfilled in the UK. If you sell to EU customers, you have to charge EU VAT if your place of supply is in the EU (so no VAT if you ship from China, for example)
marziovit
2021-03-24 12:57
no EU VAT
simon
2021-03-24 12:58
That will change in July with the new rules
bountybairn
2021-03-24 14:00
also if you sell from EU to UK you don't need VAT either side (or so the auditor tells me!)
Could be a huge advantage for certain businesses......consider an online coach for example, for say financial mentoring or whatever (B2C) someone based in the UK assuming they do well for themselves is paying UK VAT and needs to factor this. into the price, but the same service from someone based in the EU could do it without VAT having to be taken into account in their pricing, based on UK VAT at 20% that is a lot room!
bountybairn
2021-03-24 14:01
@simon whats changing in July?
simon
2021-03-24 14:05
@bountybairn That?s correct, as UK VAT only applies to VAT-liable UK sales and EU VAT only to VAT-liable EU sales. Sales of services between the two are generally no longer VAT-liable (same as with sales of services to the US, for example).
In July the burden of VAT compliance in both the UK / EU will shift, in some cases, from the buyer to the seller. This will mostly impact dropshippers who currently do not have to charge VAT when shipping from outside the UK / EU.
bountybairn
2021-03-24 14:10
I totally love cross border business :smile:
bountybairn
2021-03-24 14:12
I actually thought tbh that EU was moving VAT to the buyer, and UK was keeping it with the seller, so had that wrong in my head! I guess I thought thats what all the extra Tax was when brexit first started and packages from UK companies were having to have EU VAT paid on them before delivery companies would release the items.....then again they could have just been chancers, or genuine lack of clarity around the rules.
klaus
2021-03-24 14:33
Thanks for the responses! I an considering spinning my print on demand business out of my current company, and not having to charge VAT would obviously make a HUGE difference for my margins... But my print supplier is in EU, so I guess having a UK company would not help me with in that regard. :slightly_smiling_face:
hanifk
2021-03-26 15:17
I know several people who have just walked away and not liquidated as they had no ties and links to UAE.
Depending on your physical location and ties to UAE, this could be an option.
Otherwise just accept the clause as in UAE they will find anything to make you liable if they can get away with it. But if you are certain you have no liabilities then it's OK to accept the clause.
I lived there for 13 years and hence my comments from experience locally.
buynps.org
2021-03-26 21:25
thoughts on using IB to convert currencies - ie from CAD to USD?
buynps.org
2021-03-26 21:26
historically i?ve been transferring it through the bank?s rate and negotiating (like 0.5% fees)
alexbadaoui1
2021-03-26 21:49
you should check first if IB will send the money you deposit to an account other than the depositing account.
They have a rule where they only want to deposit and withdraw to and from same account
mb
2021-03-26 22:42
What print supplier you use? AFAIK http://prodigi.co.uk is a UK based one. Although they have print locations in the EU too.
simon
2021-03-27 03:16
The EU has approved the implementation of its payment system. The system is based on SEPA ICT meaning it will likely allow merchants to bypass payment processing services altogether when selling to EU-based customers (as it will instead be more akin to a direct bank transfer, likely via a QR code or similar).
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/03/22/retail-payments-council-supports-action-to-promote-instant-payments-and-eu-wide-payment-solutions/
felix
2021-03-27 06:59
Interesting! Thank you for sharing Simon. Any idea on the date of roll out? It?s the EU in the end, so 5-10 years wouldn?t surprise me hahahaha
simon
2021-03-27 07:13
It will launch in 2022, at least some form of it will (I guess initially it may be limited in terms of bank support). It?s a complete game changer for EU focused businesses as there will be no fees with most banks (the payments are processed as instant SEPA transfers) and funds will be available immediately.
simon
2021-03-27 07:14
The EU government is very keen on it as they see the current system as too reliant on US-based infrastructure (Visa, MasterCard, PayPal etc).
simon
2021-03-27 07:16
On a side note, other countries are also moving to launch similar systems (or already have). For example, Canada and its ridiculously named ?Real-Time Rail? system, also scheduled to launch in 2022.
felix
2021-03-27 07:36
Very interesting. Thank you a ton for sharing this!
klaus
2021-04-04 09:39
I missed your comment, sorry. I use a local one in Denmark, but I am aware of Prodigy - but I will look into if they could be used to ship from inside EU but without charging VAT from a UK company. :slightly_smiling_face: Thanks
seb.malek
2021-04-05 22:24
I wonder if Stripe will support it
seb.malek
2021-04-05 22:24
like it does with Alipay for example
letstalk
2021-04-06 15:58
Hi everyone - we?ve just had to a W-8BEN-E form to register our LLP (UK) with an institution in the US. We found this useful to help figure out what forms to complete and FACTA Classifications. Sharing in case it helps: https://ibkr.info/article/2629
tiagomdreganha
2021-04-08 13:48
Portuguese Company with 99% Portuguese customers and no way to go offshore for now.
I was thinking about creating a company somewhere else to serve as a middleman between my supplier and the main company. I have access to great pricing so even with adding an hefty 2-3x margin It would still be legit and not likely to trigger transfer pricing stuff.
Estonia sounds like a good place to park profits since I don't plan on cashing them out (just invest it in ETFs)
The problem is place of management...
I could give a 5-10% share to my supplier, but he's based out of China, so not the ideal location to create an offshore company I think. But it's also unclear how export would work with Chinese customs if I had an international company acting as middleman :eyes:
Ideas?
Currently paying 38% on profits to my pocket, business + personal income tax.
alex720
2021-04-08 13:59
@tiagomdreganha maybe leave Portugal
alex720
2021-04-08 13:59
and manage the company in a tax friendly country
tiagomdreganha
2021-04-08 14:03
Not an option at the moment, I travel half of the year but still spend too much time here.
Could try to go underradar with residency in an EU country but the hassle for a half-assed solution is probably not worth it. Hence the quest to find a viable, white-hat solution
arommelaere
2021-04-09 14:52
Hi @simon, currently do we have to charge/register VAT MOSS yet if dropship items from China to (France) EU customers? Or nothing to do and to declare (0%) about EU VAT until July 2021 ?
From my understanding no EU VAT until July 2021 if items are from outside EU
simon
2021-04-09 14:54
That is correct, no EU VAT until July
luyungterd
2021-04-09 17:13
Anyone has any suggestion for a payment solution that will pay the EU VAT on behalf? I know there's a payhip available but trying to search for more options.
oscar3000
2021-04-09 17:24
Have you tried Patreon ?
luyungterd
2021-04-09 17:33
Is it easy to sell courses through Patreon? I created a grandfathered account when I heard they wanted to change some rates but never touched it after that. I was thinking more about Teachable/Podia alternative but seems like all but Payhip won't deal directly for the EU VAT.
oscar3000
2021-04-09 17:34
For courses I had good experience with THINKIFIC
Btw I?m curious what bother you with PAYHIP?
luyungterd
2021-04-09 17:51
Nothing wrong with payhip. I'm using it to sell ebooks. Just not sure if when I venture to paid courses etc.
oscar3000
2021-04-09 17:56
Thinkific is ideal platform to sell courses.
By the way, where are your company located? (I?ve just opened an Estonian company)
luyungterd
2021-04-09 18:01
Malaysia tax residence. Not much benefit here.
td
2021-04-09 18:07
i use digistore24 for my course sales, the use a reseller model, so when someone buys your course, ds24 buys it from you and sells it to the customer, all customers are their customers and you dont have to deal with vat at all you just get a weekly/monthly payout,
joaopom
2021-04-09 19:18
Madeira? They just lowered their corporate tax rate to 14,7% (the same thing might happen in the Azores), plus you have the ZFM @ 5%.
tiagomdreganha
2021-04-10 11:23
Madeira doesn't work for Portuguese :upside_down_face: I'd need to have the whole operation there for them to not be on my ass
alexbadaoui1
2021-04-12 14:44
Do non-resident UK LLPs have to charge VAT?
simon
2021-04-12 17:10
If you ship physical goods to UK customers or sell automated electronic services to UK customers, yes. Otherwise you won?t usually have to charge VAT to UK customers (assuming no work is physically performed there).
alexbadaoui1
2021-04-12 17:19
Thanks Simon,
Could you give some examples of Automated Electronic Services?
felix
2021-04-13 14:15
E.g. SaaS subscriptions
buynps.org
2021-04-13 15:23
but just to UK customers?
buynps.org
2021-04-13 15:23
or to anyone in EU?
buynps.org
2021-04-13 15:23
and why VAT? if for automated electronic services, the service is rendered where the person is performing the services (ie. outside of the UK)
alexbadaoui1
2021-04-13 15:37
Yea its all a little complicated :laughing:
simon
2021-04-13 16:49
@buynps.org the regular services rule do not apply for automated electronic services. Instead, those services are deemed to be rendered where the customer is (not where you are based) hence why you need to charge VAT (this applies to both the UK and EU). Examples include web hosting, ebooks, courses, music, plugins, software etc
openaccessconsultingl
2021-04-14 15:09
As US LLC (non resident) selling consulting services to EU, should I charge VAT?
And should I charge VAT and / or US sales tax if I sell digital services to worldwide customers via Stripe?
buynps.org
2021-04-14 18:09
interesting, thanks @simon
roman
2021-04-18 04:19
Has anyone heard of a business model like this:
> Boutique SaaS software agency in a narrow niche, with an equity stake in every project, and getting paid for the work?
The value for the client is they get the project to market faster and cheaper, because:
1. As an agency there is a deep domain expertise in the niche already.
2. Lots of reusable components, because of the focused work in the niche.
3. Lots of boilerplate and processes defined specifically for these types of projects.
4. Because of equity, the interests are more aligned, than strictly client <-> agency relationship.
What do you think of this? What would be a fair equity for this?
roman
2021-04-18 07:46
@sergiy.shlykov good insight.
I didn?t imply to get paid less. The pay would be the same plus equity. Also the way I was thinking of structuring work is not per project price, but by time and material plus a healthy margin. Work in sprints and get paid upfront for sprints. We allocate a few people on a project and charge for their work plus some.
How was it structured in the organization you were at I wondering?
roman
2021-04-18 07:48
The big goal is to build stuff ourselves down the road. But also running a proper startup requires many hats and financing. The niche I?m thinking of has capital to invest. So they?d bring up the capital to the table and also marketing and sales and general business operations. The goal would be to exit the project eventually when it?s off the ground and has investors or just operational capital to buy us out.
roman
2021-04-18 07:49
It?s mostly about filtering for companies who will take this seriously and will be happy to have a software end handled when they can handle everything else.
sergiy.shlykov
2021-04-18 09:25
@roman let?s PM
jase
2021-04-20 08:31
@roman I've seen this done with marketing companies. There's a marketing agency in NYC that is highly sought after and they take 1% of any client they work with + exorbitant fees
bountybairn
2021-04-20 19:46
Depends on the exact customer / supplier locations, if you are not in either the US or EU when doing the work then my understanding is no VAT or Sales tax
alexbadaoui1
2021-04-20 20:22
Has anyone heard of a company (lets say a US LLC), being audited by another country to see if it owes sales taxes?
994kaloyan
2021-05-05 07:18
@nikolay were you able to find someone? I?m looking for similar type of service.
nikolay
2021-05-05 07:19
No unfortunately
994kaloyan
2021-05-05 07:19
Thanks for the swift reply :pray:
me1892
2021-05-13 06:45
Anyone have experience, or a recommended agent, with setting up an Indonesian PMA?
994kaloyan
2021-05-13 08:47
Not sure what a PMA is, I know someone who does PT?s and KITAS. They will probably do PMA too, whatever that is :laughing: Feel free to DM me
koshis
2021-05-14 07:27
Hey @simon I remember you mentioned about the ability to move a UK Ltd tax residency to a different jurisdiction and opt out of being UK tax resident, what was the form / process required to do this, and does this mean it will be free from taxes and only subject to taxes (if any) in whichever country it is trading from ?
simon
2021-05-14 15:06
@koshis You can only transfer the tax residency to a treaty country and to complete the process you?ll have to provide HMRC with evidence that the LTD is registered for tax in that country (with no UK operations). There?s no form, you just need to send HMRC a letter claiming treaty non-resident status along with a tax residency certificate from the treaty country confirming registration / residency.
koshis
2021-05-16 08:52
Ahh makes sense, thanks Simon!
mgonlinephone
2021-05-16 16:29
Hi @simon I recently created a US LLC, how many days are taking this days for issuing EIN? Thank you
simon
2021-05-16 16:56
@mgonlinephone It takes approximately a month at the moment for the IRS to process an EIN application.
tommi
2021-05-16 17:07
@simon was that process started when I registered US LLC from freedom surfer site or do I need to send the forms separately? Any instruction in the matter of getting EIN if I have to do it separately? Thanks
simon
2021-05-16 17:45
@tommi The application is sent on the day of registration, using the information collected in the form
tommi
2021-05-16 18:32
Ok thanks for the info @simon. Do I get it on my email or how do I receive EIN number when given?
simon
2021-05-17 02:36
You?ll receive an email notification when the IRS letter arrives (along with a scan of the letter).
joe
2021-05-17 09:43
Can this work for UAE? There's a tax treaty between UAE and UK, so can i get the corporate tax residency of UAE and submit it to HMRC? I did hear someone saying that its not possible
simon
2021-05-17 10:52
It works in every treaty countries, although the requirements to prove tax residency will vary.
yaron.been
2021-05-17 13:51
Hi everybody,
I'm thinking of moving some my funnels to a hosted funnel building solution.
Currently selling via Shopify and Woocoomerce.
Has anybody used Thrivecart or Convertri and have a solid opinion about any of these?
bountybairn
2021-05-17 14:48
folllowing...
994kaloyan
2021-05-17 15:31
ThriveCart is good. Can?t say anything about convertri
994kaloyan
2021-05-17 15:31
I think there?s still a lifetime deal on ThriveCart btw
td
2021-05-17 20:15
convertri has really amazin performance and a very solid page builder, i liked that way better than clickfunnels which i tried before, but i switched back for most of my funnels to simple wordpress/elementor combination, that way i have a better tracking integration and a bit more flexibility
yaron.been
2021-05-18 04:56
@td
Can you elaborate a bit regarding switching back to WP?
Did you notice any significant changes in performance?
I have most of my funnels built using Elementor and Woofunnels for post-purchase funnels.
Thing is that I find myself dealing with too much tech stuff and I'm concerned about page loading time.
I've actually tried Clickfunnels 3 times, every time I tried it I promised myself not to try it anymore but somehow got convinced by their great marketing.
yaron.been
2021-05-18 04:58
@994kaloyan
Thank you for your input regarding Thrivecart.
They have been running this 'limited time offer' for the lifetime deal for quite a while now, but it's truly a compelling offer.
td
2021-05-18 07:36
its easier to have the same techstack over all pages for me and i can easily outsource it. performance was a little bit slower yes, but i still got google PSI 95+ with my combination. i tried wp2static for some evergreen pages, which gives you everything you have with convertri for cheaper including the same performance other alternative when performance is your only issue is something like publii or other static pages builders. I track all my funnels with matomo goal/conversion/funnel tracking features and i use crazyegg for splittests, both are more advanced in their area than convertri. For tax reasons i am using a different payment provider which already gives me all the payment features of convertri. And in convertri building pages took me a bit longer, because even though they offer automatic mobile conversion i always had to make manual adjustments. So for me and my businesscase it was no big advantage anymore but still its a great and very reliable tool. When was the last time you tried clickfunnels? for me its like 2 years ago, the only reason i was about to try it again soon is their two-comma award which i need :smile:
yaron.been
2021-05-18 08:27
@td
Thank you for elaborating.
Interesting stuff, I will check the tools you've mentioned.
Regarding Clickfunnels- I also tried them back in 2019. I assume they still suck haha
But yeah,,, it might be worth it, just to generate the 2cc award :slightly_smiling_face:
bountybairn
2021-05-18 12:41
i tried them recently, again didn't really get to the point of being happy with what i built there so cancelled.
Similarly have done this before and same experience a while before.
yaron.been
2021-05-18 13:28
@bountybairn
Thank you for sharing.
kkoneplus3
2021-05-23 19:58
@simon and surfers...
I am a new joinee here today - have been exploring much over internet from last 45 days about setting up an entity (family office) to improve my financials (tax & growth)
I learnt over internet that a non-resident can easily register a company in the U.S..
So, I thought of setting up an entity which could operate from India and invest/trade in U.S. stock market through U.S brokerages.
Explored contents of (http://firstbase.io,http://stripe.com/atlas, http://startglobal.co) along with many other institutions to lrearn more about process, complications, risks and benefits. Couldn't find any clear contents related to my needs.
Have gone through many online posts, contacted multiple CPAs firm in the U.S. to get guidance about the right way to structure entity, protect asset, be tax efficient and smoothly run business.
On the mention of international involvement, the local U.S. firms replied they may not be a good fit to work on this.
I found this community today - looking forward for suggestions/guidance. What should be the structure of entity ? How tax would be calculated ? What would be approx annual maintennace cost to keep this running?
joe
2021-05-23 20:50
Krish you need to becareful about CFC and place of effective management rules of India. If you are residing and managing the company from India, the taxes are applied in India according to Indian Corporate Tax. But good thing is you generally would not incur any taxes in the US other than the FDAP income tax (which is 25% for your case on dividends)
joe
2021-05-23 20:51
Talking to a US-centric CPA will not help you. You need to look for International Taxation Experts
joe
2021-05-23 20:52
generally you could try to look for US Inbound Planning for Indians on google and see if there's any results
lauren
2021-05-23 23:56
Have used all these and high level is better than all of them. Let me know if you have any Qs about it, all my clients are on it And have moved over from clickfunnels etc. it?s baller
lauren
2021-05-24 00:06
Found a cool bank that allows you to hold any currency and crypto. It?s a private bank invite only so let me know if you guys want to check it out
kkoneplus3
2021-05-24 04:32
@joe, Thank you for your inputs. Based on the info at below link, It looks a easy setup and process to me that I can take (1) Setup a LLC through http://firstbase.io ( the package includes EIN, and bank account) (2) As a non-resident alien individual, fill out W-8BEN (3) Stock gains/losses - are not subject to US tax, but only India. (4) FDAP income tax will be only in US not in India. Does it make sense ?
simon
2021-05-24 04:55
@kkoneplus3 With an LLC, you?ll only pay US tax (withholding tax) on the dividends received from US-based companies. Dividends received from foreign companies may be liable to withholding tax in the payer?s country (for example, Japanese dividends will be liable to Japanese withholding tax) or not (for example, there?s no withholding tax in the UK so UK dividends will not be liable to any tax). Non-residents aren?t liable to capital gains tax in the US so you won?t pay any.
kkoneplus3
2021-05-24 05:09
Thank you @simon, - to keep things simple - suppose I go only with the US company. Now for the sake of clarity on "Non-residents aren?t liable to capital gains tax in the US so you won?t pay any", can you please share your thoughts on my understanding that I would be required to pay taxes in India on the gains made over trading US securities based on Indian personal tax rate (or I incorporate an entity in India to take business deductions and show earnings from LLC ( wyoming U.S) and pay tax based on Indian corporate tax rule).
yaron.been
2021-05-24 05:54
@lauren Thank you for sharing,
I didn't even know about this solution.
*Can you share what makes it better than the rest?*
Being better than Clickfunnels isn't hard :wink:
But since I see the price tag for 'high level' is $297 monthly I'm just wondering what are the pros of going with them in opposing to cheaper solutions.
I don't mind paying but many times the cost have nothing to do with the quality.
simon
2021-05-24 06:00
@kkoneplus3 that?s my understanding as well, that while you won?t be taxed in the US, you?ll be taxed in India on your gains. https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/india/corporate/corporate-residence
(for the US, see the first note)
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/effectively-connected-income-eci
bountybairn
2021-05-24 09:00
@lauren....are you 'The Impact MBA' Lauren Tickner?
joe
2021-05-24 10:27
@kkoneplus3 yes FDAP income tax only in the US, with a DTA, once you paid them in the US, i doubt you are paying it again in India, but you would have to double check with your Indian Accountant. At worst, you will probabaly get foreign tax credits if you are still liable to taxes in India
joe
2021-05-24 10:29
And for the indian taxes that you pay for the US LLC since place of effective management is in India, its going to be corporate tax of India, not the personal income tax regime.
lauren
2021-05-24 14:37
:joy: Paul!!!! LOL
Yes!
lauren
2021-05-24 14:37
Will reply later. Got the mba in a few hours live hahahahahah
kkoneplus3
2021-05-24 16:09
cool, thank you @simon and @joe, I have better understanding now.
klaus
2021-05-24 16:17
My company is Maltese (EU), VAT registered. I buy a poster print in UK, which they ship directly to a customer in Spain. Should the UK company charge me VAT? Pre-brexit, I would say they should not - now - I am not sure at all.
vinodgn0088
2021-05-24 17:36
@klaus, With EU OSS coming in, the situation is going to be complicated. Since the UK company is the one going to send shipment to Spain (If B2C deal), they need to clear the Spanish VAT. Otherwise you need to register for UK VAT, have the item shipped to your local facility or forwarder facility in UK and from there send the shipment to Spain with your Maltese company paying for the Spanish VAT. Then you can request refund from UK HMRC and The spanish VAT collected from customer can be paid to Spain through OSS registration in Malta. Other option is to make it a B2B deal and UK company send the item to your Malta address and your company do the VAT reverse charge accounting. Once the item is in Malta, send it to Spain and settle Spanish VAT using OSS. If you have regular orders from Spanish clients, you can consider having a warehouse in Spain along with Spanish VAT registration and stay complaint to both Spanish and Maltese VAT rules. Note that you can't have per country EU VAT registration (other than Malta) if you are using OSS.
klaus
2021-05-24 17:39
@vinodgn0088 Thanks, mate. Great explanation. This is the first I hear about OSS VAT. I will dig into it some more.
ivan550
2021-05-25 17:37
Hi @joe - were you able to do this for the UAE successfully?
joe
2021-05-25 18:34
@ivan550 i dont have a UAE company. sorry
kristina.bikare
2021-05-27 18:30
Hey guys, anyone knows how it works with taxes when USA based client wants to pay to me (UK LLP) company contractor?
I could easily set up a contract and invoice her via Stripe, but she's not sure then how to deal with her taxes. She would be paying me (not as an individual) but another company basically, is there any specific information she would need from me, otherwise she want to pay me via Upwork and then I lose $110 usd in fees
jason
2021-05-27 18:37
I hire/pay non US contractors all the time from my US business, since they aren't in the US, no 1099 is required and my CPA signed off on this, I just track it like any other expense in my books. I do keep accurate invoices for everything on file though, should i ever need to show some documentation (have not, been doing this for 4+ years)
umesh.desai
2021-05-27 18:45
so, the usa based client would typically send you a W-9 requesting your tax status. In return, you return a W8-BEN. Your client does NOT have to file it, they just have to keep it. It covers them for if they get audited, and explains why they did not deduct or withhold tax.
umesh.desai
2021-05-27 18:47
your client pays you as normal, as if you were a 1099, i.e. without tax deduction, and no requirement to file a 1099 for you at the end of the tax year
kristina.bikare
2021-05-27 18:56
@jason thanks so much! This sounds awesome - do you do anything with W8-BEN as Fizz mentioned above?
kristina.bikare
2021-05-27 18:57
@umesh.desai thank you!! So I would need to do W8-BEN as from my UK LLP as an entity? Not sure what info would be needed there exactly?
umesh.desai
2021-05-27 19:01
that I am not sure of, as I have use a US llc, but live outside the US, so whenever a w8-ben comes my way, I put in my own details
simon
2021-05-27 19:05
That is right, no US tax applies in this situation. Keep in mind that if asked to fill in a W8 form, the correct one for an LLP is W-8BEN-E
kristina.bikare
2021-05-27 19:08
Thanks so much @simon so basically I don't have to pay any additional tax on this and she (USA company) just files this her normal business expense, correct?
The W-8BEN-E I fill in as UK LLP entity? and only if she would be audited or in any case at the end of the year?
simon
2021-05-27 19:26
Correct, you just need to provide her with invoices. As for the W8 form, it typically has to be filed when receiving payments from US sources for services performed in the US. If you work overseas, you should not have to file it.
kristina.bikare
2021-05-27 19:27
ooh alright, thanks so much @simon you're amazing as always!
joe
2021-05-30 20:03
@simon i have been researching about ukrainian private entrepreneur program. I read somewhere that, getting the private entrepreneur status will deem one tax liable to his/her worldwide income?
joe
2021-05-30 20:03
is that particular person tax liable for worldwide income, or just the private entrepreneur entity?
simon
2021-05-30 21:59
@joe Registering will make you a Ukrainian tax resident, as far as the Ukrainian tax authority is concerned. Ukrainian tax residents are liable to tax on their worldwide income, that includes CFC income in some cases.
joe
2021-05-31 20:44
ok thanks!
isaac.cu
2021-06-10 06:39
Hey, anyone know someone (accountant or lawyer) that can write contracts for a Hong Kong based company?
isaac.cu
2021-06-10 06:40
Thank you
kuka
2021-06-11 16:06
Hey, now incorporating a Delaware C-Corp and thinking of adding a UK LLP as a parent company. Anyone knows about the possible (up/down)sides of doing that? Or maybe have an accountant/lawyer who is good at these types of things?
felix
2021-06-18 00:58
Any reason for going for a c-corp besides paying taxes and having different share classes (which you don?t leverage when you make the LLP the sole shareholder)?
carolarnelas
2021-06-21 16:43
Hey Surfers! Anyone has an idea how to change the ownership of a single member LLC? Is that difficult? Like starting it over again? Any fees? Thank you :heart:
kuka
2021-06-21 16:59
Just got to see the message. Thanks! Mainly fundraising. LLP wouldn?t be a sole shareholder.
jason
2021-06-21 21:14
Assuming it's in the US, you usually just amend your filing with the secretary of state, I did this with a TX LLC a few years ago and it cost me < $200 if I recall, but every state is probably different.
felix
2021-06-22 10:27
ah ok, then it makes sense :slightly_smiling_face: For fundraising you need the different share classes
carolarnelas
2021-06-22 12:04
Yes it is a WY LLC. Ok so it should be pretty straight forward. No need to apply again for EIN? And the bank? I guess they will need to know about it as well?
joe
2021-06-22 18:19
@carolarnelas you do not need to file the change of ownership with the secretary of state as they do not keep track of that in your Articles of Organization. You just transfer it to another member, but make sure to make it well-documented.
joe
2021-06-22 18:19
As for the EIN, you don't need to get it again, as it is for the LLC.
simon
2021-06-22 18:32
Keep in mind though that you?ll need to file form 8822B to report the change of responsible party (for the EIN).
benjamin
2021-06-23 11:36
Does Romania treat US LLC's as transparent? If so, couldn't you run your business as normal with an LLC then the profits flow through to Romania where you pay 1-3% corporate rate on revenue. Which would actually be 1-3% of profit.
marziovit
2021-06-23 12:13
If place of management of LLC is Romania it could create a PE in Romania so you'd have to pay 16% CIT on LLC revenue.
asarun72
2021-06-24 18:11
My understanding is If llc is not considered as a company then there?s no effective place of management applies. Different jurisdictions has their own interpretation of US llc
michal.opoka
2021-06-24 19:15
Yes, in that case LLC business generally counts as local business for taxation
arommelaere
2021-06-25 03:33
Hi again @simon, next week will be 1st July, what do I have to do about EU VAT? I have to register to OSS only if turnover in EU is more than 10 000 EUR (which is not) so for now I still exempted ? or it's something related to Shopify/Stripe/Shopify Payments ?
simon
2021-06-25 03:58
If you ship physical products to the EU, you?ll have to register and collect or appoint an agent who is (a shipping company, for example).
joe
2021-06-25 07:30
@benjamin better to create a srl and use the srl to be the member of the LLC so you could still qualify for the 1-3%
benjamin
2021-06-25 07:31
@joe yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Having the SRL as the single member of the US LLC. Will the SRL be taxed on the Profit from the LLC or the Revenue of the LLC?
joe
2021-06-25 07:34
I talked with several Romanian accountants they do not know also, but good thing is you can get an official opinion from the tax authorities, that is what one accountant advise me to do if I really want to set it up that way. I stopped there, if you want to continue I can hook you up with the accountant :grinning:
joe
2021-06-25 07:35
I was asking if Romanian tax authority will treat those as dividends or profits .
benjamin
2021-06-25 07:35
I'm at the same point. I've asked a few random firms and they didn't quite understand or know the answer to the question.
How do you get an official opinion? Can you simply just contact the local tax authority?
joe
2021-06-25 07:36
Yes. That particular accounting firm is saying they could help formulate a question to the tax authority in Bucharest to get an answer
marziovit
2021-06-25 07:38
curious to know the answer too
marziovit
2021-06-25 07:38
@joe if you are going forward with this please keep us posted
benjamin
2021-06-25 07:39
Ah nice. Yeah, I'm definitely interested in the hook up to the accountant you're using.
joe
2021-06-25 07:41
ok dm me your email. i will hoook you up
joe
2021-06-25 07:46
@marziovit sure, but i am not pursuing further, for now.
vinodgn0088
2021-06-25 10:08
@benjamin, I couldn't find any form of tax transparent company in Romania tax code. In Romania GP,LP and LLC is there but the profit is taxed in the form of corporate tax. This means Most likely a US LLC will be deemed as a Romania company if it is managed from Romania. In that case either 16% on profit or 3%/1% on Turnover will be the tax (Not 100% sure if only Romania incorporated companies are allowed to have 1%/3% tax on turn over) . The USA company will be required to prepare the accounts according to Romania tax code as well.
marziovit
2021-06-25 10:13
@vinodgn0088 most probably only Romanian SRL is allowed to be taxed at 1-3%
marziovit
2021-06-25 10:17
Or maybe creating a Romanian branch of the LLC will likely get taxed at 1-3%
michal.opoka
2021-06-25 10:25
Maybe US-Romania tax treaty will give you answers? Also setting up a branch shouldn't change anything from tax point of view,
mail558
2021-06-26 09:06
Hi, guys! Could you give advice, please? I'm a Sole Proprietor from Russia (citizen) planning dropshipping business with suppliers from China and customers from the USA. I need to use Stripe Payments, but it's not available in my country. What options do I have? PS: One day I want to move to Portugal. I like the country, but the taxes there are pretty high.
joe
2021-06-26 10:23
@mail558 hi get an us LLC
mail558
2021-06-26 11:14
Hey, Joe! Thanks for your comment. Selling goods to US customers from overseas is US-sourced income? Will I have to pay any taxes in the US working abroad?
joe
2021-06-26 11:44
First you have to be engaged in US trade or business before you determine if its foreign sourced or US sourced income.
joe
2021-06-26 11:44
as long as you are not engaged in us trade or business it doesn
joe
2021-06-26 11:44
doesn't matter if its US or foreign source income.
joe
2021-06-26 11:45
US and Russia has a Tax treaty, which is even more beneficial to you as a russian resident, as long as you don't have an office or you employ people who significantly effected the sales of your products in the US, you will not trigger the USTB
mail558
2021-06-26 12:32
@michal.opoka @joe Thank you, guys! I appreciate that.
joe
2021-06-26 12:33
No problem
marziovit
2021-06-26 14:52
When in tax treaty rates you read ?The 0% rate applies to dividends paid to a company (other than a partnership)? when is says (other than a partnership) does it mean that partnership are excluded?
marziovit
2021-06-26 14:57
Always wondered but never bothered to ask
joe
2021-06-26 16:19
partnership never disburse dividends, so naturally it is not applicable
marziovit
2021-06-26 16:30
@joe i know but in this case it is not about dividends being distrubuted but received from another entity.
marziovit
2021-06-26 16:42
Lets say you have a UK LLP that is the shareholder of a capital company. If the treaty says that 0% rate apply to dividends paid to a company (other than a partnership) it means that the UK LLP will not receive untaxed dividends, right?
joe
2021-06-26 17:02
oh. ok. if the dividend is distributed to the UK LLP, the dividend is not taxed at the LLP level but rather the partners of the LLP. I'm not so familiar with uk personal and corporate tax, but ultimatley the tax calculated should rest on the natural person partner or corporation partner, which I believe its different in UK taxation.
marziovit
2021-06-26 17:58
@joe looks like i can?t explain myself. The deal here is if a partnership will receive untaxed dividends from the subsidiary or not. The treaty says that subsidiary dividends will be taxes at 0% if those are paid to a company. I wonder what the treatment will be in case the parent company is a partnership.
michal.opoka
2021-06-26 18:13
@marziovit In general my explanation of that would be that partnerships are tax transparent, so dividend from capital company to LLP will not count as dividend to company but as dividend to LLP owners, if these are individuals it will be taxed, if LLP is owned by other capital companies than 0% rate could apply.
arommelaere
2021-06-26 18:15
Do you know if Aliexpress will handle the EU VAT (IOSS) directly in their price and nothing to do from my side?
marziovit
2021-06-26 18:18
@michal.opoka makes sense :slightly_smiling_face:
joe
2021-06-26 19:29
yes since it flows through the LLP to their ultimate owner
simon
2021-06-26 23:17
That seems to be the case, yes.
https://service.aliexpress.com/page/knowledge?pageId=37&category=1000021915&knowledge=1060863305&language=en
arommelaere
2021-06-27 08:36
Super, big thanks Simon!
mail558
2021-06-27 13:48
According to IRS Publication 519 "U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens", Nonresident Aliens have to pay a flat 30% tax for income that is not effectively connected with a trade or business in the United States. Does it mean I have to pay it anyway?
michal.opoka
2021-06-27 16:55
@mail558 It has been described in that article I posted
ferry.weyde
2021-06-28 04:31
Hi all,
I?m considering to set up an Ajman (U.A.E) free zone company with visa, has anyone here gone through the process? Any tips and tricks would be much appreciated! :slightly_smiling_face:
vinodgn0088
2021-06-28 08:05
@ferry.weyde, Why AJman? Heard that getting a local bank account is very difficult for all Freezone companies other than those based in Dubai freezones
ferry.weyde
2021-06-28 08:13
@vinodgn0088 that?s what the agent recommended, he said that getting an account will be simple since it comes with a visa and Emirates ID card
ferry.weyde
2021-06-28 08:13
for an Ajman offshore company it might be a different story
vinodgn0088
2021-06-28 08:51
@ferry.weyde, Ok man. Please do share your experience when you open UAE bank account for Ajman FZE.
mail777
2021-06-28 17:37
@ferry.weyde A _personal_ bank account, sure. Plenty of options once you have a valid Emirates ID.
Getting one for the entity won?t be trivial though I predict, especially when it?s registered in an Ajman FZ and without any proper office (so-called ?flexi-desk?). Ymmv ofc, please do let us know if you get it easily, perhaps your agent has enough wasta.
simon
2021-06-28 17:43
I know a few people that have registered in Ajman and they have all struggled with banking. It?s far safer to register in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
felix
2021-06-29 11:59
Also curious why Ajman? Any benefits over the Dubai FZ? If also look into other Emirates have a look at the incorporation in RAK. I heard they have a strong privacy protection.
Also one thi g to consider is if you want to live in Dubai with your Ajman Emirates ID I had friends who got some weird looks from landlords, etc.
also everytime you need to do something with the govt you need to go to Ajman (health certificated, driver license, etc.)
ferry.weyde
2021-07-01 14:06
I have just asked the agent and they seem quite confident in getting the account approved. I guess they know some people at the bank. Will apply to several banks just in case. I?ll keep you updated. not planning to live there so the reputation does not really bother me :slightly_smiling_face:
ferry.weyde
2021-07-01 14:13
something else: How do you guys usually go about finding long term talent? I?m looking for a software project manager, ideally from Eastern Europe as I have some good experience with Romanians. So far I have been lucky with Upwork as most of my employees originally started as freelancers. It gave me the opportunity to work with them for a while, risk free and to get an idea of their knowledge, eye for detail and commitment. The downside of this is that this process takes a long time and that not all freelancers will consider (part-time) employment.
dawn
2021-07-02 10:31
I was hoping to find some reactions to the OECD's proposed 15% global tax, to which 130 of the 139 members have signed on to. The nine witholders are "Ireland, Estonia and Hungary as well as Peru, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Kenya." <- Reuters. Surprisingly, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands did sign on. How is the general sentiment towards this? Of course it's just an idea, they want to agree on the details by october an implement it by 2023. If Brexit is to be an example, I'm sure it will take them much longer. Even with an equal amount of tax, the havens will be those that allow the most deductibles. Anyone care to tell how this will impact them?
michal.opoka
2021-07-02 10:33
Cyprus also didn't took part in talks, I don't like this, but I don't think we gonna be affected since threshold for these measures is in hundreds of millions of income, furthermore it seems they gonna have more holes than swiss cheese.
bountybairn
2021-07-02 10:58
Cyprus has already reported a lot locally that they were very against this.
I dont know all about OECD membership and whether anyone could be forced by I would suggest that Cyprus would fight this all the way, the economy is relatively basic in terms of industry and trying to make it a tech hub with closer links to Tel Aviv and Dubai hinges on the low tax and attractive IP box rules.
burrup.lambert
2021-07-02 11:17
Saw it, don't like it.
Could be great business for the countries that don't sign on.
felix
2021-07-02 12:27
I didn?t know about this. 15% global (personal) tax? Without any background knowledge it looks surprising that the BVIs, CIs, etc. signed on to that. Their benefit is 0% personal tax if I am not mistaken.
michal.opoka
2021-07-02 12:28
@felix It's only Corporate Income Tax, and above very high income threshold
felix
2021-07-02 12:28
ah ok. Thank you Mikeo! Any clue about the threshold for the BVI?
felix
2021-07-02 12:30
?The new minimum tax rate of at least 15% would apply to companies with turnover above a 750-million-euro ($889-million)threshold, with only the shipping industry exempted.? https://www.reuters.com/business/countries-backs-global-minimum-corporate-tax-least-15-2021-07-01/
michal.opoka
2021-07-02 12:30
I was going to paste the same link :smile:
felix
2021-07-02 12:30
Solid. I think it?s safe to say that it will take some time until we reach that hahahahhahah
michal.opoka
2021-07-02 12:31
there are so many loopholes in this that I think it's just for a show anyway
michal.opoka
2021-07-02 12:31
basically many countries wanted some loopholes for themselves
felix
2021-07-02 12:32
Agree. Looks like a first attempt to establish something remotely universal applicable globally.
felix
2021-07-02 12:33
And as you said, as soon as something like that will be implemented, loopholes will pop up all over the place.
dawn
2021-07-02 12:34
Cool, I somehow overlooked the high threshold. So I guess we're all safe. But still, it can set an example for future changes and trickle down to global minimum income, dividend, crypto, ... taxes.
michal.opoka
2021-07-02 12:34
yeah it's not concerning yet, but a step in bad direction
umesh.desai
2021-07-02 13:25
Feel like it's mostly biden wanting more tax for his infra program, and securing revenues that would have been generated by proposed EU digital services tax for the US
umesh.desai
2021-07-02 13:26
And it does not rule out subsidies
oscar3000
2021-07-02 13:37
It?s all part of ?new world order? - and by 2024 ?era of Aquarius? begins indicated by Pluto in Aquarius.
their plan is to digitize everything to suppress free-will, create more dependency, having full data base thus to control and predict people behavior- this is not freedom but UNIFORM :martial_arts_uniform:
Who took the vaxx already said yes to global taxation and upcoming restriction.
to my opinion, the answer is rebel! Find your own different way! ways to self sovereignty off grid (crypto)
In the end of the day - the good news if the masses waking up to such corrupt structures and will resist!
jason
2021-07-04 19:13
I said no to global taxation and yes to the vaccine.. sorry, to burst the bubble..
taylorwalkerllc
2021-07-05 09:50
I also got vaccinated and I will get my second shot too. I might even get the chinese vaccine just to be able to travel there again.
994kaloyan
2021-07-05 10:27
Everybody is free to make their own choices and bear the responsibility for their consequences. That?s the beauty of Life.
994kaloyan
2021-07-05 10:29
Divide and conquer is clearly a thing though. Has been for millennia and still works. :first_place_medal::grin:
michelefrettoli
2021-07-05 10:42
Not all things in life can be obtained by divide and conquer
yuli
2021-07-06 00:27
Anyone has any experience of sending money to Belarus? I hired a full-time contractor from Belarus, and having hard-time paying him
My banks in the US won't send money to Belarus, TransferWise is not allowed to receive money there legally, PayPal is not allowed to receive money legally there as well - and many other international money transfer solutions allow only a cash pick-up for the recipient and doesn't make the process smooth for me to pay anyway (MoneyGram, XE, Remitly, WorldRemitly). First time I have ever hired someone from this country.
kuka
2021-07-06 00:31
What about more Russian-oriented services like AdvCash, YooMoney, WebMoney, Qiwi, BTC/ETH? Otherwise they should get themselves a better bank account (Paysera/Bankera/Wise) or typical AdvCash/Payoneer accounts that freelancers use.
kuka
2021-07-06 00:36
Something like that can be used by that person https://yookassa.ru/platezhi-dlya-samozanyatyh/.
kuka
2021-07-06 00:57
Anyone got PR agencies to recommend? Looking to get several articles published. Stumbled upon this agency https://www.zisa-le.com and looking for an alternative.
kuka
2021-07-06 01:02
Just to be clear. I?m more interested in publishing in high-profile places with proven brands than actually getting useful inbound of anything. Doing it for visa purposes.
felix
2021-07-06 05:38
PR in which part of the world? Can recommend someone in APAC
kuka
2021-07-07 06:42
Any part of the world would work, APAC is great cause I have some ties to that region
994kaloyan
2021-07-07 14:18
Hey fam. Has anyone registered for VAT IOSS already?
We sell physical products manufactured in the US. Got some good amount of clients in the EU - around 25%. I?m currently looking into Avalara as a local VAT intermediary. Have you had any experience with them or any other VAT intermediary? Any advices on what to look for when choosing one?
bobriakov.igor
2021-07-07 16:13
probably let them be paid through Upwork?
bobriakov.igor
2021-07-07 16:14
surprised that Transferwise is not working for this
bobriakov.igor
2021-07-07 16:14
also, have you checked payoneer?
yuli
2021-07-07 23:06
Thanks for the proposals!
Payoneer is an option, I just do not like using them much, as I do not have a way to automate stuff/payments basically unlike in other systems.
AdvCash, YooMoney, WebMoney, Qiwi, BTC/ETH -> Haven't checked those, but it's not ideal to pay in those I think, for some reason
Wise and similar services are not allowed legally there. It has to *land* at the contractors bank account, basically
klaus
2021-07-08 12:48
As an EU company... If I sell to a UK consumer, I do not have to charge them VAT, right? The UK is considered a third country now after brexit, as I understand it. Is that right?
klaus
2021-07-08 12:54
"If you sell goods to customers outside the EU, you *do not charge VAT.* However, you may still deduct the VAT that you paid on related expenses, such as for goods or services purchased specifically to make those sales."
klaus
2021-07-08 12:54
That has to mean I should not charge the UK customer VAT
klaus
2021-07-08 12:55
So if I am using a UK-based printing provider, which ships from UK => UK, my customers should not face any VAT issues/import duties, which they would if I shipped from EU=>UK.
klaus
2021-07-08 12:55
The UK print provider will charge me UK VAT, but that I can live with
klaus
2021-07-08 12:56
Does somebody knowledgeable about this know if this is correct?
tiagomdreganha
2021-07-08 13:33
Correct, place of origin nor destination is not in EU, but you will probably have to charge UK VAT (GST?) since you're selling goods located in the UK.
mb
2021-07-09 06:49
Anyone has experience creating a EU company for the sole purpose of buying a car, and then create a lease contract with yourself? I'm aware of Bulgaria, but curious if there are other ideal solutions.
sergiy.shlykov
2021-07-09 09:17
What would be the benefits of buying-leasing a car through your own company?
mb
2021-07-09 10:11
As a perpetual traveller I currently lease a car in Czech Republic, as they don't ask too many questions. The benefit of having your 'own' car is flexibility (not having to return the car every X months) and perhaps costs. So my thinking was, I guess if the car was bought by a company you own, and then you create a lease contract with yourself, you could remain a PT and use the car throughout Europe.
mb
2021-07-09 10:29
Thinking maybe Estonia would be ideal because of only the CIT structure: Operate a lease car business (with just 1 car??) and maintenance/insurance/etc. costs are paid by the monthly received 'lease' incoming payments...
alexjohnfarris
2021-07-09 11:05
Has anyone been late on filling Form 5472 for a foreign owned LLC?
I see that there's a $25k penalty yikes
bierlingm
2021-07-09 16:25
in NL raad ik SIXT+ aan
mb
2021-07-09 19:05
:) not what I need (bedankt voor het delen) - Also quite expensive.... Eg in CZ I pay ~560 euro pm, with 3k KM a month for a new Volvo XC40. Flexible monthly contract.
The only nuisance is that every X months they want to change for (new) cars or the winter/summer tires. So always have to plan a trip to Prague then. Reason why I'm looking to buy something.
mb
2021-07-09 19:05
@bierlingm do you lease from Sixt being a Dutch resident, or?
bierlingm
2021-07-09 20:46
Very cheap in comparison to Sixt+ but then NL is just expensive across the board lol
bierlingm
2021-07-09 20:48
I always use Sixt when I rent a car abroad, they recently introduced the sixt+ flexible contract rental hence I shared the option :slightly_smiling_face:
bierlingm
2021-07-09 20:51
btw; Ive did the math and the true rental price isnt that bad. New A3 as example is 750 euro?s (2k km a month) but if you calculate maintenance, yearly depreciation, insurance and road tax your true rental price would be roughly 200 euro?s and you are well taken care of with no worries and flexibility. But your CZ option is better in your case ofc.
mb
2021-07-09 21:44
Yeah from a NL point of view that's quite decent actually.
roman
2021-07-11 11:04
Andorra allows tourists to register a car as a tourist. I think it?s for one year. Not sure how renewal works, but it?s possible.
roman
2021-07-11 11:04
@jase is an expert on Andorra. Maybe he knows :relaxed:
mb
2021-07-11 11:15
Hmm interesting...
mb
2021-07-11 11:17
> The arrangement with MT plates is primarily for citizens having their permanent residence outside the EU.
Residents of EU countries can in principle register a car on MT plates in Andorra, however they cannot drive the car over the Andorran border.
mb
2021-07-11 11:18
So that means, you technically can't drive in Europe with it?
mb
2021-07-11 11:20
Actually seems like I might work...https://lockieash.com/2019/11/18/registering-a-vehicle-in-europe-without-residency/
mb
2021-07-11 11:21
Only downside I can see is more scrutiny if you stay at a place for a longer time...
mb
2021-07-11 17:03
Curious if anyone has knowledge about using a Hungarian holding company with a UK LLP shareholder: https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/the-hungarian-holding-company-regime-it-offers-everything-and-a-little-more-28460
> For instance, the dividends received by a foreign owned Hungarian company from its subsidiary are fully exempt from corporate tax even if the subsidiary is located in tax haven locations. As another attractive feature, Hungarian tax laws make no exception from the withholding tax exemption of dividends paid to foreign shareholders, if the foreign shareholder is a CFC or it is located in a tax haven country. Further, the withholding tax exemption still applies if the recipient of the dividend is fiscally transparent, i.e. it is not taxable on its income in its jurisdiction. This feature can make the use of Hungarian holding companies much wider than that of the popular holding locations
vinodgn0088
2021-07-11 17:51
vinodgn0088
2021-07-11 17:52
Capital gains have some clause there. No special clause mentioned about dividend. Seems like a nice deal in paper.
felix
2021-07-12 12:07
Does anyone know an *expert in email marketing* (including how to guarantee high delivery rates, DKIM, SPF, etc.)?
russ7
2021-07-12 14:31
Yes, I do
bobriakov.igor
2021-07-12 18:33
Me too
arthur.vandelaak
2021-07-12 19:21
Thanks for sharing that link. I will do some more research into the yearly running cost as well. Cyprus and Malta are pricey.
felix
2021-07-13 01:11
Awesome! Thank you guys! Reached out via PM
994kaloyan
2021-07-14 14:49
Hey fam! Has anyone found a tax effective structure to get paid royalties from the USA?
I?m looking into a UK LTD as it pays 0% on royalties and the tax treaty with the US says royalties are taxed in the UK. lol
The LTD pays 19% corporate tax so that?s better than the 30% the USA normally takes.
If I can get lower than that it would be better though :joy:
I looked into Hong-Kong and Singapore as they have respectively 4.95% and 10% withholding tax on royalties.
Has anyone had any experience with royalties paid to such companies?
alex720
2021-07-14 14:53
There is no tax treaty between usa and Singapore
alex720
2021-07-14 14:53
So idk where you?re getting 10% withholding tax from @994kaloyan
marziovit
2021-07-14 14:53
FYI Srtarting from 1 april 2023 UK corporate tax would be 25%
alex720
2021-07-14 14:54
You also need to look into LOB in tax treaties
alex720
2021-07-14 14:54
Can?t just form somewhere to get a tax treaty
994kaloyan
2021-07-14 14:54
LOB?
994kaloyan
2021-07-14 14:54
What is that?
994kaloyan
2021-07-14 14:55
gangsta
994kaloyan
2021-07-14 14:55
thanks
alex720
2021-07-14 14:55
No problem
jase
2021-07-17 14:14
Key negative I'm aware of is you need to return to Andorra once per year for ITV/inspection
mb
2021-07-17 17:35
My understanding was, you could do the inspection anywhere in Europe.
mb
2021-07-17 17:37
Don't know about the accuracy of this website https://prime.ad/all-about-andorra/cars-import-registration/mt-plates-andorran-tourist-plates/ but:
> Subsequently, the car does *not* have to be *physically present in Andorra*. An obligatory technical control, which is required for each annual renewal, can be done in any EU country.
jase
2021-07-18 20:43
I'm 98% sure that is wrong
tommi
2021-07-19 15:35
I still have not received anything - do you think @simon there is more queue than normally?
gastan
2021-08-09 20:14
@mb are you aware you will need to change tires anyway? In SK u must not use summer tires on snow.
But I dont think you need to lease to yourself. Just make some power of attorney or any signed paper stating, you can use the car.
gastan
2021-08-09 20:16
You can register company in SK for 133EUR. or even less if you DIY, you just need 5k in the bank account. You dont pay no fees for company, but have to submit some documents, in case you are after VAT, quarterly or even monthly...
So there will be some accounting fees...
yaron.been
2021-08-12 08:08
Any Ecommerce people here who are upselling by phone?
Would love to hear some advice and hear what is your strategy.
What types of offers are you offering on the front end vs back end?
How did you build your sales team?
seb.malek
2021-08-12 11:30
Does anyone here have experience with incorporation in Gibraltar?
maticko
2021-08-12 11:38
I do
seb.malek
2021-08-12 11:44
how long did it take you to incorporate (I assume you have a Ltd)? which reg. agent did you use? feel free to answer in DM
marziovit
2021-08-12 11:50
@seb.malek no need to answer in DM as it could be of interest to others
seb.malek
2021-08-12 11:53
fair enough
maticko
2021-08-12 11:54
prolly took like a week or two once i had all the docs ready, i dont recall exactly.
maticko
2021-08-12 11:58
i did it via https://flagtheory.com cause i have a few things with them already and im happy with their support, but they are sort of 'reseller'. so then locally i was dealing with https://www.abacus.gi
maticko
2021-08-12 11:59
afaik they are not the absolute cheapest, but service was ok
marziovit
2021-08-12 12:01
How much was the incorporation?
maticko
2021-08-12 12:06
according to my email records 3.2k usd, which included formation + first year fees + legaized and apostiled company docs with dhl delivery etc
seb.malek
2021-08-12 12:55
how are you handling accounting/bookkeeping?
maticko
2021-08-12 12:56
zoho books
seb.malek
2021-08-12 12:58
I assume you trade in GBP?
seb.malek
2021-08-12 12:58
where did you open a bank account?
maticko
2021-08-12 13:05
in EUR. account with wise and pervesk
seb.malek
2021-08-12 13:16
thx
seb.malek
2021-08-12 13:16
did you have to provide a bank/accountant reference letter for your registered agent?
seb.malek
2021-08-12 13:17
i mean, did they ask for it?
maticko
2021-08-12 13:21
```Certified true copy of passport
Certified true copy of 2 proofs of address dated within three month (bank/ statement/ credit card statement / landline or internet bill (not mobile) / utility bill / driving license)
Curriculum vitae or career overview/linkedin profile
Independent source of wealth confirmation
The independent source of wealth confirmation shall be a document that supports your statement on how you have acquired your wealth. For instance, previous employment contracts, services agreements with clients, shares certificates from a company, etc. If you provide further details on your source of wealth, we shall advise you on what specific document(s) could be provided.```
seb.malek
2021-08-12 13:22
damn
maticko
2021-08-12 13:22
talk to flagtheory for details, my experience with their support is good, you can ask everything before paying anything
seb.malek
2021-08-12 13:56
I think I'll contact form-a-co directly
seb.malek
2021-08-12 13:56
which is the agent I'm planning to go with
marziovit
2021-08-12 14:05
@maticko are you also Gibraltar resident or you only have the LTD there?
maticko
2021-08-12 14:36
only LTD at the moment
lee
2021-08-12 15:21
anyone can recommend a good biz/lawyer for Dubai setup? Free zone etc
994kaloyan
2021-08-12 15:30
Matic, you?re a legend :raised_hands:
maticko
2021-08-12 15:31
:thumbsup:
taylorwalkerllc
2021-08-16 09:29
So they charge like 7k? for opening the company first year
taylorwalkerllc
2021-08-16 09:29
Kinda expensive
maticko
2021-08-16 09:37
i found his pricing very cheap actually
maticko
2021-08-16 09:37
maticko
2021-08-16 09:38
there is a table at the bottom, sort by 'cost'
mb
2021-08-16 10:55
@maticko the map/list is not really accurate from my observation. What do you think? E.g. the Netherlands is listed as a more expensive country, but you can actually start a BV with 0 start capital: https://business.gov.nl/starting-your-business/choosing-a-business-structure/private-limited-company-in-the-netherlands/
```The costs for running a Dutch bv are:
?50 registration fee for the KVK Commercial Register (one-time fee)
?0.01 starting capital
Notary?s fee (varies; could be anything between ?500 and ?1,000)
Bookkeeping / accounting fee (varies; usually between ?600 and ?1,800 per year)```
mb
2021-08-16 10:55
But still more expensive than the UK I think.
maticko
2021-08-16 11:05
IDK, not gonna argue with anyone, i take the list not as super exact, just to get an idea.
felix
2021-08-16 11:06
Singapore states $237. That is only true if you are a PR/Citizen and use your own address, etc. As soon as you add a director or an business address (which you need if you are not resident in SG) it adds up quickly to 1.5k
maticko
2021-08-16 11:07
Anyone that I recommend I worked with personally and none of it is advertisement. I have before DLS started to work with another group which sucked, wasted 1 month + money and got nothing done.
maticko
2021-08-16 11:10
I linked it because it shows UAE as most expensive so don't expect formation for 230$
alexbadaoui1
2021-08-16 15:14
Hey @simon,
If a UK LLP hires staff, who are non-UK residents.
Is there any Tax liability to the UK? Where are the employee's rights situated? In the UK or country of residence?
If a US citizen opens a UK LLP to hire staff in Mexico, do they have to fill in any employee forms in the US?
Many Thanks,
Alex
felix
2021-08-16 15:27
Alex, why don?t you form ?freelance? contracts with your employees? In that way you would avoid the whole regulatory things.
simon
2021-08-16 18:10
Hi Alex, no there?s no tax liability in the UK / US in this scenario. There may be a liability in the country where you hire but that will depend on the circumstances. As for rights, they?ll be in the country where the workers are located.
alexbadaoui1
2021-08-16 19:09
thanks guys,
Appreciate it!
redareda9
2021-08-18 10:48
Hi @simon
Do you think it?s possible for a Vietnamese citizen to open a UK LLP?
redareda9
2021-08-18 10:48
Are you able to offer it with Freedom Surfer Inc services
redareda9
2021-08-18 10:48
+ Is it easy to open Revolut + Wise as well
redareda9
2021-08-18 10:49
I ask because usually Vietnamese are considered high risk profiles so it may impact
arommelaere
2021-08-18 11:09
Vietnam is not in the Permitted Countries SWIFT of Intergiro Banking (to deposit), no idea for Wise/Revolut
redareda9
2021-08-18 12:06
@arommelaere Yeah. But normally the bank account will be in the name of the company (in this case UK) so it should be able to do SWIFT transfers.
simon
2021-08-18 12:49
@redareda9 Is the Vietnamese citizen a resident of Vietnam?
redareda9
2021-08-18 12:51
@simon yes. I guess it will be a problem right?
redareda9
2021-08-18 12:51
At least for banks
simon
2021-08-18 14:40
@redareda9 You will be able to open a Wise account but it will pretty much be your only option (making the situation quite precarious). Payoneer would also work but it?s not a great option.
redareda9
2021-08-19 02:35
@simon Thanks simon. Wise and Payoneer are still better than nothing.
himself
2021-08-20 14:54
Hi All
himself
2021-08-20 14:54
I have a question about VAT on services between the UK and the EU.
himself
2021-08-20 14:55
If a VAT registered UK company (ltd) is supplying services to a company in an EU member state (in this case Spain) how does VAT work?
himself
2021-08-20 14:55
The services are entirely rendered remotely (marketing consulting work)
simon
2021-08-20 15:29
@himself Is the place of supply an EU country? (where the services are performed)
himself
2021-08-20 15:40
Hi @simon no - in this case the service will be performed in the UK
simon
2021-08-21 03:56
@himself Different rules apply depending on the nature of your customers (businesses vs individuals). https://www.avalara.com/vatlive/en/vat-news/brexit-vat-on-services-to-eu-or-uk.html
simon
2021-08-21 03:57
This is for services with a UK place of supply, if the place of supply is outside of the UK / EU no VAT will usually apply
himself
2021-08-21 12:52
Looks like it will be zero-rated in this case. Thank you Simon, much appreciated.
2021-08-24 20:06
This message was deleted.
burrup.lambert
2021-08-24 20:13
#4 but without the gradients in the green/purple. Not sure how you would do that with the purple though.
jase
2021-08-24 20:20
It is indeed tricky!
gun
2021-08-25 04:44
Can anyone recommend an ad agency for any platform that has *experience running crypto offers*?
We have a low-ticket crypto educational product we would like to start driving traffic to, and outsource the:
? Ad creative
? Setting up ad accounts (must have experience with crypto industry)
? Traffic management & conversion tracking
We have already:
? landing pages ready to go
? product ready to go
? tested audience of 500 existing customers to populate pixels
? most likely Instagram Stories would be appropriate, but we?re prepared to test any traffic channel if they can create the ad creative
Thanks!
ivo
2021-08-25 10:16
Anyone can recommend a UK accountant with experience in a) cryptocurrencies b) passive companies with only non-resident partners?
danz
2021-08-25 16:35
@gun I have a contact that runs the biggest PR firm for crypto companies. No idea if they can help with this, but they have probably the most big clients in this industry. If you want I give the company's name or his TG username.
ivo
2021-08-25 18:46
Might be worth a shot. Thanks, @danz!
jason
2021-08-30 01:13
Thought exercise - suppose you have a passive crypto staking operation (could be anything, ETH, SOL, ADA, etc) generating 10K USD worth of profit per month and you want to live off that and pay zero tax. What would your cash pipeline look like? Would it be a simple as cashing out your profits on an exchange like Kraken and transferring that out to a crypto friendly bank? Could you just get something like a St. Kitts passport and spend your time traveling the world as a PT most of the year? What potential landmines would there be for a setup like this?
felix
2021-08-30 01:26
You could live in MX. Income paid in Crypto is tax free.
felix
2021-08-30 01:26
*Have your tax residency in MX
tiagomdreganha
2021-08-30 10:13
Portugal is an option too for the time being. But I'm also getting MX residency and hopefuly citizenship soon.
In terms of cashing out, I move crypto to crypto dot com and use their card with 3% cashback (I had to stake CRO for that)
jason
2021-08-30 14:16
I guess the part that concerns me the most would be interfacing with the banking systems. Issues moving money from a crypto exchange to a bank, etc.
felix
2021-08-30 14:39
I never had really problems with traditional banks. Sure, Wise, etc. doesnmt work, but moving money from an established bank is not a problem. Where do you face issues?
jason
2021-08-30 15:28
@felix - not doing this currently, just trying to figure out if it's viable, seems like it is..
ivan.lakatos
2021-08-30 15:52
What does "MX" stand for if I may ask?
tiagomdreganha
2021-08-30 15:55
Mexico
jase
2021-08-30 18:57
@jason do you have transaction history/proof of funds for this? If so the banks in Andorra are fairly open to it
jase
2021-08-30 18:59
Where it's ambiguous right now is in how it's taxed. If you're staking, then it's probably classed as "income", meaning typical tax rules apply (in Andorra, tax free for first ?24k, then 5% for ?24001 to ?40k, then 10% above that amount.
jase
2021-08-30 18:59
If you can manage to make it a capital gain, there are scenarios where it's 0%.
jason
2021-08-30 19:01
@jase have no intention of ever being a tax resident of Andorra, but I am curious if a bank is going to demand excessive documentation / source of funds, etc..
jase
2021-08-30 19:02
The issue is defining excessive. I used to be very defensive with banks, but now a decade into my international tax/finance journey, I can understand things from their perspective.
jase
2021-08-30 19:03
If you have source of funds and can generate your profits from exchanges with a transaction history, it's fine. If you can't, it will be more difficult.
jason
2021-08-30 19:07
@jase i have this (perhaps naive) view that financial privacy is a human right. ideally i'd like a bank that wouldn't kick up a fuss and demand to see my trading/ transaction history.. if it's very limited ask like, show me a transaction where you sold X for fiat, then maybe i'd play ball, but not if their going to demand to know the source of funds for every penny..
jason
2021-08-30 19:08
if my rich uncle gives me 5 BTC (haha, i wish), but doesn't want me to disclose it, i'd like to honor that.. (just as an example)
jase
2021-08-30 19:08
Therein lies the challenge with your situation. If you're not a resident and want to maintain a great deal of privacy, I think you can expect many hassles.
jase
2021-08-30 19:09
Whereas my experience is that once your banker gets to know you (literally going for coffees), compliance/reporting near disappears after a few months.
jason
2021-08-30 19:10
@jase thanks, i mean, that's the heart of what i'm getting at here.. i don't know many folks doing this, but it seems like a pretty efficient setup, just stake your rewards and live off the yields..
felix
2021-08-31 00:11
Jason, where do you stake and which coin? You mentioned CRO at the beginning.
omocha_10
2021-08-31 00:45
The problem is not only about privacy, imagine if you are leaving a more caotic country like Zimbawe, Venezuela, Guatemala, Argentina, Afghanistan etc and you are taking your money out of that countries. Things doesn?t work like countries like Germany, Sweden, so you will probably not have all the statements, documentation, tax declarations as if you were leaving Canada or Australia. Thise kind of country have there own idiosyncrasy and ?rules?.
Not that you are doing a crime, your source of income is legit and legal, but probably you will not have the documentation.
jason
2021-08-31 14:20
@felix not doing this currently, I just listed some examples of what crypto assets I think this is possible with, could be a completely different list 5 years from now.
felix
2021-09-05 03:45
Curious to hear how you *solve payments (especially of the shareholders)* in your entities around the world. I have this strategy exercise in my mind for a while and I still can?t answer all the questions. I am sure others here had a similar thought process.
Simple setup: John owns a WY LLC, performs work through the LLC, lives outside of the US. By performing work in the LLC normally the LLC would be deemed a local entity and therefore be taxed on a local level (wherever John has his personal tax residency).
Questions I have in my mind:
? When does this hold true? When a shareholder does board/shareholder activities = manages the company; or when she/he is doing functional work (e.g. CEO).
? Assuming that this applies when a shareholder does functional work (CEO; not SH or board activities) how can one avoid that? How would the LLC ?employ? the shareholder? Paying social security, officially employing people, etc. in the LLC is obviously a no-go. Could the shareholder be on a freelance contract that the LLC has with the shareholder (or a proxy freelance entity of the shareholder) which defines the functional activities and therefore avoids that the main LLC becomes a local corporate tax resident?
Employees / Freelancer
How do you hire your staff? Do you put all on a freelance contract or do you go through services such as http://remote.com? Or do you even hold anywhere a local operative ?hiring? entity that hires locals on that entity? Sure, if you only have 2 or 3 customer services reps it?s maybe not a big deal, but think for this moment bigger. What happens if you have 10 developers, marketing, etc. working for you and you run everything through a WY LLC. Would that even still make sense or would be another structure more beneficial?
Curious to hear how you solve that and how you have set this up.
rubenwolff
2021-09-08 17:34
Damn guys I did not realize that my residency choice :Ukraine has the CFC rule https://www.asterslaw.com/press_center/legal_alerts/new_tax_era_in_ukraine_cfc_rules/ . How do you guys avoid the CFC do you pair up with 2 or 3 friends so that no one has 50% on a partnership. Or use more complex structures. This CFC stuff kinda breaks any foreign corporation setup for a single owner.
marziovit
2021-09-08 18:11
according to the linked article "the total combined income of all CFCs controlled by a Ukrainian resident does not exceed *EUR 2 million* a year" If your income is under EUR 2 million it's not considered a CFC.
sergiy.shlykov
2021-09-08 20:22
Yeah, if u are under 2 mil per person it is fine :) however from my understanding you still need to report this income to the ukrainian tax office, which creates a reporting burden and a tangent for the corrupt tax autorities to push on you, if you are unlucky.
felix
2021-09-09 02:46
Also, if I am not mistaken CFC rules only apply to actively managed companies, meaning sometimes it opens loopholes if you do your board and shareholder meetings outside of your country of residence (that imposes the CFC rules), it?s still considered a non-controlled foreign corporation. No legal advice, just something I keep in mind in regards to CFC. Simon is probably the best person to answer here.
koshis
2021-09-14 11:24
Mexico income is tax free if received in Crypto?
So I could live in Mexico, have income from a offshore entity and receive the income in Crypto into Mexico tax free ? :smiley:
felix
2021-09-15 00:37
Yes, income received in crypro is tax free afaik. Not sure if Mexioco has CFC rules though.
arthur.vandelaak
2021-09-15 14:15
If anyone is interested in Romania and the 1-3% Tax on Turnover for micro companies. I have set it up. I also can provider answers on living in Romania.
marziovit
2021-09-15 14:29
@arthur.vandelaak great so how much was the incorporation? To pay 1% you have to hire somebody and that could be you or it needs to be somebody else?
vinodgn0088
2021-09-15 15:51
@arthur.vandelaak, How turnover is calculated in Romania when someone is into stocks trading. Like buying 100x AAPL shares at 145USD per share and selling when price reaches 148USD
arthur.vandelaak
2021-09-16 08:57
This scheme is not good for sharing trading.
arthur.vandelaak
2021-09-16 08:59
Around 400 euros to incorporate. You can hire yourself.
seb.malek
2021-09-16 19:22
Question about Estonian OU. Is it possible to pay out a salary to an Estonian non-resident in the form of crypto?
jareddu
2021-09-17 18:51
Hi everyone, I have a question regarding my Belize company. Since January 2019, Belize has incorporated a new tax regime which has led to the collapse of the zero-tax heaven regime. In simple words, all Belize international companies (?IBCs?) whether tax-residents or non-tax residents, are now liable for income taxes for carrying out a trade, business, or service?inside Belize. IBCs which are not resident in Belize for tax purposes, must collectively satisfy the below:
? No physically present in Belize;
? The source of income occurs outside Belize; and
? Tax liable in other jurisdictions.
IBCs are now obliged to file annual tax returns, accounting records, pursuant to the requirement of the Income and Business Tax Act.
I have to apply for a TIN and file tax returns which are due by September 30th, 2021.
If I won?t do it then I can no longer get a certificate of good standing which is sometimes requested by some payment institutions.
I know there are many online businesses out there with the exact same company structure as I have. I also have my doubts that they pay taxes anywhere.
I have been running for almost 3 years and have little volume so far. I have a merchant account with a Dutch PSP and accept payments, my bank account is also with the PSP and they didn?t ask me for a TIN at the time of applying at the time.
I am living in Thailand and kind of flying under the radar.
? What could happen if I file a nil return now?
? What if the PSP will ask me for the TIN in the future?
Is there anyone else here that has a Belize company and maybe has some more knowledge about how to handle this particular situation?
seb.malek
2021-09-17 18:53
You could redomicile in Seychelles, no?
seb.malek
2021-09-17 18:53
Does the PSP account belong to the IBC or LLP?
jareddu
2021-09-17 19:09
It belongs to the IBC, and no, Seychelles isn?t an option. They have the same change like Belize.
seb.malek
2021-09-17 19:12
do you have a source for that?
seb.malek
2021-09-17 19:13
btw, this might be an option for you: https://serbiawealth.info/en/registration-of-a-foreign-company-branch-in-serbia-with-an-account-in-a-local-bank/
jareddu
2021-09-17 19:22
Yes, this was the page I read. Forgive me if it is wrong or inaccurate. I am just gathering allot of information and sharing what I know and read so far. https://www.internationalinvestment.net/news/4000855/eu-targets-international-financial-centres-harmful
seb.malek
2021-09-17 19:35
nah, there's nothing in that article which would suggest seychelles has introduced same changes as belize did.
seb.malek
2021-09-17 19:36
I would simply redomicile the company, it's not a long term solution but it'll work for a while I guess
jareddu
2021-09-17 19:39
I was thinking about that solution too, and yes probably it will be short - term. I was looking into Marshall Islands
mb
2021-09-17 20:27
Do you use The IBC to receive/keep profits from the UK LLP?