A short description of what I'm planning to do: I'm developing, along with a partner, a website that will offer social media related services. The business will be self funded, at least for starters. I'm looking where should I incorporate my business based on the following criteria: I'm a Greek citizen and resident (Greece is an EU country). I want to avoid countries that have a dubious reputation of tax havens etc. I'm interested in low incorporation cost. I'm interested in low annual expenses. (Accountants, maybe a person who will act as a CEO in the country where the business will be formed for legal reasons, etc.) Of course the lower the corporate taxes will be, the better. The country which I will choose, will be the one that offers the best combination of points 4 and 5. I look forward to hearing your suggestions!
The business will offer marketing tools for social media websites and the clients will be able to design and run their own campaigns. It isn't online yet. I haven't started a business yet, but I'm developing the website along with a partner and we have already finished with its functionality.
Hopefully, it will be online by the end of 2018. Hope, I will finish development within the following months. If anyone has any suggestions about where I should I start my business I would like to listen to them. I have read about Delaware, which I think fulfills points 3 and 4 of my list, but maybe incorporating in the US without be a citizen and a resident hides higher taxes and difficulties in opening bank accounts etc.
I'm not 100% sure if that's right: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/new/income-tax-office#ancla17 A 10% tax is mentioned above. Even that though is among the lowest possible corporate tax rates.
I would definitely recommend Delaware, US. For a small amount of money, you can register a company in just a day. As I have read so far, you will also get a bank account during the registration. No company can work without one, so it is a necessary requirement. There are agencies that can finish all legal procedure for you. Search them on the Internet, you will find plenty.
I would advice incorporating in Estonia. Become an e-resident (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-residency_of_Estonia) and get access to simple and straightforward business environment, with clear tax laws, simple process of company registration, possibility to open a local bank account, etc. One of our local startup is offering a solution to startups, you might want check them out - https://www.leapin.eu/pricing
Gibraltar the tax is for local companies not foreign owned ones - known as exempt companies. Gibraltar is not in the Customs Union so no VAT is needed but is in the EU. The issue you will find though is that local banks require a very large deposit so you'll need to find bank willing to open an account for such a company, I found one in Latvia of all places, but it wasn't easy. Cyprus might be good for you as it is Greek and English speaking..
Estonia is pretty good choice or Ireland as many local business owners are looking into ways to minimize the tax
Check out New Zealand business laws. I heard people can start and register a business in just one day!
I know that Ireland was considered a good place to form a business. I don't know if it is any more, but many companies moved their HQ to Ireland from the US.
My apology if I misunderstood, incorporation normally business driven rather than tax driven, this is especially true to a startup. Despite of concessionary tax rate, if the management is operating in the foreign country, the company incorporated probably is a non-tax resident - this will subject to higher tax rate. For startups, in normal cases, I usually advise people to setup the company where the country the management team reside and/ or the market you are targeting on. Whilst you may be operating online business, the business can reach out to any part of the world, but usually your first bucket of gold comes from your own country. Where your target market is in overseas, you may incorporate one there but you need to consider the implication of double taxes. Alternatively, you may work with strategic partners in the targeted market to make thing possible, In addition, you may subject to direct tax when you are selling into some countries, that will lead defeat the selection of country specific model. If you are looking for tax planning initiative, you can simply setup another company in some strategic country to purely receive income from your exceeding via appropriate transfer pricing techniques when your existing business really make money. I don't see a need think so deeply at this point, I would rather focus of quickly build product/ service and start selling ASAP to make money first.
Always heard of Hong Kong and Singapore as good places to start a business. May want to research deeper into that. Should maybe look for articles for suggestions, such as https://www.fastcompany.com/3033589/the-five-best-places-in-the-world-to-start-a-company-infographic http://gulfnews.com/guides/life/career/10-best-countries-to-start-your-business-in-2017-1.1714120 http://nordic.businessinsider.com/the-9-best-countries-in-the-world-to-start-a-business-2017-3/
I would say Cyprus for tax reason and proximity to Greece (you may even personally go to a bank if needed).
I'll cut right to the chase and ask. Are you sure you'll be making enough money for your efforts to incorporate elsewhere to be worth it? Incorporating in another jurisdiction may seem simple, but it's not. Various fees, high degree of uncertainty, trust required in third parties (local ceo or representative)... makes your head spin. Maybe the simplest solution is also the best for you, staying in Greece but hiring a very good accountant?
There are several countries working on providing solutions specifically for international online businesses. Estonia is an example from Europe. They also provide e-residency. One other that I recently read about is Curaçao. https://www.sovereignman.com/offshore/curacao-is-one-of-the-best-places-to-incorporate-an-online-business-16471/
Thanks for that link, this will be helpful. My brother in law in is South America and needs some options.