Regarding Online Business registration?

[ShiningWarrior]

Hi, I'm stuck on four things:

1) If I register my online business in Estonia or in any other country, do I still have to pay tax to my own birth home country? I mean all the amounts of money at the end of the day will eventually get transferred from PayPal/Stripe or any other payment system to my birth home country's bank and the government can see how much I'm making right?

I talked with an online biz filler and one of the guys said that I may need to register biz in two countries as I have to pay tax to my birth home country and that's mandatory because the govt can see how much money is there in my account.

So, do I have to pay tax to both the countries?

2) Those who registered their online biz in a country apart from their birth home country, do you still have to pay tax to the govt of your birth home country govt OR to the countries' govt where you registered your biz?

3) Is there any benefit of registering biz in the USA via Stripe Atlas?

4) Can I register the biz on a Virtual Office Address? I don't want to use my own home address as I will be moving from here and there until I buy my own home. So, will I be able to do that?
And is there any issue if I chose a Singapore Virtual office address? Will I have to present there physically?

PS - I won't be storing any kind physical inventory.

Those who have already done these please help me out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ShiningWarrior]

Has no one registered their business online? xD

27 views and no reply

 

[ShiningWarrior]

Guys come on help me out, please. 58 views and no reply lol

Has anyone not really registered their business yet? xD

 

[Ragchowdary441]

What Business are you Running online?

 

[Lauriat]

Not sure if allowed to mention, but there is other forum which is dedicated to these things. Search for it.

 

[Sephrata]

1) If I register my online business in Estonia or in any other country, do I still have to pay tax to my own birth home country?

It depends on the structure you use.

If you operate as self-employed (sole trader), you will pay tax in the country in which you're legally resident. If you operate as a company, you will pay tax either in the country where the business is incorporated and/or the country where the business is run (permanent establishment).

2) Those who registered their online biz in a country apart from their birth home country, do you still have to pay tax to the govt of your birth home country govt OR to the countries' govt where you registered your biz?

In most cases, you pay tax in the country where the business is incorporated. The permanent establishment rule (e.g. you own a USA company, but run it from Estonia) is a bit of a tricky one and open for interpretation.

3) Is there any benefit of registering biz in the USA via Stripe Atlas?

A US bank account. However, the corporate setup of this company is far from ideal.

4) Can I register the biz on a Virtual Office Address? I don't want to use my own home address as I will be moving from here and there until I buy my own home. So, will I be able to do that?
And is there any issue if I chose a Singapore Virtual office address? Will I have to present there physically?

Yes, you can. There is no need to be physically present there, ultimately the only requirement is that you're supposed to store company records at that address.

 

[MisterF]

"birth home country " is this another way of saying country of residence?

Boils down to where you live, are you domicile or non dom and where is the business based / conducts most of it's business.

Depending on where you are you either pay tax yourself as resident or where the business is based.
There are advantages and downsides to both, but best way is to seek advice from a tax advisor in this field, as what works for 1 person on here might not work for you, or things may not apply.

 

[ShiningWarrior]

It depends on the structure you use.

If you operate as self-employed (sole trader), you will pay tax in the country in which you're legally resident. If you operate as a company, you will pay tax either in the country where the business is incorporated and/or the country where the business is run (permanent establishment).

Yes I am the only owner of my biz. No partners and such. But I want to register as LLP.

In most cases, you pay tax in the country where the business is incorporated. The permanent establishment rule (e.g. you own a USA company, but run it from Estonia) is a bit of a tricky one and open for interpretation.

What do you mean by interpretation mate?

And do you think it's just safe and smooth to register the biz in your birth country? I mean to prevent any future halts or something like that? I don't want any kind of issue in future on this tho. But it's just that I will only be receiving international payments and NO local country payments. So what do you think?

A US bank account. However, the corporate setup of this company is far from ideal.

Doesn't Stripe Atlas takes care of all things from start to end? They do give US address, US bank, EIN or something like that.

Yes, you can. There is no need to be physically present there, ultimately the only requirement is that you're supposed to store company records at that address.

Thank you very much. That solve's my own rented house address issue lol. And when I buy my own home, I can anytime change the address if I want right?

Thank you very much for replying mate

"birth home country " is this another way of saying country of residence?

Haha yea xD

Boils down to where you live, are you domicile or non dom and where is the business based / conducts most of it's business.

I'm domicile and right now I am in my own country.

Depending on where you are you either pay tax yourself as resident or where the business is based.
There are advantages and downsides to both, but best way is to seek advice from a tax advisor in this field, as what works for 1 person on here might not work for you, or things may not apply.

Hmm yea.

 

[Sephrata]

What do you mean by interpretation mate?

Say you setup a company in an offshore tax haven where there is no corporation tax. If you then run that business from another country and in doing so create a permanent establishment, then you would expect to pay corporation tax in that country.

If you Google 'OECD permanent establishment' you will see what I mean.

And do you think it's just safe and smooth to register the biz in your birth country? I mean to prevent any future halts or something like that? I don't want any kind of issue in future on this tho. But it's just that I will only be receiving international payments and NO local country payments. So what do you think?

You should set up a company in a country that makes sense for both operational and taxation purposes.

The tricky thing when setting up in offshore tax havens is the banking and merchant processing. This can mostly be overcome by virtual banks (e.g. Payoneer and Transferwise) who will set up bank accounts for you.

Doesn't Stripe Atlas takes care of all things from start to end? They do give US address, US bank, EIN or something like that.

Yes, they set up everything you need to get going. As a corporation, they set it up as a C Corporation which is not ideal for a non-resident alien. You either want an S Corporation or an LLC (disregarded entity).

I see they now offer LLCs, which is something new.

Thank you very much. That solve's my own rented house address issue lol. And when I buy my own home, I can anytime change the address if I want right?

I never list my home address, unless there is a legal requirement to do so. In the US, I use the address of my attorney for my companies.

 

[ShiningWarrior]

The tricky thing when setting up in offshore tax havens is the banking and merchant processing. This can mostly be overcome by virtual banks (e.g. Payoneer and Transferwise) who will set up bank accounts for you.

By Banking u mean = My Home Country bank?
By Merchant processing u mean = Paypal/stripe or any other payment processor right?

And if that's the case, the tax will be on the money transferred from my payment processor (PP/Stripe) to my bank in my home country, right?

Sorry, I'm a bit noobish on this, hope you don't mind mate.

I never list my home address, unless there is a legal requirement to do so. In the US, I use the address of my attorney for my companies.

Wow, your attorney let you do that?

And as you said companies, with one company registration, I can make and operate multiple companies OR I need to make separate registrations each time?

Again, thanks a lot for helping.

 

[Sephrata]

By Banking u mean = My Home Country bank?
By Merchant processing u mean = Paypal/stripe or any other payment processor right?

Banking can be any bank, it doesn't need to be in your home country.

Merchant processing is a facility that allows you receive card payments.

And if that's the case, the tax will be on the money transferred from my payment processor (PP/Stripe) to my bank in my home country, right?

Nope, tax would be where the company is incorporated and/or established (i.e. run from).

Wow, your attorney let you do that?

Of course. It's a fairly standard service attorneys offer for their clients.

And as you said companies, with one company registration, I can make and operate multiple companies OR I need to make separate registrations each time?

Each company requires a new registration.

 

[BuzzC]

As most of the people above said it depends on a lot of different factors and laws specific to country of incorporation. If I were in your shoes I would first consider the structure of the business that you intend to setup and its estimated turnover. The three things you must consider are:

1. Corporate Tax - this is something you have to pay to the government in the country of incorporation if you register a limited company. Rates vary depending on country

2. VAT - tax on sales which is also payable to the gov net of purchase vat. Rates also vary

3. Personnal income tax - tax on whatever you earn from the business and elsewhere. Rates also vary

4. Legal/accounting/audit fees for maintaining proper accounts for all of above and your company.

Generally speaking running as a company is not cheap and you should turn enough cash to cover the expenses and stay with in the legal requirements of the country.

If your business is turning a lot of cash, you could consider all sorts of business setup structure i.e. register the company in Cyprus where corporate tax is only 12% and believe is the lowest in The EU (this is where I am now

If your business is turning low amount of sales you maybe be below the VAT cap and not need to register at all. This is dependent on country lw. I.e. in Cyprus I can sell services without registering a legal entity as long as mu annual turnover does exceed 20k.

So my advice is, analyze where you are now and where you wana be a year from now and why. If we are talking good revenues hire a good accountant who can advise you on the best and most cost effective structure for your business.

 

[ShiningWarrior]

Banking can be any bank, it doesn't need to be in your home country.

Merchant processing is a facility that allows you receive card payments.



Nope, tax would be where the company is incorporated and/or established (i.e. run from).



Of course. It's a fairly standard service attorneys offer for their clients.



Each company requires a new registration.

As most of the people above said it depends on a lot of different factors and laws specific to country of incorporation. If I were in your shoes I would first consider the structure of the business that you intend to setup and its estimated turnover. The three things you must consider are:

1. Corporate Tax - this is something you have to pay to the government in the country of incorporation if you register a limited company. Rates vary depending on country

2. VAT - tax on sales which is also payable to the gov net of purchase vat. Rates also vary

3. Personnal income tax - tax on whatever you earn from the business and elsewhere. Rates also vary

4. Legal/accounting/audit fees for maintaining proper accounts for all of above and your company.

Generally speaking running as a company is not cheap and you should turn enough cash to cover the expenses and stay with in the legal requirements of the country.

If your business is turning a lot of cash, you could consider all sorts of business setup structure i.e. register the company in Cyprus where corporate tax is only 12% and believe is the lowest in The EU (this is where I am now

If your business is turning low amount of sales you maybe be below the VAT cap and not need to register at all. This is dependent on country lw. I.e. in Cyprus I can sell services without registering a legal entity as long as mu annual turnover does exceed 20k.

So my advice is, analyze where you are now and where you wana be a year from now and why. If we are talking good revenues hire a good accountant who can advise you on the best and most cost effective structure for your business.

Thanks to the both of you