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Me and my business partners are working on building our own company in retail (clothing). We are all in different places (Europe, Asia and North America). What is the best way / place to set up our business in a way that is fair for everyone and no one ends up working more than the others?
I agree that you should have a top holding in a low tax jurisdiction.
Make sure that you get the setting right, right from the start. Because such a setting will lead to all sort of tax complications. You might need to create โsubstanceโ in order to benefit from tax treaties to avoid double taxation. And of course, look at how you want to distribute your income.
A tip for such a setup would be to create Intellectual Property in a low tax jurisdiction from the start. You can invoice the operating companies in high tax jurisdiction for the use of the IP. This is how the big boys do itโฆ
Hi Julius, thank you for your comment. I have a question, what do you mean with โsubstanceโ??
Hi Elena,
Where it boils down to is that governments look at facts. Meaning you cannot setup a company in a low tax jurisdiction and run it from
letโs say Europe and expect not to have to pay taxes. Because if it would be that easy, everyone would do it.
The magic word in this is where is the โpermanent establishmentโ of your company. The most important aspect of your PE is from where is the company ACTUALLY managed (the location the company takes decisions). But there are all sorts of other aspects that could lead to a tax liability, like where you have a branch office or in some cases even where your server is located.
Now for a lot of PTโs or digital nomads this is not so relevant. But if you want to set up a multinational structure you WILL run into these questions.
In this article I explain a bit more:
Is it possible to create a permanently established company in a country where you donโt reside without having to face the risk of getting in trouble with tax laws?
Yes it is possible. But it is not always easy.
You would have to proof that the activities of that company de facto take place in that jurisdiction. The most important factor is that the company has to really be managed there and have a local director or at least have all company decisions made there (documented meetings). They also look at non-tax reasons why you setup the company. When you setup a company on a small island far away, it is more difficult to claim PE then having a company in Hong Kong when you are actually selling to the Asian market.
Bottom line is that you can do it but it will almost always take investments and efforts. That is why it is much more common for big multinationals to make use of tax treaties and creating substance abroad. They have deeper pockets and the rewards are greater.
You can setup a holding company in a neutral low tax country then register branch offices in the countries you plan to operate into. You and your partners would own the holding company, the holding company would own the branch offices. The holding company could be setup either as a regular corporation or a pass-through entity depending on your tax preferences.
For example:
You and your partners own Trading Corp (based in Cayman).
Trading Corp owns Trading UK Ltd, Trading Wyoming LLC and so on.
The advantage of such a setup:
Iโve written an article on my blog detailing the cost of the most popular jurisdictions:
After being told it's unworkable in Puerto Escondido, looking for alternatives :)
Iโm looking for any recommendations for services or people others have used to get answers on the best place to set up their businesses based on their personal circumstances.
Leaning towards Singapore after a ton of research, but would really like some concrete advice before jumping in.
Appreciate it!
Hey, hope everyone is well!
We're leaving in a month to go travelling. Our first destination is still to be confirmed, but will likely be Poland or Slovakia. We will be moving around every month or two to different destinations.
The question we have is: what do people do with phones/ phone numbers when hopping from country to country? Ideally we'd just like one number for the whole trip (even better, the number we already have) wherever we go, rather than getting new SIMs with different numbers.
This is just so it's easier to keep in contact with family/ clients/ etc.
When reopening for tourism, Bali says it will focus on attracting remote workers to choose the island as their workplace:
"We will focus on a new pattern of how Bali is not just for leisure, but indeed to work in Bali as well"
thebalisun.com/bali-tourism-will-target-digital-nomads-and-those-who-work-online/
Transactional Attorney with a focus on US Immigration. Burnt out doing the law firm thing. Trying to leverage skill to get on this digital nomad tip. Love the traveling experience, hostels, seeing new places, new cocktails etc etc.
Hi! I want to relocate to Spain and I was wondering if someone can recommend a SIM card with a good data package.
Thanks
What do you use to work together remotely with your team?
I know Slack, Hipchat and Hall.
Which ones do you guys use and why?
My interest in DN lifestyle started when half of our company have been taking 1 month for remote work @ Ko Samui. It was truly cool but we observed quite some communication challenges. Communication seemed just โriskierโ when online.
What were your worst situations caused by misunderstanding while communicating online with your teammates? What do you do to avoid misunderstandings?
Currently in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and heading to Santa Teressa, Costa Rica next week.
Then Aruba in the Caribbean Sea for Christmas and New Year.
However I feel I want to head back to Central America to bring living costs down, rather than staying in the Caribbean Sea among the expensive Islands.
This means I have around 2 - 2,5 month of unplanned travelling.
Any digital nomads who have ideas about where to head in that timeframe?
Hi everyone and nice to e-meet you!
finally, after so long I found a job that allows me to work remotely.
But now? Do you have any practical advice that I can use to approach this new world?
In particular, I have to put my tax situation in order, do you know a good tax advisor from whom I can ask for advice? (Iโm Italian but I live in FranceโฆI donโt know how long it will beโฆ) )
Beyond that, any advice is welcome.
Thank you!
Maria
Planning ahead for the winter. Iโll be in Spain in the Fall and want to go someplace warm for the winter in or near Europe, but not Schengen. Was first thinking Cape Town, but the internet is slow and it is very far. Was also thinking:
Israel - but airbnb listings are very pricey.
Morocco?
Turkey - maybe a little chilly.
Any other suggestions?
Dear all
As a wanna be nomad figuring out a way to get free of the rat race, I was wondering what is the best bank account to have while travelling the globe? I need an account where is easy for me to receive payments from all over the world and it also need to be a bank that I can find almost anywhere in the world. I want to avoid carry cash on me if itโs possible.
Looking for recommendations for reliable accountants who understand how remote businesses with off-shore freelancers and clients work. Thanks!
Iโm currently doing some work through Upwork, but itโs sporadic and Iโm keen to get more active on other platforms like Freelancer, Toptal, CodeMentor, Fiverr etc
Currently Iโm managing leads in a Google sheet. Basically itโs just a list of projects I pitched for, how much I bid, what I did differently from the last pitch/bid, how much time went by before I got a offered a job etc.
Iโm not actively following up anybody, and Iโve in fact โlostโ a few jobs where the client was keen, but then disappeared without a trace. I guess I need to keep in touch with those people to ensure that they remain focussed on our agreementโฆ
Iโm also keen to take on more small projects concurrently, without dropping the ball on any of them.
Iโve done a quick Google and turned up a few names including Salesforce, Zoho, Nutshell, HighRise, Base, Nimble, etc etc. But testing out all these products isnโt all that appealing, so I thought Iโd ask here first 
Ideally Iโd like something that integrates with remote job boards in some way.
Iโve done some research and currently have this feature list:
Cheers,
Dan
I have an commerce website. We get around 1000 orders per month and this is going to get quite a bit bigger in next few years.
I am British. I live in Thailand.
Im not allowed to majority own a Thai business and small foreign entrepreneurs are not really welcome. So i need an offshore company.
I need PayPal and an ecommerce internet merchant account. Also looking at alternatives like worldpay. 2checkout etc
Does PayPal need me to be a resident to the country i register my account to? Are there complications being a non resident to get other payment solutions?
Apparently in Hong Kong you need 2 years trading history to get an Internet Mechant Account and they generally turn their noses up at those with less than $1m(us) a year turn over. Singapore seems a bit easier.
I really want to avoid paperwork and book keeping. I hate it.
So i was looking at Seychelles, Panama, BVI, Belize.
Does anyone have experience with payment providers in these countries?
Most nomads i see donโt really have a high volume of small monthly transactions which i do. Im going around in circles and donโt know where to start.
Ill also need a bank account for business and a personal bank account to pay my salary into
Hi All! Iโve heard Spark and Vodafone are the best. I plan to move around, so I care mostly about having good coverage, and all Iโll need is around 1 GB of data or so.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Every accountant is going to tell you that you really should be keeping separate accounts for all your businesses and even projects that may one day become businesses. But in my experience setting up a new account associated with an actual business entity is a pretty annoying process involving an in-person visit to a bank branch, proof of residence in that branchโs region, etc. Has anybody seen a bank that letโs you easily create a simple business checking account online and more importantly that would let you add additional accounts and transfer funds between them?
Hi all,
I am moving to Amsterdam in January and looking for advice regarding legal status.
I work for a small French company. They agreed to let me move to Amsterdam as a remote worker starting January. 
However, they have no business entity and no employee in the Netherlands, so we have no idea how to set up the whole thing legally speaking. Should I remain an employee of the French entity, should I charge them as a consultant/contractor?
Of course, I am looking for a solution that is both simple and with minimum taxes 
Thank you for your help!!
Steph
PS: If you can recommend a good accountant that is competent on the topic, I an happy to pay for the service too!
I have this dream scenario in my head, and Iโve searched for a while without figuring out how I might best achieve it. I donโt need many places, just one or two that I can go back to over and over again. I want to be working on my laptop while being surrounded by nature; for example a place right on the ocean where I can hear the waves crashing and look up and see them, then look back down and go back to work (but it would have to be very close by to achieve this feeling, not a distant sea view).
In itself this might not be so hard but my total list of requirements makes it difficult:
So far I thought of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: there seem to be some flats with a nice ocean view, although Iโm not sure how close to the ocean they can get. And maybe also Valencia?
Anyway, Iโm not sure if anybody else has had this kind of dream as well. But I would very much appreciate any tips for places I can check out
Iโm a South African about to become a Nomad next year. I will still be employed by a South African company and receive a salary into my FNB bank account monthly.
I will be mostly based in Serbia but plan on travelling a lot. Does anyone have any advice on the best bank account to have? Is there a way to not get charged a small fortune in ATM charges and avoid getting my account frozen for using it in lots of countries?
Iโm unsure of the best way to handle things. Should I try get another bank account outside of SA (Can I even do that)? I also have a British Passport if that makes a difference.
If any of you have any experienced advice I would be very grateful, Thanks in advance!
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