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Comment by edpichler | Hacker News Reader

I am enrolling Stripe Atlas and, to me, incorporating in USA will give me access to modern banking services, and platforms, as Stripe, and it seems USA has very lower taxes than Brazil, my country. That's why I am interested.

It all seems fascinating, but I am afraid to continue and do the last step of the enrollment. I don't know how is the process to close the company, what the representative agent can do for me, how much is to have an account on SVB (after the 24 free months), if it's easy to legally hire a person to work remotely anywhere, and if for some reason I will need to eventually travel to USA.

If someone have a answer for one of questions, I will be thankful.

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Nope, you don't need to travel to the US -- we'll handle incorporation and opening your bank account remotely. When it's time to sign papers, we'll send you an e-signature link.

Silicon Valley Bank's fees after the first 24 months vary depending on which of their services you choose to use, so there's no one-size-fits-all rate card we can point you to -- if you send me an email at edwin.wee@stripe.com, I'd be happy to chat more about this in detail.

Although we don't offer immigration or employment services as a part of Atlas, I'd love to hear more about your business to see how we can help and walk you through the final steps!

Hi,

I'm not the person you replied to, but I have a question(s) I hope you can help with.

Is there a list of the minimum requirements to join Atlas? I can't seem to find it in your FAQ. Is it true that entry is granted (or not) based on an evaluation of the startups business plan? Do I have to convince someone at Stripe that my idea has legs before I'll be granted access?

Also, is the service exclusively for startups that deal in digital goods? Say I have a physical product that I need a US company to import and sell (via a fulfillment service). Would Stripe Atlas accept me as a client?

Atlas is still in beta, so there is an small form you'll need to fill out for an invite. But it's quick, so no need for a lengthy business plan -- all you'll need for this is your name, email address, country, website, and a brief description of what you're building and how Atlas can be helpful (no pitch decks!). We're still piloting Atlas with a small group of entrepreneurs, so this bit of info is helpful for us when we're getting folks started.

Once you're invited, we'll reach out to you for any additional personal or business information that's needed for incorporation and getting your bank account set up.

Atlas certainly isn't just for digital goods -- we've had quite a few businesses apply that sell physical goods.

You can request access at https://stripe.com/atlas#request-access, and please feel free drop me a line at edwin.wee@stripe.com once you fill that out, or if you have any other questions!

Thank you for the helpful response. I'm not ready yet, but will sign up in the next few months. Thanks again.

I see someone else in this thread talk about their problem with not knowing if and which taxes they must pay, if they are going to pay double taxes or something like that. Does anyone know this?

I am more interested in the Brazilian case.

I agree that Brazil has in general high taxes (especially for what you get in return from the government) but don't just assume this is true in every situation.

I'm a gringo "permanently" living in Brazil and from a tax standpoint it was actually better for me to open a Brazilian company. You don't have to pay taxes on dividends you get from Brazilian companies but you do have to pay taxes on dividends from foreign companies. + Depending on your margins opting for the "simples" tax regime may give you lower corporate taxes than a US/EU company

Hello, I was comparing, and opening in USA would be almost the same that having the "Simples".

In Brazil you don't pay tax on dividends because you pay higher taxes before. Otherwise you would paying double times. There are hidden taxes till you have the "dividends". And are you aware of the "Imposto de Renda" for companies and people?

I am very curious what formula you used to compare and reach the conclusion that in Brazil it's lower. This is also against some studies http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

I live in the US. Let me know if I can help you with anything.

Abracos.

The "ç" makes an enormous difference here.

The international keyboard mapping on Ubuntu makes ç come out as ć, so I gave up on trying that. :-)

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