Ask HN: What's the best country to incorporate tech businesses these days? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's the best country to incorporate tech businesses these days?

3 pointsgfmio2 comments

When starting and running a business, there are many concerns: start-up capital requirements, the amount of paperwork involved for starting and running the company, for managing employees, taxes, currency, banking, international "recognition" of the company type (e.g. an LLC or limited company in the UK or US are probably more "well-known" than their equivalents in Germany or Japan). Finally, in particular for tech companies, things like surveillance laws and the ability for governments to mess with you / your customers can be a critical issue (in particular for e.g. security products).

So far, the UK has been straightforward and easy to work with (little paperwork or other requirements), but now with Brexit, the weak pound and the investigatory powers act, it seems less and less like a good option.

So, I'm wondering what HN has to say. What countries do you guys run your companies in / which countries are good options these days? What's "good" / "bad"?

Just to get the ball rolling, whilst I'm biased (Londoner) I still think the UK is a good place to start a business.

For one London/Manchester are fantastic places to find a quality working space and good talent and at prices far more reasonable than say Silicon Valley which is an incredibly expensive place to get a startup going.

Furthermore as far as investment opportunities go, the sudden drop in the £ (~20%) has made UK assets like property (and startups) proportionately cheaper - as a result UK startups are more attractive for foreign investors. It's one of the reasons the UK property market at least is still strong and why the other shoe hasn't (yet) dropped.

One issue however with having a SaaS type startup in the UK is that if you're purchasing a large amount of cloud capacity in $ terms you're going to find yourself disadvantaged compared to your American competitors. A way to mitigate that might be to have your customers pay in $s rather than £s.

Regarding the surveillance laws issue I think the UK/US face the same problems. Governments are able to make sealed requests to companies for data without being challenged in both countries and it seems to take an Amazon or Apple to be able to push back. I doubt many small American companies have as much success saying 'no' to government subpoenas.

From what I hear Germany is meant to be much more privacy friendly than the UK or US, so if your startup is contingent upon that then I think Berlin might be the place to go.

These are pretty dark days across the world unfortunately and the pendulum of company regulation and personal liberty swings back and forth from country to country. Sometimes making the most of the location you're in can be the best choice. Best of luck.

I think it greatly depends on your goal. If you want to raise capital, you probably need a US company.

If you are not American and your country does not impose onerous foreign affiliate reporting schemes, I can suggest Hong Kong. It is quick and easy to set up, is a relatively "clean" jurisdiction, and Hong Kong does not tax revenue earned outside Hong Kong. Hong Kong also does not tax employment income earned outside Hong Kong if the employee does not live in Hong Kong. If you draw money from the company, you will need to review your local tax rules.

Singapore is a good jurisdiction, other than the local director requirement.

I can write a fair bit more, but without knowing where you are from and what your specific needs are, it is difficult to provide useful feedback. Disclosure and tax rules vary significantly worldwide.

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