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Comment by sdfhbdf | Hacker News Reader

> maybe it's a good idea to add EN i18n.

Unless you’re looking for a country to change it’s official language to English I think this is a wrong direction. The law is in German, it’s interpreted in German, if there’s some misunderstanding or a mistake in filings it will be heard in court in German. It’s better to set expectations early. All legal processes are held in country’s native language. It is better to NOT provide “official” i18n of the process of starting the company, which unless you’re then willing to support the whole process in this foreign language. How do you also then make sure that the English translation is fully legally equivalent to the German version?

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Generally in this case, the law would refer to a German contract, not a translated one, and there is no need for the two to be 'legally equivalent'.

But the process should be clear for all those who take part and so much stuff in Germany is not even clear to native speakers, and I don't even mean legal contracts, just objects and instructions on stuff you buy at the hardware store.

> But the process should be clear for all those who take part and so much stuff in Germany is not even clear to native speakers, and I don't even mean legal contracts

Is it that much different in English speaking countries? There’s a reason why whenever a legal matter pops up people say “consult a lawyer”.

In Germany all proceedings will be held in German. But you can represent yourself everywhere without speaking German assuming that you have a sworn translator with you. That will cost you probably around €200/hour.

Having started three companies in the UK, I have never required a lawyer nor have I advised many of the people who've asked about to get one. The process is extremely straightforward and fast, which obviously helps in making it easy to understand. Currently thinking about starting a company in Germany but the bureaucracy here feels bloated and protectionist rather than lean and facilitating. Like a massive overpriced American Ivy League university. If a company is so hard to start for people who don't know how to start a company, it's not exactly encouraging people to take a risk on a cool idea they have, is it?

Complex entry processes favour incumbents, it sucks.

You can entirely start a UG without ever seeing a lawyer and the fees are low, as long as you stick to the standard contracts available. You have to see a notary, though. A lawyer is important if you want to have complicated arrangements between the shareholders - they would essentially write your company charter.

The complicated part about having a limited liability company is that it requires double accounting and strict separation between your personal and the company property and that your books must be testified by an accountant. So you’ll need a tax accountant.

Minor note: having formed a British Ltd, I can tell you that some things are much more confusing for foreigners than you might expect. And some are outright hilariously bad. I could not negotiate a health insurance for our British employees since the insurance folks are not allowed to talk to foreigners - something something personal data something. Yes, I tried multiple companies.

The personal data rules in the UK are essentially the same as those in the EU, but with a huge exemption for "insurance purposes". So it's unlikely that there is a systematic data protection roadblock in the UK that you wouldn't encounter elsewhere in Europe. I can't think what rule you're referring to, so I suspect there was a misunderstanding, perhaps unique either to the company/broker you were dealing with, or unique to you.

I tried multiple companies, and I’m a pretty normal German resident. They all said they’re not allowed to talk about insurance matters with people not residing in the UK. So we basically ended up having a UK person relay all communication, since that is apparently fine.

> Currently thinking about starting a company in Germany

I would advise against doing it. You will regret it at every step of the way. Save yourself a million headaches (and euros) and go to Ireland or some other EU country with more respect for entrepreneurs. In Germany you'll just end up feeding the entire endless bureaucracy network that is set up to thrive on the work of other people. Among those being:

- lawyers

- notaries

- tax consultants (this is a big one)

- IHK (useless mandatory organization that takes a piece of your cake)

- Radio and TV tax (they require a tax based on the number of locations or cars that your company operates)

Well, trying to figure out a way around it, which might be to simply run the whole thing from the UK. I'm kinda stuck with Germany, alas.

I agree, however Estonia does provide EN option to boost their venture economy.

Irish company tax is lower than Estonia and the process equally simple. Estonia, like Portugal, does one thing very right and its PR. But once you scratch the surface there are much better options out there to have a company or to live in.

I am genuinely interested in good places to live where:

- it is not cold, if possible - the tax rate is low (even if I have to pay services later myself but with my own choice) - the hospitals and school system are good, even if private - it is not difficult/expensive to open a business

I am all ears :)

A few ideas:

Singapore: probably meets all of your requirements. Low tax, easy to open a business, lots of private schools. No idea how to rate the hospitals, it has a couple in the best hospital lists in the world, but I don't trust those. Drawback is everything is expensive.

Andorra: not cold for Northern European standards. Low tax, a couple of international schools, private medicine, you should be able to access the private medical system in Spain. A few inconveniences are no train, no airport (closest are Barcelona and Toulouse), custom inspections into France or Spain, generally isolated feeling and tourist centered feeling.

Portugal: Warm and friendly people with good food. I don't know anything about the schools or medical system. Bureaucracy probably isn't great. Low tax for a couple of years. Unfortunately local citizens do not benefit it so a foreigner taking advantage of it is likely displacing a local. Feels very unfair.

Puerto Rico: not cold, no US federal taxes. If you are a US citizen and non-resident and move there, there are some other tax benefits, but people who were already residents can't take advantage of it. Lots of infrastructure problems.

Yes, I am currently in Vietnam and was thinking of making the move to Singapore. I worked there before. I do not think the food was that expensive. I can eat cheaper in Singapore than in Europe IMHO.

From the list Puerto Rico looks to me like the new idea. I was considering the others, yes. But Andorra is cold as hell and boring :( Portugal's bureaucracy approaches that of Spain, but Spain is getting sooo bad IMHO that some day Portugal could be better, if it is not already.

Thanks for the ideas!

Good point, Singapore has great, inexpensive food. Housing is where you spend the big $$$. Singapore is probably at the top of the list for the low tax countries. The big breaker for me is the lack of four distinct seasons, but all the other low tax countries have bigger negatives.

A few other low tax places to consider that I don't know much about: Belize, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia.

For me the seasons stuff is not bad. I prefer hot to cold weather (but not Dubai/Qatar level!).

As for the negative points... did you listen to their english? lol.

Monaco or Dubai. Can't really get better than 0% income tax.

Monaco is 0%? Interesting... must be expensive as hell I think.

And Dubai? Yes, it is not too cold there, hahaha.

There is precedence - all EU laws are in all EU languages.

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