Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally distributed teams?

Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by gumby on Saturday June 04, 2022 @11:35AM (#31621564)

I recently had to consider this and was quite surprised to discover that the US was the best place. Compared to most countries the US has been a tax haven for a long time, but the 2017 tax change meant that in most cases the US would be a significantly cheaper place to recognize revenue.* Also the mechanics of getting the boring things done is significantly easier, as noted by the Germany post cited in your question.

Because of the US FATCA law you may have trouble opening a bank account in some countries (smaller entities simply can’t be bothered with the paperwork the US demands on accounts for “US Persons”, a term which has specific meaning). In practice this just means you have to deal with larger banks.

Note I’ve been a US resident for decades, and started several companies here, but am not a US citizen and have lived and worked on three other continents as well so had no prior bias.

* Note 2: this business is intended to be quite profitable relatively soon, rather than a “focus on user growth and toggle the profit switch later business.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by SkyAndSand on Saturday June 04, 2022 @12:01PM (#31621928)

> Because of the US FATCA law you may have trouble opening a bank account in some countries (smaller entities simply can’t be bothered with the paperwork the US demands on accounts for “US Persons”, a term which has specific meaning). In practice this just means you have to deal with larger banks.

You mean opening a bank account personally or for the company? Because for the company I'd simply use Wise or Mercury and be done with it.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by glenngillen on Saturday June 04, 2022 @05:49PM (#31625440)

Australian here. When I open a commercial bank account (i.e., company) here the FACTA regs mean I have to jump through a bunch of hopes to prove I’m not a US person, and neither other the other shareholders. And then I have to re-prove it every few years after it’s opened.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by biztos on Saturday June 04, 2022 @03:17PM (#31624108)

Commerzbank terminated my contract after 14 years as a loyal customer (and plenty of money in the account) — they refused to say why, but my best guess is they were culling Americans.

I think getting a German bank to open a business account for a U.S. startup would be a nightmare at best.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by SkyAndSand on Saturday June 04, 2022 @10:10PM (#31627248)

Totally agree, but why would you need a corporate bank account in Germany? You could simply use the US bank accounts?

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by withinboredom on Sunday June 05, 2022 @12:10AM (#31627939)

You usually need a local bank account. For example, in the NL I need an NL bank account for taxation purposes for my NL business.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by SkyAndSand on Sunday June 05, 2022 @01:08AM (#31628202)

I understand that. But why would a US company need a NL bank account?

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by gumby on Sunday June 05, 2022 @03:15AM (#31628749)

Because it had a subsidiary in NL, perhaps because it had employees to pay, or otherwise did business there.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by ztrww on Sunday June 05, 2022 @11:15AM (#31631720)

> subsidiary

which would be a local company registered in the Netherlands?

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by withinboredom on Monday June 06, 2022 @06:34AM (#31638816)

Owned by a US person?

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by gumby on Saturday June 04, 2022 @03:16PM (#31624101)

Last time I looked it's hard to use something like Wise as your bank for your payroll.

Wise has been great for managing my personal payments, but I still have personal bank accounts in a couple of countries where I hold property because it just makes things easier there.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by jokethrowaway on Sunday June 05, 2022 @09:39AM (#31630887)

Wise is not very business friendly yet (they're probably busy planning their next rename), better to use Airwallex

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by kube-system on Saturday June 04, 2022 @03:05PM (#31624000)

I believe they are referring to the concept of corporate personhood. FACTA applying to "US persons" means it applies to corporate accounts too.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by Svip on Saturday June 04, 2022 @03:28PM (#31624203)

> smaller entities simply can’t be bothered with the paperwork the US demands on accounts for “US Persons”

That only counts for companies with operations in the US. My wife is a US citizen, and my bank - a medium-sized Danish bank - did not care, because they don't operate any business in the US, so they do not need to provide any paperwork for her to US authorities.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by rdl on Saturday June 04, 2022 @04:25PM (#31624696)

Not an attorney, not a tax attorney, not your attorney, but US persons are required to report bank accounts they hold globally under both FBAR and FATCA, and signatory authority on business accounts is also a thing. Additionally, controlled foreign corporations are a thing for US people.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the best jurisdiction for internationally... by scottlilly on Saturday June 04, 2022 @07:21PM (#31626143)

I'm also not a lawyer or CPA, but I believe if a US person is a partial owner in a foreign corporation, the company is required to do their accounting by GAAP standards. So, if the company is in a country that follows IFRS standards, it would have to do their books twice.

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