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Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by pjsullivan3 on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @09:42AM (#3377612)
it actually not so much the taxation that costs much for a company, its the "social fees". We will still keep a development team over there, but social fees can add 31% to an employees gross salary. Then the employee still has to have around 30% of tax removed as well.
Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by maukdaddy on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @10:15AM (#3377720)
I hate to tell you, but by the time you take federal, FICA, state, and local taxes out, the average American pays damn close to 30% too. And that's not counting the employee portion of healthcare that adds another percent or two.
Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by paulhauggis on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @01:32PM (#3378511)
30% is not bad.

In Norway it's over 50% after everything is said and done..and this isn't include the 20% VAT that is paid on almost everything, the 1% "net wealth tax" (which includes real estate, cars, etc), and any other tax you might have to pay.

Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by pg on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @01:36PM (#3378528)
Do you have to pay this 1% tax on stock you own in companies you've founded? I.e. would the founder of a successful new startup that had such a high valuation in its last round that his stock was worth $50 million on paper have to somehow come up with half a million dollars every year to pay taxes?
Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by drx on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @10:07PM (#3380175)
Out of curiosity I researched this a little. Sweden abandoned the wealth tax in 2007.

However, the neighboring Norway has a 1.1% combined wealth tax on income above about $350k. And according to [1] "from the income year 2008 the full market value of shares reg- istered on the stock exchange are in the shareholder’s wealth, whereas unlisted shares are valued based on the company’s taxable wealth".

Other countries that have the wealth tax are France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Netherlands and India. Some of them have limits on the wealth tax in place, e.g. in France the amount cannot exceed 50% of annual revenues.

[1] http://www.kpmg.no/arch/_img/9585751.pdf

Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by pg on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @10:22PM (#3380216)
I realize this isn't your fault, but KPMG's explanation is pretty question-begging. Anyone happen to know how the "taxable wealth" of a startup would be calculated?
Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by drx on Wednesday December 21, 2011 @11:38PM (#3380409)
"10.02 - Business taxes" at the Official Statistics Office of Norway: http://www.ssb.no/metadata/conceptvariable/vardok/1441/en

"Taxable wealth is the value of the company's assets reduced by debt, as of 1 January in the assessment year."

This doesn't necessarily mean that the same definition applies at the tax office and/or that it applies to startups, though.

Re:Why European startup had to move to USA to fulfill its vi... by mbesto on Saturday December 24, 2011 @12:45PM (#3389270)
pg- If you're interested in tax laws for startups in Sweden, let me know. I have a good friend who is in the process of IPO'n his startup and is very "money conscious".