I think it depends on how you merge etc. In the worst case, your company is merged and then resident in Estonia. And in the better case, you will then pay more tax than you would pay in Estonia elsewhere.
I think that's why @Don does not recommend doing this. Better to off-ramp now.
If as a result of the merger or redomiciliation the assets remain in the PE of Estonia then no tax is paid on the merger.
However, the foreign company PE in Estonia pays tax on its profits (the 2% defence tax on Estonian sourced profits).
Estonian PE-s of foreign companies don't have to follow Estonian accounting rules.
The assets can also be taken out of the PE temporarily︀ (for up to 1 year) without triggering tax.
I imagine the defence tax paid in︁ Estonia can potentially be used as tax credit in some other jurisdictions to reduce CIT.︂
With that in mind on a group level the net effect might be zero extra︃ tax.
(Yet to be confirmed as the law is not implemented.)
What I meant is you set up a new company in e.g. Cyprus, then merge the Estonian company into the Cyprus company, nothing remains in Estonia.
As far as I have understood, this should not trigger tax in Estonia.
Hi Don, would using an SE help? IIRC in such a case national goverments have no right to tax the SE if the other party is registered, managed and controlled by the other EU merging company
It depends on the situation. Changing the legal form and headquarters only might not bring about any tax events.
Its more important what happens in substance than form.
EE could still be used as holding location and/or to receive profits derived through foreign PEs as those profits will be exempt from corporate income tax.
This is actually horrible. Many EU countries will be much better now. Looks like they have no interest in becoming an interesting country for entrepreneurs anymore
I’d have to say I personally prefer Malta over Estonia as well. It just seems like things are run a lot more smoothly in Malta, and the tax rules are still some of the most favorable within the EU.