Jurisdiction for micro-online business? UK/US/HK?

[Basilia]

Hello, What jurisdiction would you recommend for company registration?
Micro-online-business (not for investment).
Wishing to provide web-services, sell own courses, affiliate marketing, upwork .etc to the whole world (hooked up stripe/2checkout), maybe mobile apps at apple/google stores.
Buy traffic at facebook, google etc.

With the following inputs:
- Russian citizen. Resident of Russia.
- With administration for dumbasses.
- Low annual costs. Low taxes.
- Аnd the chances of opening an bank account (or wise etc.)


Short-list:
UK LLP/LTD, Wyoming LLC/CCorp, Honkong. ”🙄
p.s. Although I read that llc/llp with non-residents have a problem opening an bank account.
Thank you!

Last edited: Mar 30, 2022

 

[KDX]

Your citizenship will make it hard to open a bank account right now.

I'll tag︁ a few people who can maybe help you.

@CaptK @startfleetio

Reminder: you will have to︂ pay Russian tax as your company will be managed from there.

As you said Wyoming︃ LLC or UK Ltd with a Russian-friendly EMI could work quite well. No point in︄ using a C Corp btw.

What do you define as "Low annual costs" btw? for︅ some this may mean below 1000$ a year, some below 10k a year.

 

[Basilia]

Thank you!‍
Yes, russian taxes, in Russia, personal or sole proprietorship.

Aha, ok. I hear opinion about⁢ C-corp:
"LLC is not better. There will be additional reporting and residency issues. On a︀ small scale LLC will be more expensive than opening a C-Corp - there will have︁ to pay tax on profits, which probably will be almost none. If it is not︂ enough, then in the U.S. you can set off as a loss almost any expenses.︃ And if there is a lot of it, you can take it out somewhere, for︄ example under contract with your own Russian sole proprietorship".

And I heard that the LLC/LLP︅ is more difficult to open an bank/emi account.
Below 1000$. I don't see the︈ point in overpaying. Another option is the UAE, but it is very expensive, $4-5k.
And now there is no turnover at all, zero.

 

[RealDude]

Is this still possible as russian individual/company?

 

[KDX]

UAE will be more expensive for sure. However, it will be⁠ much more robust if you relocate there.

@startfleetio specializes in setting up US LLCs for⁤ non-residents, they use neobanks like Mercury but I'm not sure if you can open an⁣ account because of the war. If not, the UK ltd is a more popular option⁢ but you may need accounting of some sort (double check this), but many EMIs work︀ very well with it. Then again however, your passport will complicate things.

I recommend you︁ reach out to a few EMIs beforehand and ask them if they would be willing︂ to onboard a Russian citizen.

Not sure about the LLC, but︄ from what I've heard, this is true for UK LLPs.

 

[Basilia]

Some yes, some‌ no. Either way, the screws are being tightened. It was possible to work through the‍ same Paddle for example to receive cards, but they announced a shutdown, and so on.⁠ It's very difficult, it's not even just about the Russian company, it's about residency and⁤ citizenship in general.

UK/US have essentially the same conditions (taxes, reports)?︀

So if we're talking about the︂ UK, is LTD better?
LTD is probably more complicated with taxes, not sure if local︃ taxes arise there.
I found "LTD will be liable to tax (either in the UK︄ or your country of residency, depending on whether there is a tax treaty in place)"︅

 

[cuno]

Maybe more expensive but it's worth it.‍

 

[startfleetio]

Hong Kong is definitely not a low maintenance jurisdiction compared to US LLC and UK︁ LLP (not LTD).

Russians are still possible at some US banks.

 

[tacokai]

If that‌ is true I'm sure Biden will come after them.

 

[Basilia]

- Standing in line at the bank, a Jew, a Black, and a Gypsy.‍
- A Russian walks up, asks who is last in line.
- Everyone looks at⁠ him and says: "Russians are not served".

That's weird.⁤ There are two opinions, some say it's all nonsense and you have to pay taxes⁣ in the U.S., regardless of residency and type of business, and others take your point⁢ of view.

Opinions are split 50-50. They say that your position is based on an︀ aggressive interpretation of tax law.

It is not clear which one to believe.

No one︁ wants problems with the IRS, which is why many are afraid to register in the︂ U.S.