An acquaintance approached me for an opinion on his particular situation -
Consulting globally, mostly in Europe, got this very good client paying decent $ (since then they basically resell the service to Fortune100 companies so it's a intermidiary of an indermediary's intermediary game..)
The problem is that recently the client's compliance started pestering for a lot of data - wanted to see not only the VAT tax number docs but also the personal social security card and status of the owner and also actively inquired about the "tax residency proofs"
An another subcontractor managed to dodge that by submitting a simple statement from an auditor just stating the tax residency without any numbers or even whether the tax was due/paid; in his case they actually want to see the copies of actual tax returns. I don't know how legitimate is that request since why would a client fish for his supplier's tax returns which may contain also numbers relative to other services provided to other clients...seems a bit inappropriate request that could be fought against. However probably they will start nosing more and more since the company (VAT nr) is in EU country A but the bank account is in EU country B
Is this doc chasing the norm among other people's clients or business partners?
Any recommendations how to make things more solid and looking 100% legit?
Additionally can the company maybe relocate to Dubai and continue to operate consultancy (legal and general) services undisturbed in EU or this won't work due to end clients (Fortune100) refusing such a setup?
Especially now with all this smart-working I simply don't see a practical reason why not to incorporate in Dubai, travel there 2 times per year and the rest of time roam around the EU consult clients and receive payments via Dubai company as UBO (even if having some front door company in EU just as a nice Amsterdamish looking facade 🙂) Why no? Maybe problems when everything is centered around one specific EU end client?
Last edited: Mar 8, 2021
Consulting globally, mostly in Europe, got this very good client paying decent $ (since then they basically resell the service to Fortune100 companies so it's a intermidiary of an indermediary's intermediary game..)
The problem is that recently the client's compliance started pestering for a lot of data - wanted to see not only the VAT tax number docs but also the personal social security card and status of the owner and also actively inquired about the "tax residency proofs"
An another subcontractor managed to dodge that by submitting a simple statement from an auditor just stating the tax residency without any numbers or even whether the tax was due/paid; in his case they actually want to see the copies of actual tax returns. I don't know how legitimate is that request since why would a client fish for his supplier's tax returns which may contain also numbers relative to other services provided to other clients...seems a bit inappropriate request that could be fought against. However probably they will start nosing more and more since the company (VAT nr) is in EU country A but the bank account is in EU country B
Is this doc chasing the norm among other people's clients or business partners?
Any recommendations how to make things more solid and looking 100% legit?
Additionally can the company maybe relocate to Dubai and continue to operate consultancy (legal and general) services undisturbed in EU or this won't work due to end clients (Fortune100) refusing such a setup?
Especially now with all this smart-working I simply don't see a practical reason why not to incorporate in Dubai, travel there 2 times per year and the rest of time roam around the EU consult clients and receive payments via Dubai company as UBO (even if having some front door company in EU just as a nice Amsterdamish looking facade 🙂) Why no? Maybe problems when everything is centered around one specific EU end client?
Last edited: Mar 8, 2021
