Question
What are the most important drivers for deciding where to form a company? We are a virtual team US, Germany, UK. Health and fitness gadget. Production probably Asia. Website sales.
Answers: 2 public & 0 private
From a tax perspective, it is important where you decide to form your company for the following reasons/considerations:
1. tax residence
2. tax consideration of cross-border transactions
3. future business expansion/affiliation
Ideally, a tax expert will look at your potential choices and choose the one that offers the best/minimal tax impact on all those future considerations.
Entities are formed, generally, to: (i) allow others' more-protectable investments; (ii) limit the liability of founders, officers, and investors for what the company is doing; and (iii) take advantage of tax treatment(s). Other considerations will include: (i) where the company will primarily be doing business, and thus where the source of disputes will arise; (ii) where the company's physical assets will need to be located; and (iii) in your case, the e-commerce regulatory environment, which will be related to the aforementioned tax treatment. Further, different jurisdictions different business entities which have different restrictions on ownership (e.g., s-corps in the U.S. generally cannot have non-resident alien owners).
If you are here in the U.S., it would be advisable to discuss tax implications of overseas-derived income with an accountant or tax attorney (just as your partners should); that may be the single biggest driver if you are indeed a "virtual team."
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