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How important is an EU company for EU customers

indexomega

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I've a software that I'm escalating to a SaaS platform. My clients will be mostly companies located in the European Union, with some clients in the UK/US/Brasil.

My question is more about, how much do EU companies prefer to deal with EU-based companies? I understand there're some concerns with GDPR and, from what I heard from people, they prefer to deal with EU regulated online business.

I'm considering opening a company in Estonia, The Netherlands, UK or USA (LLC).
For tax purposes, UK and USA work better for me; but I'd like how much I could benefit by having it incorporated in the EU. Will I be able to attract more EU-based customers? Or incorporating in the UK would be good enough?

Thanks!
 
It depends on who your customers are and what industry you're in. Some care about GDPR, some don't. Those who do might insist on signing a DPA (Data Processing Agreement) in addition to the regular agreement, which effectively binds you to be GDPR compliant. But it's possible some will simply refuse working with a company isn't directly subject to GDPR.

In terms of tax, the company is going to be taxed where you live and (if there is an applicable corporate tax) where the company is incorporated, unless you live in a tax haven.
 
I buy from whichever gives me what i need independently of where it is located but a US LLC is your best bet since all biggest SaaS companies are in US.
That's because nearly all of them are in the US, and most of those are C Corps not LLCs. If you aren't in the US, running an LLC isn't necessarily the best choice.

Even so, many of the biggest US-based SaaS vendors have EU subsidiaries, GDPR-compliant DPAs, and/or offer data centers in the EU.
 
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It is not important but if you go for a EU company you want to look into Cyprus and find some sort of good accounting firm to help you there!
 
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My customers' feedback is always the same: they dont want to have nothing to do with companies based in Fiscal Heavens or strange jurisdictions.
Yes, it's a broad definition but if base your company in a country as UK or US, no customer will ever complain about that.
More difficult is to justify, as example, why you are resident in one country and decide to incorporate in another.
This is usually a second step in the discussion with your prospects.
 

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