Question Setup for offshore solo software dev agency

[lovly]

Hello, I am 21yo from Morocco currently working as a one-man software dev agency, my yearly income is increasing very fast and I will soon get to 100k$ a year, I mostly work with EU startups.

Why NOT Morocco:
-Garbage banking options (Max: 1k$ in international spending per year)
-High custom fees (30-70%); You pay custom fees on anything you order online + Cars that would cost $5k in Spain will cost $12k here
-High crime rates and poverty rates.
-Monopolies, Government corruption & Lobbying; Oil, Fruits, vegetables and meat all got 40-1000% times more expensive in the past 2 years.
-High Taxes (20-37%)

What I'm looking for:
-Secure & Stable Gov country.
-Stable currency?
-Access to Quality Healthcare (Even if it is paid)
-Reasonable living expenses (Rent, Gym, Daily necessities ±$1.5k/m)
-Good Internet connection.
-Good banking or at least eligible for Wise card.
-Low maintenance effort if possible. (Not too many papers to deal with, or at least ability to outsource it)

What I can compromise:
-I do not mind setting up a company in X country and living in Y country.
-I do not mind the distance.
-I do not mind the political inclination of that country as long as they leave me alone.

-I am NOT a digital nomad, I just want a quality living space where I can give my 100% to my work and my business.

Note: I've looked into Dubai, wondering if it is possible to combine the perks of it with a residency in a cheaper country.

Thank you in advance for all the responses

 

[Sols]

-I am NOT a digital nomad, I just want a quality living space where I can give my 100% to my work and my business.

Even if you don't identify as a digital nomad, using a digital nomad visa may be your best option. Check out 54 Countries With Digital Nomad Visas - The Ultimate List for starters. At your income level, you qualify for most. Digital nomad visas open up the world in ways that would otherwise require complicated work and residence permit processes. Some can be extended and converted to permanent residence.

Based on your requirements, Malta and Cyprus come to mind. Both have digital nomad visas that you can get in order to obtain residence, which would otherwise be difficult for a non-EU national. Business friendly environment, full of digital nomads, expats, and international workers in tech fields. Malta and Cyprus meet most of your requirements, but aren't the best in the world or even Europe. Many other EU countries have digital nomad visas.

Since you work with EU clients mostly, going to Caribbean or Asia might not be ideal since you'd have fewer overlapping daytime hours to work with your clients. But if that's not a problem, several locations there would fit most of your requirements.

 

[scooterguy]

If you want something simple in Europe, probably Romania and Bulgaria are your best options.

You have micro-company regimes, and low taxes overall, so you'd be paying less than 10% tax. Both of these countries also provide decent stability, great internet connection, good banking, living expenses way below $1.5k/mo, etc.

You can also set up an UAE company, get residency there, and combine it with living in a country with a territorial tax and no CFC rules. You have many options for this in South East Asia or the Caribbean, but I wouldn't recommend this option until you are making at least $150k/year, since the costs of this structure (including trips to UAE) can easily start from $10k-15k a year.

On the other hand, you could also set up your company in UAE and just stay living there, in a place such as Sharjah, where you can easily live on $2k/month. You could also live in Dubai with roommates for that amount.

 

[lovly]

Even if you don't identify as a digital nomad, using a digital nomad visa may be your best option. Check out 54 Countries With Digital Nomad Visas - The Ultimate List for starters. At your income level, you qualify for most. Digital nomad visas open up the world in ways that would otherwise require complicated work and residence permit processes. Some can be extended and converted to permanent residence.

Based on your requirements, Malta and Cyprus come to mind. Both have digital nomad visas that you can get in order to obtain residence, which would otherwise be difficult for a non-EU national. Business friendly environment, full of digital nomads, expats, and international workers in tech fields. Malta and Cyprus meet most of your requirements, but aren't the best in the world or even Europe. Many other EU countries have digital nomad visas.

Since you work with EU clients mostly, going to Caribbean or Asia might not be ideal since you'd have fewer overlapping daytime hours to work with your clients. But if that's not a problem, several locations there would fit most of your requirements.

Thank you for the response, I do not have issues with overlapping daytime hours, as we only need 30-60minutes a day overlap at most.
I am also a fan of south eastern Asia (culture, geography...) would love it if there was a setup where I could live there, preferably in Malaysia (It has support for Wise's multi-currency accounts + card and a decent tech community).

 

[lovly]

If you want something simple in Europe, probably Romania and Bulgaria are your best options.

You have micro-company regimes, and low taxes overall, so you'd be paying less than 10% tax. Both of these countries also provide decent stability, great internet connection, good banking, living expenses way below $1.5k/mo, etc.

You can also set up an UAE company, get residency there, and combine it with living in a country with a territorial tax and no CFC rules. You have many options for this in South East Asia or the Caribbean, but I wouldn't recommend this option until you are making at least $150k/year, since the costs of this structure (including trips to UAE) can easily start from $10k-15k a year.

On the other hand, you could also set up your company in UAE and just stay living there, in a place such as Sharjah, where you can easily live on $2k/month. You could also live in Dubai with roommates for that amount.

Thank you for your response, there's one issue that arises with EU is that I will 99% get rejected for the Schengen Visa, I am young 21 y.o, not enrolled in a university, do not have a uni degree, and 0 recent travels to the european union. These are multiple red flags for Visa agencies especially when it's a moroccan ( we have one of the highest illegal immigration rates ) so I'm afraid the EU isn't an option for now.
As for a UAE company the trips they are relatively cheap from Morocco (±350$ round-trip), I am not very familiar with living expenses there but if with a roommate I can get the living expenses down to $1.5k it would definitely be an option.
I am just worried that the yearly maintenance costs are a bit too high and I could easily end up spending what I earn there.

 

[scooterguy]

Thank you for your response, there's one issue that arises with EU is that I will 99% get rejected for the Schengen Visa, I am young 21 y.o, not enrolled in a university, do not have a uni degree, and 0 recent travels to the european union. These are multiple red flags for Visa agencies especially when it's a moroccan ( we have one of the highest illegal immigration rates ) so I'm afraid the EU isn't an option for now.
As for a UAE company the trips they are relatively cheap from Morocco (±350$ round-trip), I am not very familiar with living expenses there but if with a roommate I can get the living expenses down to $1.5k it would definitely be an option.
I am just worried that the yearly maintenance costs are a bit too high and I could easily end up spending what I earn there.

Living in Dubai with a roommate is a solid option. You are only 21 so you can live with students or other young people. The Moroccan community there is also pretty large (around 100K people), so you'll feel at home quickly.

About the EU, Romania and Bulgaria may be more lax with visa regulations, especially if you set up a company there, but you should investigate this more deeply or talk to a professional.

 

[lovly]

Living in Dubai with a roommate is a solid option. You are only 21 so you can live with students or other young people. The Moroccan community there is also pretty large (around 100K people), so you'll feel at home quickly.

About the EU, Romania and Bulgaria may be more lax with visa regulations, especially if you set up a company there, but you should investigate this more deeply or talk to a professional.

Thank you once again, appreciate the info!

 

[luap]

I've met a few Moroccans in Cyprus who had no issues getting their visas. In Cyprus/Malta, they care more that you are earning money from abroad, and will spend some of that money in their country. I'm not sure about the Maltese requirements, but for CY you need to prove around 24K yearly income, open a company, and rent a place year round (but only need to stay 60 days minimum).

 

[celizo]

Mauritius as self employed.
Not very complicated (I can give your all the details).
Good timezone to work with european clients.
French spoken (you probably speak french).
Great IT expat community.
PM if more specific info needed...

 

[rdec237]

Do you specifically want to leave Morocco? Especially if not, you could feasibly stay and do a setup like this;

-UK company
-Swiss branch which books your business. Corp tax would be a little over 10%, profits can be fed back to the UK company which then pays dividends (UK company doesnt get taxed on the profit from its branch)

You'd then have a Swiss bank account and prestigious legal entity for billing your EU clients, banking for the UK company via something like Wise. You'd need a local director in Switzerland. DM me if you want specific help, as I'm based there and happy to discuss and help as I've done a similar setup for me.

 

[JimBeam]

With Moroccan passport you'll basically face 3 issues:
1. Getting residence anywhere (especially in Europe)
2. Getting banking (pretty much everything - especially in Europe)
3. Being treated worse or discriminated just because of your origin/passport etc.

Best chances you'll avoid most these is UAE - but it's costly thing and living expenses are big and rising.
Apart from the company expenses, the rent alone will most probably be your biggest expense. But as you are young, you could share an apartment with someone (or rent bigger ones and subagent extra rooms) or just rent a cheaper one in Sharjah or some other emirate especially in the start to try to lower your costs.

 

[AndyAresa]

Do you specifically want to leave Morocco? Especially if not, you could feasibly stay and do a setup like this;

-UK company
-Swiss branch which books your business. Corp tax would be a little over 10%, profits can be fed back to the UK company which then pays dividends (UK company doesnt get taxed on the profit from its branch)

You'd then have a Swiss bank account and prestigious legal entity for billing your EU clients, banking for the UK company via something like Wise. You'd need a local director in Switzerland. DM me if you want specific help, as I'm based there and happy to discuss and help as I've done a similar setup for me.

Hi rdec237, thanks for sharing this setup. The tax burden of 10% is really attractive. Can you share what approximate costs would such a setup incur? The initial costs of setting up a Swiss branch and getting a local Swiss director, plus further annual periodic payments. Does such Swiss branch need to prepare Swiss fin statements and possibly audit? can a Swiss bank account be opened for such branch?

 

[rdec237]

Hi rdec237, thanks for sharing this setup. The tax burden of 10% is really attractive. Can you share what approximate costs would such a setup incur? The initial costs of setting up a Swiss branch and getting a local Swiss director, plus further annual periodic payments. Does such Swiss branch need to prepare Swiss fin statements and possibly audit? can a Swiss bank account be opened for such branch?

Hey, sure. A Swiss branch is treated the same as a Swiss company, so you need to file a tax return annually, which is pretty simple with the help of a local accountant. No audit required. Yes, a bank account can be opened with a local bank eg. UBS, Post Finance.

Approx setup costs: 2k CHF for the admin, notary, and commercial register fees to establish the company
Ongoing costs: Local director, Business address, Tax return & Accounting. For a v simple setup (eg. one man consulting) you could budget around 500/month, certainly can go more if you need complex accounting support. (Also the local director cost can vary depending on effort / risk)

DM me if you want to chat and explore your specific case more, I have a setup like this and local contacts to help get it done cost-effectively (easy to get ripped off in Switzerland haha)

 

[Marzio]

I have a setup like this

Which local bank was more easy to work with to open an account for your branch?

 

[rdec237]

Which local bank was more easy to work with to open an account for your branch?

UBS is actually pretty uncomplicated to work with

 

[karishi]

I have a solo software dev agency, close to 200k USD a year. Working for EU and US clients. Set up is very simple: LLC in San vincent and the grenadines ( 1000k USD a Year ), residency in the UAE as a freelancer ( will switch to remote working visa ) -> ~2500 USD a year + 300 USD for bad insurance in the UAE. And that's it. Put away some money to buy a property in Dubai so you can get the tax residency certificate with 90 days in Dubai and you are good.

 

[JimBeam]

Where do you bank with your Saint Vincent company?
Any accounting or audit requirements?

 

[orangekangaroo]

Thank you for the response, I do not have issues with overlapping daytime hours, as we only need 30-60minutes a day overlap at most.
I am also a fan of south eastern Asia (culture, geography...) would love it if there was a setup where I could live there, preferably in Malaysia (It has support for Wise's multi-currency accounts + card and a decent tech community).

You have said it yourself. Try Malaysia, they have a Digital nomad visa, no taxes for the DN. Plus islamic country, you may feel less discriminated and more at home. You can stay for a total of 2 years.

 

[karishi]

Where do you bank with your Saint Vincent company?
Any accounting or audit requirements?

Wise, but I could bank easily in Dubai

 

[johnwickert]

Consider Portugal's Non-Habitual Residency (NHR) program for tax benefits, stable economy, and quality of life. You can set up a company in a tax-friendly jurisdiction, and live in Portugal for a reasonable cost of living and good healthcare.