The best option for a SaaS service?

[netbiz]

Hello, guys!


I am looking for experienced advice.


I have a company in Belize and bank account in Latvia, but recently my bank lost a license for USD transfers and other banks are not happy about Belize companies, so I’d like to register another company and open a new account - in the same country. My business is an e-commerce SaaS service (totally legal). Monthly income is about $4,000 using BlueSnap (planning to increase to $10k in 3 months).

• What’s the best scheme for SaaS services?
  
  
• It also should be possible to open a PayPal account for the company.
  
  
• The jurisdiction should be easy to operate, with the possibility to reduce the tax burden.
  

I was thinking about registering company+bank in Estonia, but the tax on distributed profits is 20% and I’m dubious on how to optimize it. In Cyprus, it’s easy to send transfers to low-taxt zones to optimize taxes, but it’s very time-consuming to open a bank account there.


So, what would you recommend for a SaaS service and why?

 

[Spinat]

You may look at Cyprus, UK, Malta or some of the Baltics countries. It seems to be complicated as soon as paypal comes into play! Another option would be to use 2checkout and incorporate in a country supported by them!

 

[PhilippJumpertz]

The choice of incorporation should follow your banking requirements.

PayPal for offshore companies is still easy to get. We just opened accounts for Panama IBCs around one year ago. The problem are higher fees and in Panama you have to pay the fees twice, since you cannot connect bank accounts to withdraw the money.

SEPA accounts for offshore companies are possible with the Estonia intra-group setup (1,5% taxes) and the Estonia commercial agent setting (10% taxes). But it got increasingly difficult to open bank accounts there. Banks want to see ties to Estonia to open accounts. We solved this with an Estonian Director, who handled the business onsite. I heard from different sides now, that apparently banks are reducing the percentage of non-resident customers by closing (even older) bank accounts and accepting less new non-resident customers. If you are able to proof ties, you might get an account opened. I can give you a short list of possible banks.

Stripe for offshore companies is also possible, but I cannot share any details until we set it up for ourselves. And with offshore Stripe we will also have 1-2 new ways to open SEPA accounts for offshore companies. In about 8 weeks I can tell more.

 

[netbiz]

You may look at Cyprus, UK, Malta or some of the Baltics countries. It seems to be complicated as soon as paypal comes into play! Another option would be to use 2checkout and incorporate in a country supported by them!

As far as I know, 2checkout requires both company and bank account should be in the same country. At the moment, it's not an option for us. Thank you for the reply, we're considering Estonia now.

The choice of incorporation should follow your banking requirements.

PayPal for offshore companies is still easy to get. We just opened accounts for Panama IBCs around one year ago. The problem are higher fees and in Panama you have to pay the fees twice, since you cannot connect bank accounts to withdraw the money.

SEPA accounts for offshore companies are possible with the Estonia intra-group setup (1,5% taxes) and the Estonia commercial agent setting (10% taxes). But it got increasingly difficult to open bank accounts there. Banks want to see ties to Estonia to open accounts. We solved this with an Estonian Director, who handled the business onsite. I heard from different sides now, that apparently banks are reducing the percentage of non-resident customers by closing (even older) bank accounts and accepting less new non-resident customers. If you are able to proof ties, you might get an account opened. I can give you a short list of possible banks.

Stripe for offshore companies is also possible, but I cannot share any details until we set it up for ourselves. And with offshore Stripe we will also have 1-2 new ways to open SEPA accounts for offshore companies. In about 8 weeks I can tell more.

Thank you for such a detailed reply. That would be great if you could share the list of possible Estonian banks (here, or in PM) and, if possible, your service provider for director services By the way, in which country was situated your company you opened a bank account for?

 

[Spinat]

As far as I know, 2checkout requires both company and bank account should be in the same country. At the moment, it's not an option for us. Thank you for the reply, we're considering Estonia now.

It depends if you live in say Belize and have a Belize company but a Cyprus bank account you can be allowed to open an account with them