

Ask HN: Which corporation form is the most international-startup-friendly - alexanderx

For someone who is not residing in the US and working on a startup that receives payment internationally through bank&#x2F;credit card, which corporate formation is the most suitable and flexible? 
Of course by that it means,least administrative and tax filing possible. (Let also assume one is not desperate for VC money.) I have seen a lot of options like US LLC, BVI, even singapore and ireland ... Would someone with experience share some thoughts on this? Is there any no brainer choice?
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philiphodgen
Corporations and their operating costs are probably about third on the list of
important stuff to worry about.

First is having customers who want to pay you. 'Nuff said.

Second -- and this is where you should spend all of your time and not stop
until you have it solved -- is the actual system for getting money all the way
from your customer's pocket and into your bank account. Until you have that --
for realz, not a cheery pat on the head and "Yeah we can do that" don't spend
any time thinking about corporations. Talk to payment processors and banks and
don't stop until this is bulletproof.

What they tell you will decide what type of structure you create. If they say
set up general partnerships in Burkina Faso and use the letter "K" in the name
at least twice, you do that.

This is a variation on the "When Mama's happy, everybody is happy" advice.
Mama is your credit card processor. Mama is your bank.

Third. Set up whatever they will work with. The cost differentials (and
paperwork burden differentials) are trivial.

Disclosure. International tax lawyer. Have not set up general partnerships in
Burkina Faso. Attempting to start helping the HN community with a new website
at [http://freelancetax.com](http://freelancetax.com). Suggestions for where
pain exists that I could solve -- very welcome.

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jasiek
A LLC in the United Kingdom seems pretty easy to deal with, IMO.

