Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
I'm planning on starting a new webdevelopment firm.
And i would like to work on a profit sharing model with the entire group. Would be about half a dozen persons. Problems is that these persons would be from different countries. I'm from the netherlands.
So how do you create a webdevelopment company.
And in which country.
And how do you legally turn out profit to various persons in various countries?
Thanking you in advance,
Thierry
I would create the company in the Bahamas. I would personally become a resident of the Bahamas.
If my colleagues didn't want to follow suite then they would be liable for all taxes determined by their relative countries of residence....heck, sometimes you can show the way, but your colleagues might not listen!
I need a nice climate, a "friendly" business atmosphere, a "friendly" tax climate, and a place that is hospitital to live in. For me the Bahamas satisfies my personal and professional goals. There are numerous other places, but they are a little remote for me. "Monaco" is an exception, but a really tricky place to make work!
To start any business without competent legal/financial counsel and a detailed business plan (including how to handle the questions you ask) is foolish. If the proposed enterprise has international scope it is whatever is beyond foolish.
No forum (even WebmasterWorld) is sufficient to your requirements. There is no "cheap" satisfactory shortcut to the expert(s) and their advice, unfortunately.
I think you overlooked the size of the proposed company. I'm contacting the Dutch Chamber for advice and they have got some thorough support for starters.
A lawyer would offcourse be great. But you must understand that that simply isn't an option for a lot of people (including me).
Sadly enough I think you may have a point that for starting a company it would be madness to do it without one.
Isn't there some simple way to share profit with a few webmasters?
Any help would be appreciated,
Thierry
Your original post suggests that you want to minimize corporate liablity and maximize revenue share.
So, we all replied accordingly.
If all you want to do is form a company that pays EU taxes based in the Netherlands then I don't understand your problem? Please explain it in more detail.
Why not just form a NL corporation and pay the appropriate taxes & fees?
As soon as you ask about an alternative country some of us get blanked into thinking "maximize profits".....for right or for wrong!
The misunderstanding is caused by my lack of knowledge. I know that for a Dutch company I need to apply to the "KVK".
But after that i'm clueless how to deal with the international aspect. How would I be able to share profit with people from other countries(not only EU).
Which taxes would be applied? And which country's law would be used.?
If you could give me some basic insight on how this works I would really appreciate it.
Hope this time i'm more succesful explaining what i would like to know. Asking questions about something you'r clueless about is probably one of the hardest things to do:)
Greetz,
Thierry
The misunderstanding is caused by my lack of knowledge. I know that for a Dutch company I need to apply to the "KVK".
Yes the first thing you must do is appy to the Kamer van Koophandel. They will inform you of all the paperwork you may need which may include: Business Plan, Insurance, Tax Information, Diploma Requirements, Permit to establish a business, and registration in the business register. Your local KvK will be able to inform you of everything.
But after that i'm clueless how to deal with the international aspect.
Once you have established the business you must go through all the normal process. In the Netherlands you must charge VAT at either 6% or 9% depending on the type of product or service you are offering. You must charge this on all income you get in the Netherlands. If you are then going to pay overseas affiliates then that is a real business expense.
If you have very little VAT to pay you can apply for Kleine ondernemersregeling (Small business allowance) and you will then pay little or no VAT.
IamLost gives good advice. If you expect your company to make a lot of money then payment for a knowledgeable accountant will not be a problem. If you are going to start of small then use the KvK as they have a huge amount of information. It may also be possible that they can refer you (free) to the professional help you need.
Hope this helps.
My webdevelopment company wouldn't create sites for other people on a regular basis. Most income would come from building profitable sites. So that would be subscribers (Which i would need to charge VAT) and advertising revenue (A'm i supposed to charge advertisers VAT and how do the advertising programs like google handle this?)
After recieving the money either from ads or services I could divide the profit and send it to the partners?
Thanks,
Thierry
(A'm i supposed to charge advertisers VAT and how do the advertising programs like google handle this?)
As a service company you should charge VAT on everything. Check with KvK about the rate of VAT you should charge. Payments from Google go in the receipts column of your balance sheet - again with regard to VAT this is something you check with KvK. I am in the U.S. at the moment or I would call up KvK to ask them for you. Do yourself a favour and pick up the phone, go to their website [kvk.nl...] or go round to their office - [kvk.nl...] .
After recieving the money either from ads or services I could divide the profit and send it to the partners?
When you have done all the basic stuff and the money is rolling in - spend some of it on that high priced accountant and lawyer to get your tax and VAT payments down.
I'll continue my questions with the KVK.
Thanks,
Thierry
