I was wondering what EU (or non-EU but an EU citizen can legally use) country offers the easiest way to start and manage an online company is.
I know that Estonia with their e-residency program has reportedly made it very easy to do that, has anyone had experience with it?
Teleport might be helpful for your research <a href="https://teleport.org" rel="nofollow">https://teleport.org</a><p>Comparing costs of living, salary levels, life-quality data including stuff like business freedom, corruption, startup scene etc.<p>There is a specific tool <a href="https://teleport.org/runway" rel="nofollow">https://teleport.org/runway</a> that let's you compare costs for running a tech team compared to 250 cities worldwide.
Re: e-residency, <a href="https://www.leapin.eu" rel="nofollow">https://www.leapin.eu</a> are guys building a convenience overlay on top of the government provided services
Don't know anything about other EU countries than the Netherlands, but it's pretty easy over here. Just a matter of some paperwork by a notary, which will cost <1K.<p>There's a big caveat though: 5%+ shareholders are considered managing directors (a "DGA": Director/Majority Shareholder), and as such should receive a minimum salary of 48K EUR per year. There's a special startup exempt on the way that lowers this to minimum wages for some years.<p>Bottom line: if you want to incorporate in NL, as a founder you're ought to receive a salary and pay taxes accordingly.
Bulgaria is a very good solution. Bulgaria has a standard 10% tax on profits, plus 5% if/when you pay dividends.<p>There are at least 2 accounting firms that I found through freshbooks with which you can work remotely and they are fluent in English. I didn't work with them, but exchange a few emails, their rate is about 1.200 EUR/year for up to 20-25 invoices per month AFAIK.<p>You'll have to pay yourself insurance which is extremely low, I don't know the exact figure but it's a non-issue.<p>Banks... Banks have higher fees than any Bulgarian country but at the same time they are way more loose. You can open an account with your passport. I did the mistake to go with Raiffeisenbank which gives only Electron Visas to foreigners. Should you choose a bank in BG, go with Unicredit. They'll give you a proper visa (the electron is for children, many websites do not accept the electron VISA).<p>It's very common for companies in Bulgaria to use a lawyer's address as their official address for paperwork. That's extremely cheap too.<p>The thing with Bulgaria is that the financial setup is rather stable. Their tax rates doesn't go up and down like an elevator. Banks are considerably easier to deal with compared to Estonia for non-Estonians for example.<p>If you want more info drop a mail, good luck!
Well, ease of incorporation might be one thing but what about countries that provide governmental funding programs etc. That might change the calculation.