Totally agree and Estonia e-residency program is a great way to do that.
But that doesn't solve all problems mentionned by the op
- timezone : I have worked and converted companies to global remote. It is surprisingly flowless and often leads to increase in productivity. Yet, most companies are afraid of "not enough facetime"
- employee "ownership". You can make your contract very similar to an employment contract (working hours, copyright ownership...) but most companies want "their own employees". It's a culture thing that I think is linked to perceived loyalty and subordination
- perks and benefits. Most companies think they are cool because they offer a lower salary but plenty of free lunch, gym membership, insurance... you can't put that in a contractor's contract
Interestingly enough, when I was working with JavaScript and PHP, this was very common. Companies that like to "own" their employees, remote work was seen as bad, flexibility was zero. Then I moved away from the mainstream tech, and I no longer have any of this. I'm now treated with respect, I get paid well, I'm 100% remote for many years already. It's funny how companies take you for granted when they can replace you within a day, and treat you well when they can't. That's why I recommend people to take up something that isn't done by a lot of people.
Oh and, as an Estonian myself, I do not recommend e-residency. If all you want is a company, then the e-residency is one of the worst ways to go about it. In terms of cost, flexibility, taxes, etc.
Closure ? Why not, never thought it had a big demand for it. I was a perler for a while but demand dried up ;)
As for e-residency, I guess it depends on your situation. As a resident (expat) of a country no sane company would do business with, with no bank transfers possible, setting that up was easy, cheap and saved my business.
I don't want to evade taxes, just be able to do business, and it does serve that purpose beautifully
How does the e-residency help? You would have to live in Estonia, otherwise an Estonian company will get you just additional bureaucracy. Your one-man company will be taxed based on where you as the company owner reside, not where the company is registered.
Assuming you're somewhere else in the EU, that is. I don't really know how the rest of the world would see this setup.
If you're in the eu, us... just setup your business there, off course.
It's not a tax evasion thing. But if your residency is an issue, the program provides you with a safe heaven to do business. You still have to pay taxes of course, including income taxes in your country of residence
Comments
Totally agree and Estonia e-residency program is a great way to do that. But that doesn't solve all problems mentionned by the op
- timezone : I have worked and converted companies to global remote. It is surprisingly flowless and often leads to increase in productivity. Yet, most companies are afraid of "not enough facetime"
- employee "ownership". You can make your contract very similar to an employment contract (working hours, copyright ownership...) but most companies want "their own employees". It's a culture thing that I think is linked to perceived loyalty and subordination
- perks and benefits. Most companies think they are cool because they offer a lower salary but plenty of free lunch, gym membership, insurance... you can't put that in a contractor's contract
Interestingly enough, when I was working with JavaScript and PHP, this was very common. Companies that like to "own" their employees, remote work was seen as bad, flexibility was zero. Then I moved away from the mainstream tech, and I no longer have any of this. I'm now treated with respect, I get paid well, I'm 100% remote for many years already. It's funny how companies take you for granted when they can replace you within a day, and treat you well when they can't. That's why I recommend people to take up something that isn't done by a lot of people.
Oh and, as an Estonian myself, I do not recommend e-residency. If all you want is a company, then the e-residency is one of the worst ways to go about it. In terms of cost, flexibility, taxes, etc.
Closure ? Why not, never thought it had a big demand for it. I was a perler for a while but demand dried up ;)
As for e-residency, I guess it depends on your situation. As a resident (expat) of a country no sane company would do business with, with no bank transfers possible, setting that up was easy, cheap and saved my business. I don't want to evade taxes, just be able to do business, and it does serve that purpose beautifully
How does the e-residency help? You would have to live in Estonia, otherwise an Estonian company will get you just additional bureaucracy. Your one-man company will be taxed based on where you as the company owner reside, not where the company is registered.
Assuming you're somewhere else in the EU, that is. I don't really know how the rest of the world would see this setup.
If you're in the eu, us... just setup your business there, off course. It's not a tax evasion thing. But if your residency is an issue, the program provides you with a safe heaven to do business. You still have to pay taxes of course, including income taxes in your country of residence