For some time now, I own my own company in Estonia, and I run in completely online, wherever I travel. This experience has changed my life. In this article, I describe how starting a company in Estonia can help you embrace a simpler, happier life as a location independent freelancer, digital nomad, or solopreneur.
Why Starting A Company In Estonia
Some time ago, my partner and I decided to break the chains of our 9 to 5 jobs and become digital nomads. I had a company in Spain, but managing it, complying with the tax office and fulfilling all the legal requirements was a nightmare for me.
The Spanish administration is not ready for modern types of professional like digital nomads, micropreneurs, freelancers or startups.
Managing a business there is next to impossible for a developer or designer who just wants to work, earn money and enjoy a normal life with what he or she earns.
I needed an accountant because I was not able to understand my tax duties as a professional, or even how much taxes I was supposed to pay.
The whole Spanish business system, in my opinion, seems to have been purposely designed to confuse people. I honestly won’t have been able to say how much I needed to pay on a certain quarter, or how many different documents I needed to fill and send to the Tax Office.
The Freelancer Fee
To make things worse, if you want to work as a freelancer in Spain, or found a company, you need to pay a monthly “freelancer fee“, called the “Cuota de autónomo”.
In fact, you need to pay this fee monthly even if you don’t earn any money during that month. This fee is over 340€ if you are the owner of a company.
Conversely, most other countries in Europe have the concept of “microbusiness” or “one-person company” designed to help developers, designers or freelancers to get started with their businesses.
These micro-companies usually benefit from reduced taxes or at least some beneficial conditions.
Feeling Trapped
Back in Spain, I was feeling trapped. I earned a lot of money working as an iOS freelance developer for startups from all over the world. However, I was struggling with my business, due to the excessive red tape and the unfair tax system.
Life in Madrid is certainly expensive, so I had the feeling that I was working a lot (65-70 hours per week) and never earning enough money.
On a certain occasion, the government fined me because some of my customers didn’t pay the taxes from my invoices correctly. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to amend this situation, without success. As you may imagine, all these problems leave you with a feeling of helplessness.
To make things worse, I was never sure why I was paying what I was asked to. The system was obscure to me, full of cryptic rules (some of them contradicting other rules). And every time I asked my accountant, I ended up even more confused than before.
Thus, I was feeling unhappy and frustrated. I worked remotely, yes, and was free to choose my customers, but I never had the feeling that I was in control of my business or my life.
Decided to become fully location independent, I started looking for alternatives out there. However, I couldn’t find anything until a lucky series of coincidences put me on the right track.
A One Month Trip To Latvia
By the time, we were members of TechHub Madrid at the Google Campus. However, at the beginning of 2017, TechHub announced that they were closing their community in Madrid, with almost no prior advice.
To compensate us for such an abrupt end (some of us had just recently paid our yearly subscription fee), we were given a short period of time for free on any TechHub community.
For some time now, we’ve been living for at least one month every year in a foreign country, working there and living like locals. It’s quite an enlightening experience.
Thus, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to visit another country, merge with a different entrepreneur community and know other people and cultures.
We had a look at the alternatives available and finally settled down for Riga, Latvia.
Latvia is a European country, but it’s certainly an affordable one. Also, I like cold weather and feel more comfortable in small cities. It looked like the perfect place to stay for a month.
Thus, we spent July at Riga and I fell in love with the city.
We talked to the community manager at TechHub Riga, and he told us about the micro-company figure in Latvia. Basically, a company for solopreneurs with reduced taxes, almost no paperwork, and great conditions for people starting a business.
Then I realized that there were other company models outside of Spain, friendlier to people like myself.
Enter Estonia
A company in Latvia still had some problems. Namely, I needed to stay in Latvia and operate my company there. Sometimes, I would physically need to be there to do certain things. I would also need to hire an accountant or agency to take care of the taxes, etc.
However, I talked to my friend Luke Kelly and told him about my plans. He is a designer extraordinaire and has been a digital nomad for years now.
He told me “You need to check out Estonia, they have this e-Residency program and you can own a company and operate it remotely from anywhere“.
I was intrigued, so I checked out the e-Residency program and learned that I could open my company completely online while being in control of my business and let a business service provider take care of my accounting, taxes, and compliance, for much less than I was paying to my Spanish accountant.
The e-Residency concept seemed revolutionary to me, too good to be true. The more I read about it, the more I was convinced that it was the way to go.
By becoming an e-Resident, you get an ID card issued by the Estonian government with a cryptographic chip allowing you to authenticate and sign documents.
Furthermore, with that ID, you can create a company in Estonia and operate it remotely.
I did read a lot about the e-Residency program. A lot. I realized how easy it was to open and operate a company there. I also contacted some digital nomads who were successfully running their businesses in Estonia.
Finally, with all the information in my hands, I decided to do it. I was decided to found my company in Estonia!
The Plan
Thus, the plan was simple. We would quickstart our digital nomad lifestyle by moving to Riga. At the same time, we would start a company in Estonia after becoming e-Residents. Next, we will travel the world as digital nomads, operating our companies remotely.
Moving To Riga
By the end of July, before traveling back to Madrid, we went to the PMLP Office in Riga to register as -physical- residents in Latvia. I will talk about this process in another post.
Next, we talked to our Airbnb host and asked her if she would be interested in extending the rental contract for six months.
Turns out, she was very kind and understanding, and we got to an agreement. We had a place to live in Riga, and we were official residents in Latvia.
Then, the next step, probably one of the most difficult ones, was cutting the ties with Spain.
We told our household in Madrid that we were moving, and I started a decluttering project to get rid of all my stuff. It was a hard process for me, especially getting rid of my piano.
Becoming e-Residents in Estonia
The next step, before starting your company in Estonia is becoming an e-Resident. The e-Residency program opens the doors to a whole new world of possibilities, from accessing a series of services online to digitally sign documents from your laptop.
I talk extensively about how to become an e-Resident, how to apply, the requisites, and the whole process in this article: “The Process of Becoming an Estonian e-Resident“.
Service Providers for Starting a Company in Estonia
There are many providers out there, but it’s important to find the right one for your business. Accountancy, taxes, and all that kind of stuff is boring for us, entrepreneurs. We just want to focus on doing what we love and growing our business.
I encourage you to have a look at Companio. It offers the most complete service while taking care of all the dull accountancy stuff. You just need to upload your purchase and sales invoices monthly and connect your bank account for invoice matching. Easy and hassle-free.
Yes, you could do your accountancy yourself, but I honestly think that your time -like mine- is worth more than the monthly fee you pay to a professional company to manage your bookkeeping in a fraction of the time.
One of the main selling points of Companio is the fact that it supports companies with multiple owners, employees -even outside of Estonia- and payrolls, and businesses that require specific licenses to operate (such as crypto-companies). Other providers allow single-owner companies, don’t support employees or charge significantly higher fees.
The Four Steps for Starting your Company in Estonia
I mentioned that you need to be an e-Resident before registering a company in Estonia, but you can actually start the process right away before even applying for e-Residency. Here’s how to do it.
Looking for the name of your company
You can start the process by going to the registration assistant. First, you need to check that the name of your company is not already registered, or there’s no European trademark with a similar name.
The name of your company should be unique and distinctive from other company names. It should also be different from any registered European or Estonian trademark unless you get explicit and notarized consent from the owner.
The fact that you can just look for the name of your company easily on a website, coming from Spain, was another shock for me. In Spain, before starting a company, you need a “Negative name query report” in order to make sure that the company name’s still available.
This report costs you money. In Estonia, it is as simple as searching for it on a website or asking for that information from your service provider.
If there’s a similar trademark name or a matching company name, you will be asked to provide another name. If there’s no similar trademark, but there are some similar company names that may present some problems in the registry, you will receive a warning. Otherwise, you will be able to continue to the next step.
Filling in your company data
Next, you will be asked to fill in some information about the shareholders, board members, and company data.
First, you need to add the data of the members of the company. For each person you add, you decide if it’s going to be a shareholder, member of the board, or both. You can also specify that this person will be the representative of the company (for accountancy and business-related subjects).
If the members of the company have their e-Resident IDs already, that’s good news. They will be able to enter them and sign the company registration right away. If not, don’t worry, you will be able to add their birthdate to make sure the signatures are issued to the right person.
Then you need to specify the activity of your company, and also its means of communication (such as email and phone number).
Overview and payment
Next, you will be taken to a screen to verify that all the information is correct. Make sure to check that everything’s correct.
If you need to change anything, you will be able to do so by going back using the buttons at the bottom left. If, on the contrary, everything looks fine to you, just proceed to payment.
Becoming an Estonian e-Resident
That’s all! If all the members are e-Residents, the company registration will take around 48 hours on average!
I talked about the Process of Becoming an Estonian e-Resident before. If some of the company members are not e-Residents yet, they need to apply at the official e-Residency website. Once their applications are approved, they will need to wait until all of them have their ID card in their hands. It usually takes 3-4 weeks, so be patient!
You can go directly to the official e-Residency application website and register as an e-Resident in a few clicks. You will need to fill in some information about you, your citizenship, date of birth, personal data, and upload some pictures of your ID or passport and your face.
Signing the company registration and services contract
Finally, when all the members have their e-Residency cards, they will be able to digitally sign the company registration and services contract. This step is important to guarantee the consent of all the members and the fact that they have their e-Residency IDs.
Then, after this step is complete, they will proceed to enter the company in the business registry. Easy, right?
The registration process is really fast. You are asked to confirm your company email and sign the application in the e-Business Registry. In just 24 to 48 hours, your company will be registered, and you will receive the official document that contains the registration code of your company.
This registration code, alongside the name and address of your company, identifies your company, and you should include it on every invoice you issue to your customers.
Then, you just need to open your bank account.
Opening your Bank Account
When it comes to open your bank account, you have two options:
- Open a bank account in a traditional Estonian bank such as LHV.
- Use an online banking provider such as Wise or Revolut Business.
Edit: Today, online business solutions work so well that I can hardly think of reasons why a location-independent business owner would need a traditional Estonian bank account. My advice would be to open your company’s bank accounting with Revolut Business, Wise, or similar providers.
In our case, as we were staying in Riga, which is only 4 hours away from Tallinn, and LHV had no fees for non-residents back then, we decided to travel there and open a bank account in LHV. We traveled by bus. As we were already in Latvia when we started the process, we actually did the trip before the company was even registered.
As you can see, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to when and how to meet the bank representatives.
Once we got to the bus station, we got into a cab, and some minutes later we arrived at the LHV headquarters, where we meet Marje.
Marje was really nice to us, making the whole experience a pleasure. In Your Company In Estonia, they help you contact the LHV representatives to be pre-approved and arrange a meeting prior to your visit to Estonia.
I have found more problems opening bank accounts in my home town in Spain. However, Estonian banks are making it much harder for non-residents to open bank accounts for their companies, usually requiring a “strong connection” with Estonia.
We left the bank, and I met a startup that was looking for an iOS developer. The meeting was very positive, and some days later I was joining the startup. We got back to Riga after visiting Tallinn.
I would call that a well-spent trip.
What’s Next
Once the process of starting a company in Estonia is complete, the fun begins! Here are the next steps you might want to take once you are all set.
The Big Day: Issuing your First Invoice
The most exciting event, once everything is ready, is when the big day comes. You issue your first Invoice!
I can hardly describe with words how amazing it feels. I will write a post on how to issue your invoices, register your expenses, etc. However, I still have this first invoice engraved in my mind.
If forced to choose a word, it would be: freedom.
I had my business in front of me, at the dashboard. I could issue invoices with just some clicks and get paid. Also, I could upload expenses, sales invoices, and control every aspect of my business.
Additionally, I understood all I saw. The cash in and cash out operations are simple and easy to understand, and the tax system is crystal clear. You don’t pay any taxes for the money your company earns. You just pay taxes when you distribute salaries or dividends.
That’s all you need to know to get started.
VAT Number and Operating in the EU
As part of the registration process, you get a European VAT number. You can use this VAT number to issue your invoices, and for your business-related expenses, from paying at the gas station on a business trip to the subscription fee of your hosting provider.
Additionally, in Your Company In Estonia, they take care of registering you as an employee (Board member) of your company so you can assign yourself salaries. It’s all super easy.
Getting a Debit Card
Once you open your account at LHV, you can get a debit card. This card has a very low monthly fee (2€). It gets issued to the official address of your company, and then the person of contact there sends it to your location of choice.
Note: debit cards on most online banking solutions are completely free.
Thus, once your debit card arrives, you have everything you need to run your business.
You have a European company, and a registered VAT number to operate in the European Union, an Estonian bank account, and a debit card.
Your business is ready. And the best part, you don’t have to worry about invoices or taxes. You can focus on what you do best: working, finding new customers, and growing your company.
Conclusion
In this article, I describe how starting a company in Estonia changed my life. If you are a freelancer, digital nomad, or solopreneur, I can definitely suggest you to, at least, consider it.
We live in a completely different world now. This new world is all about getting rid of frontiers and being able to work and live anywhere.
This nomad lifestyle is slowly but steadily spreading and being adopted by more and more people every day.
Hence, we need the tools to be able to work without worrying about borders, paperwork, different tax regulations, etc. I think Estonia was one of the very first countries to realize that.
Certainly for me, starting a company in Estonia has been a game changer in my life.
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Hello Nacho, thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I would like to ask you something about health insurance. As you know, in Spain we have national health care system, but when you became a digital nomad, what do you do if you get ill? Do you have something like a international private health insurance?
Thanks!!!
Hello there Pablo, thanks for asking! As you are from Spain, let me answer you in Spanish:
Depende de donde residas. En nuestro caso, nosotros viajamos sobre todo por Europa. Entonces, si te haces residente de un país Européo (por ejemplo, vas a vivir allí 3 o 6 meses), tienes derecho a sanidad como si fueras local. Esto es igual en toda Europa y paises tipo Islandia o Suiza. En otras areas, depende de país a país. En algunos paises funciona como en Europa (te haces residente y tienes derecho a sanidad), mientras que en otros es mejor pillar un seguro privado. En Asia y Sudamérica estos seguros son muy baratos (en algunos casos pueden ser como 100 euros al año solamente).
También tienes la opción de hacerte un seguro internacional. Hay actualmente muchísimas empresas orientadas a digital nomads que lo hacen. Personalmente nunca lo hemos necesitado.
Muchísimas gracias Nacho!!! Y por favor sigue escribiendo sobre estos temas, creo que son muy interesantes para todos los que nos gustaría ser nómadas digitales
we don’t know Spanish, could you answer in Turkish?
🙂
It would be good if you answer in English, thanks.
Of course, Ferhat. As my Turkish is quite rusty, let me answer you in English 😉
It depends on your country of residence. In our case, we are traveling throughout Europe. Then, when you become a resident there (i.e: you go to Italy and become a resident there for 3-6 months), you get your residence ID card and get access to social security. That applies for Europe and related countries (Iceland, Switzerland…).
In other areas, it greatly varies from country to country. Some countries work like Europe (you become resident and have access to healthcare), while in others it’s better to contract private health insurance. In Asia and South America private insurance is certainly affordable (way less than 100€/year).
You can also hire an international health insurance plan. There are some companies offering that right now. We personally have never used that, but we have gone to private clinics in countries where it’s affordable (i.e: Latvia). Hope it helps!
Thanks Ignacio for share all this info, All the decluttering project is indeed very impressive and very motivating.
Spain is so similar to Chile in so many ways… its like we are living in 1980… so it is very cool that countries like Estonia (it is not germany or england) has this kind of options… they seems to understand the new world we are living now.
by the way, I still can’t understand how you could sell the Pink Floyd’s vynil records…. no one in the world should never ever leave their pink floyd stuff
gracias por compartir
Thank you Daniel, glad to know it helped! Estonia is definitely one step ahead of the game, and I hope others will follow soon.
Yes, selling my stuff has been painful, especially some of my vinyls, like the Pink Floyd ones 🙁
Still, now that I got rid of almost everything, I feel relieved. ¡Gracias a ti!
Hi sir i really need some help. everything looks like I have to pay. nothing is free. No place where I can get help or do anything.. I have register the company in Estonia that is good. I got the bank account that is good. Now I have investors who want to invest the money in my company. one of the investors is from china and 2nd one is from Germany. how can I register their shares in my company and get investments from them? can anyone advise me what should I do about it. Do you have anyone in Estonia who is good and can help me with low prices? companies want 700 euros
Dear Furqan. There are business service providers who may help you establish your company in Estonia for a lot less than 700€.
But don’t be fooled, nothing is free, and rightly so. You are starting a business. You need at least some money to establish your company, and your accountant has bills to pay, he does not work for free. A company is something serious, and implies commitment, effort, and an initial investment. Small, yes, but an investment nonetheless.
Good luck in your entrepreneurial journey!
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Hello,
Thanks for sharing this wonderful experience.
Did you travel to Estonia to open a bank account? How this process works?
Is it possible to get a credit card instead of debit card, so that those payments counted as company expenses (I mean, without taxation) ?
Hi there Robin. Thanks for your comment.
Yes, we traveled to Estonia by bus. We happened to be at Riga when we started the process, so it only took us a short 4h trip to Tallinn. LeapIn stuff makes sure to arrange the meeting and prepare everything, so you just have to go to the LHV office and meet the representatives. Once there, they ask you some questions about you and your business. Nothing complicated, just what you do and why you want an account.
It’s possible to get a credit card, but only after two years of active business activity, so initially you have to settle down for a debit card. However, all justified payments done with your debit card count as business expenses, no need of credit card here.
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Hola Nacho,
He leido tu post y también me hice e-Resident hace un mes.
Better in english 😉 Maybe this can help somebody.
A good option to start right now without visiting Estonia is Bunq or Revolut. You can open a business account for companies 🙂
Hope it help somebody, it really made my day when I know it!
Un abrazo!
Hola Daniel!
Congratulations for being an e-Resident!!! ????
It’s funny that you mention it, because I published an article about Revolut, Monzo, and other alternatives just some days ago, here.
I am super-happy with my Revolut card and currently doing all my banking using it and my Estonian LHV account. So if you have any question don’t hesitate to contact me, I’ll be glad to help! 🙂
Un abrazo.
Hi and thanks for the great article, I am thinking about setting up an e-residency, and this helps clarify, but I did have one question: If I understand you correctly, you are saying that your total tax rate is 20%? To what country, Estonia? Is Estonia considered your “tax-residency” home, or is it Latvia or another country? This part confuses me and I would appreciate any clarification. Thanks!
Hello there Stephen, thanks for your message.
My current residency is in Latvia, and my company is in Estonia. As you know, your company and you (as an individual) are two different concepts, so in my case, my company pay taxes in Estonia and I do in Latvia. If you become an e-Resident and open your company in Estonia, you will still be a resident of your home country (or wherever you are a resident right now), so it’s important to have those concepts clear.
I have written an in-depth article on how e-Residents owning a company in Estonia pay taxes, including a salary example, and all the taxes and VAT considerations, you can find it here.
Hope it helps! 🙂
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Thanks for the great writing. Really appreciated how clear you made the process for me to understand. Looking forward reading more about your experiences.
Thanks Burak! Glad to know it was helpful 🙂
Hi Pablo, I am opening my company through the e residence program and I have just found out about Transferwise from reading your post. Is there any disadvantage in using Transferwise instead of a local bank account? Do you use it for your business?
Hi there Juan, I’m actually Nacho 🙂
Nice to know, always glad to meet a new fellow e-Resident and entrepreneur!
Well, having a real bank account has many advantages in this case. To begin with, you will be covered by the European Banking Deposit guarantee. Also, having a real bank account associated to your company gives credibility to your business and gives you a better position if you plan on having a payment gateway for your services/products.
That said, I am a big fan and supporter of not only TransferWise, but digital banking alternatives like Revolut. I wrote a post about that here.
Hope it helps!
Hi Nacho, I am studying in Spain and have been contracted to teach spanish. I am also a Supply Chain professional and would like to offer consulting services. After reading your post, I think it would behoove me to become an e-stonian to be able to invoice clients in Spain. Am I on the right course? Are there any pitfalls or do you have to collect taxes from your customers? Apparently we don’t have to open a bank account if we have Paypal and credit cards from the US?
Thanks for your post.
Hi there Robert. Of course, I think that’s a great idea.
Well, when you issue invoices to your customers and earn money, that money goes to your Estonian bank account or equivalent. You don’t need to pay taxes until you assign yourself a salary or dividends. Have a look here for a more detailed explanation.
You don’t need to open a bank account, although I would recommend you to do that. However, if you want to go bank-free, I can recommend you solutions like Transferwise that are way better than Paypal and have less fees, especially as your company will be in Europe, operating in euros.
Hello Nacho,
Thank you for this informative article. I am a resident of Estonia, but my company starts operating in Barcelona, Spain. Do you know how would this work with the local taxations, since it is a product that I am planning to sell there. Do I need to register a firm in Spain, or Estonian firm would work as well?
Thanks In advance
Hi there Savva,
As your company is in Estonia, Europe, there should be no problem whatsoever in selling your products in Spain. You don’t need to register in Spain at all. Just issue invoices to your customers in Spain.
I recommend you to get a VAT number if you don’t currently have one to avoid including VAT in your invoices to Spanish companies that have VAT number. It will greatly reduce the paperwork and complexity.
Hope it helps!
Best regards.
Hola Nacho,
Me gustaría hacer lo mismo que has hecho e irme fuera, pero tengo dudas de como hacerlo,
Una vez montada la empresa en Estonia, si estas en Latvia, ¿cobras con la empresa Estonia y pagas como autónomo en Latvia o tienes que hacer otra sociedad limitada en Latvia?. Estoy un poco confuso con el modo correcto de hacerlo.
¿Qué impuestos se pagan en el sitio donde estas? y ¿Cómo se hace?
Muchas gracias por tu blog y tus aportaciones!!
Hola Pablo. Gracias por tu comentario.
No, generalmente si tienes Your Company In Estonia, puedes sacar dinero mediante dividendos o asignándote un salario. En ese aspecto, eres un empleado de tu propia empresa. Entonces, a mitad de año, harás la declaración de impuestos que te corresponda por tus ganancias como cualquier asalariado.
Parte de tu salario lo pagas en Estonia automáticamente, y parte de tu salario lo tendrás que declarar en tu país de residencia. Es como si empezaras a trabajar para Skype (empresa Estona), solo que tu fueras el CEO de Skype y te pagaras a ti mismo un salario.
He escrito un post explicativo al respecto con un ejemplo real de salario aquí: https://micropreneur.life/eresident-taxes-vat/
It’s a credit to our government for coming up with a legal and technical framework that makes e-residency a thing, however, I feel obligated to make a distinction between a sizable level of abstraction provided by companies like LeapIN and the “inner workings” of our governmental processes. The slick onboarding that got you so excited is likely translated into precisely something like “telecommunications” at the end of it all. Nice read.
Thanks Mart!
In my humble opinion, you should give your government a lot more credit. Your country has created not only the infrastructure that you mention, but a whole business framework for digital nomads, blockchain governmental networks, and they are even considering implementing a cryptocurrency (the Estcoin).
Probably you take most of these things for granted, and see them as “normal”. But I come from a country where the official websites from the government have invalid -insecure- self-signed certificates no browser trusts, a country where a politician recently affirmed that Twitter was a paid service, and where one of the most beloved singers said that “Internet should be forbidden, there’s too much freedom there”… That’s my country 🙂
I feel ya. As Patri Friedman said in his piece in Cato Unbound, government is just another industry, where countries offer services to citizens, but since there’s an enormous barrier to entry and high switching costs, this results in a horribly uncompetitive industry, so it is no surprise that existing firms (governments such as yours) tend to exploit customers instead of innovating to attract them. So props to Estonian Government I guess, but most importantly to people like yourself who are “voting with their feet” by making these important jurisdictional choices and thereby increasing competitive pressure on their governments to be more efficient.
Agreed 100%. Thanks again Mart.
Hi Nacho,
I am currently cluster manager of the Galician Health Cluster and working on our relations with Estonia in order to manage to get some of our companies out there. I felt in love with Estonia after one of my events involving this beautiful baltic country. I happened to fall into your blog on my desperate search of information of any Galician (or Spanish) companies there.
Besides brave freelances like you, do you feel the Spanish community entering Estonia to set up companies and develop together? Is the reduction of administration burden still the main reason to go there?
Where in Spain did you have your company previously?
Hello there Gisela, thanks for commenting.
I would say the hassle-free aspect of managing a company in Estonia is probably the main appeal for any Spanish entrepreneur, freelancer or company. In Estonia, you can do everything online and, most importantly, the system is completely transparent. Conversely, the Spanish business system seems to be designed to confuse people. You never know if you are “doing the right thing”.
Apart from that, there are some obvious monetary advantages, but they are secondary in my humble opinion.
Hi Nacho,
thanks for the great post!
I am a web-developer living in London and I have my Ltd here.
For a number of reasons my wife and myself just decided to relocate to Mallorca in a couple of months and I was wondering what would be the best way to manage my business when I’ll become a Spanish resident.
I’ll be working for european / american companies from remote.
Would it be advisable to keep my Ltd or would it be wiser/easier to close it down and found a new company, maybe in Estonia?
thanks for your help
Alessio
Hello there Alessio, thanks to you for your comment.
I guess it all depends on your future plans, i.e: if you plan on staying there, getting back to the UK or even travel regularly.
If you plan on working remotely, and foresee future trips, I would definitely go for an Estonian company, as it will give you peace of mind as you change your residence (and tax residence) to operate globally.
If you are going to stay in Spain, supposing your services are purely digital and you don’t need permanent facilities or an office, I will also consider Estonia, because being a freelancer (autónomo) in Spain or open a company there is simply a nightmare, as I explain in this post.
If being in Marbella is something temporary, and you plan on getting back to the UK soon, you may consider keeping your Ltd. company, however, even in that case, you could consider Estonia as a way of keeping a spot in the European market.
Anyway, if you need help with the Spanish part of the equation (invoicing and taxes there, how to declare them, etc)… send me a message and I could be able to help you further.
Thanks Nacho,
there’s something I didn’t get though… my understanding is that if I move to Mallorca and stay there for more than 183 days/year I become a Spanish resident and I have to pay taxes in Spain. Is that correct?
Now, if I open a company in Estonia my salary will be tax free in Estonia but it will attract taxes in Spain. and the dividends will get taxed both in Estonia and in Spain.
I am sure I got it wrong, it can’t be this way 🙂
Hello Alessio,
Yes, you are right, if you spend 183 or more days in Spain, you’ll become a tax resident there. However, in order to make the change effective, and avoid problems with the British or Spanish administrations, I will recommend you to fill a form in the UK to stop being a tax resident there or declare that your tax residency is in Spain. Conversely, you will need to fill a similar form in Spain when applying for residency there (to get access to public health, etc).
If you open a company in Estonia, your salary won’t be tax free there. A small part of your salary (the Board Member salary) will pay taxes in Estonia, and the rest (the Employee salary) will pay taxes in Spain. I wrote a detailed blog post about it here: https://micropreneur.life/eresident-taxes-vat/
Unfortunately, Spain is one of those countries that apply personal taxes on already-taxed corporate dividends, so yes, you will have to pay taxes twice. I recommend you to stick to salaries. If in doubt, don’t hesitate to contact me! 🙂
Hi Nacho,
thanks for the above.
I just received an offer to work as a fully remote and permanent employee for a British company.
This company doesn’t have a branch in Spain so when I told them that I am planning to move to Mallorca they said that unfortunately they are not able to employ me if I became a Spanish resident, and they are only keen to offer permanent positions.
Is there any advice you can give me to avoid such an unfortunate situation?
I am happy to move this conversation to a private channel and pay for your advice.
regards
A.
Hello there Alessio,
Well, I don’t really see a problem there, what I see is a big opportunity.
Actually, that’s one of the situations where a company in Estonia can be your best advantage. With a company in Estonia, you can ask the company to hire your company on a permanent contract for consulting services, or even sign a private contract with you so that you invoice the company while working on a permanent basis for them.
Of course, without knowing the situation in depth, I may be missing something important. If you want to go through a consulting session so I can give you the best advice, I’m happy to talk!
Hello Nacho,
I tried contacting you through the “consulting” section of this web site.
Just wondering if you received it 😉
A.
Hello there Alessio, just answered back, looking forward to speaking to you 🙂
Hola Nacho:
Gracias por toda la información me está siendo de gran ayuda, tengo un par de dudas y ojála me puedas aclarar un poco lo giguiente:
Para abrir la empresa hay que depositar un mínimo de capital social?
He leido en otros blogs unos 2500 €, pero no lo dejan claro ya que parece ser que exite la posibilidad de no hacer ese deposito.
Nosotros somos varios socios y por la información que leo solo recomiendan abrir sociedades unipersonales, si abrimos cada uno nuestra empresa de manera independiente tendriamos que pagar impuestos por mover el dinero entre las disintas empresas al estar registradas en Estonia verdad?
Sobre el tema de los salarios tendriamos seguridad social en Estonia al pagar parte de los impuestos por ese concepto?
Muchas gracias!
Hola Dalia, gracias por tu comentario.
No es necesario depositar el capital social. En ese caso la única problemática es que no podrás repartir dividendos hasta que no lo hayas hecho. Al no ser no residentes no tendríais seguridad social en Estonia, aunque se pague una pequeña tasa social, me temo. En el tema de los varios socios podría ayudaros. Si me escribes un email puedo darte más información (en la sección “About me” tienes el formulario de contacto ;).
Nacho, I Believe what you are doing doens’t work. I tell you why:
Maybe you didn’t know about the CFC rules:
http://www.m-i-tax.de/content/Wichtige_Links/Alumni_Netzwerk/documents/cfcrules_000.pdf
The problem is that if you are resident somewhere( let’s say Italy), that country will consider EVEN your society in Estonia as Italian. Because the administrator is resident in Italy. You have to be resident somewhere, this is why your trick doesn’t work at all.
In order to work you should be somehow no-resident anywhere so no country can claim that the Estonian company is local to them and thus taxable by them.
Tihs is clairified to avoid any possible doubt in the official website:
https://e-resident.gov.ee/faqs/taxation/#example-cases-of-taxation
If I create a one-person company in Estonia and use it to invoice my clients in the UK for consultancy and I stay tax resident in the UK, wouldn’t UK claim corporate tax from my Estonian company because of the Controlled foreign corporation rules?
Yes, they may make that claim because of the presence in UK. Estonian tax residency may be disputed in this case.
A company incorporated in Estonia can be claimed as tax resident of the country of residency of the single shareholder (because of CFC rules or just because of “management and control”). This would require to fill tax return in both Estonia and the country of residency. What are the benefits in incorporating in Estonia as a single shareholder/director because of the point above?
If your aim to avoid paying taxes in the country in which your company generates value, incorporating in Estonia will not explicitly be beneficial for you. E-Residency allows easy company incorporation and ease of management, which are both useful regardless of tax residency.
Hope you will answer and explain to your readers that the e-residence is completely useless. Even if you sponsor it. Hope you will not delete the question and instead you could answer so anybody can read. Thank you. We are all in the same boat.
Hello there Benedetto,
With due respect, I believe you are quite confused about CFC rules. CFC rules are there to prevent citizens open offshore companies in tax heavens. That doesn’t affect Estonia, which has, in fact, CFC rules itself to prevent its citizens from opening businesses in tax heavens :).
Estonia is not Panama, Gibraltar or Seychelles. It’s a respectable country. Their corporate tax is 25% + 33% social tax. And the goal here has nothing to do with “avoiding taxes”. We are talking about freedom, no hassle, no red tape, and borderless management.
In your home country, the law specifies that a country is subject to CFC rules if (quoting):
In Italy, if I’m not wrong, corporate tax is 27.9% (24% plus 3.9% municipal). So for Estonia to be the target of Italian CFC rules, it’s corporate tax would need to be less than 14%.
Of course you can have a company in Estonia as a European citizen from another country. That’s one of the advantages of being in Europe! What you need to make sure is that Italy -in your example- cannot claim that your permanent establishment is in Italy, of course. As far as I know, many e-Residents are residents in their countries and happily conducting businesses. I wrote about that here, if you want to have a look: https://micropreneur.life/will-my-estonian-company-have-to-pay-taxes-in-my-home-country/
So your statement of “the e-residence is completely useless” is a bit ridiculous for me, and so many other e-Residents successfully conducting their businesses abroad. It may not be the best option for everybody, obviously, concretely for you. In that case, I would recommend you to stay in Italy and open a business there. You need to do what’s best for you 🙂
Hello Nacho,
Very helpful your article. I want to ask you if someone has another company in EU and makes a company also in Estonia, instead then of sharing dividends, is ok to make invoices between those 2 companies and get the dividend this way right?
Also is any problem if both companies owned by the same person and exchange services?
Thank you for your time.
Beautiful article, clear and concise. I have a question sir, what happens when your country of origin is not advertised in list of pickup points? for instance if am applying from Nigeria … where do I pick up my card?
Hello there PM, thanks for your comment. You would need to travel to the closest location that has an Estonian Embassy. As you are from Nigeria, before applying for e-Residency I would suggest you to contact as many banks as you can: LHV, Holvi, Swedbank, Transferwise, Revolut Business, and ask them if they would open a bank account for your business.
this sounds really interesting and I am seriously considering it. Just one question though.
I have double citizenship and I consulted with an accountant in Italy as I wanted to understand if I could use my second citizenship to have my company set up in that country rather than Italy and pay taxes there.
He said I could do the setup in that country, but I would then pay double taxes…
Basically taxes for the company in one country and taxes on the revenue in the first country, since I would be making money in the first country.
Is this the case with e-residency and a LeapIn company?
thank you
Great article nacho!
I am a futures trader living in Ireland making money online in USA markets.
Would it be sensible to set up ltd company in Estonia for a professional trader like me? I would like to use my earnings on monthly basis by paying myself a salary.
Thanks for any advice.
I would say yes, but obviously, it depends a lot on your work, your future plans (especially, where you want to reside), etc. Let’s talk via email!
Hello, Great blog !
I have a question about the VAT, I have to buy services (shipment from France -> France). As my company is not VAT registered I can’t invoice the VAT to my client. But when i buy this service from a French company. Do they have to invoice me the VAT ? Or can I pay them without?
Is there a special rules for Estonian company?
Please have a look at the post https://micropreneur.life/eresident-taxes-vat/ for in-depth information about VAT and taxes.
Hi Nacho, I just discovered your blog and it’s so very helpful! Thank you for all the energy you put into this. I’m a Dutch citizen, E-resident of Estonia and just became a resident of Germany 2 weeks ago. I’ve been digital nomaddin’ it up the past year before moving to Germany and not been paying any personal tax as I changed country every month or two. I just have one question, I only have one fulltime client in the US and I’m happy to keep it that way, no need to put energy into finding new clients. But I also am worried that just having one client doesn’t count as a freelancer, that was the main reason I set up my company in Estonia as in the Netherlands there’s a strict rule of having a minimum of 3 clients per year and not spending more than something like 70% of your time per client. I just read your reply on Alessio’s post above:
”Well, I don’t really see a problem there, what I see is a big opportunity.
Actually, that’s one of the situations where a company in Estonia can be your best advantage. With a company in Estonia, you can ask the company to hire your company on a permanent contract for consulting services, or even sign a private contract with you so that you invoice the company while working on a permanent basis for them.”
Is this (still) 100% legal with a company in Estonia? Aren’t you basically an employee then? I’m currently just creating invoices through LeapIN for my client with almost every month the same amount, which worries me. Or do I have to set it up differently, with some sort of private contract that you mentioned?
Thanks for your time and I just sent your details to a friend from Australia as he’s super interested in setting up a company + getting E-residency in Estonia and needs help:)
Hello there Sarah, thanks for your words. Perhaps we can talk in depth about your current situation in a consultancy session?
Hi,
First of all thank you for all the information you put on your blog.
I’m a Belgian Freelance IT guy living in Bulgaria for 1 year now. Because of family matters I want to go back to Belgium. My biggest client is in Bulgaria.
Since I stopped my company in Belgium 1 year ago, because I opened a company in Bulgaria, I’m now thinking of opening a company in Estonia.
As of 01 jan ’19 Belgium has CFC rules, which are applicable when 2 conditions, which are specified lower in this comment, are met.
Condition 2 says that the CFC rules are not applicable when the income tax for the foreign company is at least the halve of the income tax for the Belgium company, if the company would be in Belgium.
Belgium has for the moment a company tax of 25%.
My question is, what is the company tax of the Estonian limited company? 20% or 0%?
If it’s 20%, I guess I can open a company in Estonia, as a Belgium resident, and pay the company taxes in Estonia.
———————-
Definition of a CFC
A foreign company qualifies as a CFC if the following conditions are met:
1. The Belgian taxpayer owns directly or indirectly the majority of voting rights, or holds directly or indirectly at least 50% of the capital, or is entitled to receive at least 50% of the profits of the foreign company (control test);
2. The foreign company is in its country of residence either not subject to an income tax or is subject to an income tax that is less than half of the income tax if the company would be established in Belgium. In calculating this income tax, the profits that this foreign company would have realized through a PE is disregarded if a double tax treaty applies between the country of the foreign company and the country in which the PE is located that exempts this profit (taxation test).
————————————–
Thanks for your comment Jonathan, I sent you an email regarding your questions!
Hi,
First of all thank you to bundle all this information!
My question is about the CFC rules… Since this year Belgium also has CFC rules.
1 of the conditions to be considered as a CFC rule is the low tax rate treshold (the foreign company can’t be less then the 1/2 of the Belgium equivalant of the company).
Belgium has a 25% company tax, where Estonia has 20% company tax.
Would this imply that no CFC rules are applicable and its OK to use a company in Estonia as a Belgium tax resident.
2nd question is what does the majority chooses in their resident country? Work as a sole trader or a work as an employer for the Estonian company?
Thanks for your comment Jonathan, I sent you an email regarding your questions!
Hi Nacho
My situation is as follows; I will be working/ have got a contract with a firm in the UK where I will be employed on a contract basis. This is part time and I will be travelling alot but I think i will be in Spain for 183 days (could work around this however) I presume if i set up an Estonian company and issue invoices through this, i will pay corp tax in Estonia when i deduct a salary and pay income tax in Spain? is this correct? What would you suggest is the most beneficial way to set up? I will be working on average two weeks a month and these will all be out of Spain in both Europe and America mostly. I previously lived in Ireland (moved to Barcelona in May 2018 and have been working here since July 2018 so i presume I am still ordinary resident in Ireland? But current resident in Spain?).
So the process would be to;
Become E-Res
Set up company in Estonia
Set up Bank account (Revolut)
Pay Salary & Board wage
Pay tax in Spain (which one and how?)
Would appreciate any help!
Thanks,
Luke
Hola Nacho!
Great post! A fellow “autonomo” here, running a sole-proprietorship in Spain. To confirm, by setting up a limited-liability business in EE, I won’t have any fixed costs (despite optional bookkeeping, etc) as we have here, the cuota de autonomo?
Also, how would be the taxation to pay me a salary in ES, as I’m tax resident here, please?
Thanks a lot!
Hi Leo. Yes, you don’t have the “Autonomo fee” in Estonia or anything like that. You are in fact not an autonomo (freelancer), but a company, which is much better :). If you are tax resident in Spain, you can have trouble with the Spanish Tax Office, meaning, your Estonian company may be considered “Spanish” due to your activity and have to pay taxes in Spain. Please, contact me for a consulting session for more details. Best!
Hello Nacho,
Wow, what a great find, that is your webpage, you being Spanish, your English is impeccable and your writing fantastic I have to say, clear and straight to the point, bravo.
I would like to chat with you about a number of things, I see from your comment above 12 may 2019, that it may be possible to make contact with you for a consulting session?
I bought a farm in Spain and wanted to set up a herb farming business, but wow the paperwork was just way out of my league. Then, I was advised to set up an automono and did try and stop this, the tax office and social services told me not to worry but allowed the process to continue costing me over €3,000 euro, I am still currently contesting this as I simply do not owe this bill, I never got to farm my land.
To cut a long story short, I moved from Spain with my partner to her country ion the Nordics as we were having a baby together, but now we are currently going to set up a company in Estonia.
But we do plan to not give up on the herb farm in Spain and would like to control this as non residents of Spain.
Do you think you can offer some advice?
PM me, please
Hi Alan,
Thank you so much for your words! Coming from a native english speaker, I feel flattered.
Having been an “autonomo” for around 4 years, I can certainly understand your situation. It was a terrible decision for my business and for me.
Yes, of course, we could have a consulting session if you are up to it. Just send me a message through my contact form (in the “About me” page). Looking forward to it!
Hi Nacho , Thanks a lot for your informations , i am a digital entrepreneur and i find very interesting your website.
One question , if you are like i am a freelancer, and like me you are not living more then 183 days anywhere, why would you bother having a company ? could you not simply invoice as a single person and then dont have any tax at all? is just for a liability issue that you having a company ?
just a curiosity
Thanks
Hi Antoni!
Because you want to offer trust to your customers and don’t get them into trouble. If you invoice a customer and you are not able to issue invoices, depending on where your customer is doing the accountancy, they may run into trouble.
If you are doing some small consultancy works here and there, it may be ok. However, if you are serious about your business and want to do it right, grow and have a serious image, you need a legal framework to support it.
Nacho, en primer lugar muchisimas gracias por toda la información que ofreces en este blog!
Me lo he leido todo pero hay algo que no me termina de quedar claro. Como residente en España, recibiria un salario de mi propia empresa en Estonia, entiendo que debería pagar IRPF por mi salario. Lo que no entiendo es, que tipo de trabajador sería para España. No sería autonomo, por ende no sería trabajador por cuenta propia o si? O acaso sería trabajador por cuenta ajena para una empresa no española (existe esto?). Es decir, como se justificarían los ingresos por salario a mi cuenta personal?
Gracias, saludos!
Hola Emiliano, muchas gracias, me alegro de ser de ayuda para la comunidad.
Si eres residente en España, tu salario de tu empresa en Estonia cuenta como rentas obtenidas por trabajo en empresa extranjera, y como tal debes declararlas en tu IRPF.
En cualquier caso, si eres residente fiscal en España, viviendo allí permanentemente, no te recomiendo una empresa en Estonia. Puedes tener problemas con la hacienda Española.
Soy italiano y hace 3 meses que vivo en España, estoy empadronado y tengo NIE. Eso me convierte en residente fiscal? Hasta el momento no he sido ni autónomo, ni trabajador por cuenta ajena. Es cierto que por lo pronto viviría en España, pero mis clientes son principalmente de Estados Unidos y es posible que deba contratar a freelancers para algunas tareas (a través de UpWork por ejemplo). Aún así no me recomiendas la empresa en Estonia?
Hola Emiliano,
Gracias por tu mensaje. Posiblemente seas residente fiscal. La verdad es que en tu caso sería mejor hablar en una consultoría para poder ayudarte bien. Un saludo!
Hola Ignacio! I could not agree more with the complicated system in Spain for entrepreneurs, it’s ridiculous. I currently have my limited company incorporated in the UK but I’ve heard of Estonia and investigating I came across your great articles. I have a question, to obtain a residential address in Estonia, how much does it cost? Thanks for the information, it’s great what you are sharing.
Hi Gema, glad you liked it. Your question is like asking “How much does it cost to get a residential address in Spain?”. It depends on where you want to rent your flat. Obviously, a condo in the center of Madrid or Barcelona will be more expensive than a small village house in Ciudad Real.
Wonderful article Ignacio! Kudos to you.
Could you please run your considered opinion over my messy situation please, will try to be as succinct as possible!…
– UK guy/Turkish girl. Digital nomad beginners #diginomadnoobs? 🙂
– Operating a new online web business with customers worldwide.
– Did recently register the company name in the UK as an LTD. (Believe this is meant to have a business account associated, using my personal account but may need one).
– Left the UK with plans to travel continuously. Currently in Turkey as a first stop. Post 90 day visa, have applied for a tourist visa extension of 1 year.
If/when I receive my Turkish ‘tick’ would it be a plan to treat this as our ‘bridge/Latvia’ country?
If so, should I then tell UK Embassy/HMRC I am no longer a UK taxable resident with a view to ‘bouncing’ from Turkey to next destination for 180 days and onward, thereby freeing from any personal tax requirement?
Additionally, would you change the situation above; i.e. simply close the UK LTD business and go for e-residence new business/new business bank account?
Appreciate any help/feedback you can offer, thanks again!
Dear Tony,
I’m afraid that’s a long question that would require a long answer (i.e: a consultancy session). Feel free to send me a message so we can arrange a meeting and I can explain to you what are your options in detail.
Thanks!
Hi Nacho,
It would be great to know how to recover the money for the VAT that we pay when we buy “Office Supplies”. For example, I bought a computer in the Netherlands and in the store they told me I need to go to Estonia to get the money back, it is a bit senseless no? Thank you very much.
Hi Ignacio,
Maybe you don’t answer questions on this thread anymore but I thought I give it a shot.
So long story short, I’m a Swedish citizen living & working in Barcelona (for a bit over a year). I want to quit my corporate job here and freelance full-time – but continue living in Spain. I currently only have clients outside of Spain.
If I become a e-resident in Estonia and register my company there, invoicing companies outside of Spain. Will I still have to pay the freelancer fee here on top of the income tax?
Thanks for an epic blog!
Regards,
Dear Ebba,
If you are going to live in Barcelona, Spain, it is not advisable to have a company in Estonia. Your company will be considered Spanish due to your tax residence triggering a permanent establishment in the country, and you will have to pay taxes in Spain. If you want to know more, contact me and we can talk about it.
Thanks!
Hi Nacho
Would it be possible to contact you. I set up my company in Estonia (that’s easy) but I am having trouble with company insurance. Estonian brokers ask prices 10x highers of those in London. Are you aware of any insurer with reasonable prices for professional indemnity and public liability?
Hi Ruben, I am afraid I am not a connoisseur of insurers, so I cannot help you with that. Thanks anyway for getting in touch!
Hello Nacho,
I am from India and I want to become an e-resident of Estonia. Down the line, I want to settle in Estonia. Is it possible and how. Could you please guide me on this?
Thanks
Great article. Is this something that would work for solo business owners living in the USA?
Dear Sandy,
It might, but you may want to consult a local lawyer about CFC rules and the implications of triggering a permanent establishment if you live full time in the USA.
Thanks!
Hi Nacho – great post!
In addition could you throw some light on how to go about with customer acquisition in Estonia, once you are an e resident?
Are there networking events or websites?
Hi Arnab,
The e-Residents community is indeed quite active and very welcoming to new e-Residents and entrepreneurs. Of course, there are plenty of communities and events our there that might help you. The nice thing about the Estonian startup ecosystem too is that they are also very friendly with e-Residency startups.
Best of lucks!
Awesome article nacho !! Did you write the post about invocing and managing the business after you had your company?
Hi David, actually, yes, but for the blog of my company. You can find it here https://yourcompanyinestonia.com/how-to-invoice-your-customers-and-present-your-companys-invoices-in-estonia/
Hi Ignacio, thank you for the great article!
I have recently received my Estonian e-residency and I would like to set up a company to sell products online in Europe. Can I do that though My Company in Estonia? a lot of the service providers we have found online only support companies for freelancers and not for selling products. Thank you!
Hi Anastasia. That business scheme works if it adheres to a strict dropshipping model. Please have a look here: https://yourcompanyinestonia.com/knowledge-base/do-you-support-companies-that-deal-manage-export-or-import-physical-goods-or-products/
Hi Nacho.
I’m from Spain, I have been outside the country for a year, living off savings.
I’m going to change my residence to another EU country and then do the e-residency and company.
Is there any way to contact you in private?
Hola Nacho,
Antes de nada agradecerte el tiempo que has tomado por explicar tan detalladamente todo el proceso en general, llevo buscando informacion relacionada algun tiempo en varios idiomas y tu blog ha sido el mas util sin duda!
Tambien queria preguntarte si hay algun problema en crear la compañia en Estonia siendo freelance para un unico cliente? Aunque no estoy muy familiarizado con esto creo que en España se les llama ‘Falsos Autonomos’ y en muchos paises no es legal.
Un saludo y gracias!
Hola Dani,
Muchas gracias por tus palabras. En Estonia no hay problema con eso, no existe el concepto de “falso autónomo” porque sencillamente no hay autónomos (bueno, hay, pero pocos, en general la mayoría de freelancers son empresas de un miembro). El sistema de negocios es bueno, de modo que no necesitan esas triquiñuelas de sistemas como el español.
Hello Ignacio:
I’m a student currently doing my master thesis of architecture at EPFL(École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), and my name is Zoe. The thesis I’m working on, is about to study the lifestyle of digital nomad, and you can find more information about my study in the following paragraph. I find your life experience fits perfectly to my studying issues, that’s why I’d like to arrange an in-person interview with you via zoom.
Hi Zoe, thanks for the offer, but right now I am trying to be more conscious with the use of my time. I hope you’ll find someone suited for your study. Best of lucks.
HI I an from India i am running a business. I was very surprised by the e residency program in Estonia How do you rate Estonia for doing business in say building materials, hardware, agricultural tools etc or is it good only for IT.