[lukeqsee]

I don't know of remote-first companies, but I know of many Estonian companies that have raised a lot of money and been incredibly successful.

To name a few:

    - Bolt
    - Wise (TransferWise)
    - Pipedrive

I have a long history with e-Residency and know many e-Residents (e-Resident since 2015, 3 companies, member of EERICA.ee). Happy to chat about it. Email in bio.

[mishaker]

I was e-resident too but had to become resident in Estonia. Cause if you are abroad and distribute yourself dividend (as a sole entrepreneur) your host country would consider your Estonian company local and thus it constitutes a permanent establishment and that becomes extremely complicated

[lukeqsee]

Of course--but this is the case for almost all jurisdictions of record vs jurisdictions of taxation. Few countries want to allow a company to operate 100% in their borders without extracting some degree of taxation. (In fact, this is basic OECD taxation doctrine.)

My situation is complex, but, generally, the advantages of Estonian registration are found in drastically simplified and lower-cost business registration and processing (vs say a GmbH in Germany or Switzerland with high share capital and accounting costs) or ease of operation for digital nomads or fully remote companies. A OÜ isn't for everyone in every life situation, but when it fits, it tends to work really well.

A LLC or C Corp in the US could work just as well (or better), depending on the situation.

[krn]

Just to clarify: since you are only an e-resident of Estonia, are all your three Estonian companies paying the corporate income tax (CIT) in your personal country of residence?

Since Switzerland is currently the only country in Europe without CFC rules[1], it seems that an Estonian company can only be managed from Estonia or Switzerland without being considered as local for tax purposes in another jurisdiction.

[1] https://taxfoundation.org/controlled-foreign-corporation-cfc...

[lukeqsee]

From my last post:

> My situation is complex

This means my situation pretty much does not apply to anyone else, and the tax residency question is very complex in my case, as well. I won't bore you with details. :)

[krn]

Sure. But since you have a lot of experience with the Estonian e-residency, maybe you know any real life examples where managing an Estonian company without personally being an Estonian tax resident made sense?

[lukeqsee]

Yes, hundreds. :)

Here's a few examples:

In Germany, it reduces the overhead of owning a company dramatically (the overhead of a German GmbH is quite a bit more than just taxes, including mandatory registrations, etc.).

In Switzerland, it reduces necessary share capital from 25'000CHF to 2,500EUR (which can be deferred).

In the US, it probably doesn't make sense unless your situation is very special.

As a digital nomad, it gives you a clear business home while traveling the world (and running everything online is essential).

Estonian accounting and business management is all electronic, so you can essentially run your business 99% in Estonia, do yearly tax reports in your resident, all while reducing the day-to-day complexity of running your business significantly. (No more paper or faxing!)

For non-EU residents, an Estonian entity gives them a clear legal path to marketing and selling in the EU with proper VAT, etc. reporting.

Every one I know has had slightly different reasons while Estonia made sense for them. I'm also purposefully not addressing the intangibles of registering a business in a well-functioning, well-regulated, forward-looking jurisdiction, which is a large component for many of my friends. (We care about Estonia, like its ideals, and want to see it succeed on a global scale.)

[mishaker]

I second that. There are growing number of startups and increasing capital pouring into Estonia (hence the largest inflation rate in Europe) Wise and Bolt are good examples.

[digianarchist]

Wise is incorporated in the UK. Founders are Estonian.