[apa-sl]

We're running a startup incorporated in European Union and planning to incorporate c-corp in Delaware as our mother company. C-corp will simply buy-out 100% shares in our European company which will be still hiring our employees (located and working in Europe).

From what we've checked we shouldn't have any hassle (event the c-corp bank account will be opened in European bank) or are we missing something?

[philiphodgen]

Do not transfer IP to the US mother ship before you have thought it out.

You can transfer IP into the USA but once you have done that all of the profit generated from that IP worldwide will be subject to US tax.

And if you ever want to transfer the IP out of the USA it will be treated as a sale.

The worst I ever saw was one of those online poker sites. To move out of the USA they had to move their IP to a new foreign corporation.

The appraised value of the domain name was $6,000,000. That's a $6,000,000 income item. Pay tax on that at 34%, baby.

For day-to-day business operations you will have the normal level of business brain damage. Complexity is a mathematical constant.

[apa-sl]

Thank you for the comment. We are doing this US mothership thing in anticipation of next round of funding from US investor and according to what we know and have heard, US incorporated mothership is the only realistic way to go, right?

So I presume that it would be the best to only delay the IP transfer from Europe to US just before the investment and formal links (US company owning 100% of European company) might be already in place?

[mahyarm]

So where should the non-us company be registered if you want to avoid IP headaches? Canada? Ireland? BVI?

[JacobAldridge]

The company I license my IP from is registered in Iceland - where the major markets of Europe and North America meet.

[warrenm]

by "IP", do you mean "Internet Protocol" or "Intellectual Property"?

[apa-sl]

I would say, that by "IP" he meant "Intellectural Property" ;-)