Comments on post “Stripe Atlas (Pre-Launch)”
Ricard Panadès Nadal
@ricardpanades · Web & Graphic designer.
This looks awsome, but i have a question: I'm from Spain (terrible place for entrepreneurs, lot of taxes only for accept payments, make invoices etc), if I use Stripe Atlas, is this tax evasion? Thanks!
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Michael Schade
@sch · Stripe
@ricardpanades Nope, you'll still need to pay taxes locally wherever applicable. I don't have much advice on the specifics for Spain, but we partnered with PwC who can assist from a U.S. perspective and introduce you to the cross-border tax considerations when setting up with Atlas. This should help make sure you stay compliant with local laws.
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Ricard Panadès Nadal
@ricardpanades · Web & Graphic designer.
@sch Thanks!
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Borja Rojano
@tapefinder · Founder at TapeWrite
@ricardpanades I am from Spain too. No it is not.
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Thomas K. Running
@tkrunning · Nomad, Teleport
@ricardpanades While using Stripe Atlas to incorporate in the US isn't tax evasion, the company would still need to report to the tax authorities in Spain (and the US) and pay tax there. Failing to do so would be tax evasion.
While I understand this can be very useful to process payments, you need to understand the Pandora's box of international tax complexities you are opening by running a US incorporated entity from Spain (or any other country). After all, Stripe is already available in Spain, so why bother. You will not pay less tax (you might even pay more), but instead increase your cost of tax compliance by an order of magnitude. Not to mention all the extra work.
I'm not saying Atlas isn't suitable for anyone. For high-growth, VC-funded startups, having a US presence might make sense (investors like investing in Delaware C-corps). The same for someone from a third world country lacking access to decent payment processing, etc. But in the latter case it might be better to look at other jurisdictions than the US, for example Estonia.
But most small to decent-sized businesses in reasonably developed countries should think at least twice (i.e. talk it over with a qualified international tax professional in your home country) before signing up for Atlas or otherwise incorporating in the US. If you think your own tax code is bad/complex/insane, you haven't seen the US one.
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