Comment by ghock | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ghock | Hacker News Reader

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While the postal address is annoying, I think (currently) having to go there to open a bank account is a bigger deal, since it will be hard to open one anywhere else. Even if you can get a bank account, many payment providers want you to have your business, bank account and residency in the same country (something e-residency won't do).

So while I think the are moving in the right direction, it's still reminds me of government startup programs disconnected from reality. My suggestions would be that they, other than sorting out banking/payment processing:

a) Allow companies to register as LLC or Limited, for increased customer confidence. b) Give foreigners a income tax holiday, so they can become resident without worrying about paying taxes on worldwide income. c) Generally make it easier to go there. Last time I tried to figure out how much it would cost to go there for a month and work I couldn't really find any (at least cheap, upfront) prices for serviced apartments and coworking spaces. They need to do more "outreach" (tourist board for entrepreneurs please) than just "look how good we are".

In short:

1) law change for allowing bank account opening without physically coming to Estonia is in the government and should be in force by Autumn

2) our customers are successfully using different payment providers

3) LLC is the "de facto" incorporation type for our customers

4) Becoming an e-resident won't make you an Estonian tax resident, so you don't have to worry about your worldwide income. But when you start an Estonian company then the company finances/taxes have to be done by Estonian laws/rules.

5) Going to Estonia is like going to other European countries. You need transportation and a place to stay and you get them via normal means online :). Visa requirements depend on your real residency. Being an e-resident doesn't change this. For more info: http://www.visitestonia.com/en/

6) For physical coworking space, just google "coworking tallinn" or something similar. Should be plenty of spaces available. If you wan't to see the other end of Estonia, then "coworking tartu" :).

Erko, from LeapIN

Our take on e-Residency: https://www.leapin.eu/articles/e-residency

1) Yes, still have to see what the results are in terms of KYC etc. though.

3) What I mean is that they should allow companies to identify themselves as a LLC/Limited instead of a OÜ so your customers see "Webshop LLC" instead of "Webshop OÜ". While it might not be feasible to enact in Estonia, some jurisdictions do this.

5/6) It's not that I can't go to Estonia, it's that I won't because it's not very high up on my list. If it was cheap, easy and/or I had some special reason (like a conference, which there also are plenty of) that might move it higher, but I'm not going to go out of my way just to find out when there are plenty of other places on that list. Might sound harsh, but that is how it is.

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