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Comment by andrewingram | Hacker News Reader

And not just for salaries, which can be handled with companies like Deel and Remote. For me equity is the bigger concern.

If I join a UK startup, best case scenario is paying 10% tax on the upside of any exit windfalls. If I join any company outside the UK, that immediately jumps to ~55%.

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Yeah, in Sweden it's about 60% (56% taxed as income, plus capital gains tax on the difference if the value goes up).

Nobody is going to do that are they, it's insane for tax jurisdictions to want to do this they are just doing themselves out of 10% rather than winning 55%.

It's hard to see how a startup could solve it without setting themselves up as a legal entity in each country they want to employ people. Which is the very thing they use Deel and Remote to try and avoid.

I think you're thinking too small. Someone with clout would need to talk to each government and get them to agree to a set of rules around this and consequent taxation. The alternative is getting no income from this, why not just make it clear and simple and make it make sense for each country.

I mean a lot of countries have visa programmes now if you're trying to build a startup so why not for digital nomads?

1. That 55% doesn't go in the trash bin, it goes to pay the schools your children will attend, the hospitals your family might need, the streets you use to commute etc.

2. It's insane for individuals to give up equity just to avoid 55% taxes. They are doing themselves out of 45% rather than winning 90%.

People will find ways around the 55%, I don’t see all the European founders at YC giving away 55% of their companies so there are loopholes, might as well just be straight forward about a fair taxation rate. 55% of a company is too much.

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