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Comment by daliusd | Hacker News Reader

Good article but I would like to ask different question. Here is my objection: if you earn money you must pay taxes and deal with bureaucracy. My ideas are simple ones, I like them, maybe they will grow big someday but while they are small going legal means I will pay more in taxes (time for bureaucracy is not free IMO) than I earn.

I wonder if people in other countries have problem like this. I'm especially interested in EU countries since as EU citizen I guess I have some flexibility here.

BTW, there is part II here: http://artofmanliness.com/2012/08/07/the-company-mans-guide-...

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I'm from Spain, where bureaucracy and taxes for new businesses are quite ridiculous. What I did is:

- If you're making just a few hundred $ a month, don't even bother. Yes, it's technically illegal, but nobody's gonna put you in jail for not paying a few dozen $ of taxes a month. They have better things to do, and so have you.

- Once you reach a decent income, hire an accountant to do all the paperwork. I pay 70€/mo and all I have to do is once a quarter, send a summary of expenses and income, and everything is done for me. Plus, I have someone to consult if I have more complex questions.

Hope it helps.

EDIT: Forgot to say, don't incorporate until you have quite a substantial income. Here at least it's expensive and accountants will charge you more. Just register yourself as a self employed person, which is like a one-person company here in Spain. Like freelancers, etc. I'm sure the same thing exists in other countries.

Thank you.

Taxes are actually a good problem for a business b/c it means you're making a decent profit. Most businesses probably don't end up paying any taxes b/c as they say most businesses fail (don't make any money). Turn that objection into motivation to start a profitable side-hustle!

>My ideas are simple ones, I like them, maybe they will grow big someday but while they are small going legal means I will pay more in taxes (time for bureaucracy is not free IMO) than I earn.

You will never pay literally more than you earn because that's not how taxes work. If you're just talking about the extra time it takes to do your taxes, it's really not that bad. Keeping track of how much you make and spend isn't very difficult when everything is electronic and records are stored for you. Plus, you need to do that anyway for the sake of your business. Get some basic tax software, enter in how much you made and how much you spent. Pay what the program tells you to pay.

"You will never pay literally more than you earn because that's not how taxes work" - if you live in normal country I would add. While I agree with the rest.

Depends on the country, but some European countries, like, say, Italy, are horrible from this point of view: to start a real, limited liability company costs thousands of euros before you've earned one cent. And they cost further thousands to manage each year.

In other countries, like the UK, things are far simpler.

My situation is better than Italian one. Maybe I shouldn't worry too much about it then :)

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