PNGMK wrote:Please update us. I once had an offshore entity via OCRA. They have an office in Singapore and may be able to advise on entities and I am sure they will know about banks and payment gatways.
Thanks for the OCRA tip. It's tax season so I couldn't get an appointment with the tax/biz consultant until next week but will definitely update then. Maybe Singapore entity will turn out to be best bet after all; we'll see.
Preferable tax rates and payment gateways and all that aside, I naturally gravitate toward the option that brings the least amount of bullshit to deal with (including and especially other people). With all the cautions against US entities - and this assumes the US tax burden won't be ridiculous, a big if - the LLC comes with a lot of plusses, at least on the surface. Set up in one day, $1 paid up capital. Single owner, no board, no hired local director with the potential to screw you over. No secretary, no annual meetings and minutes. Eff-all registration and compliance fees. The quarterly filings would be a bit of a drag, is all. Perhaps I'm missing the bullshit that lies beneath the surface.
Though compared to Singapore entity with EP ... ugh. 50k paid up (at least), multiple moving parts/people to keep track of, and the unutterable joy of crafting/selling a business plan in government-friendly bullshit Marketingspeak to justify my reason for existence to MOM. And I still may qualify for US ECI anyway.
Strong Eagle wrote:I judge there are two kinds of accountants in this world: The ones who look at all applicable laws and regulations, then provide you with guiding advice to ensure that you are in compliance with all of the requirements, and those that are looking for loopholes to be exploited for fun and profit, which will make both you and the accountant richer.
Definitely want the first kind. Getting audited, sued, deported, imprisoned or any combination of the above would be the ultimate in bullshit to be avoided at all costs.
Strong Eagle wrote:Your Australian High Wankers can't be bothered to help you. If it's legal in Australia, Singapore will recognize it, they just want the documentation. That "legal/diplomatic shit" is so much crap... you've got the ultimate in useless bureaucratic scheisskopfs waiting for you to simply go away. I'd contact your MP, or anyone, anything else that could put pressure on the local wankers.
Though you make a good point, my instinctive reaction to this reasonable suggestion reveals how the Australian psyche enables such bureaucratic wankery. Find an MP or someone to complain to? Yeah nah, it wouldn't change anything anyway; I'll take the faster and more expensive path of lesser resistance, and save myself the aggravation.
It's been my observation (of myself and others) that the average middle class Australian has too much money and too little interest to want to fight against being strategically gauged by either politicians or companies. We'll bitch about it of course; taking action is another story.
'Australia Tax' refers to the tendency of international companies to charge more in Australia for the same product. Probably Adobe Photoshop is the most well-known example: for years it was cheaper to fly return to Los Angeles from Sydney and buy the software there, cost of flights included. The Adobe CEO's rationale for the price difference? 'Because I can, they'll still buy it.' I think this has been corrected by Adobe now, but it took a hell of a long time to build up enough consumer outrage.
Another example that remains current: the toll on the Sydney Harbour Bridge was originally put in place with the promise that it would be removed when the bridge was paid off. Yet 30 years after the bridge was fully paid for, thousands of people still pay a (much higher) toll on a daily basis. Upwards of $80 million in toll revenue per year against $15 million in bridge maintenance costs.
My de facto in-laws came to Australia as refugees and after 40 years, they remain amazed at the general populace's apathetic acceptance to getting f*cked. In their view, 'If the government had tried that in the old country, the people would have torn the bridge down.'
One more reason to be pro-immigration.
