# Tax minimization question (Europe) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200 "2019-10-23T22:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![human\_extinction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/839c29/32.png) [@human\_extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/human_extinction)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/1 "2019-10-23T22:31:11Z")
I’m helping a friend do research for where is optimal to base his company - and so far it turns out different international tax lawyers all give different advise anyway (or refrain because they want to cover their ass inside of a smaller domain). This is a nutritional supplement company that exports made with local materials. Which countries do you think would be the cheapest to place such a company: Switzerland, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, Lithuania, or Bulgaria (which I hear has lower regulations for this sort of thing). They would be shipping internationally, but mostly to Europe. The whole map is open, I guess, if the option is worthy enough! I’m not going to get into all the types of costs & tax that might apply - in the interest of keeping this short - and because I’d like to hear your first reactions & why. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/2 "2019-10-23T23:03:50Z")
Corporation tax is highest in France (34.4%) and lowest in Hungary (9%) - [Corporate Tax Rates & Rankings in Europe | Tax Foundation](https://taxfoundation.org/corporate-tax-rates-europe-2019/) Labour costs vary between Denmark at the top (at 43.5 euros p/h) and Bulgaria (5.4 euros p/h) - [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/chart-labour-costs-in-european-union/](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/chart-labour-costs-in-european-union/) It might depend on other factors like language, the availability of an educated workforce, and infrastructure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/3 "2019-10-23T23:12:58Z")
[Moderating] Since this is asking for professional advice, it belongs in IMHO, not GQ. ---
**Author:** ![human\_extinction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/839c29/32.png) [@human\_extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/human_extinction)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/4 "2019-10-24T12:26:17Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Corporation tax is highest in France (34.4%) and lowest in Hungary (9%) - [Corporate Tax Rates & Rankings in Europe | Tax Foundation](https://taxfoundation.org/corporate-tax-rates-europe-2019/) > > Labour costs vary between Denmark at the top (at 43.5 euros p/h) and Bulgaria (5.4 euros p/h) - [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/chart-labour-costs-in-european-union/](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/chart-labour-costs-in-european-union/) > > It might depend on other factors like language, the availability of an educated workforce, and infrastructure. Doesn’t VAT matter - it is higher in Hungary? Salaries are much lower in the further east countries, too. I wonder how people weight these things analytically. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/5 "2019-10-24T14:26:21Z")
VAT matters only for sales/purchases within the country. But you mentioned regulations: are you looking at financial information only, or are you also interested in what countries have lower regulations regarding nutritional supplements? ---
**Author:** ![human\_extinction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/839c29/32.png) [@human\_extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/human_extinction)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/6 "2019-10-26T01:14:01Z")
@Nava - A mix of both. However, I’m not sure how to weight those parameters. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/7 "2019-10-26T06:40:15Z")
Well, I’d say that “is this business legal there?” would be the first question. Filter by that first, look at taxes, labor laws etc. later. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/8 "2019-10-26T14:34:01Z")
> [@human\_extinction](#): > > Switzerland, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, Lithuania, or Bulgaria I concur with **Nava**. Also, you say the market is Europe, which is a bit too vague. Do you include Armenia, Serbia and Albania? Or do you want to stick to EU27? Staying within the EU-zone (and their free trade partners) will make life a lot easier. Labor will be very cheap in Belarus, but then again, purchasing power is equally low. Of the countries you list only Slovakia, Lithuania and Bulgaria are EU members. I’d never try to establish anything in Switzerland - it’s probably the most expensive major country in Europe. Look at it this way - many U.S. companies have their _pied a terre_ in Eire. The distribution center might be located in the Netherlands, for logistical reasons, but Ireland seems to be very welcoming to foreign companies. (n.b. I’m not up to date, but I think the Eu tax collectors have been making noise about how Google, Apple and their likes dodge taxes by being incorporated in Ireland). For some reason a lot of EU companies seem to like Malta and Cyprus for tax reasons. Being located where they are, logistics needs to be somewhere else. IIRC Cyprus can sell you a citizenship and that passport will let you do business anywhere in the EU with a minimum of red tape. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/9 "2019-10-30T19:14:22Z")
Not only is Switzerland expensive, it’s not part of the EU, so lots of companies don’t want to ship to Switzerland (including [amazon.com](http://amazon.com)). ---
**Author:** ![human\_extinction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/839c29/32.png) [@human\_extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/human_extinction)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-minimization-question-europe/842200/10 "2019-11-01T08:18:20Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Not only is Switzerland expensive, it’s not part of the EU, so lots of companies don’t want to ship to Switzerland (including [amazon.com](http://amazon.com)). I would think that “not part of the EU” would be a benefit regulation wise for many startup types.