DE Find your country1 min

Set up a business.

Incorporate where it makes sense – not just where you happen to live. Legal, tax-efficient and with a lot less paperwork pain.

Common challengesFind your country in 1 min

Your business, your jurisdiction

Where you incorporate is a choice, not a birthright. Most founders register their company in the country they grew up in because nobody told them otherwise – and then pay for that default every single year, in tax, forms and waiting rooms with a ticket machine.

You can choose differently. Estonia taxes nothing while profits stay in the company. Dubai charges 0% on the first AED 375,000 of profit. Cyprus and Malta pair EU membership with rates the rest of Europe only knows from rumours. All of it legal, as long as the setup is done properly.

That last part is our job.

Sound familiar?

The tax bill keeps growing.

Corporate tax, trade tax, solidarity surcharge – a list that only ever gets longer, never shorter.

Everything takes forever.

Registrations, licences and approvals moving at fax-machine speed, because some of them still use one.

Compliance eats your week.

More hours on forms than on customers, and the forms don’t pay invoices.

The rules change every year.

New reporting duties arrive annually. Old ones never leave.

Hiring is rigid.

Labour rules written for a steel mill, applied to a five-person remote team.

Digital? Not really.

Paper forms, wet signatures and an appointment that’s free in eleven weeks.

Complaining about the tax office is free. So is planning. Get your plan checked

From idea to company in four steps

  1. Start with a plan, not a company.

    What do you earn, where do you want to live, and what should the next five years look like? The company follows your life – not the other way round.

  2. Shortlist the jurisdiction.

    Tax rates, substance, residency options, running costs, bank access. Our country guides and the Jurisdiction Finder get you to a shortlist in minutes, not months of forum threads.

  3. Get the structure right.

    Where is the company managed? Where do you live? Who holds the shares? Those three answers decide where you really pay tax, whatever the certificate on the wall says.

  4. Incorporate with a licensed partner.

    A licensed corporate service provider in the jurisdiction handles incorporation, registered office, bank introductions and ongoing compliance. You get one fixed quote from us, we check the work, and only then do we pay the partner.

“Offshore” isn’t a dirty word

A company in Dubai, Cyprus or Estonia is exactly as legal as a German GmbH or a French SARL. It’s registered somewhere with lower taxes, less bureaucracy or rules that fit your business better. That’s not shady. It’s the same location decision every multinational makes – minus the floor of in-house lawyers.

What makes a structure shady is hiding it. So we don’t. Everything we set up is declared, documented and built to survive a tax audit without anyone breaking a sweat.

  • Legal and transparent. Declared wherever it needs to be, with proper books and real management.
  • Tax-efficient. Depending on country and structure, 0% on retained or qualifying profits is possible.
  • Less hassle. Digital admin, English-speaking partners and one point of contact – us.

Time to find the right jurisdiction.

There is no perfect country – only the one whose catches you can live with. Here are the numbers and the catches.

EURemote setup€€€ Malta 35% corporate tax on paper, about 5% after the shareholder refund – in an English-speaking EU country. Corp. tax≈5%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide EURemote setup€€€ Cyprus 15% corporate tax, 0% on dividends for non-doms for 17 years – and tax residency with just 60 days a year. Corp. tax15%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide 0% income taxRemote setup€€€ Dubai (UAE) 0% personal income tax, 0–9% corporate tax and a residence visa your own company hands you. Corp. tax9%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide 0% retainedRemote setup€€€ USA (LLC) A US LLC in days, from your sofa – no US tax without US business, but your home tax office gets the final word. Corp. taxpass-throughDividends0%Residency Open the guide EU0% retained€€€ Estonia 0% tax while profits stay in the company, 22% the day you pay out – and a company you run from your laptop. Corp. tax0%/ 22%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide €€€ Liechtenstein 12.5% flat tax, 0% dividend withholding and foundations with a century of practice – getting a permit is the hard part. Corp. tax12.5%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide EUEasy residency€€€ Portugal EU base with reachable visas and IFICI: 20% flat for 10 years – if your work qualifies. Corp. tax19%Dividends25%Residency Open the guide EURemote setup€€€ Romania 1% turnover tax for micro-companies under €100,000, 10% flat income tax and EU living costs from the bargain bin. Corp. tax16%Dividends16%Residency Open the guide 0% retainedRemote setup€€€ Georgia 1% on turnover for freelancers, 0% on retained company profits and a year visa-free for many passports. The fine print got longer lately. Corp. tax0%/ 15%Dividends5%Residency Open the guide Remote setupEasy residency€€€ Paraguay Territorial tax, 10% rates and a residence permit for a few hundred euros – the classic Plan B, if you actually show up. Corp. tax10%Dividends15%Residency Open the guide Remote setup€€€ United Kingdom The Ltd banks trust and the LLP that’s transparent – formed online in a day. Low tax it isn’t, and it never claimed to be. Corp. tax≈22.1%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide €€€ Switzerland 11.71% corporate tax in Zug, about 5% income tax on CHF 100k – and a price tag that eats half of it. Corp. tax11.71%Dividends15%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Spain A high-tax country with a six-year discount: 24% flat on work income under the Beckham law – now also for remote workers and startup founders. Corp. tax25%Dividends19%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Italy Half your work income tax-free for five years, €300,000 flat on foreign income, 7% for pensioners in the south. Fit a regime or pay full price. Corp. tax27.9%Dividends26%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Bulgaria 10% corporate tax, 10% income tax, 5% on dividends – no tricks needed, and the euro and Schengen since 2025/26. Corp. tax10%Dividends5%Residency Open the guide €€€ Andorra 10% on company profits, 0% on the dividends you pay yourself – in the Pyrenees, if you can get a residence slot. Corp. tax10%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide EU€€€ Greece A high-tax country with excellent side doors: half your income tax-free for seven years, 5% on dividends – or €100,000 flat on all foreign income. Corp. tax22%Dividends5%Residency Open the guide EURemote setup€€€ Hungary The EU’s lowest corporate tax at 9%, a flat 15% income tax and Budapest café life – Vienna’s charm at a discount, inside Schengen. Corp. tax≈10.8%Dividends15%Residency Open the guide Remote setup€€€ Singapore 17% on paper, often under 9% in practice, tax-free dividends and a reputation even banks respect – a home for the company, not for cheap living. Corp. tax17%Dividends0%Residency Open the guide

Compare all countries Take the Finder quiz

What stays in your pocket?

Enter a profit and see corporate and dividend tax side by side for all nineteen jurisdictions – in seconds.

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Questions? Answers.

The ones we hear every week. Yours isn’t here? Ask a human.

Book a strategy session Ask a question

Is a foreign company legal?
Yes. A company in Estonia, Cyprus or Dubai is exactly as legal as a German GmbH – a border doesn’t turn a company register into a crime scene. What matters is that you declare it properly and pay tax where the company is effectively managed and where you live.
Do I have to move to save tax with a foreign company?
Usually, yes. Stay tax resident in a high-tax country and run the company from there, and that country can tax the profits (place of effective management, controlled foreign company rules). A foreign address on the letterhead doesn’t change where you sit. Plan the company and your own residency together.
How long does it take to set up a company abroad?
Anything from a few days (a Delaware LLC or an Estonian company via e-Residency) to several weeks once bank accounts, licences or visas are involved. The bank account is usually the slowest part: compliance departments work at their own pace, and it isn’t yours.
What does it cost?
The country sets the range: a remotely formed LLC runs on a few hundred euros a year, a Maltese or Liechtenstein structure on several thousand. You get a fixed quote before you commit – no surprise line items on the invoice.
Who do I sign the contract with?
Usually with us: BeNerdy Consultancy FZE, the company behind Nerdy.Money. One quote, one invoice. We instruct the licensed partner in the jurisdiction, check their work and pay them only after that. Where local rules require you to contract the provider directly, you sign with them – and we stay your nerd on speed dial.
Do you set up the company yourselves?
No – on purpose. The paperwork is done by licensed corporate service providers, lawyers and tax advisors in each country; that’s what the licences are for, and regulators like it that way. We pick the partner, coordinate everything and make sure it’s done right.

Further reading, with sources.

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Your company, your address, your rules.

Set up where it makes sense – then run it from wherever the Wi-Fi and the weather are good.

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Nerdy Strategy Session

Twenty tabs open, still unsure? Get a plan that fits you.

The internet has opinions. It doesn’t have your numbers. In 90 minutes we go through your situation with you and turn it into a written roadmap – what to set up where, in which order, and what it will cost.

  • 90-minute video call with a senior strategist
  • Written roadmap within 5 working days
  • 30 days of follow-up questions by e-mail
  • Fully credited if you set up with us within 6 months

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Know what you need? Get a fixed quote.

Tell us what you want to set up and where. You get one fixed quote for the work of a vetted, licensed partner in that jurisdiction – no bidding war, no surprise fees, no “that’ll be extra” in month three. Not sure yet? Book a Strategy Session first – it’s credited if you go ahead.

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