I am setting up a European Branch/Subsidary of a US based Software company. What is the best way to go for this?


2

Is anybody able to give some advice on:

  • How would I go about setting up a European branch/subsidiary of this company?
  • CHOICE OF ENTITY: Should I register as a branch or subsidiary?
  • LOCATION: What is the best country for the European Headquarter
  • Filings and Deadlines
  • What else should I watch out for?

Thanks !

Software Subsidiary

asked Oct 10 '10 at 22:36
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Juergen Heinrich Rohr
11 points
  • You haven't provided the most important piece of information: why do you want to do that? What benefits do you expect from opening European subsidiary? The answer will be different depending on what your goals are. – Krzysztof Kowalczyk 13 years ago

4 Answers


1

Depends on a country. Some European countries have laws in books but operate largely based on an unwritten code. In these instances you'd have to rely on local contacts to guide you through.

answered Mar 15 '11 at 19:02
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User8652
11 points

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The Netherlands is a very good place to set up your European headquarters. It takes half a day to set up a limited liability company (which is called a BV). It is easy to set up a Dutch bank account. Dutch banks, tax accountants, and lawyers give you an English translation of everything.

Everyone speaks English and many lawyers and accountants are used to working with foreign companies. The Netherlands also gives a lot of tax breaks for subsidiaries of foreign firms. It's easy to hire people who speak English and other languages so for example, you can hire Dutch people to handle German, French, British and Spanish clients, instead of hiring people in those countries at the beginning when there is a lot of risk. If your business grows in those countries, then you can hire local personnel there.

I have a BV in Amsterdam and am very happy with having opened a company there. If you need any recommendations for tax accountants or other information, please just ask.

answered Mar 14 '11 at 05:48
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Isolde100
41 points

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Depends on a country. Some European countries have laws in books but operate largely based on an unwritten code. In these instances you'd have to rely on local contacts to guide you through.

answered Oct 22 '10 at 04:16
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Usabilitest
1,698 points

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Many US tech companies (such as Google and E-bay) choose to host their EU headquarters in Ireland because it has low corporation tax rates and plenty of skilled workers who speak English as a first language.

answered Oct 11 '10 at 05:43
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Dan Dyer
657 points
  • What about other countries like Switzerland for example ? – Juergen Heinrich Rohr 14 years ago
  • Switzerland is not in the EU. I don't know whether that would be an issue for you. Of course, it has other things going for it. You could make a case for any of the countries but I think Ireland should be near the top of the list. Geographically it's not central in Europe but it has financial advantages over the UK and, for a US company, language advantages over most of the other places. – Dan Dyer 14 years ago

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