Post: #1

I'm looking for a local contact in Serbia to help me get the lay of the land. I want to figure out if a business I want to start is feasible.

Serbia is in the short list, as it appears to be the least fucked of the countries on that list.

Post: #2

I have been employing people remotely in Serbia for years and have found it a very good country to deal with. This is something I've been looking at for some time and the current conclusion is to set up your parent company either in somewhere like The British Virgin Islands or in the international grey space, then setup a service company in Serbia that does all the work and bill the parent company for what you need to pay bills and employees.

I don't have any direct experience of the business regulations, though according to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index it's not that great. Macedonia is much higher on that list. From what I've seen Bosnia has the lowest taxes. I saw a summary of taxes you'd pay on $200,000 in Bosnia and it was less than 10%. But I'd always be a bit suspicious of that as countries have a way of piling on taxes in other areas.

I've spoken to one guy who said there's a lot of problems with dealing with the government, but I can't imagine it's too much different from anywhere else.

I bought a house there and despite what you will read on the internet, found it surprisingly easy. It took two meetings with the lawyer, then a meeting with the notary, then I paid the lawyer to deal with the rest. No problems. For paying bills I just go to the post office once per year and pay the municipal tax and electricity bill.

One issue you will find with all these Balkan countries is that you probably won't be able to get an offshore bank account if you have anything to do with them. Even Croatia is on lists of countries many banks won't deal with.

Getting temporary residence seems pretty easy if you go on a language course. They also have citizenship by investment, which involves buying a 250,000+ euro apartment in Belgrade, or donating 100,000 euro to a state fund, plus about 35,000 euros in fees.

Post: #3

(01-27-2018 12:47 PM)gework Wrote:  I have been employing people remotely in Serbia for years and have found it a very good country to deal with. This is something I've been looking at for some time and the current conclusion is to set up your parent company either in somewhere like The British Virgin Islands or in the international grey space, then setup a service company in Serbia that does all the work and bill the parent company for what you need to pay bills and employees.

I don't have any direct experience of the business regulations, though according to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index it's not that great. Macedonia is much higher on that list. From what I've seen Bosnia has the lowest taxes. I saw a summary of taxes you'd pay on $200,000 in Bosnia and it was less than 10%. But I'd always be a bit suspicious of that as countries have a way of piling on taxes in other areas.

I've spoken to one guy who said there's a lot of problems with dealing with the government, but I can't imagine it's too much different from anywhere else.

I bought a house there and despite what you will read on the internet, found it surprisingly easy. It took two meetings with the lawyer, then a meeting with the notary, then I paid the lawyer to deal with the rest. No problems. For paying bills I just go to the post office once per year and pay the municipal tax and electricity bill.

One issue you will find with all these Balkan countries is that you probably won't be able to get an offshore bank account if you have anything to do with them. Even Croatia is on lists of countries many banks won't deal with.

Getting temporary residence seems pretty easy if you go on a language course. They also have citizenship by investment, which involves buying a 250,000+ euro apartment in Belgrade, or donating 100,000 euro to a state fund, plus about 35,000 euros in fees.

I was just wondering what kind of jobs do you employ people for in serbia? i am looking for remote job and i am from Macedonia

Post: #4

(01-27-2018 12:47 PM)gework Wrote:  I have been employing people remotely in Serbia for years and have found it a very good country to deal with. This is something I've been looking at for some time and the current conclusion is to set up your parent company either in somewhere like The British Virgin Islands or in the international grey space, then setup a service company in Serbia that does all the work and bill the parent company for what you need to pay bills and employees.

I don't have any direct experience of the business regulations, though according to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index it's not that great. Macedonia is much higher on that list. From what I've seen Bosnia has the lowest taxes. I saw a summary of taxes you'd pay on $200,000 in Bosnia and it was less than 10%. But I'd always be a bit suspicious of that as countries have a way of piling on taxes in other areas.

I've spoken to one guy who said there's a lot of problems with dealing with the government, but I can't imagine it's too much different from anywhere else.

I bought a house there and despite what you will read on the internet, found it surprisingly easy. It took two meetings with the lawyer, then a meeting with the notary, then I paid the lawyer to deal with the rest. No problems. For paying bills I just go to the post office once per year and pay the municipal tax and electricity bill.

Thanks, that's gold.

Actually Macedonia is the next on the short list, so that's a possibility as well. I'm not planning on living there, but I would probably need to stay there to set things up if things go well.

Good to know about the bank accounts as well. My current company is in Estonia, so nothing "offshore" yet, but seriously considering it since my business is largely crypto these days.

Post: #5

(01-27-2018 01:43 PM)eonbre Wrote:  I was just wondering what kind of jobs do you employ people for in serbia? i am looking for remote job and i am from Macedonia

Given what you've posted on other threads seems like you would be beyond my miserly pay grades. I am paying $5/hour with occasional bonus for "advanced" data entry/proofreading. Currently I am not looking for anyone else, I don't really have time to deal with most of the work the current two are doing. And that's why I need the "service office", though I am thinking of Russia, which probably isn't the best option, but women...

But as far as I'm aware $5/hour is pretty good in Serbia, where I believe the average salary is more like $2.50/hour.

Quote:... Serbia for years and have found it a very good country to deal with

To clarify on this point. I should have said "Serbian people" and not "Serbia". I've always paid by the hour and have no idea whether they are telling me their actual hours, but I have no doubts that they are giving me the correct hours. Serbs seem to be more likely to have a desire to be honorable. I've dealt with people from countries all over the world online and the only place I've had no problems is Serbia; everywhere else I've had problems, most notably India. In the country quite a few times I've had people make a big thing of giving me my money back when I've accidentally given them too much money. One I always paid two months ahead to which she always protested, "He is being bad!" A Slovenian guy told me they have a saying on Serbs, something like: Serbs will welcome you into your home and give you everything, so tomorrow they have nothing. Obviously they have a higher number of bad apples, but in general the people are agreeable and honest.

Also with the high unemployment rate and (I am told crony job offerings) there are quite a lot of people who have high IQs who are out of work. One I have now speaks seven languages at conversational or fluent level; the other's daughter has been tested as 116 and I would guess the mother is about the same. In the US that should really be $60,000+/year pay grade.

And for me that's a big attraction for EE. There are plenty of people who are smart, can speak ~fluent English but have few prospects. I don't know why anyone would want to setup any business in Londonistan or anywhere in Western Europe. I see EE as a huge opportunity, mainly to sell back to The West with much lower overheads.

The way I see it, a lot of the best opportunities are where there are the fewest competitors. Every millennial is cramming themselves into London, Paris, NYC, LA. The reality is that there is nothing for 95% of people in those places but negative net worth and leaving the gene pool. There's 200 people chasing every home, apartment, mid-level job, resource. If you're running a business you can do pretty much exactly the same thing in a small city in EE without the high overheads.

One thing I would love to be able to do is setup a business in EE, in a small city or even a big village and have this business make that town and put in on the international map. In the making of The West (of the US), men went out into the wilderness, into inhospitable landscapes, flanked by savages, disease, criminality, drought - hardship and made global cities out of the blood and dirt. This doesn't happen anymore. Most people are on the conveyor belt to a global city, thinking they can make it with the world's highest overheads and degenerate cultures. But the best that will happen to most of them is they will live out of an RV and travel to their job at BuzzFeed every day like this:

Quote:My current company is in Estonia, so nothing "offshore" yet

How does that play with taxes? As I remember it Estonia is 0% corporate tax. But I don't know what the other aspects they have.

Post: #6

(01-27-2018 04:02 PM)gework Wrote:  

(01-27-2018 01:43 PM)eonbre Wrote:  I was just wondering what kind of jobs do you employ people for in serbia? i am looking for remote job and i am from Macedonia

Given what you've posted on other threads seems like you would be beyond my miserly pay grades. I am paying $5/hour with occasional bonus for "advanced" data entry/proofreading. Currently I am not looking for anyone else, I don't really have time to deal with most of the work the current two are doing. And that's why I need the "service office", though I am thinking of Russia, which probably isn't the best option, but women...

But as far as I'm aware $5/hour is pretty good in Serbia, where I believe the average salary is more like $2.50/hour.

Quote:... Serbia for years and have found it a very good country to deal with

To clarify on this point. I should have said "Serbian people" and not "Serbia". I've always paid by the hour and have no idea whether they are telling me their actual hours, but I have no doubts that they are giving me the correct hours. Serbs seem to be more likely to have a desire to be honorable. I've dealt with people from countries all over the world online and the only place I've had no problems is Serbia; everywhere else I've had problems, most notably India. In the country quite a few times I've had people make a big thing of giving me my money back when I've accidentally given them too much money. One I always paid two months ahead to which she always protested, "He is being bad!" A Slovenian guy told me they have a saying on Serbs, something like: Serbs will welcome you into your home and give you everything, so tomorrow they have nothing. Obviously they have a higher number of bad apples, but in general the people are agreeable and honest.

Also with the high unemployment rate and (I am told crony job offerings) there are quite a lot of people who have high IQs who are out of work. One I have now speaks seven languages at conversational or fluent level; the other's daughter has been tested as 116 and I would guess the mother is about the same. In the US that should really be $60,000+/year pay grade.

And for me that's a big attraction for EE. There are plenty of people who are smart, can speak ~fluent English but have few prospects. I don't know why anyone would want to setup any business in Londonistan or anywhere in Western Europe. I see EE as a huge opportunity, mainly to sell back to The West with much lower overheads.

The way I see it, a lot of the best opportunities are where there are the fewest competitors. Every millennial is cramming themselves into London, Paris, NYC, LA. The reality is that there is nothing for 95% of people in those places but negative net worth and leaving the gene pool. There's 200 people chasing every home, apartment, mid-level job, resource. If you're running a business you can do pretty much exactly the same thing in a small city in EE without the high overheads.

One thing I would love to be able to do is setup a business in EE, in a small city or even a big village and have this business make that town and put in on the international map. In the making of The West (of the US), men went out into the wilderness, into inhospitable landscapes, flanked by savages, disease, criminality, drought - hardship and made global cities out of the blood and dirt. This doesn't happen anymore. Most people are on the conveyor belt to a global city, thinking they can make it with the world's highest overheads and degenerate cultures. But the best that will happen to most of them is they will live out of an RV and travel to their job at BuzzFeed every day like this:

Quote:My current company is in Estonia, so nothing "offshore" yet

How does that play with taxes? As I remember it Estonia is 0% corporate tax. But I don't know what the other aspects they have.

I dont mind doing data entry job 5$\h let me know if you need me sometimes

Post: #7

(01-27-2018 04:02 PM)gework Wrote:  

Quote:My current company is in Estonia, so nothing "offshore" yet

How does that play with taxes? As I remember it Estonia is 0% corporate tax. But I don't know what the other aspects they have.

Missed this edit.

Ya, 0% on retained earnings. I pay myself a salary (and pay local income tax), and I pay any corporate expenses out of the company account. Works great.

When I need a bigger chunk I pull a dividend and pay 21% (I think, might be 20%).

So far so good.