Businesspeople are always looking for low-tax countries for entrepreneurs. Kinder tax regimes mean that you get to keep more of your business’s profits, helping you to grow more and to achieve better profit margins. This blog details three nations – the United Arab Emirates – that are known for low taxes. Paired with low regulations, this makes it easy to start and operate your business.
To start or relocate a business to any of the nations mentioned in this article, you will usually need to obtain the right visa. Get help from the Immigration Advice Service by calling us or visiting our website to learn more about our global visa services.
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is a fantastic place to start your business due to its notoriously low taxes. Value Added Tax (VAT) sits at just 5%, with some goods and services being exempt. Only businesses with annual taxable supplies over AED 375,000 (approximately $100,000 USD) need to register for VAT, while those making over AED 187,500 (approximately $51,000 USD) can do so voluntarily.
The UAE also has incredibly low corporate taxes, which became effective from June 2023. The tax rate is 0% for income that is lower than AED 375,000 and 9% for income over that threshold. Corporate tax is also waived for individuals classed as a Qualifying Free Zone Person or for companies that are eligible for Small Business Relief.
Another reason that the UAE is a good choice for new businesses is its comparatively low cost of living. Comparing the UAE’s largest city, Dubai, to London, Dubai has a 30.8% lower cost of living and a 20% lower rent cost. When you bring members of staff with you to Dubai, you are less likely to need to offer large pay rises to incentivise them to travel.
Yet, Dubai isn’t perfect. The low tax environment has led to an oversaturation of startups. Only brilliant founders and businesses can break through the noise to find success. Moreover, the UAE economy is still reliant on oil, which accounts for 30% of the nation’s GDP. Even if your business isn’t in the oil sector, fluctuations in oil prices can destabilise the economy and government within which your business will exist.
Ireland
If your business needs access to markets in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and North America, Ireland may be the perfect choice for you. It comes with a low corporate tax rate of 12.5%, half that of its neighbour, the United Kingdom. The nation is also ideal for English language founders.
Ireland is also popular among founders because of the presence of tech and pharma. The hub includes the headquarters of tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, alongside pharma heavyweights like AbbVie, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and MSD. Such a presence means that a home in Ireland can give your business the opportunity to access foreign direct investment (FDI) to help it get off the ground and grow.
Like the UAE, there are also plenty of reasons not to come to Ireland to start or relocate a business. It can be challenging to get started, as at least one director needs to be a resident, and the incorporation time is relatively slow, at three to five days. The cost of living is also high, meaning that you will need to pay higher wages to your staff. These costs also translate to the cost of leasing office space. Ireland is also a relatively small economy, with a lower GDP than Switzerland and Belgium. The domestic market may not offer many opportunities, although this won’t be a major problem if your business operates internationally.
Hungary
The final nation on this list where your business can escape tax hell is Hungary, which has a fantastic location to operate in the European Union and further east. At just 9%, this country has the European Union’s lowest corporate tax rate. It also has a low income tax. The flat rate is just 15%, which means you and your workers can take home more of their earnings. This tax rate also applies to your dividends, capital gains, and interest.
Hungary is generally considered less immigration-friendly than its neighbours. However, wealthy investors have some strong visa options to move to the nation to start a business. One example is the Golden Investor visa, which relaunched the Golden visa program. This visa allows individuals who invest enough in the Hungarian economy to live and work in the country for up to ten years.
You need to consider the domestic workforce that you can hire from when moving to a new nation. You won’t be able to fill all of your positions with workers that you bring with you from your home country. Hungary has a strong base of IT, engineering, and finance-skilled workers, so it could be the ideal place to do business if your company is in any of those sectors.
How Can Immigration Advice Service Help?
Each business has unique needs that factor into any decisions on business relocation. Make sure to choose the nation that best fits your business needs. That said, all businesses can benefit from less intrusive and costly tax and regulation regimes.
Moving business location means arranging an incredible amount of paperwork. You and any staff members joining you will usually need an appropriate visa. At Immigration Advice Service, we have guided many businesspeople through the application processes of visas worldwide, helping them to move legally. We offer corporate visa services for the following types of visa:
- Work visas.
- Entrepreneur and sole trader visas.
- Corporate expansion visas.
- Secondment visas.
- Investor visas.
- Specialist industry work visas.
Get in touch with Immigration Advice Service today to learn exactly what visas you and your staff members will need, and to get the best possible chance of a successful application.
Article received via email
