Best country to incorporate for YouTube?

[fintel]

So, I'm thinking of starting some youtube channels. I live a country that is tax-free for me, but does not have a US tax treaty, meaning youtube will squeeze an extra 30% out of me.
Any suggestions where I could/should form a company that has a US tax treaty, and minimal tax (bearing in mind that I don't want to be a resident there).

 

[aniglo22]

You could form an us llc .

 

[fintel]

You could form an us llc .

But I would need to verify my adsense account with a US ID ... which would be a problem, no?

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

You could form an us llc .

What would be the tax effect then?

 

[boomy]

Interesting question and problem. What country do you live in, that may be of interest for anyone who should help you solve the problem?

 

[kekmaw]

Start the YouTube channels first.

But let's say you already had that going and was making enough to justify incorporating somewhere you'd pick a country from this list with a DTT with the US on royalties.

After that you'd need to make sure you have enough substance in your country of choice to be eligible for treaty benefits. Which may not even be possible unless you personally reside there but regardless it's gonna cost you a decent amount to have staff etc there.

You could probably further optimize that by licensing your content personally to the distribution company, which subleases it to YouTube.

But obviously you gotta make decent money on YouTube already for this to be worth it.

If you're just starting out, just set up a US Corp to get rid of the withholding tax. Reinvest the profits and pay yourself a salary and start thinking about the next steps when you're making $500k+ a year doing this.

 

[Marzio]

I'm thinking of starting some youtube channels.

You are putting cart before the horses because optimizing for zero income doesn't make sense and you'll shortly understand why.

Any suggestions where I could/should form a company that has a US tax treaty, and minimal tax

Just for the sake of conversation to identify the right country you need to identify a country that has zero / minimum WHT on US royalties with no LOB, low CIT AND zero / minum WHT on dividends to your tax residency country

To this date you have few options:

1. Georgia: 0% WHT on US royalties + 15% CIT + 5% WHT on dividends (possibily 0% if your tax residency country has a DTT with Georgia).

You'll need to hire at least one manager in Georgia + rent office space

2. Romania: 10% WHT on US royalties + 1% CIT up to 500K revenue (you'll possibly get a credit for the foreign taxes paid) + 8% WHT on dividends (possibily 0% if your tax residency country has a DTT with Romania)

You'll need to hire at least one manager in Romania + rent office space

3. Poland: 10% WHT on US royalties + 9% CIT up to 2mln revenue (you'll possibly get a credit for the foreign taxes paid) + 19% WHT on dividends (possibily 0% if your tax residency country has a DTT with Poland)

You'll need to hire at least one manager in Poland + rent office space

Bottom line, even with credit for foreign taxes paid and 0% WHT on dividends you're going to pay at least 10% tax + salary + office space + accounting.

For someone starting with zero income is a lot of expenses right out of the gate.

Bonus option: by forming a US LLC and moving your tax residency to Georgia you'll be tax free but this would require you to stay 183 days in Georgia to become tax resident and i'm not sure you want to to that.

You could stay less time depending on your home country ties.

 

[fintel]

Start the YouTube channels first.

But let's say you already had that going and was making enough to justify incorporating somewhere you'd pick a country from this list with a DTT with the US on royalties.

After that you'd need to make sure you have enough substance in your country of choice to be eligible for treaty benefits. Which may not even be possible unless you personally reside there but regardless it's gonna cost you a decent amount to have staff etc there.

You could probably further optimize that by licensing your content personally to the distribution company, which subleases it to YouTube.

But obviously you gotta make decent money on YouTube already for this to be worth it.

If you're just starting out, just set up a US Corp to get rid of the withholding tax. Reinvest the profits and pay yourself a salary and start thinking about the next steps when you're making $500k+ a year doing this.

Wondering how to get around the problem of needing a US ID to verify adsense account?

 

[Simon4466]

Wondering how to get around the problem of needing a US ID to verify adsense account?

You'll first need to reach a certain amount of subs and views before you can start monetizing as far as I know. Why bother about these things now if the rate of success is like one in a million for a YouTube channel?