Question Where to open remote bank account?

[pesto]

Can you please let me know what is Estonian E-residency. ? What is the benefits for opening as a freelancer from Serbia or the Balkan ?

Pozdrav, Cheers !

have a very close look here
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/e-residency-how-to-best-close-my-estonian-oÜ-company.30602/https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/estonian-e-residency-help.30757/https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/e-residency-is-a-bust-where-else.25832/

 

[galadrel]

@Peacemaker what he is referring to with e-residency is that you can register estonian ltd company and then open business bank account for that estonian company remotely with transferwise and similar. That is an expensive way to open bank account because you have to register company and have virtual office and accounting in Estonia. Still you would need personal account to transfer money out of company as either salary or dividends. As a Serbian you can open personal account at transferwise and almost get the same results (Serbia doesn't get USD ACH account, Estonia does). If you want to do this legally you would have to inform Serbian tax office of your accounts and business in Estonia. Estonia doesn't grant any privacy. But Serbia isn't a part of CRS so you might be able to run it illegally. Legally running Estonian company remotely from Serbia doesn't help you because of CFC rules, you would probably be taxed liked DOO in Serbia (you have to check double tax treaty agreement with Serbian and Estonia). Legal and best option is to pack your bags and go somewhere that works for you.

Serbia is not a part of CRS? AFAIK it is as of last year?

 

[CounselRep]

Serbia signed the "Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters" in 2019 (see here: Serbia joins international efforts against tax evasion and avoidance - OECD)

But that's not CRS.

Yes, that Convention is a general commitment to international tax co-operation, and yes, it can - after many other international, legal, political and logistical steps and processes eventually lead to CRS years into the future, but it's not CRS. It's not even a formal commitment to CRS
(see some of the steps between there and CRS here: http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-e...al-exchange-relationships-crs-information.pdf)

And as you can see from here: https://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/AEOI-commitments.pdf

Serbia hasn't even been asked to give a date for CRS yet.

If Serbia wants to achieve EU membership, it will have to do CRS eventually, but with the way the Kosovo situation is proving a sticking point there at the moment, then that and CRS is still some way off...

 

[CounselRep]

This is also a useful tool to check a country's CRS and other tax cooperation commitments / progress:

http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/country-monitoring/
This is the result you get when you chuck Serbia's name into the drop down box on the left of the world map (note the CRS MCAA is not signed):