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What is the best way to go about getting more profit and paying less tax when it comes to selling something strictly online?

Say I have a dual citizenship, to Canada and Mexico. And I do all my work online, and make all my sales (whether it be programs, websites, apps etc) online. And I travel back and fourth between the two countries aswell as visiting other places for extended periods (like the USA for up to 3-6months a year) but continue to work from the laptop wherever I am. No main office no employees.

I want to start an online company, which will not only do website development but also own all the programs and apps I create and sell (via Itunes, the web, etc) What is the best way of registering this type of business?

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3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Obviously you need to check with a tax lawyer, but this is my understanding: If you do not live in the US and you own a US C-corporation. If you then sell this corporation there is no tax due in the US on the sale (a foreigner owning shares in a US corporation does not need to pay tax when selling those shares)

Then the question of if you have to pay tax depends on where you live. Likely you live in either Canada or Mexico so you would need to pay tax there. If you were to live somewhere tax free then you could potentially sell the company tax free.

This is for selling the company. For the on-going business, there is no real legal way to avoid the tax. If you are doing business in the US (your customers are there or your office is there) then you have to pay tax there.

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up vote 2 down vote

Check out google's Dutch Sandwich scheme. It can be overkill for you but look at it as an idea. Check the laws in your country to figure out your own scheme. Or better, find someone in your country who did this already.

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Here's a link to learn about Double Irish / Dutch Sandwich tax avoidance approaches. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Irish_arrangement – jimg Jan 22 at 18:00
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If you want to less taxes maybe Belice is the best country for you, because the taxes that you are going to pay are between 100 and 1000 dolars year, but before that I would inform myself how are you going to transfer this money to the country you reside.

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