Comment by SkyAndSand

2 years ago

These are all really good questions. I am not sure. I think that you could work around these issues by either "hiring" people as contractors or using something like https://remote.com/ or https://www.letsdeel.com/. But I'd definitely be interested in hearing how other companies solved this problem (which is partially why I created the post).

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SkyAndSand

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hodgesrm  2 years ago

We are US incorporated with staff in 14 countries. We use contracts for non-US staff and recently implemented letsdeel. So it looks good. You do not need a legal entity in most countries and in fact there can be significant disadvantages. The accounting management alone is a nightmare if you do it yourself.

Ps most people set up their own company and we contract with that.

Edit: add ps

  • SkyAndSand  2 years ago

    Thanks for the feedback. Did you generally encounter any bigger issues with this setup or would you do it again for the next company?

    Also, where in the US did you incorporate? Delaware?

    • hodgesrm  2 years ago

      Delaware, though we originally incorporated in the UK and then flipped as a condition of receiving investment. (Thanks Accel people!) The flip was the most complicated thing we've done--accounting, lawyers on both sides to avoid the dreaded taxable event, etc.

      I would absolutely do the same in future. The contract to individual or individual's company is a standard model for remote companies like us that work on open source software. Some of our staff just have email & github access and that's it.

      My email is in my profile. Send me email if you want to discuss. I'm happy to share details directly.

      4 replies →

lbotos  2 years ago

1. I'm not a lawyer.

2. If you want to hire someone abroad (outside of the business' country) then contractor.

3. If you hire enough contractors, you may be forced to set up an entity or use a PEO. Local governments see that as skirting employment law.

(I work at an all-remote company that is pretty transparent, and people lambast us all the time because they are upset we don't hire in $a_country_they_think_we_should and it's almost always "tax and labor law is complex, we can't hire there until we understand the implications better.")