Virtual Office FAQ
If the company has employees who are not tax residents of Estonia and work outside Estonia, the salary payments to these foreign employees are not taxed in Estonia, and we do not file tax returns for these employees. Foreign employees must declare their income on behalf of an Estonian company in the country in which they are taxable. A business account is a good alternative if you don’t want to own a company. Taxes are calculated and paid automatically. When using an entrepreneur account, the person cannot be a VAT liable person or operate as a self-employed person (FIE) in the same or similar area of activity. If a customer is currently registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund as unemployed and opens an entrepreneur account through the bank, this information will reach the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the customer’s unemployed status will end, regardless of whether the customer has received any funds on the entrepreneur account. Estonia has a very transparent tax system and it is easy to understand for the foreigners, because of the flat tax rates. Here are some of the main tax benefits of an Estonian company. It is very important to understand that there are different taxes for the company, and you as a private person. Therefore, you have to keep your personal and company’s money separate, as these are two independent persons: a natural person and a legal person. This also means that it is not considered as double taxation when the company distributes dividends and pays corporate income tax, and when a private person receives dividends and pays personal income tax on that. We will discuss how double taxation works in the following section. Liability is a type of liability arising from a tax relationship that extends to a third party’s legal representative, chief executive officer or asset manager (the addressee of the liability decision) to pay the company’s tax debt. It is an obligation on the part of the corporation, ie the said one presupposes the validity of the tax debt of the company (Supreme Administrative Court decision no. 3-3-1-75-09). Liability proceedings are a sub-category of debt recovery and are not tax assessments. The liability procedure involves an analysis of the circumstances underlying the third party’s liability, which may result in the issuance of a liability decision to the obligated new subject or the termination of the liability procedure due to lack of grounds. It is clear from §§ 96 (1), 40 (1) and 8 (1) of the Taxation Act that the liability of a member of the management board in the recovery of his tax debt is as follows: A natural person is a resident if one of the following conditions is met: Taxation requirements also apply according to residency status. Corporate tax status is determined by where the turnover is generated, where the profits are distributed, and where the employee is resident in the country. [sonaar_audioplayer albums=”8609″ artwork_id=”” hide_artwork=”false” show_playlist=”false” show_track_market=”false” show_album_market=”false” hide_timeline=”false”][/sonaar_audioplayer] Non-residents not registered in the commercial register in Estonia and operating in Estonia through a permanent establishment or non-residents not having a permanent establishment but being employers in Estonia have to register with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Likewise, non-resident employees and recipients of payments not having an Estonian personal identification code have to be registered with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Closer look: https://www.emta.ee/en/business-client/registration-business/non-residents-e-residents/registration-non-resident You must submit a notice of residence to the city or rural municipality government of your place of residence. A notice of residence can be submitted: Printable and digitally fillable form of notice of residence is available on the homepage of the Ministry of the Interior. Entering additional addresses in the population register If you use several residences permanently, you must select one which is going to be entered as the residential address with legal effect (main residence) to the population register. Other residences can be submitted to the population register as additional addresses. You have an obligation pursuant to law to make sure your residence address in the Population Register is correct When you are changing your residence in Estonia, relocating to a foreign country, or relocating from a foreign country to Estonia, you need to submit a notice of residence to register a new place of residence in the Population Register. If there is no activity or income derived from Estonia, taxes should be paid in the country where the service is provided or activity is done or income is derived from, the pure e-residency alone does not influence foreign or Estonian taxation. An Estonian company established by an e-resident is an Estonian tax resident. The Estonian e-residency does not automatically exempt from taxation elsewhere. Tax residency is the place where you actually have to pay the taxes. For example, if you are an Estonian citizen, but have lived more than 183 days per year in Finland, then you become a tax resident in Finland and have to pay the taxes there. Generally, a company’s tax residency is in the country where the company is established. So, if the company is based in Estonia, then by law the tax residency is in Estonia. There are exceptions to this rule that will change the tax residency of your company, which we will discuss later in this article. When talking about tax residency or even e-Residency, it is essential to emphasize that neither is an actual residency. So, if you receive your e-Residency card, then this doesn’t make you a resident nor a tax resident of Estonia – it is a common false perception. E-Residency is not related to a visa or a resident permit and doesn’t enable you to travel to Estonia. An e-Residency card is a digital identity that allows you to run a business in Estonia from a distance and fully online. Citizenship only applies to a private person and is determined by your passport. The tax residency on the other hand is not the same as citizenship and is determined by tax laws. The tax residency status can be in the same country as your citizenship, but it also might be different or change in time. A natural person is a resident if one of the following conditions is met: Taxation requirements also apply according to residency status. Corporate tax status is determined by where the turnover is generated, where the profits are distributed, and where the employee is resident in the country. [sonaar_audioplayer albums=”8609″ artwork_id=”” hide_artwork=”false” show_playlist=”false” show_track_market=”false” show_album_market=”false” hide_timeline=”false”][/sonaar_audioplayer] A business account is a good alternative if you don’t want to own a company. Taxes are calculated and paid automatically. When using an entrepreneur account, the person cannot be a VAT liable person or operate as a self-employed person (FIE) in the same or similar area of activity. If a customer is currently registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund as unemployed and opens an entrepreneur account through the bank, this information will reach the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the customer’s unemployed status will end, regardless of whether the customer has received any funds on the entrepreneur account. The share capital amount can be used for business purposes, meaning that it doesn’t have to stay on your business bank account as a deposit. As soon as it is transferred to the bank account, it can be used for business expenses, paying out salaries, and so on. After the share capital has been paid in, it has to be registered in the Business Register to pay out dividends. It is also required that you declare the share capital in the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (the ETCB). This becomes useful, if at some point you want to liquidate the company and are obligated to pay income tax on the company’s profit. If the minimum share capital of 2500 € has been declared in the ETCB beforehand, then in the case of company liquidation, 2500 € of the company’s profit will be tax-free. In Estonia, the regular corporate income tax rate on profit is 20% from the gross amount. If you receive dividends from subsidiaries or permanent establishments, then these may be tax-free in case there is a double treaty agreement signed between the countries. There is also an option to use a reduced corporate income tax rate which is 14%. When a company uses the reduced rate, then a private person has to pay 7% of the personal income tax. However, there are several rules for when the reduced tax rate can be used. The 7% that is withheld as a personal income tax, can be deducted in the personal income declaration in your home country (in a country where your personal tax residency is). For that, you need to get proof from the ETCB that the income tax has been paid in Estonia and then your taxes will be reduced in your home country. If a company distributes dividends to another company with a reduced rate, then the company only pays 14% of corporate income tax on that. But if the owner of the second company is a private person, and the second company pays out dividends to the owner, then the 7% personal income tax will be withheld from that private person. So, using the reduced tax rate is rather complicated and involves different calculations and nuances. If the reduced tax rate is used, the full structure of the dividends should be known to make better judgments. If you have filled the requirements for a reduced tax rate and want to use it, then we recommend consulting with our accountants who can explain how it will work for your company. MOSS stands for Mini One Stop Shop and is part of the VAT, but it only concerns digital goods or services. For example, services covered under the MOSS scheme include website hosting, a supply of software, access to databases, downloading apps or music, online gaming and distance teaching. When selling digital goods and services, the regular rule is that the place of turnover is where your customer is located. So normally if you sell physical goods to a certain country, then at some point you have to get a VAT number in that country. But MOSS simplifies the process for digital goods and services which means you don’t have to get a VAT number in many different countries. For example, if an Estonian company sells digital services to different private persons all over the EU, then the company’s invoices will have an Estonian VAT number, but a client’s home country VAT rate. Meaning that your company will pay all the other countries’ VAT to the Estonian tax office who will then spread the VAT itself between those countries where the customers purchased your digital goods or services. Therefore, MOSS will save you a lot of time and money in the end. MOSS scheme can be used only if the company is VAT liable. In Estonia, you have to declare MOSS in a special quarterly declaration. So, it is not part of the regular monthly VAT declaration, but additional reporting. You still have to submit monthly VAT declarations, even if most of the goods or services you sell, are covered with MOSS. It is very important that you fully understand what selling digital goods and services means when it comes to MOSS. You will have to set up a very good system to gather all the information about your clients, the countries where they’re from, and the VAT rates of the countries where your customers completed the purchases, as this will greatly help from the tax reporting point of view. As the name says, double taxation stands for paying the same taxes in different countries. Double taxation can be avoided, if the country where your company is established, and where you as a private person live, have signed a double tax treaty agreement. See the list of the countries that have double tax treaty agreements with Estonia. If the countries have not signed the treaty, then the double taxation can’t be avoided. For example, Estonia doesn’t have a double tax treaty with Russia, which means that the company may need to pay corporate income tax in Estonia as well as in Russia. In the previous section, we already mentioned that income taxes for a natural person and a company are two separate things. If a company pays out dividends, then this is taxed with the corporate income tax. However, in most of the countries, private persons have to pay personal income tax from the received dividends. This is not considered as double taxation, because these are two separate taxes. There is no tax ID in Estonia. An 8-digit company registration code and your 11-digit personal identity code (isikukood) should be enough for all institutions and services in Estonia. The standard rate of VAT is 20%, the reduced rate is 9% and 0% in some cases. The taxable period is one calendar month, and VAT returns must be submitted to the tax authority by the 20th day of the month following the taxable period. Usually, Tax and Customs Board will register with the VAT for those companies that engage in economic activities or prove their commencement (§ 20 (4) of the Value Added Tax Act). As a result, the registration of non-operating ready-made companies is usually not possible for the sale of companies by sellers of the companies. It is possible to buy formerly operating companies, including VAT registered companies. In this case, the registration of the company as a VAT taxpayer will be retained. Estonia has a very transparent tax system and it is easy to understand for the foreigners, because of the flat tax rates. Here are some of the main tax benefits of an Estonian company. It is very important to understand that there are different taxes for the company, and you as a private person. Therefore, you have to keep your personal and company’s money separate, as these are two independent persons: a natural person and a legal person. This also means that it is not considered as double taxation when the company distributes dividends and pays corporate income tax, and when a private person receives dividends and pays personal income tax on that. We will discuss how double taxation works in the following section. Applicants must have access to “Submit a VAT registration application”. In order to grant access, the authorized person must enter the e-MTA as a representative and select “Settings”> “Access Rights”> “Representative Access Rights”. On the Access Rights Administration page, you must enter the user ID of the user to be authorized and select “Access to VAT registration” under the “Individual rights” section. Log in: https://maasikas.emta.ee/v1/login?authst=eitUBZa5iT If the e-channels do not work, but you need to quickly file tax returns with the Estonian Tax and customs board, you can also do so physically. The sample: [pdf-embedder url=”http://virtualofficeinestonia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Tax-Returns.pdf” title=”Tax Returns”] In general, there are two options to pay a fee from a company in Estonia: a regular salary and a board member’s fee. A regular salary is paid for active work that is done in the company to bring value. A board member’s fee is paid for administrative tasks that are done to manage the company. If you are the only owner and an employee of your company, then you can decide which fee you pay for yourself. You can pay yourself a regular salary, a board member’s fee, or a combination of both. A company has to pay out salary taxes on a regular salary only if the employee actually works in Estonia. If the employee is not an Estonian tax resident and doesn’t work in Estonia, but the company still pays them a salary, then the salary taxes should be paid in another country where the person is a tax resident and works in reality. The regular tax rates for Estonian tax residents in Estonia are 20% for personal income tax, 33% for social tax, 1,6% for unemployment tax, 0,8% for employer’s unemployment tax and 2% for pension. In Estonia, employees can also get a maximum of 500 € income-tax-free, but the amount decreases depending on the size of the salary. If you work in Estonia and are tax resident here, then you also have to pay social tax in Estonia, which means that you can receive health insurance only in Estonia. Keep in mind that you can only get social benefits from one country. Therefore, the personal income tax can be paid in many different countries, but the social tax should be paid in a country where you live and where you need to get the social benefits. The taxation of a board member’s fee is a bit different than that of a regular salary. If a board member is an Estonian tax resident, then all the taxes will be paid in Estonia. But if the board member is a foreigner and doesn’t work or live in Estonia, then the 20% income tax still has to be paid in Estonia. Social tax can be paid in Estonia or in another country where the board member wants to receive the social benefits. In case you are a digital nomad and travel in different countries while working, then the salary taxation might become quite complex. If you are a tax resident in one country, then everything is simple, and you will pay taxes in that country. If, however, you don’t have a tax residency and receive a salary, then you still have to pay taxes somewhere. Otherwise, at some point, some government can claim that you need to pay taxes in their country. So, if you are staying in a certain country and doing work, then this is the country where you should pay the taxes. Non-residents not registered in the commercial register in Estonia and operating in Estonia through a permanent establishment or non-residents not having a permanent establishment but being employers in Estonia have to register with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Likewise, non-resident employees and recipients of payments not having an Estonian personal identification code have to be registered with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Closer look: https://www.emta.ee/en/business-client/registration-business/non-residents-e-residents/registration-non-resident Residents pay tax on their worldwide income. Taxable income includes, in particular, income from employment (salaries, wages, bonuses and other remuneration); business income; interest, royalties, rental income; capital gains; pensions and scholarships (except scholarships financed from the state budget or paid on the basis of law). Taxable income does not include dividends paid by Estonian or foreign companies when the underlying profits have already been taxed. The personal income tax is withheld from the employees’ gross salary every month and paid by the employer. Non-residents pay personal income tax only on their income received from Estonian sources. Taxable income in Estonia includes: Permanent establishment is something that people are usually not aware of, but it is important to consider as it can determine where you have to pay the taxes. Permanent establishment occurs in a different country than where your company is registered, and in a location where the business management and selling goods or services happens. So, if you permanently manage your business from another country, then you have the risk of having a permanent establishment there. For example, if you have an Estonian company, but manage your business in Finland, then this might result in a permanent establishment in Finland and means that taxation will be according to the Finnish tax rules. Besides management location and permanently selling in some country, a permanent establishment might occur if you sign agreements with the clients and negotiate about the prices in some other country than where your company is established. Other aspects can also create a permanent establishment for your company in a foreign country. As taxes are case sensitive, then a tax advisor has to evaluate and analyse the nature of your company’s business and see whether there is a risk for a permanent establishment occurring somewhere else. So, if the permanent establishment happens, then your tax residency might change, and you have to start paying taxes in that foreign country. In that case, you will be notified about the tax obligations by this country’s government. For example, the Finnish tax office might see that you’re conducting your business in Finland and therefore lets you know that, as you have a permanent establishment in Finland, you have to pay the taxes in Finland and according to their rules. All the above means that once a permanent establishment occurs, then Estonian regular taxation rules do not apply to your company anymore. So, at the end of the year, you have to pay taxes according to the laws of the country where you have the permanent establishment. It is important to evaluate all the risks that you have regarding the permanent establishment when starting a business. As mentioned earlier, permanent establishment mainly takes place if you manage the business or sell goods or services permanently in a different country from where your company is established, but there are also many other aspects to consider. So, it is recommended to get a tax consultation before starting a company in Estonia, just to save you money and nerves in the future and avoid arguments with tax offices about where you are obligated to pay the taxes. Liability is a type of liability arising from a tax relationship that extends to a third party’s legal representative, chief executive officer or asset manager (the addressee of the liability decision) to pay the company’s tax debt. It is an obligation on the part of the corporation, ie the said one presupposes the validity of the tax debt of the company (Supreme Administrative Court decision no. 3-3-1-75-09). Liability proceedings are a sub-category of debt recovery and are not tax assessments. The liability procedure involves an analysis of the circumstances underlying the third party’s liability, which may result in the issuance of a liability decision to the obligated new subject or the termination of the liability procedure due to lack of grounds. It is clear from §§ 96 (1), 40 (1) and 8 (1) of the Taxation Act that the liability of a member of the management board in the recovery of his tax debt is as follows: The rate of social tax is 33% (20% for social security and 13% for health insurance). Besides the social tax, unemployment insurance tax at a rate of 0.8% must be paid on the gross salary (an additional 1.6% is withheld from the employees’ salary). Employers registered in Estonia (including the permanent establishments of foreign entities) must pay social tax on all payments made to employees, except on those specifically exempted by law. E-residency in Estonia does not automatically mean tax residence. It only provides the opportunity to use the e-services that the Estonian state offers. Among them is the establishment of the company. If your turnover is less than EUR 40,000 per the calendar year, you don’t need to add VAT to your invoices. If the turnover is generated outside Estonia, you do not have to add VAT to your invoices if you exceed this amount. If the employees do not work in Estonia, the labour tax according to Estonian law does not have to be taken into account. You must submit a notice of residence to the city or rural municipality government of your place of residence. A notice of residence can be submitted: Printable and digitally fillable form of notice of residence is available on the homepage of the Ministry of the Interior. Entering additional addresses in the population register If you use several residences permanently, you must select one which is going to be entered as the residential address with legal effect (main residence) to the population register. Other residences can be submitted to the population register as additional addresses. You have an obligation pursuant to law to make sure your residence address in the Population Register is correct When you are changing your residence in Estonia, relocating to a foreign country, or relocating from a foreign country to Estonia, you need to submit a notice of residence to register a new place of residence in the Population Register. In case your company has made profit, it is possible to pay dividend to the shareholders. Shareholders receive dividends proportionately to the share of the company that they own. NB! Before the company is allowed to pay dividend, the company’s share capital needs to be paid into the company bank account. After you have made the share capital payment, please inform your e-Residency hub accountant, so we could formulate the changes in the company registration documents Dividends are taxed with 20% corporate income tax. Example: A company decides to spend €100,000 of its accumulated profit to make a dividend payment. This sum is divided in the following manner: In the case described above, the €80,000 which is received by the company’s shareholders, may be considered their income in the country where they are tax residents. It may therefore be taxed with a personal income tax in their country of residence. Please check with a tax advisor in your country of residence to find out if this applies to you. On 1 July 2009, the Economic Operators Registration and Identification System (EORI) was introduced in all EU Member States for identification of economic operators as regards their customs related activities. Economic operators engaged in foreign trade who register themselves in the EORI system are given unique identification numbers (EORI numbers), which will be forwarded to the EORI central database. The use of an EORI number enabling to identify economic operators within the entire EU customs territory became mandatory for all economic operators engaged in import or export of goods, transit transportations or when performing other customs related activities. If there is no activity or income derived from Estonia, taxes should be paid in the country where the service is provided or activity is done or income is derived from, the pure e-residency alone does not influence foreign or Estonian taxation. An Estonian company established by an e-resident is an Estonian tax resident. The Estonian e-residency does not automatically exempt from taxation elsewhere. Tax residency is the place where you actually have to pay the taxes. For example, if you are an Estonian citizen, but have lived more than 183 days per year in Finland, then you become a tax resident in Finland and have to pay the taxes there. Generally, a company’s tax residency is in the country where the company is established. So, if the company is based in Estonia, then by law the tax residency is in Estonia. There are exceptions to this rule that will change the tax residency of your company, which we will discuss later in this article. When talking about tax residency or even e-Residency, it is essential to emphasize that neither is an actual residency. So, if you receive your e-Residency card, then this doesn’t make you a resident nor a tax resident of Estonia – it is a common false perception. E-Residency is not related to a visa or a resident permit and doesn’t enable you to travel to Estonia. An e-Residency card is a digital identity that allows you to run a business in Estonia from a distance and fully online. Citizenship only applies to a private person and is determined by your passport. The tax residency on the other hand is not the same as citizenship and is determined by tax laws. The tax residency status can be in the same country as your citizenship, but it also might be different or change in time. The only income that is sourced within Estonia is subject to taxation in Estonia. In cases where there is no activity or income sourced from Estonia, taxes must be paid in the jurisdiction where the service is provided, activity is conducted or income is derived from. It is important to note that e-residency alone does not have any bearing on taxation in Estonia or any other jurisdiction. Furthermore, e-residency does not automatically provide an exemption from taxation in other jurisdictions. It should also be noted that an Estonian company established by an e-resident is deemed an Estonian tax resident. If the company has employees who are not tax residents of Estonia and work outside Estonia, the salary payments to these foreign employees are not taxed in Estonia, and we do not file tax returns for these employees. Foreign employees must declare their income on behalf of an Estonian company in the country in which they are taxable. 0% There is no corporate income tax on retained and reinvested profits. Tax on distributed profits is 14-20%. Distributed profits include: Dividends paid to non-residents are no longer subject to withholding tax, irrespective of participation in the share capital of the distributing Estonian company. However, various withholding taxes may still apply to other payments to non-residents if they do not have a permanent establishment in Estonia or unless the tax treaties otherwise provide. As the tax period for corporate entities is a month, income tax must be returned and paid monthly by the 10th day of the following month. It is possible to run your company without any corporate income taxation at all. Anno 2023. If you are unable to use the above-mentioned authentication methods, we recommend you apply for Estonia’s e-Residency. E-Residency offers foreigners secure access to Estonia’s e-services. Holders of the e-resident’s Digi-ID card can digitally sign documents and use the Digi-ID to sign in to all portals and information systems that recognize the Estonian ID card. You can apply for an Estonian e-resident’s Digi-ID electronically at https://eresident.politsei.ee/. Of course, it is also necessary to thoroughly describe how the business will be related to Estonia. Documents can be submitted either by a person authorized to represent or by an authorized person under a notarial power of attorney in our office on site. Tax and Customs Board also accept documents sent by post if the specimen signature of the authorized person is notarized or sent digitally signed (digital signature of the authorized person) to our e-mail address emta@emta.ee or submitted to our service office on site. Of course, it is also necessary to thoroughly describe how the business will be related to Estonia. Documents can be submitted either by a person authorized to represent or by an authorized person under a notarial power of attorney in our office on site. Tax and Customs Board also accept documents sent by post if the specimen signature of the authorized person is notarized or sent digitally signed (digital signature of the authorized person) to our e-mail address emta@emta.ee or submitted to our service office on site.
Accounting (1)
No, you don’t.
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Company formation (3)
All individuals with an Estonian personal identification code (including e-residents) can open an entrepreneur account.
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General (5)
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An e-resident is a non-resident according to Estonian tax legislation. Only income derived in Estonia is taxed in Estonia.
NB!
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To explain tax residency and citizenship, we first need to consider that there are two separate parties involved: a private and a legal person. This means that your company is a legal person, and you alone are the private person.
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Taxis in Estonia (27)
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All individuals with an Estonian personal identification code (including e-residents) can open an entrepreneur account.
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An e-resident is a non-resident according to Estonian tax legislation. Only income derived in Estonia is taxed in Estonia.
NB!
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To explain tax residency and citizenship, we first need to consider that there are two separate parties involved: a private and a legal person. This means that your company is a legal person, and you alone are the private person.
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As per Estonian tax legislation, an e-resident is considered a non-resident for tax purposes.
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No, you don’t.
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As a non-resident, you can sign in to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s self-service environment and use the e-services if you have:
Estonia’s e-Residency
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In order to register for VAT, a foreign company must submit an application and extract from the company register of the country where the company is registered.
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VAT number (1)
In order to register for VAT, a foreign company must submit an application and extract from the company register of the country where the company is registered.
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