Internet business internet taxes international appeal
October 26, 2010 8:51 AM Subscribe
Help with website revenue taxation/company setup. International complications ?
I am in the Netherlands and I run a website that resides on a US server. This website makes revenues on affiliate marketing and Adsense (but am thinking about expanding into accepting direct bids from advertisers).
After one year of running it on the side, now I want to make it "legal", so registering an individual company and start paying taxes on the earnings.
My three questions would be:
a) where will i pay taxes? In the Netherlands (where i reside) or in the US (where the server is) ? is changing server location or registering the company in another country any doable/convenient ?
c) how does that agree with my current day job? will i get taxated ON TOP of my current taxation (i assume so)? will i be able to expense some of my costs (ie. i run it at home. what about internet bill and electricity bill, new hardware etc.?)
b) i would like an accountant to help me set up the whole thing, but a normal accountant doesn't cut it for me. I would like somebody that knows how internet companies work (companies that don't sell real goods). Any suggestion for a decent one in the Netherlands ?
I am in the Netherlands and I run a website that resides on a US server. This website makes revenues on affiliate marketing and Adsense (but am thinking about expanding into accepting direct bids from advertisers).
After one year of running it on the side, now I want to make it "legal", so registering an individual company and start paying taxes on the earnings.
My three questions would be:
a) where will i pay taxes? In the Netherlands (where i reside) or in the US (where the server is) ? is changing server location or registering the company in another country any doable/convenient ?
c) how does that agree with my current day job? will i get taxated ON TOP of my current taxation (i assume so)? will i be able to expense some of my costs (ie. i run it at home. what about internet bill and electricity bill, new hardware etc.?)
b) i would like an accountant to help me set up the whole thing, but a normal accountant doesn't cut it for me. I would like somebody that knows how internet companies work (companies that don't sell real goods). Any suggestion for a decent one in the Netherlands ?
I don't know how the Netherlands works. However, the location of your data, at least in the US, is not the location of your business. Your web host is a vendor who you pay to do something for you, your business is located where you do business-y things. (Where they send the bills, basically.) So chances are very good, anyway, that you've got fewer issues than you think.
You'd be surprised what a "normal accountant" can manage. Normal accountants handle lots of businesses that don't involve selling real goods--all services, for example, like the ones they themselves do. It's still all revenue and expenses. Generally, you'll be able to deduct your expenses, but if the Netherlands is like the US, then it'll be something along the lines of only being able to deduct part of anything that can be used for non-business purposes. You're much simpler to handle than you think. If you can personally describe where your money comes from and where it goes, an ordinary accountant should be fine. And they'll probably be able to help you with all the tax stuff and referring you to the right people for the legal stuff.
posted by gracedissolved at 10:50 AM on October 26, 2010
You'd be surprised what a "normal accountant" can manage. Normal accountants handle lots of businesses that don't involve selling real goods--all services, for example, like the ones they themselves do. It's still all revenue and expenses. Generally, you'll be able to deduct your expenses, but if the Netherlands is like the US, then it'll be something along the lines of only being able to deduct part of anything that can be used for non-business purposes. You're much simpler to handle than you think. If you can personally describe where your money comes from and where it goes, an ordinary accountant should be fine. And they'll probably be able to help you with all the tax stuff and referring you to the right people for the legal stuff.
posted by gracedissolved at 10:50 AM on October 26, 2010
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I don't know any accountants in the Netherlands, but I imagine there is a community of entrepreneurs in Amsterdam who can make a recommendation to you.
But, the bottom line (to use an accounting term) is that your first two questions really can only be answered by an accountant.
posted by dfriedman at 10:00 AM on October 26, 2010