If you are someone with a global lifestyle or mindset, you probably have heard of Estonian e-Residency (the pioneer of e-residency programs). Don’t worry if you haven’t—you’ll find everything you need to know about it in our Estonian e-Residency guide. In short, it gives you a digital identity and access to lots of Estonian government services, including founding and running a company. Currently, every one in six new companies registered in Estonia has been founded by e-residents.
Hi there! Great article, thanks for the info, this may be a great option for me!
I am currently working freelance and a complete nonresident of any country, and I am considering opening their free account option.
My question is around business expenses. What qualifies? And how do they reimburse you for them? Where do they reimburse you to? I am currently struggling to open a personal bank account so am trying to understand my options.
Xolo Go is the option when you only pay 5% for withdrawals and there is no monthly fee. With the Go plan, they have banking integrated into their software, so you don’t need to set up a bank account to receive payments.
You only need a personal bank account for withdrawing money. If you have to set up one, we have listed some great banking options for international travellers in our article. Personally, I use and really like N26. Yes, they do ask you to state your residency and address (there’s no avoiding this with any bank), but they don’t ask for a proof of address.
Yes! N26 is great - the only problem is they recently asked me for a tax document which I will not be able to produce as I left the EU so had to close my accounts. My search continues!
You could try other fintech banks, like Monese (they have been more relaxed about address proof, etc.). There are also many accounts around the world you can open with little effort and no real proof other than perhaps a bank statement. Most will ask for a tax number, however, you can just provide one from a country where you’ve lived in the past.
While not cheap, Globalbanks can probably help too—they should have banks in their database, that would work for you.
Nope no dice on Monese either (just in case anyone is in a similar situation) …accepted my Canadian passport but then wanted a second one, from Country you say you are in.
Any other ideas haha?
Great article, Hanna. I don’t have an e-residency yet, but I use Xolo Go to create invoices and send it to my clients. I love Xolo Go, it’s practical and so easy to use. And I hope to get my e-residency soon and finally open my business in Estonia.
We have writtten more extensively about taxes in our E-residency guide. Basically, your Estonian company would be automatically considered a tax resident in Estonia. It depends on the tax treaties, if you also need to pay corporate tax in your own country.
e-Estonia Briefing Centre has also written a good article about e-residents’ taxation. And for more specific questions, feel free to get in touch with Estonian Tax and Customs Board (email: nonresident@emta.ee). Although it is highly likely, that they will tell you that you should also consult with a tax advisor in your own country.
If your company’s annual revenue doesn’t exceed €40K, you only need to submit end of financial year reports (by the end of June next year). It’s not obligatory to do that for the first year. If the turnover is more than €40K, you have to do monthly accounting. Fortunately, these services are not very expensive in Estonia. Once you decide on the service provider, most of them can also consult you about international taxes.
As your company will be a tax resident in Estonia, the company will be taxed and paperwork required by Estonian law (no matter if you are an EU or non-EU resident personally). The most important tax to keep in mind is 20% corporate tax when you pay out dividends to yourself. If there is an additional tax to receiving dividends will depend on your resident country.
Hi, thank you for the super informative article. Any advice on a company one can use just for the required yearly tax report? I don’t foresee any reasonable monthly activity apart from bank deposits on my company account - is a monthly accounting plan really necessary?
Hello Hanna. This artikle helps me a lot. I tried this comparison myself. I just have begun and then I found your artikle. When I was searching for providers I found “Enty”. I haven’t found any reviews about them. Do you know anything about them? I think they are quite new to the market. Thanks in advance. Michael
It took almost three months, but finally, it’s published 