Business
Can I run a business there
What a company is really taxed at, what it withholds paying abroad, how long registering takes, which founder visas exist and what a hire costs — by country.
Tools in this section
Employer Cost of a Hire
Gross wage plus the employer's social contributions at OECD's published rate — what a hire really costs, by country.
GET /api/employer-cost.json
Effective Corporate Tax
What a company's investment is actually taxed at — OECD's effective average and marginal rates and cost of capital beside the statutory headline, with the gap between them.
GET /api/effective-tax.json
Withholding Tax on Payments Abroad
What a company withholds when it pays dividends, interest, royalties or fees to another country — the standard rate and the treaty rate for that pair, where OECD publishes one.
GET /api/withholding-tax.json
Starting a Company
Days and cost to register a company for a local or a foreign owner, minimum capital, ownership limits and online registration from World Bank B-READY, with the new-company rate beside it.
GET /api/business-entry.json
Founder & Investor Visas
Which countries offer a start-up, founder or investor route, on what funds and for how long — curated from official pages, matched to the funds you have.
GET /api/founder-visas.json
Trade & Customs
Days for goods to clear the border and the cost of complying with import and export rules, from World Bank B-READY's firm surveys.
GET /api/trade-customs.json
Tax Compliance Burden
Hours spent on tax compliance, electronic filing, weeks to a VAT refund and the rate firms report paying, from World Bank B-READY's firm surveys.
GET /api/tax-burden.json
Pay Range Builder
For employers: a defensible salary range for a role in a country, built from official statistics — floor, midpoint and ceiling, with the evidence behind each.
GET /api/pay-range.json
Every figure here is computed, not collected
Nothing on this site is a crowdsourced estimate or an editorial top ten. Each tool runs a published dataset — World Bank, IMF, OECD, Eurostat, WHO, HUD — through an engine you can call yourself, and every JSON response carries a citation naming the source and the year it refers to. Where a figure is modelled rather than measured, the page says so.
Each tool above has a free JSON API and an MCP tool, listed on the card. See how it works or the ranked answers if you would rather start from a shortlist than a calculator.
Not sure which tool to start with? Ask the adviser what matters to you (Pro), and it will work through these figures for you.
Other questions
- Compare countries — What is my money actually worth there?
- What a month costs — What does living there actually cost?
- Earning and staying — What should I charge, and how long does my money last?
- Where to go, and whether you can — Where should I go — and am I allowed to?
- Working from there — Can I actually do my job from there?
- Will my money work there — Will my money work there?
- What must I comply with — What must I comply with?
- Is it safe, and what do I need before I go — Is it safe, and what do I need before I go?
- Can I afford to retire there — Can I afford to retire there?
Published rates, registration facts and visa conditions with their sources and dates, for information only — not tax, legal or immigration advice. For a defensible salary range for a role, use the pay range builder; for the statutory rates themselves, the Rules hub.
What is a company really taxed at there?
OECD models a standard investment under each country's rate, allowances and incentives and reports the share of its return taken in tax — the effective average rate — and the wedge on an investment that just breaks even. The statutory headline sits beside it; the gap is what allowances are worth. A property of the tax system, not of any company's bill.
🇩🇪 Germany
- Statutory combined rate
- 30.13% (2026)
- Effective average rate (EATR)
- 26.78% (2025)
- Effective marginal rate (EMTR)
- 11.13%
- Cost of capital
- 3.33%
- Statutory minus effective average
- 3.3 points
- Under the country's own interest and inflation
- EATR 27% · EMTR 2.47%
- Tax rates, registration facts and visa conditions as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. This is not tax, legal or immigration advice; how a rule applies to a company or a founder depends on facts this tool does not hold. Confirm with the authority before acting.
- Effective rates are OECD's forward-looking model of a hypothetical investment in a composite asset under fixed interest and inflation assumptions — a property of the tax system, not any company's bill. Incentive regimes, losses and sector rules are outside it.
Lowest effective average rate
- 🇭🇺 Hungary 11.96%
- 🇮🇪 Ireland 12.36%
- 🇵🇱 Poland 15%
- 🇸🇬 Singapore 16.09%
- 🇻🇳 Vietnam 18.14%
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland 18.42%
- 🇹🇭 Thailand 18.45%
- 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 18.59%
Full ranking: countries with the lowest effective corporate tax.
OECD Corporate Tax Statistics effective-tax model (39 of 41), statutory rates from the same source. Refreshed 2026-09-05. Not modelled: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, DR Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe. JSON
What is withheld when a company pays abroad?
A company paying dividends, interest, royalties or technical fees to another country keeps back tax at its standard rate — unless a treaty between the two caps it. Both rates for the pair, and the saving in points. The paying company's country is from; the direction is never reversed.
🇹🇭 Thailand → 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
| Payment | Standard rate | Treaty rate | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividends | 10% | 0% | 10 pts |
| Interest | 15% | 10% | 5 pts |
| Royalties | 15% | 5% | 10 pts |
| Technical fees | 15% | 0% | 15 pts |
- Tax rates, registration facts and visa conditions as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. This is not tax, legal or immigration advice; how a rule applies to a company or a founder depends on facts this tool does not hold. Confirm with the authority before acting.
- Treaty rates are the maximum the treaty allows and usually need a residence certificate to claim; the recipient may still owe tax at home. A pair with no treaty figure is one OECD publishes no rate for, which is not the same as no treaty existing.
OECD Corporate Tax Statistics: standard rates for 41 countries and treaty rates for 1295 payer–recipient pairs within them. A pair with no treaty figure is one OECD does not publish, not one with no treaty. Refreshed 2026-09-05. JSON
How hard is it to start a company there?
Days and cost to complete company entry for a local owner and for a foreign one, whether capital must be paid in, whether sectors are closed to foreigners, and whether it can all be done online — from the World Bank's expert answers for the largest business city. Beside it, how many new companies a country actually registers.
🇵🇹 Portugal
- Days to register, local owner
- 30
- Cost, local owner
- EUR 360 (≈ $407)
- Days · cost, foreign owner
- 45 · EUR 410 (≈ $463)
- Minimum paid-in capital (local · foreign)
- Yes · Yes
- Sectors closed to full private ownership · national-employee quota
- Yes · No
- Online with e-signature · fees payable online · unique business id
- Yes · Yes · Yes
- New companies per 1,000 adults
- 11 (2024, 73,740 registered)
- Tax rates, registration facts and visa conditions as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. This is not tax, legal or immigration advice; how a rule applies to a company or a founder depends on facts this tool does not hold. Confirm with the authority before acting.
- Entry figures are B-READY expert answers for the largest business city, for a standard limited company; the foreign-owned figures assume a foreign parent. Costs are converted at the site's FX snapshot and the local figure is the one to quote.
Fewest days to register, local owner
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 1 d
- 🇸🇬 Singapore 1 d
- 🇬🇷 Greece 4 d
- 🇰🇷 South Korea 4 d
- 🇨🇦 Canada 5 d
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand 5 d
- 🇹🇷 Türkiye 7 d
- 🇻🇳 Vietnam 7 d
Full ranking: countries where a company is fastest to register.
World Bank B-READY 2025 (22 of 41 — a rotating cohort; the rest show the new-company rate only) and the Entrepreneurship Database. Refreshed 2026-09-05. JSON
Which countries would let you start a business there?
Founder, start-up and investor routes for the 41 countries here, matched to the funds you can commit. Thresholds are compared at the site's exchange rates; each row carries the original figure, what it is for, the official page it was read from and the date. Endorsement and business-plan tests are not modelled.
Routes your funds reach (6)
- 🇸🇪 Sweden Residence permit for self-employed persons SEK 200,000 to hold · 24 months Funds are 3.23× the funds to hold threshold. migrationsverket.se 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇩🇰 Denmark Start-up Denmark DKK 153,240 to hold · 24 months · endorsement Funds are 2.85× the funds to hold threshold. nyidanmark.dk 2026-09-05
- 🇫🇷 France Talent — création d'entreprise EUR 30,000 invested · 48 months Funds are 1.94× the investment threshold. service-public.gouv.fr 2026-09-05
- 🇮🇪 Ireland Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP) EUR 50,000 invested · 24 months Funds are 1.17× the investment threshold. irishimmigration.ie 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand Entrepreneur Work Visa NZD 100,000 invested · 12 months Funds are 1.13× the investment threshold. immigration.govt.nz 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇮🇩 Indonesia Investor KITAS (PT PMA) IDR 1,000,000,000 invested · 24 months Funds are 1.09× the investment threshold. imigrasi.go.id 2026-09-05 (secondary)
Near misses (within 25%) (2)
- 🇰🇷 South Korea D-8-4 Technology Start-up visa / D-8 corporate investor KRW 100,000,000 invested · 12 months Funds are 0.94× the investment threshold — within 25%. hikorea.go.kr 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇵🇭 Philippines Special Investor's Resident Visa (SIRV) USD 75,000 invested Funds are 0.88× the investment threshold — within 25%. bi.gov.ph 2026-09-05 (secondary)
Needs money raised from investors (1)
- 🇸🇬 Singapore EntrePass SGD 100,000 raised · 12 months Needs SGD 100,000 raised from recognised investors, not funds in hand. mom.gov.sg 2026-09-05
No published figure (23)
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom Innovator Founder visa · 36 months · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. gov.uk 2026-09-05
- 🇩🇪 Germany Residence permit for self-employment (§21 AufenthG) · 36 months No published funds figure; see the note. make-it-in-germany.com 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands Start-up residence permit · 12 months · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. ind.nl 2026-09-05
- 🇪🇸 Spain Entrepreneur visa (Ley 14/2013, Startups Law) · 36 months · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. exteriores.gob.es 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇮🇹 Italy Italia Startup Visa · 12 months · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it 2026-09-05
- 🇵🇹 Portugal Startup Visa (IAPMEI) / D2 entrepreneur visa · 24 months · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. iapmei.pt 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇳🇴 Norway Residence permit for self-employed persons · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. udi.no 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland Self-employment permit (non-EU/EFTA, cantonal quota) · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. sem.admin.ch 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇵🇱 Poland Temporary residence for business activity / Poland Business Harbour · 36 months No published funds figure; see the note. gov.pl 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇨🇿 Czechia Long-term visa for the purpose of business · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. mvcr.cz 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇹🇷 Türkiye Work permit as company owner · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. invest.gov.tr 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇯🇵 Japan Business Manager residence status / Startup visa · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. moj.go.jp 2026-09-05
- 🇨🇳 China Work visa as legal representative of a foreign-invested enterprise · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. en.nia.gov.cn 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇻🇳 Vietnam DT investor visa and temporary residence card · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇲🇾 Malaysia Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Programme (MTEP) · 12 months · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. mtep.mdec.my 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇨🇦 Canada Start-up Visa (paused) · endorsement No published funds figure; see the note. canada.ca 2026-09-05
- 🇺🇸 United States E-2 treaty investor / International Entrepreneur parole · 24 months No published funds figure; see the note. uscis.gov 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇲🇽 Mexico Temporary resident — investor / economic solvency · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. consulmex.sre.gob.mx 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇦🇷 Argentina Temporary residence — investor (inversionista) · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. argentina.gob.ar 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇨🇱 Chile Tech Visa / temporary residence for investors and business · 24 months No published funds figure; see the note. serviciomigraciones.cl 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇨🇴 Colombia M visa — business owner or investor · 36 months No published funds figure; see the note. cancilleria.gov.co 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇳🇬 Nigeria Business permit and STR visa via own company · 24 months No published funds figure; see the note. immigration.gov.ng 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇪🇬 Egypt Investor residence via GAFI · 12 months No published funds figure; see the note. gafi.gov.eg 2026-09-05 (secondary)
Out of reach (7)
- 🇧🇷 Brazil VITEM IX investor residence BRL 500,000 invested · 24 months Funds are 0.74× the investment threshold. gov.br 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Premium Residency — investor and entrepreneur tracks SAR 800,000 invested · 12 months Funds are 0.31× the investment threshold. misa.gov.sa 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇿🇦 South Africa Business visa ZAR 5,000,000 invested · 36 months Funds are 0.24× the investment threshold. dha.gov.za 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇭🇺 Hungary Guest Investor Program EUR 250,000 invested · 120 months Funds are 0.23× the investment threshold. enterhungary.gov.hu 2026-09-05 (secondary)
- 🇹🇭 Thailand LTR Wealthy Global Citizen / SMART S start-up visa USD 500,000 invested · 120 months Funds are 0.13× the investment threshold. ltr.boi.go.th 2026-09-05
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates Golden Visa — investor and entrepreneur AED 2,000,000 invested · 120 months Funds are 0.12× the investment threshold. u.ae 2026-09-05
- 🇬🇷 Greece Golden Visa — capital investment in a Greek company EUR 500,000 invested · 60 months Funds are 0.12× the investment threshold. migration.gov.gr 2026-09-05 (secondary)
No founder or investor route at all: AU, IN.
- Tax rates, registration facts and visa conditions as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. This is not tax, legal or immigration advice; how a rule applies to a company or a founder depends on facts this tool does not hold. Confirm with the authority before acting.
- Programmes open, pause and reprice through the year (Canada paused its Start-up Visa; Australia closed subclass 188), endorsement bodies apply their own tests, and dependants raise the funds required. Each row names the page it was read from and the date.
- Thresholds are compared in USD at the site's FX snapshot; the row carries the original figure. Endorsement, business-plan and qualification tests are not modelled.
- One or more entries were read from secondary reporting because the official page could not be fetched; see each row's confidence.
Hand-curated from official immigration pages; 39 of 41 countries offer a route. 10 entries were read first-hand, 31 from consistent secondary reporting where the official site could not be fetched (marked). Reviewed 2026-09-05. JSON
What does a hire actually cost?
A salary is not the cost. On top of it the employer pays its own social contributions, at a rate that runs from nothing to more than a third of gross pay. This adds OECD's published rate to a wage — yours, or the market midpoint for the role — and shows the loading an employer-of-record service would otherwise quote you for a fee.
$81,160 a year to employ — $67,152 gross plus $14,008 employer contributions (20.9%).
Wage basis: measured (ILOSTAT 2022, pay-range midpoint) . For context, OECD's employee income tax is 17.2% and its tax wedge 49.3% — shown, not applied.
OECD Taxing Wages, single earner with no children at the average wage, applied as a flat rate: countries with contribution ceilings overstate at high pay, and mandatory private schemes, 13th-month pay and benefits in kind are excluded. Not payroll or legal advice. Refreshed 2026-09-02. OECD does not publish a rate for Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, DR Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe — those return no data rather than an estimate. JSON
How long do goods take to clear the border?
Days for exported and imported goods to clear every border agency, and what complying with export and import requirements costs as a share of the goods' value — averages from the firms the World Bank surveyed in each country's largest business city. A rotating cohort: countries outside this edition show nothing rather than a borrowed figure.
🇵🇹 Portugal
- Days to clear, imports · exports
- 7.5 · 11
- Cost to comply, imports · exports (% of goods value)
- 18.9% · 10.9%
- Firms exporting by parcel service
- 16.4%
- Tax rates, registration facts and visa conditions as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. This is not tax, legal or immigration advice; how a rule applies to a company or a founder depends on facts this tool does not hold. Confirm with the authority before acting.
- Firm-survey averages from B-READY's International Trade topic: days to clear all border agencies and the cost of complying with export and import requirements as a share of goods value, for the firms surveyed in the largest business city. A small sample moves them; they describe typical goods trade, not any shipment.
Fewest days for imports to clear
- 🇭🇺 Hungary 1.5 d
- 🇨🇿 Czechia 1.7 d
- 🇸🇪 Sweden 4.8 d
- 🇮🇪 Ireland 5.5 d
- 🇪🇸 Spain 6.1 d
- 🇮🇹 Italy 6.6 d
- 🇨🇦 Canada 6.9 d
- 🇸🇬 Singapore 6.9 d
World Bank B-READY 2025, International Trade topic (22 of 41). Refreshed 2026-09-05. JSON
How much work is paying tax there?
Hours a firm spends on tax compliance a year, how much is filed and paid online, how long an audit and a VAT refund take, and the rate firms say they actually pay — from the firms the World Bank surveyed. The reported rate is neither the statutory rate nor OECD's modelled effective rate; the three answer different questions.
🇵🇹 Portugal
- Hours on tax compliance a year (median)
- 72
- Filing · paying electronically
- 100% · 99.4%
- Weeks to an audit report · to a VAT refund
- 4 · 5
- Firms citing a too-long refund process
- 34.6%
- Social-security share of labour cost · reported effective rate
- 25.2% · 20.5%
- Tax rates, registration facts and visa conditions as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. This is not tax, legal or immigration advice; how a rule applies to a company or a founder depends on facts this tool does not hold. Confirm with the authority before acting.
- Firm-survey figures from B-READY's Taxation topic (medians and shares for the firms surveyed in the largest business city). The reported effective rate is what firms say they pay as a share of income; it is neither the statutory rate nor OECD's modelled effective rate, and the three should not be compared to each other.
Fewest hours on tax compliance
- 🇮🇩 Indonesia 12 h
- 🇰🇷 South Korea 25 h
- 🇹🇷 Türkiye 35 h
- 🇲🇾 Malaysia 36 h
- 🇵🇱 Poland 40 h
- 🇺🇸 United States 40 h
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 50 h
- 🇮🇹 Italy 50 h
World Bank B-READY 2025, Taxation topic (22 of 41). Refreshed 2026-09-05. JSON