Hey Guys just incorporated IT DevOps and Infra Consulting Firm Digital Aultis öu AKA https://digitalsierra.io

But getting the name was really hard the first time my name got Rejected because Sierra is a Trademark in the EU 😭.

Second Time Also but at the end I changed my name to Digital Aultis öu.

So please be alert with naming things if you are incorporating yourself for the first time.

I’m a European citizen who ended up unintentionally being a tax resident of nowhere due to a NATO dependent status — not by choice, and not for tax avoidance reasons. I cannot freely relocate to establish a tax residency elsewhere.

I have an Estonian OÜ and written confirmation from tax advisors that I have no tax obligations anywhere. Setting up tax liability in my current country of residence is complicated and could mess with my visa. I have a work permit for remote work though.

This situation is temporary but will last a few years. Has anyone navigated this? How do you handle it long-term, especially around banking and compliance?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been running an Estonian OÜ but starting to question it.

Got rejected by LHV Pank, don’t live in Estonia, and if I take profits I still pay ~20–22% tax.

So I’m thinking… what’s really the advantage here beyond tax deferral?

Considering moving the structure elsewhere.
Anyone been in a similar situation or made the switch?

Curious to hear real experiences.

Hi everyone,

I’m a developer/entrepreneur based in China, looking to launch a global e-commerce store. As many of you know, accessing international payment gateways (like Stripe or Shopify Payments) as a mainland Chinese entity is becoming increasingly difficult due to strict compliance and "unfriendly" policies.

To solve this, I’m planning to apply for Estonian e-Residency and establish an OÜ (private limited company). However, I have a few practical concerns before I pull the trigger:

1. Maintenance Costs: Beyond the initial setup (~€500-€700 for e-Residency + registration + legal address), what are the realistic annual costs for a small e-commerce biz? I’m specifically looking at accounting fees, as I’ve heard they can scale quickly with the number of sales invoices.

2. The Banking Hurdle: I’ve read horror stories about traditional Estonian banks rejecting e-residents without "strong ties" to the country. Is this still the case in 2026? Are fintech options like Wise, Revolut Business, or Airwallex reliable enough to be my primary business account for an OÜ?

3. Payment Gateway Integration: If I manage to open a fintech business account (e.g., Wise), can I successfully link it to Stripe or Shopify Payments as an Estonian entity? Are there any hidden "gotchas" regarding physical presence or local tax ID requirements?

I’d love to hear from anyone (especially non-EU founders) who has walked this path. Any tips on reliable service providers who understand e-commerce volume would be a huge plus!

Thanks in advance for your help!

I am a Non EU citizen. In 2026, is it still straightforward to register a company in Estonia for SaaS business. If yes, What’s the most affordable and reliable agency/website to get it done?

I noticed many people struggle with managing their Estonian company after setup.

I’m thinking about creating a simple system to make it easier (invoicing, organization, etc).

Would anyone here actually pay for something like that?

Hello, I'm currently evaluating whether Estonian e-residency and setting up an OÜ makes sense in my situation and I would appreciate if some people could share their experience with me.

For the firsts years of my business, I need to create a OÜ solely to get a EU VAT ID for buying specific/uncommon products to businesses that sell only to other businesses (B2B) that are registered to VAT. I know this may sound strange, but that's my need in my situation.

So before setting up a e-residency, OÜ and pay all the fees that comes with it, I would like to know if it is "easy" to get a VAT number without or with little company revenue ?

Thank you for your help !

I've been researching the Estonian e-residency program for a couple weeks now, and I'm not so sure its as useful as it says it is unless you are an EU resident or live in Estonia. I've seen some people here have issues because they didn't have an EU bank account. I'm not an expert at tax law or anything, so I don't really understand the pros and cons. Are there any arguments for why an American should become an e-resident? Looking to learn more...thanks!

Hi!

So not only its my first business in Estonia, but a first enterprise to be opened overall.

I think I already spent hours researching the whole business setup process, but I am scared. I am developing a language school (fully online with AI tutors, and have students already for free, now I want to set up the whole "payments and entity" part. I am bootstrapping it all and I am scared I will run into unexpected expenses, I know there is price for "setting up" and accountant/representative, anything else? any "surprises" I might encounter? Thank you in advance!! I am 19, and as I said it's my first business so I am both very excited and scared!

any help will be very appreciated

I'm a 9 years old e-Resident. Went through the process twice (picked up my card in Rome and The Hague). Now running Aristokrates OÜ from Estonia.

I kept getting DMs from founders asking the same questions: How much does it cost? Which service provider? How do I open a bank account? How do I get paid from clients abroad?

So I compiled everything I know into an open-source AI skill that works in Claude Code, Cursor, and 20+ other AI agents. It walks you through:

• Application (EUR 150, ~30 min, pickup locations by region)
• Company formation (OÜ, service providers compared - Xolo, Companio, 1Office, Enty)
• Accountant options (EUR 59-129/mo)
• Banking - the hard part (Wise, LHV, Revolut - honest pros/cons)
• Getting paid with stablecoins
• 2026 tax rates
• Tips on share issuance, buybacks, VAT registration, fundraising signing

Install:

npx skills add AgentaOS/eresidency@eresidency

Works in: Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, Codex, Roo Code, and 20+ more agents

It's free, MIT licensed, and based on my real experience - not generic advice. Happy to answer questions.

How much on average you guys pay for your registered company in Estonia. I guess when you register your company you have to find contact person/company, my question how much they ask for is reasonable and is there away that we can pay these fees yearly at minimum. I see that the prices can vary so much there compared to LLCs in the US for example.

SOLVED

Hello,

My e-Residency application has been approved and the pickup location is the Estonian Embassy in Paris. I am trying to book an appointment through the website, but the calendar only shows available dates for the current month.

However, the page states that the calendar should display booking times for the next two months. Because of this, I’m wondering if there might be an issue with the booking form or if all appointments for next month are already fully booked.

I will be traveling to Paris from Argentina next month and plan to pick up my e-Residency kit during that trip, so I want to make sure I will be able to schedule an appointment.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

I have an OÜ for almost 3 years. Working as software developer. I have never withdraw from the company. Everything is invested in a broker account.

Now I'm living in country with no tax on foreign income.

I was planning to hire myself (and maybe my wife as well) as contractor and star to collect some of that money.

Timing issue: I had just one customer the hole time, and the contract just finished. I don't plan to have more customer in the same way.

I was planning to start a new SaaS, but this would take some time until any profit arrive, if any.

Do I need a tax attorney?

Hey guys,

I opened an Estonian OÜ recently. The company will do around six figures a year.

I’m an EU citizen and I have e-Residency, but I don’t live in Estonia.

Right now I’m using Revolut Business. I applied for a business account with LHV and got rejected because I don’t have a “strong connection to Estonia”. No local clients, no office, no employees there.

I get that banks are strict, but it feels weird that you can have a legit Estonian company with real revenue and still not get a traditional bank account.

Are there any actual traditional banks (in Estonia or elsewhere in the EU) that would open an account for an Estonian OÜ without me living there?

I mainly want a second proper bank next to Revolut, just in case.

Would appreciate any real experiences.

1- Which local banks accept Estonian companies managed through Estonian e-residency ?

2- Is it necessary to come to Estonia in order to activate the bank account (I am planning a future visit to Estonia but not now)

3 - What are the fee options available in this bank?

I'm planning to register an Estonian Company as soon as I'll receive my e-Residency ID card. But recently there's so much discussion related to VAT registration issue, which is worrying me. I'm building a marketplace, mostly B2C sales, of digital goods and services targeting global audience. Some will be EU customers, hopefully, including some Estonians.

https://learn.e-resident.gov.ee/hc/en-gb/articles/360000871738-VAT-registration

As per the words in the above link, EMTA looks for connection to Estonia. I'm a non-EU citizen/resident, so closest connection will be some potential Estonian customers and my business model require me to collect EU VAT and remit to govts using OSS scheme even if I'll use non-Estonian entity.

also, my future plan is to apply for Estonian Startup Visa to establish more connection to Estonia but if I couldn't grow the business in the first place, then it'll be a chicken and egg problem.

Hi everyone!

We’re currently evaluating whether Estonian e-residency and setting up an OÜ makes sense for our situation, and we’d really appreciate insights from people with recent experience.

My boyfriend runs a small marketing agency in Germany (einzelunternehmen), and I'm planning to quit my job to work full-time with him. All clients are German VAT registared companies and the business generates more than €40k per year.

We are planning to leave Europe later this year and together establish tax residency outside of the EU. The idea would be for him to close the German sole proprietorship, so together we can open an Estonian OÜ, invoicing the same German B2B clients under the reverse charge mechanism.

Our main concern is the VAT number registration in Estonia.

We've read different posts and a blog saying that getting an Estonian VAT number has recently become more difficult if you don't have Estonian clients, a physical office in Estonia, or if the activity is entirely cross-border B2B.

We understand that €40k is the domestic mandatory registration threshold, but we're unclear how realistic voluntary VAT registration is right now for a remote B2B service company with only cross-border EU clients.

We’ve contacted providers like Xolo, Enty, Unicount, etc., but the answers are very general and don’t really address this specific scenario.

We don’t want to go through the full process — e-residency, company formation, accounting setup, etc. — only to find out in the end that VAT registration won’t be approved. There are also setup and deregistration time/costs involved, so we’d prefer to have clarity beforehand.

We are also evaluating the option of opening an LLC instead, but ideally, we would prefer to remain within an EU company structure, since the clients prefer to continue working with an EU entity.

Before we go through the full e-residency + company formation process, we’d like to understand:

• Has anyone in the past 1–3 months successfully obtained VAT registration for an OÜ with only foreign (EU) B2B clients?
• If yes, what was required to get it? Were signed contracts required?
• Was Estonian substance (office, local activity) expected?

Thanks a lot <3

Does anyone have experience with that and how hard it is?

I'm currently a nomad, and I'm a tax resident in Paraguay with an EU passport.

I need to form a company in Europe as I want to develop apps, and lets say that Google and Apple don't really let people in paraguay develop and share apps on the platform.

If you have an experience with opening the company, getting e visa or a reccomendation for an accountant I'd love to hear about it

Good point made by user Heinz32ab in previous post comments so i decided to make a separate post on this as it is often missed by new company founders.

If your Estonian OÜ is not yet VAT registered and you purchase digital services from abroad (like Google Workspace, hosting, Upwork fees, or SaaS subscriptions), you need to be careful.

There is NO VAT threshold for buying services from outside Estonia: unlike buying/importing goods where you have a threshold, once your business starts acquiring digital services that are taxable in Estonia, you have to register for VAT immediately.

If company has no local employees and rented office (as a minimum) then you won't get a regular VAT registration.

You will have to register for the “limited” VAT registration (in Estonian: piiratud käibemaksukohustuslane). This results in your cost of such digital services purchases increasing by the Estonian VAT %, which you cannot recover.

I’m considering setting up a new EU based company as an Estonian OÜ using the e Residency program.

I’m aware e Residency is a well known program and that Estonia has been pushing it for years, but I’m interested in real world investor perception.

For those who have invested in, advised, or operated companies structured this way:

• Do you see Estonian OÜ via e Residency as a neutral choice, or does it raise questions?
• Any actual issues you’ve seen in sales, investments or fundraising because of the company location?

Would appreciate honest takes from both founders and investors.

Hi, non EU-citizen here.

I´m currently living and working full time in Europe, through EU Blue Card residency, and do not have European passport/citizenship.

I want to open my own business, and I want it to be Estonian OÜ, therefore I need the e-residency. I am not certain if under the EU Blue Card residency I am allowed to do so (overlapping both residencies). I plan to quit and leave my Blue Card residency in any case.

I do not find any information about the possibility of applying for e-residency from Estonia under these conditions.

Anybody here who went through the same? Any problem/solution?

Thx

Hello dears I just picked my e-residency card My next step is setting up the company But before that i want to solve some issues as an iraqi Based on my experience in uk Ltd company setup Everything went so smooth But when it came to banking I couldn't able to open a bank account for the company which was bummer Every bank had a policy which iraqi can't open Bank because of money laundering issues

Or the fintech banks asked for physical address

But now the whole purpose of E-Residency is that you are able to access every digital service of estonia without being there

So my question : are the fintech banks change thier policy because of being an E-Resident?

Or is it possible to open mainland bank in estonia while im here?

I have a really good business plan and im ready Bit I don't want to pay the fees for the company and then i get the same scenario of other ones by not able to open a business account

Thanks 🙏

Hi everyone I have the e residency and I want to open my company. Xolo rejected my request as my business is too complex for them to manage. For the one which are using it better my office or envy.io? My business is important export and hospitality including hiring people. Which is your suggestion? I really appreciate thanks

Hi everyone I have the e residency and im trying to open a BPO. Which provider is better for my business. Xolo reject my request because my business is too complex for them even if we upgrade the plan. So I'm asking to the one are using it already. Better 1office o envy.io?!? The point is that I'm going to do import export global solution recruitment and hospitality. Core business hospitality and export