Doing business in Estonia

are foreign investors welcome in Estonia?
A: Absolutely; I believe a majority part of Estonia is built upon international investment. Most foreign investors interested in contributing to local companies or setting up operations can receive correspondence through Investe in estonia, www.investinEstonia(.)com or EAS (enterprise Estonia) at www.EAS(.)com. Both are quasi-federal investment consulting firms for the country.

Is it complicated to register a company in Estonia? What is the procedure?

A: It could require an initial investment of a certain amount to set up operations in Estonia. The process is relatively easily and can begin through the Estonian Police and Border Guard, as well as the previously mentioned organizations

What is the corporate tax rate in Estonia?

A: It is competitive, I believe there are tax deductions for capital re-investment. It is something below 20% or around so.

Is it easy to recruit?

A: It depends on what you need; it is definitely fairly easy to find local talented people. A majority of young people are fluent in English and have a wealth of education from the local universities.

Any advice you would share with us?

A: It is advised that before making investments, you would align yourself with a federal representative organization to help oversee your operations. It is even better to receive some services from the business section of your country's consulate here in Estonia, as well as join a local chamber of commerce to help establish yourself in the international and local business communities. The US chamber of commerce in Estonia is one example if you're american. There are plenty others for other countries.

Hi cjacobs86,

Thank you for this information.

Foreign investors are very welcome although I think that Estonia and it's companies aren't very good at marketing themselves towards the international arena.

It is extremely easy to start a company here and the costs for starting and running it is low. I used a intermediary who took something like 5-600 Euro for it. The stock share capital should be around 2500 Euro for an OÜ. Accounting costs are something like 150-200 Euro/month. The price for renting an office or apartment is also very reasonable.

The procedure I went through, (if I remember the steps correctly) was accordingly:
Rented an apartment.
Registered as an Estonia resident.
Bought an OÜ from WASP.
Register a company account at a local bank.
Got an accountant.
.
.
Waited two weeks for my Estonian ID.
Opened a personal bank account.

There is no company tax, only 21% divident tax when you take the profit out of the company. 

Communication and payments are also extremely easy. Most invoices come by mail and I find it easy to deal with the authorities here compared to the horror days back in Sweden.

I don't know anything about recruiting in Estonia though.

Hope that I could give you some help here. Otherwise just ask.

BR
David