Damn, I was hoping for this about 6 months ago, I ended up filing my own paperwork instead. It was actually easier and cheaper than I thought for my state (Michigan). $50 and like five lines on a form. I even got my own EID completely online in about 10 minutes, and a bank account at my local small business bank the same day.
But just like with Stripe Atlas for C-Corps, what you're paying for isn't the paperwork and the filing fees, it's the access to lawyers and tax help and the network of other founders. It's Stripe's experience, and help for people who aren't in the US. I'd say it's worth it because to be honest I have no idea what my company's responsibilities for taxes are and yeah that makes me a little uneasy.
> I'd say it's worth it because to be honest I have no idea what my company's responsibilities for taxes are and yeah that makes me a little uneasy.
Yikes. You should get an accountant. Ask for referrals from other businesses in your area that are similar to yours. Ask your local co-working spaces or incubators. Google...
Yup, I'm working with an accountant to better understand what's going on. Last year I was in a grace period but this year I'm going to have to file. Luckily it's just me, no employees and no cofounder to worry about. But man tax law is complicated and I don't like not knowing every part of what I'm doing.
Part of the reason I started working at Stripe is that I remember going through exactly this and it freaking sucked. Building a product and finding customers for it is hard enough without also having to cross-class as an expert in international taxes of software sales.
(Drop us a line if you need a referral to an accountant; we can introduce you to an accountancy that works with a lot of Internet businesses. We also have some guides about it at https://stripe.com/atlas/guides to demystify it a bit.)
We have a number of accounting firms which we work with that we refer Atlas customers to. This lets us explain the Atlas concept once, prepare the firms for "You're going to have a high volume of companies who will often have the same set of issues so let's research and brief those in advance", build out tools to assist with information gathering, etc.
It also lets us help refer companies to accountancies whose sweet spot most closely corresponds to the facts of the company.
And don't skimp on a quality accountant. I "saved" $2k one year by shopping for a bargain accountant. I've since learned his advice cost me between $50k and $100k in unnecessary taxes.
But just like with Stripe Atlas for C-Corps, what you're paying for isn't the paperwork and the filing fees, it's the access to lawyers and tax help and the network of other founders. It's Stripe's experience, and help for people who aren't in the US. I'd say it's worth it because to be honest I have no idea what my company's responsibilities for taxes are and yeah that makes me a little uneasy.