rep office ,000 entity+work permits ? HELP

[paco]

Hi guys,

Firstly can i ask what does 000 entity means ? Does it mean a russian private limited company with 100 % foreign ownership ?

We will be starting our business activities in Moscow soon, and we need help to get work permits soon. We are of Malaysian nationals and indian nationals. We have an establish private limited company in Malaysia.

some questions :

!) work permits under 3rd party. Is this a risky option ? How much does it cost ?

2) will it be better to open establish a rep office or 000 entity ( whatever it means ) ? and how much does it cost annually and what is the minimum taxes to be paid monthly/annually?

As for our business operations, we will not be needing any office. So to register the rep office or 000 entity - can we use our apartment address ? or is there any agency which can assist us to register the company at some 3rd party address ?

thks.

[tgma]

It depends a bit on the nature of your business, but I'd strongly advise you to create a rep office rather than a local OOO. The OOO is, as you say, a Russian limited private company. We have one of these at the moment. It costs us about EUR 1000 per month in administration charges etc, there are quite a few good agents who can do this for you. But I would prefer the rep office, as the OOO is not a guarantee that you will get visas - you still have to prove that you have tried to hire locals for the jobs, etc, and there is a lot of bureaucracy.

Wheres with a rep office, you just have to prove that your company exists, and is in good standing with your home tax office, etc, and you will automatically get visas for up to five people. All a lot easier. And it sounds like you fit their description.

I would advise against a third party - it really isn't that hard to open a rep office, and it sounds like you fit the description (you will have to provide a lot of information about your Malaysian company) in that your main country of operations is not Russia. My experience of third parties is that they are highly fallible, and tend to prefer to resolve problems with bribes than actually ensure that everything is proper and legal, and this can lead to problems down the road.

If you are looking for good advisers, I would recommend Smithbridge consulting, who seem very professional, but there are many law firms in Moscow who do this. See if your law firm at home has any friends or partners in Moscow. Big firms like Ernst and Young etc will also handle this - they are more expensive of course, but very professional, and it's worth it not to have to worry about these things.

[paco]

Assuming we go for the rep office option, and for a start we do not need any office space as yet other than our rented apartment. Are there any reliable agencies who can provide to get a registered address for our rep office without actually paying for actual office space rent ? Will this be legal ? Is there any risk by doing this ?

[snowbars]

Rep Offices will surely need a propert office address.
You will have to provide Bank Reference/Tax papers /All legal documents of /malaysian Company etc ALL APOSTILED IN YOUR COUNTRY AND THEN TRANSLATED IN RUSSIA. AND NOTARISED.

Cost: Cannot see you getting much change from USD10K and takes approx 4-5 months.

[Remington]

Originally Posted by snowbars Rep Offices will surely need a propert office address. You will have to provide Bank Reference/Tax papers /All legal documents of /malaysian Company etc ALL APOSTILED IN YOUR COUNTRY AND THEN TRANSLATED IN RUSSIA. AND NOTARISED. Cost: Cannot see you getting much change from USD10K and takes approx 4-5 months.

-OR- establish OOO entity, hire a Russian secretary and apply for work permit. This way you'll have better chance of getting work permit with a Russian national employed at your company.

Trying to establish a rep office requires more paperwork and its more expensive especially with apostille, translation and notarize all documents. Plus more headache with two different tax regimes. In another word, you'll need a tax accountant to handle this.

[paco]

Originally Posted by Remington -OR- establish OOO entity, hire a Russian secretary and apply for work permit. This way you'll have better chance of getting work permit with a Russian national employed at your company. Trying to establish a rep office requires more paperwork and its more expensive especially with apostille, translation and notarize all documents. Plus more headache with two different tax regimes. In another word, you'll need a tax accountant to handle this.

So it seems OOO entity is the way to go, and an actual office space is required to be rented for registering the address.

Has anyone here done it by not really renting an office space and just paying a small fee for registered address done by an agency ?

Or does anyone here know what is the cheapest rental for office space, location can even be far from the city centre, as we will not be operating from the office. But just renting it in order to get the OOO company having a registered address.

[Remington]

Originally Posted by paco So it seems OOO entity is the way to go, and an actual office space is required to be rented for registering the address. Has anyone here done it by not really renting an office space and just paying a small fee for registered address done by an agency ? Or does anyone here know what is the cheapest rental for office space, location can even be far from the city centre, as we will not be operating from the office. But just renting it in order to get the OOO company having a registered address.

It can be done but there's no guarantee that you will get work permit since its up to FMS or whoever decides if your company merit 5 quota slots for work permit. You can actually rent an office address without having an office for $100 a month depends on the location. The cost all depends on who you work with... lawyers, accountant, agency to handle work permit, business owners who rents out address and FMS.

I'm looking into this as well since I'm starting my business in Russia too.

Here's the link for some info on what docs are required for the following entities:

Accreditation of representative offices of foreign companies
http://en.ackerbell.com/services/pages/4/

Accreditation of branches of foreign companies
http://en.ackerbell.com/services/pages/15/

Russian LLC (OOO) registration
http://en.ackerbell.com/services/pages/28/

You will need to consult with a lawyer to decide which is easier, cheaper or less taxes. It also depends on what type of business you will establish in Russia. This country isn't exactly business friendly and Russia is more interested in big company with deep pockets.

[paco]

[QUOTE=Remington;704774]It can be done but there's no guarantee that you will get work permit since its up to FMS or whoever decides if your company merit 5 quota slots for work permit. You can actually rent an office address without having an office for $100 a month depends on the location. The cost all depends on who you work with... lawyers, accountant, agency to handle work permit, business owners who rents out address and FMS.

I'm looking into this as well since I'm starting my business in Russia too.


Can you PM me any telephone umbers for which i can get an office address done at $ 100 per month.

thks.

[O'Green]

You have to reconsider everything quadruple times before making any practical step.

For you, a good option might be establishing an OOO with simplified accountancy form or register as Individual Entrepreneur with the same (simplified) taxation system. One more issue you have to consider from the start - you WILL have to find local accountant or service company who will deal with paperwork and legal procedures on your behalf in timely manner.

Good luck with everything!

[Remington]

Originally Posted by paco Can you PM me any telephone numbers for which i can get an office address done at $ 100 per month.

You'll have to contact your accountant/lawyer to find out about this. They will know who will provide this service. Price can range from $100 to $1000 per month depending on the office location.

[Remington]

Originally Posted by O'Green You have to reconsider everything quadruple times before making any practical step. For you, a good option might be establishing an OOO with simplified accountancy form or register as Individual Entrepreneur with the same (simplified) taxation system. One more issue you have to consider from the start - you WILL have to find local accountant or service company who will deal with paperwork and legal procedures on your behalf in timely manner. Good luck with everything!

Especially Russia is inhospitable environment for small or foreign owned businesses. Authorities can raid the office anytime without a warrant in order to shut the business down so that's one drawback about operating a business in Russia.

[orlando771]

Originally Posted by paco So it seems OOO entity is the way to go, and an actual office space is required to be rented for registering the address. Has anyone here done it by not really renting an office space and just paying a small fee for registered address done by an agency ? Or does anyone here know what is the cheapest rental for office space, location can even be far from the city centre, as we will not be operating from the office. But just renting it in order to get the OOO company having a registered address.

look pal, i understand you wanna make money from Russia, but you've gotta spend a bit, you can not be worried about office space rent or hiring a Russian employee or hiring a consultant. i wish there was a way to make money without spending any up front. it looks like you are in a biz. it is not reliable. you just wanna come to Moscow and get legal the cheapest way. but let me tell you something, even if you are a comp. owner or dishwasher you have to get new work permit every year. ask people here in this site if they can help u finding a consulting comp. that is the way to go.