Four founders, nobody living in Colombia: two in Hungary, two in Mexico. The goal: avoid Colombia's high corporate tax, legally. This page shows how, what it costs, and the traps that would undo it.
01 · Short answer
Recommendation
Run Move Colombia from outside Colombia, with no Colombian company and no presence there, and deliver the on-the-ground work through independent Colombian partners. Then Colombian corporate tax mostly doesn't apply: Colombia taxes a foreign company only on Colombian-source income, or on everything if it has a permanent presence there. Your coordination, document preparation and review are done from Hungary and Mexico.
Best home for the company: a Hungarian Kft, managed by the two founders who live in Hungary. 9% corporate tax (plus up to 2% local business tax), Stripe works, EU bank, and it's genuinely run from there. The two Mexico-based founders can be paid as contractors for work they do from Mexico, possibly in Mexico's low-rate RESICO regime (1–2.5%).
The one thing you cannot do: register a company in a low-tax country where nobody lives. A company is taxed where it is actually managed. If the people running it live in Hungary and Mexico, Hungary or Mexico can treat it as their resident, wherever it's registered. That's why the company should sit where its managers really are.
Biggest open risk: Hungarian VAT is 27%. It may apply to services sold to private clients in the EU (e.g. German clients) unless you stay under Hungary's small-business VAT exemption. Clients outside the EU and property-related services are likely outside it. Advisor question #1 before deciding.
02 · The logic
Where tax actually lands
Layer
Where it's taxed
So we...
The company's profit
Where the company is managed (and Colombia only if we have a permanent presence there or earn Colombian-source income)
Put the company in Hungary, where two managers live. Keep Colombia "no presence".
What founders take home
Where each founder lives (Hungary, Mexico), always
Pick the cheapest legal way to pay each founder in their own country.
VAT on what clients pay
Depends on where the client is and the type of service
Check EU-client sales against Hungary's VAT rules.
Local Colombian partners
In Colombia, on their own income
They're independent businesses, not our staff.
03 · Colombia
Staying out of Colombian corporate tax
Colombia taxes a foreign company if it has a permanent establishment there (a fixed place of business, or someone in Colombia who habitually signs contracts for it), or on income that comes from Colombia. These rules keep us out. Verified on the principle; confirm our exact setup with a Colombian advisor.
Fix the website now. The team section says "We don't just know Colombia — we live here and love it", and the footer lists offices in Medellín, Bogotá and Cartagena. That's no longer true, and it's exactly what a tax authority would read as a Colombian presence.
Also watch: Colombia's "significant economic presence" tax hits foreign sellers above roughly 31,300 tax units a year (about USD 500k) in sales to customers in Colombia; consulting and technical services are excluded from its digital-services rule. Not relevant at the start; re-check when revenue grows. Verified Decree 2039/2023
04 · Options
Structures compared
Dropped
Colombian SAS: 35% tax plus 20% on dividends, and nobody local to run it. Only makes sense if you later put staff in Colombia.
Company in a zero-tax country (Panama, UAE, Delaware with nobody there) "to pay nothing": taxed where it's managed (Hungary/Mexico), plus bank and client-trust problems. Dropped.
German GmbH: about 30% tax and nobody lives there. Dropped.
05 · Rough comparison
Tax on the same profit, by structure
Estimates for comparison only, not tax advice. Rates are editable. The real numbers depend on treaties, caps and how founders are paid.
06 · The 50% deposit
How we take 50% up front and what we may use
A · Deposit on our fee
Client pays 50% of our fee to the company (Stripe or bank transfer).
Usable once earned: the contract sets the part that's non-refundable once work starts; milestones release the rest.
Keep the refundable part as a reserve until the next milestone.
B · Money for others
Rent, deposits, school, government fees, freight.
Client pays the provider directly, or through escrow for big sums. Never through us, especially now: moving client money into a foreign company and back to Colombia adds currency and compliance problems.
Never used for our costs.
Deposit calculator
07 · Accounts & payments
Banks and taking payments
Hungarian Kft (recommended)
Stripe: Hungary is supported. Verified
Business account at a Hungarian bank, or an EU fintech account (e.g. Wise Business) in EUR/USD.
Needs a Hungarian registered office address, a managing director, minimum share capital (HUF 3m) and a local accountant.
Clients pay in USD/EUR; Colombian partners are paid from the company account.
Paying Colombian partners
Partners invoice the client directly where possible (lawyer, realtor, school, insurer): cleanest for everyone.
Where we buy a service and resell it (driver, welcome kit), the partner invoices our company and we pay by international transfer.
Their tax is theirs; we keep their invoices.
08 · Sequence
The plan, in order
09 · Advisors
Questions for the advisors
One Hungarian accountant/tax advisor (the main one), one Mexican contador, one short Colombian consult. Bring this list.
Full research run (Cowork)
Research summary for founder discussion, 3 Oct 2026. Verified items rely on official or primary sources (Stripe, DIAN/Colombian law, Hungarian and Mexican tax rules as published); estimates and items marked Verify/Unverified must be confirmed. Not legal or tax advice. Confirm with advisors in Hungary, Mexico and Colombia before forming anything.