They didn’t keep in mind tax havens like Panama, where everything is easier. Here are the 5 countries where it is easiest to create a business, as well as the 10 most complex countries for the businessman.
To calculate its ranking, the TMF Group kept in mind elements from three fundamental areas in the 77 countries they analyzed: accounting and taxes, regulations and penalties, and human resources and payroll management. Following Curaçao – a small Caribbean island, with autonomy from the Netherlands – we find the United States. Completing the Top 5 are: Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland. Other Caribbean territories like Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands were in high positions in the ranking.
The position of Curaçao, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands could be compromised in next year’s ranking. The reason for the possible fall is that these Caribbean financial centers have been, little by little, making the process of creating a business more complex, because of the international pressure that has obligated local politicians to approve laws focused on demanding more tax transparency.
Among the 10 countries with the greatest complexity in creating a business, six are Latin American, which confirms this region as one of the most complicated for creating businesses. The exception is Panama, a nation that counts on a legal framework that facilitates the formation of businesses and their offshore operations.
In the reverse ranking, in other words, the one of the countries that have the most obstacles in the way of creating new businesses, Brazil, Indonesia and Argentina stand out. In the latter’s case, the TMF Group felt that some of the elements that most affect the Argentine position were the exchange restrictions, hardened during the Alberto Fernandez government. The businesses were obligated to present ample documentation to the Argentine banks; and they can transfer their money to a foreign bank account only after receiving various verifications. The delayed process impedes multinationals from operating with the speed that they need. In addition, another negative factor is the high bureaucratic burden that they have to exceed foreign investors to create a business there.
Ranking behind Argentina are Bolivia, Greece and China. The fact that China occupies sixth place on the list of nations with the greatest corporate complexity is alarming, since it has the second highest economy on the planet and is locked in an open commercial war with the United States. It contrasts also that its rival in this war is in second place of those who offer the most facilitations for creating businesses.
Another interesting conclusion of the TMF Group’s annual study is that the jurisdictions that are presented as the most attractive from a commercial point of view are actually those that put more obstacles for creating businesses. For example, of the ten strongest economies of the world only the United States enters the Top 10 countries where it’s easiest to create a business, since Germany occupies 40th place, India is 19th and Japan is 46th.
